HR Roll Call Jorge Bonifacio (13), Travis Snider (3), Anderson Miller (1), Seuly Matias (1)

BP KC Hitter of the day – Travis Snider 3-5 2b, HR, 4 RBI

BP KC Pitcher of the Day – Jorge Rodriguez 5 IP 2 H 0 R 1 BB 7 K 1-5 GO-FO

Omaha Storm Chasers 5 Memphis Redbirds 4 F/10

The Redbirds attempted to work around their former prospect Tony Cruz for most of Friday night and it burned them in the end. Starter Alec Mills had to grind through 5.2 innings, giving up a pair of home runs in his time but avoiding a loss thanks to Travis Snider. A three run home run by Snider in the sixth tied the game to get Mills off the look for a loss. From there the two teams exchanged zeroes until the tenth when the Redbirds intentionally walked Cruz following a Hunter Dozier double to pitch to Snider with a lefty on lefty matchup. This moved worked for Memphis in the 8th when they used it but Snider would make them pay in extras with a drive to the warning track that eluded the two Memphis outfielders for a walkoff hit for an Omaha win.

Boxscore Link

Hunter Dozier 2-4 2R, 2-2b, BB
Jorge Bonifacio 2-5 2R, HR
Travis Snider 3-5 2b, HR, 4 RBI

Midland RockHouds 6 NW Arkansas Naturals 4

The RockHounds took Ashton Goudeau deep three times to build a lead that the Naturals couldn’t overcome. It took six innings for NW Arkansas to get on the board, using a Corey Toups double as part of a single run that cut their deficit to 6-1. That lead would stand until the eighth when they would cut the deficit to two runs with an error that scored Carlos Garcia and a two run double via Ryan O’Hearn. Unfortunately NW Arkansas could get no closer dropping the first two games of the three game series.

Boxscore Link

Corey Toups 1-3 2R, 2b, BB
Ryan O’Hearn 1-4 2b, 2 RBI
Bubba Starling 1-4 R, RBI

Winston-Salem Dash 18 Wilmington Blue Rocks 5

An ugly game for the Blue Rocks pitching staff Friday, surrendering five home runs and eighteen runs in a route. Reliever Luis Rico was knocked around the worst, giving up three home runs and eight runs in just two innings in relief of starter Josh Staumont who lasted just one and one-third innings before leaving with an illness. Most of Wilmington’s five runs were provided by Brandon Downes who scored a run and drove in three more on a pair of hits including his nineteenth double of the season.

Boxscore Link

Josh Staumont 1.1 IP 2 H 3 ER 3 BB 1 K 1-1 GO-FO 49p/20k
Raul Mondesi 1-4 R, BB
Brandon Downes 2-4 R, 2b, 3 RBI, BB

Rome Braves 3 Lexington Legends 1

The Legends lost a low scoring affair to even their series at one apiece. After Rome worked around a runner to score after he got on via a wildpitch strikeout the Legends answered quickly with Anderson Miller’s first home run of the season. The game remained tied until the seventh inning when starter Gerson Garabito yielded a two run home run that gave Rome the lead. The Latin righthander had pitched solidly up until that point working around three walks and a pair of singles in the first six innings of the effort. Those two runs were enough to put the game away as the Legends struggled to make contact, striking out 14 times while putting together just three hits. The home run for Miller extended his on base streak to fifteen games, he’s carried a .524 on base percentage in that time.

Boxscore Link

Anderson Miller 1-4 HR
Gerson Garabito 6 IP 3 H 3 ER 4 BB 3 K 5-8 GO-FO 78p/46k
Xavier Fernandez 1-3

Idaho Falls Chukars 5 Grand Junction Rockies 4

The Chukars walked off for the second night in a row to beat the Rockies. Trailing 2-0 the Chukars got their offense going after Kansas native Riley Pint left the game after his two scoreless innings, scoring three runs in the third inning with Tanner Stanley tripling to drive in one run and scoring for another. The Rockies would tie the game in the fifth and regain the lead in the eighth with a run off Alex Luna. That lead would hold until the ninth when a pair of Chukars base runners were driven in by Nick Heath when he ripped an RBI triple down the right field line.

