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3 hot takes from a 'perfect' KC Royals weekend

By Mike Gillespie |
/ Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
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Yes, it's only spring training and it's only the Cactus League, but the KC Royals gave their baseball-starved fans a lot to like this weekend. The club beat Texas 6-5 Friday and 10-5 Saturday before finishing up with an 8-7 victory over Seattle Sunday afternoon.

Going a perfect 3-0 out of the blocks is nice, Tyler Tolbert's superb and exciting Saturday thrilled those watching at Surprise Stadium and on TV, and Franmil Reyes' Sunday home run proves he still has the power the Royals want and need from him. (More on Reyes momentarily).

But while "perfect" accurately describes the club's weekend record, and the good outweighed the bad, there are things to seriously consider. Here are three.

The dreaded injury bug continues to sting KC Royals outfielders

Major injuries are nothing less than poison for any realistic hopes the Royals harbor of avoiding the dismal last-place, near-100-loss season they suffered last year. But less than two weeks into spring camp, the club is already losing players.

Drew Waters, a serious, if not the leading, candidate to replace recently-traded Michael A. Taylor in center field, suffered a left oblique strain a week ago and isn't a good bet to be be back for March 30's regular season opener against Minnesota.

Unfortunately, Waters isn't the only KC outfielder sidelined by injury. PerMLB.com KC beat writer Anne Rogers, Brewer Hicklen, clubber of 28 homers and stealer of 35 bases at Triple-A Omaha last season, is expected to miss eight weeks with a right elbow strain.

And early in Saturday's 10-5 victory over Texas, center fielder Diego Hernandez suffered a dislocated shoulder; the club announced he'll be out three to four months.

The injuries to Waters, Hicklen and Hernandez further complicate an already confusing outfield situation. Only MJ Melendez, to whom the Royals have all but handed left field, appears set; now, the club needs to decide who'll start the season in center (uninjured Kyle Isbel is the best bet), and losing Hicklen and Hernandez, possibilities to contend with Edward Olivares for right field and definite challengers for a bench spot, make manager Matt Quatraro's roster selection more difficult.

FIRST TAKE: Getting an Opening Day-ready outfield will be a chore for the Royals.

The KC Royals received mixed results from pitchers at key career points

From Friday's first inning through Sunday's final frame, Quatraro used 23 pitchers, some of whom are, or may be, at career crossroads. Where and in what roles they open the season depends much on what they do before spring camp breaks late next month. Some pitched well over the weekend, but some didn't.

The most anticipated outing of the weekend was that of Brad Keller, he of the fresh-look curveball he's hoping puts his pitching back on track following his banishment to the bullpen late last year and two consecutive and well-chronicled poor seasons. Keller started Sunday and was excellent in the first inning: he gave up a leadoff hit before striking out American League Rookie of the Year Julio Rodriguez, Ty France and Eugenio Suarez in order.

Keller's second inning bore no resemblance to his first. He coughed up a leadoff homer to Jarred Kelenic and a walk and two runs before reaching his pitch limit and giving way to Walter Pennington. First game of the spring, yes, but Keller can't afford many frames like Sunday's second if he wants to reclaim his place in the Kansas City rotation.

Quatraro had to like what he saw from two pitchers working their respective ways back from Tommy John Surgery. Lefty Richard Lovelady threw a nice scoreless, one-hit, one-strikeout inning Saturday, and Jonathan Bowlan gave up a run but struck out three in his Sunday inning.

And what of non-roster invitee Mike Mayers, whose career 5.10 ERA strongly suggests his margin for error is slim and he'll earn a spot on the Opening Day roster only with an excellent spring? He started Sunday and fanned two in two innings, but he also gave the Mariners three runs and three hits.

SECOND TAKE: Brad Keller still needs a lot of work, and Mike Mayers' road to Kansas City may be a bit more difficult than it was before Sunday.

Franmil Reyes is showing the potential to prove the KC Royals were right

To contend Franmil Reyes has a 2023 Kansas City roster slot already locked up would be premature. After all, the slugger whose poor 2022 hitting prompted the Cubs to waive him in August and the Guardians to refrain from bringing him back for 2023 after rescuing him from the waiver wire, is only two appearances into Cactus League play.

It's what he's done with those two chances, though, that's encouraging.

Reyes, who the Royals recently signed to a minor league deal and invited to spring camp, took the day off Saturday after going 1-for-3 in Friday's Cactus League opener. And Sunday, he did this in the first inning:

The three-run bash, Reyes' first homer of the spring, scored Kyle Isbel and Salvador Perez to give Kansas City a 4-0 lead.

So it is that Reyes isn't wasting time trying to provide proof that his surprising acquisition wasn't Royal folly. Reyes can help the club's too-frequently anemic offense, but only if he recaptures the form that produced 37 homers in a 2019 campaign split between San Diego and Cleveland, 30 two seasons ago for the Guardians, and 16 in 87 rookie-season games for the Padres in 2018.

Is he making progress? So far, so good.

THIRD TAKE: It's early, and Franmil Reyes has a ways to go, but he seems to be on the right path.

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