What can you take from any one game? The answer, of course, is very little. Divide that even more when you’re talking about spring training. That said, each game can tell you part of a story, and it’s up to us to figure out how much of the story that game tells. In some cases, it’s very little, but in others, there’s actually something to look at and take away as we all prepare ourselves for the 2017 season.
Karns Looks Like Far More Than a Five
I’ve maintained since the start of spring training that Karns should win the fifth starter job. We’ve talked about all that before. Yesterday, Craig Brown wrote about his repertoire and the timing couldn’t have been better because Karns flashed basically everything in his start against the Padres. Yes, it’s the Padres so it should be taken with a grain of salt, but what he showed gave some great hope for the Royals rotation in 2017.
In six shutout innings, Karns struck out nine and walked nobody. He threw 73 pitches and 54 strikes. His fastball was crisp. His breaking ball looked sharp. But what really caught my attention was the changeup. According to Brooks Baseball, he threw 23 changeups against the Padres and got eight swings and misses. His first couple strikeouts came on the changeup and it didn’t drop off any after that point. Typically you like to see a separation of eight to 10 miles per hour between the changeup and the fastball, but Karns doesn’t get that. In spite of that, the changeup has been a very good pitch for him in his career. I think that due to the lack of separation, it makes it so the changeup can struggle, but in all, it’s a very good pitch.
As I wrote a few weeks ago, Karns is a big key to the Royals season. This spring, he’s shown flashes of excellence, but the knock on him has always been his inability to get deep into games. If he can maintain the kind of efficiency and the kind of changeup he threw yesterday, I think he’ll be more than fine and so will the Royals.
Salvy Back in Action
We all held our collective breaths a couple weeks ago when Salvador Perez went down during the WBC with the knee injury. We heard the talk that he was going to be okay and that it was no big deal. Of course, we didn’t all quite believe it until we had the chance to see it. Well, we saw it yesterday. Perez had designated hitter duties, and while he went 0 for 3, I saw all I needed to see from him. In the first inning, he was hit by a pitch. The following batter, Brandon Moss, hit a double down the right field line. I watched Perez very closely as he was running the bases and he looked better running than I remember him looking in years.
You all know that he lost 25 lbs. this offseason, and it was very apparent to me. I think the Royals dodged a massive bullet with him being healthy, and it’s especially encouraging that he looked good running the bases.
Minor Could be a Major Weapon
When the Royals signed Mike Minor last year, I was pleased with the signing because it was relatively low risk. Even if he didn’t work out, they were only out a few million dollars and they were spread over two years. He, of course, missed the entire 2016 season, so there remains a question of if he can provide any value to the Royals during his contract.
He’s currently ticketed for a spot in the bullpen, and I think I might be getting irrationally excited about it. He threw mostly fastballs, but it sat at 93-95 in the outing. His slider and curve accounted for two of the five swings and misses he got in this outing. Between this outing and what I’ve seen from Minor already this spring, I think he has a chance to be a really big part of a better than expected Royals bullpen. As a lefty who can get out righties as well, he can join Matt Strahm from the left side in providing some tough matchups for opponents. He’s mentioned before that he’s never really been a reliever, so that’s a concern, at least to some extent, but his stuff could be really good out of the bullpen in one-inning stints and could be incredibly beneficial to this team.
The Royals are off today before playing their final six games of the Cactus League schedule. I’m here in Arizona through the weekend, so I’ll get a chance to see them a couple more times before I head back home, so keep your internet tuned here for more from Royals spring training.
David, coming down to Surprise on Saturday. Want to spend some time on the back fields. Is there a schedule for the activities & games back there?
Not usually a schedule, but just get out there in the morning around 9 or so and roam around and you’ll see all you can handle.
Thanks. Will do.