Boxscore Link

Jace Vines 4 IP 3 H 2 ER 0 BB 3 K 10-0 GO-FO
Manny Olloque 2-4 2R, 2b
Nick Heath 2-4 R, 3b, 2 RBI

Burlington Royals 6 Bristol Pirates 4

The Royals finished a three game sweep of the Pirates with another solid pitching effort. It was Ofreidy Gomez earning 11 groundouts on this night while allowing just a pair of singles in his six inning outing. A four run sixth helped the Royals towards six runs to take the lead and the eventual win. Reliever Walker Sheller earned his first pro save with a scoreless ninth inning.

Boxscore Link

Emmanuel Rivera 2-4 R, RBI, BB
Vance Vizcaino 2-4 R, BB
Nicky Lopez 1-4 2R, BB, 2SB (6)

AZL Royals 9 AZL D-backs 0

A dominant wins on both sides of the diamond for the AZL Royals Friday night. Seven runs within the first three innings powered by a three run home run by Seuly Matias in the 2nd. Matias was part of a three run first also with one of two doubles in the inning. Pitcher Jorge Rodriguez was dominant in his five innings, allowing just two hits with a walk while striking out seven hitters to earn the win. Latin signee Jeison Guzman had a nice night with three hits, a pair of runs scored and a run batted in.

Boxscore Link

Seuly Matias 2-5 2R, 2b, HR, 3 RBI
Jorge Rodriguez 5 IP 2 H 0 R 1 BB 7 K 1-5 GO-FO
Jeison Guzman 3-4 2R, 2b, RBI

DSL Royals 2 DSL A’s 1

A pair of DSL pitchers made two fourth inning runs stand up in a close game. Starter Janser Lara was solid in his four innings, allowing just a hit and a pair of walks while striking out six before turning things over to Christopher Marte who finished off the final five innings. Catcher Paul Mondesi drove in both runs with a double in the fourth to give the Royals the win.

Paul Mondesi 1-3 2b, 2 RBI
Juan Peguero 1-2 R, 2b, BB
Janser Lara 4 IP 1 H 0 R 2 BB 6 K 2-2 GO-FO

HR Roll Call Angel Medina (1)

BP KC Hitter of the Day – DJ Burt 3-4 3R, BB, RBI

BP KC Pitcher of the Day – Franco Terrero 3.1 IP 3 H 1 R 0 ER 0 BB 3 K 3-1 GO-FO 38p/24k

DSL Royals 9 DSL Rays 1 

The Royals have a few bonus babies playing together in the Dominican Summer League this season after spending big money last year in Latin America. With five position players signed for $100k or more and four of those over $400k, including Seuly Matias who signed for $2.25m last July. With all that money spread over a number of players it makes  this one of the most loaded groups the Royals have ever assembled in the DSL at any one time. All that talent showed itself on this day, knocking out 12 hits while walking six times and scoring nine runs in their first game. Third baseman Angel Medina ($425k) had a big day, connecting on a two run home run while catcher Sebastian Rivera added four hits and scored a pair of runs. All told all nine players in the lineup reached base at least once while the pitching staff allowed just two hits in the game.

Boxscore Link

Seuly Matias 1-4 2b, RBI
Janser Lara ($200k) 1.2 IP 0 H 0 R 4 BB 3 K
Jeison Guzman ($1.5m) 1-4 2R, BB

Nashville Sounds 3 Omaha Storm Chasers 1

The Chasers left ten guys on base and the Sounds scored a pair in the first off Dillon Gee and were able to make that stand up with Omaha’s struggles to knock guys in. Gee was solid if unspectacular giving up three runs in six innings with four hits and a walk allowed while striking out four. Newcomer Joe Beimel tossed an inning of relief while Travis Snider was pulled following the injury to Cheslor Cuthbert for the major league team.

