As I drove up to the stadium around 3:00 yesterday, it felt like a continuation of the 2015 season. Sure it had been more than five months since the last Royals home game, but it just felt right. And before I knew it, I was annoyed with the parking attendants who were telling me exactly where to park (look, it’s not crazy expensive to park, but it’s also not free; I’ll park where I want as long as it’s within a space). It was like the offseason never happened.
After meandering around the parking lots to catch up with old Royals friends, I did a little pregame radio and then got in line to get into the stadium. When the gates opened, the lines moved relatively quickly and I was able to do finally make it into what I feel like is my second home. My mom and I go to Opening Day (almost) every year, and we did our traditional walk around the stadium to check out what’s new and then we settled in with our ballpark fare that we eat probably three times a year and waited for first pitch.
As you know, last night’s game was a special one because it was the first game played since the Royals took the crown. I was prepared for the video showing highlights of last season, but that didn’t mean I didn’t cry. I was prepared for the 2015 World Champions flag to be raised, but that didn’t mean I didn’t cry. I was prepared for Omar Infante to be announced, but that didn’t mean I didn…wait, no, I actually didn’t cry when he was announced. But, you know, that might be a good thing because that means I didn’t cry over him being in the lineup either.
During that pregame ceremony, the Royals organization showed their class by showing a short highlight reel of the Mets fantastic 2015 season prior to announcing them. Lucas Duda received mock cheers while most of the other Mets were met with a smattering of boos and a whole lot of indifference. In spite of what some may believe, Royals fans are pretty satisfied with the trophy, the flag and the memories of the 2015 playoff run.
I will say a couple things before I get into some quick hit thoughts about the game. I was disappointed in the reception for Alex Gordon. I thought he’d get a much bigger round of applause when he was announced after re-signing with the Royals as a free agent in January. I did notice something that was kind of cool. In the past, it seemed like any new addition to the team got some of the biggest applause of anybody during announcements. This year, the new guys got plenty of cheers, but the guys who really helped lead the Royals to the championship were the ones who were the most warmly received. That’s not surprising, but it was just nice to see.
Okay, onto the game. First, I didn’t think Edinson Volquez really had much in the way of command throughout most of the game. His stuff looked pretty good (of course, this is from a terrible vantage point in the stands, but you know, these are just my thoughts), but he couldn’t locate it at all. Somehow, he threw six shutout innings and gave up just two hits. If that’s him when he’s not all there, I wonder what he’s capable of when he has it all working. The Mets offense has the pieces to be pretty solid and they couldn’t get anything going against him.
I didn’t hear the ESPN in-game interview when Yost said that he would go Luke Hochevar, Kelvin Herrera and Joakim Soria in the sixth, seventh and eighth for now, but when I saw Herrera warming for the seventh, I was disappointed. I personally liked the Soria signing. The money was more than I’d have paid, but I think he’s still a good pitcher. I also think Herrera is better than Soria, so I’d pitch Herrera in the eighth. But the Royals aren’t going to do that just yet, so what can you do?
And then Soria came in and he wasn’t good. He couldn’t locate anything either, but unlike Volquez, the Mets were able to capitalize. If you’re looking for some good news, it’s that he was dinked and dunked to death. The walks obviously hurt him, but getting that kind of contact will lead to good results more often than not. Still, he wasn’t impressive.
Of course that led to many on Twitter (and probably Facebook, but I just can’t mosey over to there) to announce that the Soria signing was a bust and that he should be removed immediately from the primary setup role. I would advocate him pitching the seventh because I think that makes more sense considering the personnel, but I just can’t get on board with any thinking that makes decisions based on any one game.
Soria has been a very good reliever for a long time. No, he’s not the same guy he was in his prime here in Kansas City, but he’s still very good. I made this point on Twitter. Not only is making a decision based on one game silly, but it goes directly against everything the Royals organization is about. I may write more on this later, but for now, that’s what I have to say about that.
I haven’t really mentioned the offense, but it sure would have been nice to see an extra base hit. I liked Moustakas hitting a couple balls hard, Cain working some walks that I haven’t seen him work too often in his career and Infante have some good plate appearances in this one. All in all, it’s hard to argue with a win. Every game you win in April is one you may not have to win in September, right?
More important than anything, I want to remind everyone how long a baseball season is. One game is the equivalent of being about six minutes into the first quarter of the first football game of the year. It’s equal to just starting the second half of the first NBA game of the season. It’s the equivalent of Yoenis Cespedes chasing after a dropped fly ball that he kicked. That’s to say that it’s a long, long season. Opening day is special, but let’s pace ourselves. The Royals now have 99 wins to go.