Boxscore Link

Hunter Dozier 1-4 2b
Jorge Bonifacio 1-3 BB
Christian Colon 0-5 2K

Winston-Salem Dash 6 Wilmington Blue Rocks 0 

For a second straight game the Rocks were held punchless versus a Winston-Salem starter. This time it was Brandon Brennan working a complete game shutout, refusing to give up an extra base hit while holding Wilmington to 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position. The Dash starters have now tossed back to back complete game shutouts to blank the Rocks and take a 2-1 series advantage in the four gamer. Starter Colin Rodgers gave up a pair of home runs while walking three in five innings to drop to 1-4 on the season. Infielder Wander Franco has finally got the bat going over his last 12 games after a difficult April and start of May, hitting .347 during that span with six doubles and a pair of home runs.

Boxscore Link

Wander Franco 2-4
Alfredo Escalera 2-4
Matt Tenuta 3 IP 3 H 1 ER 0 BB 3 K 1-2 GO-FO 43p/31k

Lakewood BlueClaws 9 Lexington Legends 5

The Legends dropped the first game of their series with the Phillies affiliate after Nolan Watson gave up 8 runs from the 2nd through 4th innings. The start for Watson is his sixth this season in which he has given up five runs or more. The Legends offense scored single runs in five different innings but were unable to put up a crooked number in any inning due to 11 strikeouts on offense that damaged a few different rallies.

Boxscore Link

Nolan Watson 3.2 IP 8 H 7 R 6 ER 1 BB 2 K 6-4 GO-FO 72p/45k
DJ Burt 3-4 3R, RBI, BB
Franco Terrero 3.1 IP 3 H 1 R 0 ER 0 BB 3 K 3-1 GO-FO 38p/24k

HR Roll Call Travis Snider (1)

BP KC Hitter of the Day – Travis Snider 2-3 HR, BB, 4 RBI

BP KC Pitcher of the Day – Kyle Bartsch 4 IP 2 H 1 ER 1 BB 2 K 7-2 GO-FO 49p/31k

Colorado Springs Sky Sox 13 Omaha Storm Chasers 9

The Storm Chasers have been left a little shorthanded after all the injuries in Kansas City and it showed Thursday night. After building a commanding 9-2 lead in Colorado Springs, the starter, bullpen and defense that had players playing in unfamiliar positions ran into trouble before giving up the lead and eventually the win. Lefty Jonathan Dziedzic couldn’t prevent the Sky Sox from making the comeback, giving up nine hits and three walks in giving up nine runs. Reliever Benino Pruneda struggled mightily with the strike zone, walking three in just one and one-third innings and taking the loss partly due to a fly ball to Angel Franco that was dropped in the outfield to surrender three runs. It was Franco’s first game ever playing in the outfield. The Storm Chasers have now dropped seven of their last eight games played.

Boxscore Link

Zane Evans 2-4 2 R, RBI
Hunter Dozier 2-4 2b, R, RBI
Travis Snider 2-3 R, HR, BB, 4 RBI

NW Arkansas Naturals 5 San Antonio Missions 1

The Naturals got a big relief appearance from lefty Kyle Bartsch when starter Alec Mills was forced to leave early after a ball deflected off his hand. Bartsch, who recently rejoined the Royals organization, gave the Naturals four innings in which he gave up just one run via a solo home run in the 5th inning. Prior to Kyle rejoining the Royals, he had a 8.31 ERA in his 10 appearances as part of the Padres Double-A farm system. He’s given up just that one run in his 9.2 innings and five appearances with the Naturals. On the offensive side, the bottom half of the lineup was the catalyst to the Naturals sweeping the Mission as Bubba Starling scored a pair of runs after connecting on a two extra base hits during the game. First baseman Frank Schwindel had another good night, driving in three runs with a sac fly and a two run single.

Boxscore Link

Cam Gallagher 2-3 R, BB
Corey Toups 2-5 R
Ryan O’Hearn 1-3 R

Lynchburg Hillcats 4 Wilmington Blue Rocks 2

The Rocks were left punchless in game two of their series with Lynchburg Thursday, connecting on just six singles and scoring two runs in the loss. Starter Josh Staumont continued his personal battle with the strike zone, walking four in four and one-third innings and giving up three hits and two runs in that time to take the loss. The smoke throwing righty did manage to put seven down via the K as he hit the zone with 50 of his 93 pitches.

Boxscore Link

Josh Staumont 4.1 IP 3 H 3 R 2 ER 4 BB 7 K 4-3 GO-FO 93p/50k
Robert Pehl 2-3 RBI
Humberto Arteaga 1-3 RBI, BB, SB (10)

HR Roll Call – Frank Schwindel (6)
BP Kansas City Hitter of the Day – Elier Hernandez: 3-4, 2B, R, 2 BB
BP Kansas City Pitcher of the Day – Jake Junis: 6.2 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K

Omaha Storm Chasers 2 Tacoma Rainiers 3

The Chasers got out to an early 2-0 lead after two innings, but only had one more scoring opportunity when they loaded the bases with one out in the fourth. Whit Merrifield proceeded to ground into a double play, and only one man reached base in the last five innings. Jonathan Dziedzic took the loss, surrendering a run in the fourth after a double, wild pitch, and sac fly, then he gave up a double and a dinger in the seventh, knocking him out of the game. Brett Eibner continued his offensive resurgence, going 1-3 with a walk, a stolen base, and a run scored.

Boxscore Link

Jose Martinez: 2-4, 6 hits in his last 4 games
Brett Eibner: 1-3, R, BB, SB
Travis Snider: 1-4, 2B, R

  Northwest Arkansas Naturals 7 Springfield Cardinals 2

Frank Schwindel’s second inning grand slam was more than enough offense in support of yet another solid start from Jake Junis. Following tonight’s 6.2 shutout innings, Junis has allowed just one run in his last 19.2 innings. The 23-year old righty also struck out six without walking a batter, and induced seven groundouts. On offense, the Naturals didn’t get much going for several innings after Schwindel’s blast, but Mauricio Ramos drove in a pair in the eighth with his third hit of the night, and Bubba Starling added an RBI double in the ninth – his league-leading 12th of the season. Benino Pruneda struck out four in 2.1 innings of relief work.

Boxscore Link

Jake Junis: 6.2 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K
Frank Schwindel: 1-4, GS, 4 RBI
Mauricio Ramos: 3-4, R, 2 RBI,

  Wilmington Blue Rocks 7 Salem Red Sox 8 (10)

Despite a 15-hit explosion from the offense, the Rocks dropped another game, this one thanks to a walkoff single from Red Sox prospect Andrew Benintendi in the first extra frame. Every hitter reached base at least once, and six Rocks collected multiple hits on the evening. The Sox jumped all over Matt Tenuta, scoring two in the first, three in the third, and one more in the fourth inning. While the bullpen handed out eight (!) free passes over the following five innings, they only allowed two runs, which gave Wilmington their chance to come back in the ninth inning. Down two runs, and down to their final out, Austin Bailey and Alfredo Escalera hit back-to-back singles, before being driven in on a triple from Humberto Arteaga. They couldn’t capitalize on a two on, one out situation in the tenth, and Benintendi’s single sent everyone home.

Boxscore Link

Wander Franco: 2-5, 2B, R, 2 RBI
Corey Toups: 2-4, R, 2 BB, SB (6)
Elier Hernandez: 3-4, 2B, R, 2 BB

   Charleston RiverDogs 5 Lexington Legends 1

Nolan Watson struck out a career-high six batters in his four innings of work, but he also gave up two home runs in the first inning, and the Legends were unable to produce any kind of offense to pick up the former first-rounder. Watson’s ERA now stands at 10.52. An ERA starting with a one is good, but not if it’s followed by three more numbers. He did only issue one walk, and 41 of his 69 pitches went for strikes, so perhaps this can get him going. Offensively, the Legends collected just six hits, three of which left the bat of Amalani Fukofuka. The RiverDogs scored two more runs against Niklas Stephenson in the eighth, putting the game out of reach.

Boxscore Link

Amalani Fukofuka: 3-4, RBI
Nolan Watson: 4 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
Chase Vallot: 1-3, 2B, throwing error (6), 2 SB allowed

HR Roll Call — Jorge Bonifacio (4), Hunter Dozier (5), Samir Duenez 2 (3), Brett Eibner (1), Chase Vallot (5)

BP Kansas City Hitter of the Day — Samir Duenez: 4-5, 2 HR, 3 R, 2 RBI

BP Kansas City Pitcher of the Day — Eric Skoglund: 7 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K

Omaha Storm Chasers 10, Oklahoma City Dodgers 2

This was supposed to be a delicious pitching matchup between Miguel Almonte and one of the Dodgers’ top prospects, Julio Urias. Instead, OKC decided to start Zach Lee and use Urias in a piggyback role. The fans’ loss was the Storm Chasers’ gain, as Omaha battered Lee for 10 runs in the first four innings. Bonifacio got the scoring started with a two-run homer in the first. He would add an RBI single in Omaha’s five-run fourth inning. Brett Eibner hit a two-run homer of his own, and Travis Snider drove in three runs. Meanwhile, Almonte was limited only by pitch count, as he left after 100 pitches and 5 2/3 innings. He lowered his ERA to 3.45 and racked up eight strikeouts while allowing five hits and three walks.

Boxscore link

Jorge Bonifacio: 3-5, HR, 3 R, 3 RBI
Cheslor Cuthbert: 2-4, 2 R, 1 RBI
Whit Merrifield: 1-4, BB, 2B, 2 R, 1 RBI

Northwest Arkansas Naturals 4, Springfield Cardinals 1

The Naturals scored three runs in the top of the 10th for a 4-1 win. Northwest Arkansas began the 10th with singles from Mauricio Ramos and Frank Schwindel. But they were still at first and second with two outs when Ramon Torres drew a walk. Orlando Calixte singled. A Springfield error on the play allowed all three runners to score. Yender Caramo worked around a one-out single in the bottom of the inning for his first save. The game started as a pitchers’ duel between the Naturals’ Eric Skoglund and Springfield’s Corey Baker. The Cardinals scored their only run in the second. The Naturals didn’t get on the board until Hunter Dozier led off the seventh with his fifth home run of the year.

Boxscore link

Kevin McCarthy: W (1-0), 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K
Mauricio Ramos: 3-4
Ramon Torres: 1-3, BB, 1 R

Lexington Legends 6, Carolina Fireflies 5

The Legends scored three runs in the eighth for a 6-5 win at Carolina. Lexington entered the inning facing a 5-3 deficit, but Duenez belted his second home run of the night to cut the deficit to one. Chase Vallot followed with a walk, and a Carolina error put runners at first and third. Ben Johnson singled to score Vallot and tie the score. Although Xavier Fernandez tried a bunt that turned into a double play, Cody Jones doubled to score Johnson with the go-ahead run. Lexington overcame a poor start by Scott Blewett, who allowed four runs in five innings. Kyle Kubat picked up the win in relief, pitching four innings and allowing one run. Vallot added a home run, his fifth of the year.

Boxscore link

Scott Blewett: 5 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K
Ben Johnson: 2-4, 2B, 1 R, 2 RBI
Chase Vallot: 1-4, HR, BB, 2 R, 1 RBI

Ian Kennedy came out to start his 4th inning of work, but after warming up, is leaving with trainer Nick Kenney. Will update when available.

— Josh Vernier (@JoshVernier610) March 30, 2016

The depth of the pitching in general and the starters specifically has been the subject of much bandwidth this spring. It’s kind of ridiculous to test that depth before the season even starts. Word came quickly Kennedy had a tight hamstring and left the game as a precaution. We’ve heard those words before. Gulp.

Kennedy doesn’t believe his Tue. start is in jeopardy. Says it feels totally different than the hamstring injury that sidelined him in ’15. — Josh Vernier (@JoshVernier610) March 30, 2016

And exhale.

That moment – in an exhibition game for crying out loud – underscores the fragility of the rotation. It’s not just the Royals in this position. Every team feels the same way. Depth is a good thing to have. And then you have to use it.

The Royals have already announced their starting rotation for the first week or so of the season.

Sunday vs. Mets – Edinson Volquez
Tuesday vs. Mets – Kennedy
Friday vs. Twins – Yordano Ventura
Saturday vs. Twins – Chris Young
Sunday vs. Twins – Volquez

From there your two, three, and four starters fall into line and will be backed up by Kris Medlen in the fifth spot. The Royals don’t have an off day the second week of the season, traveling to Houston for four games and Oakland for three, so Medlen figures to make his rotation debut on April 14 against the Astros.

Naturally, that all is dependent upon the health of Kennedy’s hamstring. For now, everything seems hunky dory and the rotation remains set. The possible fallout could come in the form of carrying a 12-man pitching staff straight out of the gate as coverage. Also, if necessary the Royals could skip Kennedy, move everyone forward a spot, and have Medlen pitch the Saturday game. We’ll see.

I know the Royals made mention of giving Ventura the opportunity to fully recover from a bout with the flu, and from his start on Monday, it looks like he needs it. It’s also smart player management. The series with the Mets figures to be heated. Maybe not, but the potential is there. After the fireworks to start the last season, it just makes sense to have Ventura make his first start of the season on a Friday night against the Twins. Let him enjoy the festivities for two days, take a couple days off, and then get down to business.

— On Tuesday the Royals announced they released outfielder Travis Snider from his minor league contract. Snyder hit .262/.295/.405 in 42 spring at bats, but the emergence of Reymond Fuentes and Whit Merrifield guaranteed Snider wouldn’t break camp with the big league club.

Reports indicate the Royals would like to re-sign him for Triple-A outfield depth.

— Jarrod Dyson won’t be staying behind for extended spring training, but will be traveling with the team back to Kansas City before reporting for a rehab assignment.

Dyson is currently taking swings off a tee and probably won’t take full batting practice until sometime next week. He’s still reporting some discomfort, but it sounds like he will miss a minimum of two weeks once the season starts, although it could be a little longer to recover his timing since he missed the entire exhibition schedule.

On Tuesday, we looked at how the pitching staff might be managed early in April. As I noted at the time, the entire point of carrying less pitchers very early on was to free up roster spots for position players. Less explained was a theory that having more options on the bench might present Ned Yost with more opportunities to get his team in a better position to win a close game late. As demonstrated in that column, the Royals would be able to carry one or two extra bench players for at least the first six games of the season.

Six games in April, you say? With a manager who seldom uses his bench? Seems like a lot of maneuvering for just a few games where the extra bodies might not even get utilized, right?

First off, the Royals have ‘people’ to do the maneuvering.  If they have to pay for a few extra plane tickets from Arizona and some mileage from Omaha, they can probably deal with it. If the front office has to email the league office a little more than usual in April to document a higher number of transactions, I am pretty sure there is an employee sitting at 1 Royal Way who can do that quite efficiently. If the Royals go through all these motions, end up playing in six games that are all decided by five runs or more and don’t get any benefit (or even any use) from their maneuvers, what is the harm?

All of this, including my time writing and your time reading, could be for nothing. The right set of circumstances could quite possibly never arise. That said, if Salvador Perez doubles in the bottom of the 9th two Sunday nights from now in a tie game, wouldn’t it be nice if Ned Yost had the luxury of putting Terrance Gore on second and to call on a lefty to pinch hit for Omar Infante in an attempt to drive the winning run in?  If the Kansas City Royals can give themselves a little extra edge for even a handful of games, they should do it and the schedule allows them that very opportunity.

Okay, let’s start with the guys we know.

Salvador Perez will catch, Kendrys Morales will be designated to hit and the rest of the regulars, as you already know, will be Hosmer, Infante, Escobar, Moustakas, Gordon, Cain and Paulo Orlando. Christian Colon who almost certainly has lost the second base job, almost certainly has won the utility infield position. There will be a backup catcher, probably Butera, and it certainly sounds as though Whit Merrifield has won a roster spot as well. The Royals will take another outfielder as well and Rey Fuentes seems to be the guy. That is thirteen and the likely thirteen that will stick with the team once we get done screwing around with the roster on April 12th.

We are going to visit the entire who is and is not on the 40 man roster towards the end of this column, as it will have a real impact on the options available to the Royals in regard to all these shenanigans.  For now, though, let’s move forward with what we would like to have and work our way back to some semblance of reality.

The pitching staff portion of this equation done on Tuesday had the Royals starting the season with just 10 pitchers.  Actually, they could do it with just 9, but that is so very far from a possibility that I have given up on the idea since Part 1 was done. Ten pitchers gives you room for fifteen position players, which is two extra. The first one is easy and obvious and, heck, already mentioned: Terrance Gore.

Outside of Cain, Orlando and Escobar, the Royals could use Gore as a pinch runner for anyone else who got on base. Perez and Morales are obvious ones, but in the right circumstance (such as the one described above), I could see him subbing in for even Hosmer, Gordon, Moustakas and Infante as well. He is simply a game changer on the bases, an extra base waiting to happen or, in more dramatic terms, he is the one guy who almost instantly gets the winning run 90 feet closer to home. Better yet, Gore is on the 40-man roster.

Let me go on record right now: short of some roster congestion that my feeble mind cannot comprehend, the Royals would be foolish not to carry Gore in lieu of a pitcher for at least the first three games of the year. Before we moved over here, I even wrote a piece that speculated on whether they should keep Gore on the 25-man roster for the entire season. That theory is a little tough to get completely on board with, but having Gore in the majors the first week is an easy one.

The other extra spot, I think, goes to Travis Snider. He has not earned it, but he hits from the left side and does so with pop (on the somewhat rare occasion that he, you know, HITS the ball). Yost has not and will not use many pinch hitters, but if he were to use one it would likely be a left-handed hitting one (Colon and Merrifield hit right-handed). I’m thinking in terms of hitting for Infante or for Orlando if he had already been cycled in for a previously used Fuentes. The other case would be if the Royals did pinch run Gore for Morales only to see that spot come back up in the batting order in extra innings.

Other options for this spot would be third catcher Tony Cruz, Clint Barmes, Cody Decker or, and this would be extremely unlikely, Raul Mondesi. You could see Mondesi being another speed guy to insert on the bases who could also play defense at three infield spots, but it is hard to see the Royals wasting a few days of service time to go this route for less than a week. If you don’t like Snider’s bat, you sure as heck don’t like the sticks wielded by the first three guys named – not to mention they are all right-handed hitters as well.

Now, three catchers for just a week maybe comes into play if, again a big if, Gore has run for Perez and Butera comes up.  The Royals could pinch-hit Colon or Fuentes and then have Cruz to catch. I don’t like this scenario as much as carrying Snider or someone similar who theoretically hits a little better than Cruz. Simply put, the likelihood of using Snider to pinch hit seems higher than using three catchers in one game. However, Cruz is on the 40-man roster.

Ah, the 40-man roster. Remember when we used to joke about Dayton Moore’s angst over potentially losing a marginal major league player when it came to making space on the roster? No joke this year, folks. There is not much fat to trim on the 40-man roster.

A likely option would be moving Tim Collins onto the 60-day disabled list. His current timetable projects Collins to return sometime in May. Sixty days is not much beyond that and, realistically, ‘returning’ is not the same as ‘ready to pitch in the majors.’ It is a relatively painless way to free up a spot, one that is most likely going to Merrifield.

Now, whether it is for Snider or for a seventh reliever (Duensing/Wang) the Royals would need to find another spot. It will not be an easy decision and perhaps points even more to carrying Tony Cruz as the third catcher for just a few days. The theory would be that it might be easier to get Cruz through waivers several days to a week into the season than just prior to the start of the year.  One could make a case that the best use of the extra 25 man roster spot or two might simply be to stash players you are afraid of losing for just a little while longer.

Whatever the reason and however used – be it for extra late inning ammunition or in an attempt to hold onto the every vaunted ‘inventory’ – the Royals would be remiss to not use the very odd early schedule to their advantage.