https://theathletic.com/2412495/2021...oster-mailbag/
Royals lineup construction, Daniel Lynch and more: Spring training mailbag
by
Alec Lewis
SURPRISE, Ariz. — The first week of full spring training workouts is coming to a close, so we thought it’d be valuable to solve some Royals mysteries.
There are questions about how the lineup will be constructed. Questions about the plan for Daniel Lynch. Questions about prospects who may surprise throughout this 2021 season.
There are answers, too, so let’s not waste any time. Thanks to all of you who sent in questions. We’ll do this again soon.
Note: Submitted questions have been edited for clarity and length.
Originally Posted by :
How does the feeling around this spring training differ from years past? Do you feel the positive momentum will carry into April and beyond? — Evan C.
The best way to describe what I’ve seen is a focus. There’s no music blaring as the players work out. There’s little chatter between reps in the infield or at the plate. The other day, first-base coach Rusty Kuntz was directing a group of Royals on one backfield. The drill required running around the bases. It’d be easy for established players like Salvador Perez or Whit Merrifield to lollygag a drill like this. But they didn’t jog or goof off. They ran around the bases intently, no matter that this was on a backfield in February.
That, to me, explains the feeling. And I do think it’s a byproduct of momentum after the way the Royals finished the season and the moves the front office made early in the offseason — and from the Andrew Benintendi trade that capped things off. The Royals might not have scripted it this way, but it seems as if they’re benefitting from it, and it’s hard to think that won’t help in the season’s early stages.
Is there really a chance left-handed pitching prospect Daniel Lynch comes out of spring training in our starting rotation? What would it take? Or is the plan written in stone for Lynch to start the year in the minors? — Ken Z.
I’m writing this about an hour after I watched Lynch throw a live bullpen session. Here’s how those sessions work for folks who don’t know: A pitcher steps on the mound and throws 20-25 pitches toward a catcher. Hitters stand in the box and attempt to do their thing. Lynch, whom The Athletic’s Keith Law ranked the No. 17 prospect in MLB, made that difficult.
His fastball was humming in front of Royals chairman and CEO John Sherman, front-office members and manager Mike Matheny. I didn’t get a velocity reading, but those fastballs looked to have some movement, and hitters were struggling with it.
As far as the rotation goes, the thing to think about here is innings. Lynch only threw 96 1/3 innings in 2019. It was tough to gauge workload last season without minor-league baseball, but it’s hard to imagine he upped his previous total with, say, the equivalent of 120 innings in 2020. Without that progression, there’s no way he could be called upon for a full-season starting load of about 140 innings in 2021. Putting him in the rotation out of the gate would mean he’d be unavailable late in the year; Keller pitched 165 1/3 innings in 2019 and was still shut down. So for the Royals to have Lynch at the most important part of the season, it just may not make sense to start him right away.
What’s your best guess as to where the newcomers hit in the lineup? — Ryan K.
We received tons of questions about the lineup and understandably so. This will become a full story, so I’ll save some for that.
In the meantime, I think it’d make sense to see Benintendi in the No. 2 hole behind Merrifield, which would mean a right-left start. Then you could have Carlos Santana in the No. 3 hole. Imagine how treacherous a first inning that’d be for opposing pitchers: You face Merrifield, who is going to grind through an at-bat, then you face Benintendi and Santana, who will, too.
That type of OBP could pave the way for hitters such as Jorge Soler, Perez, Hunter Dozier and Adalberto Mondesi to do serious damage.
What is something from this season that is going to be written in the Royals history books? — Zach H.
I’m tempted to say Carlos Santana’s walks, but he’d have to get 123 to surpass John Mayberry’s single-season team record set in 1973. Another option would be to say Merrifield will have his career-best batting average, meaning he’d have to top .304. But my answer here is going to be about Mondesi: He will do something statistically positive this season that will be remembered forever.
Is anyone talking about new approaches to their game, similar to the year Alcides Escobar conveyed he wanted to hit home runs? — Ryan B.
No, but I have something for you within this context. At the end of 2019, Nicky Lopez talked about wanting to bulk up and add power to his game, similar to the way Merrifield had. It made sense within the trends of the game. Power rewards hitters. The problem is that it’s a drastic shift, and the focus on the longball can affect other parts of a hitter’s game.
And for Lopez it did. He whiffed 21.1 percent of the time in 2020 — up from 15.2 percent in 2019. He’s since readjusted to the hitter he had been; moving guys over, driving the ball to the gaps, making pitchers work. He’s shortened his swing, which the Royals believe will benefit both him and the club this season and beyond.
Getting more competitive at-bats along with his Gold Glove-caliber defense up the middle will assuredly benefit the Royals.
The Royals look pretty strong at the plate in terms of a top-nine, but the depth is pretty thin afterward. How strong is “pretty strong” and how thin is “pretty thin” in your eyes? — Daniel L.
This is a good take.
The Royals’ lineup is set; maybe not the order so much as the players who will be in it. The issues are going to come if injuries occur. If Santana has a nagging injury, a player such as Ryan O’Hearn could fill in. If it’s Lopez at second base, Hanser Alberto could fit the bill. If it’s in the outfield, though, the Royals will be going from reliability (Merrifield, Michael A. Taylor and Benintendi) to a lack thereof (Nick Heath, Kyle Isbel, etc.). That doesn’t mean the fill-ins aren’t capable; Isbel could certainly prove to be an everyday big-league starter.
It’s just that element that makes the depth “pretty thin.”
Do you have any understanding of whether general manager Dayton Moore is looking to extend Benintendi should he perform well? Or is this seen as a move to strengthen the team in only the short term? — Ian M.
There are a few answers Moore seemingly delivers as if by rote, and one is about extensions. I’m going to give it a go:
We’re going to do everything we can to keep our good young players here for as long as possible.
In Benintendi’s case, it’s first going to be about performance. Does he bounce back? Does he improve beyond what he’s been able to do in the big leagues? Then the dollar figures will come into play. How much will he want? (His agent, Casey Close, is one of the best in the game.) This was a move about the short term, but it could turn into the long term. It’s just way too early to tell.
Can you talk to me about Alec Zumwalt — what is he working on with the hitters? — Gavin A.
For those who do not know, Zumwalt is the Royals’ director of hitting performance. Truth be told, Gavin, we don’t see the in-the-cage work. But I can say he was throwing batting practice Wednesday when Seuly Matias hit a ball toward the light pole, as well as when Bobby Witt Jr., Kyle Isbel and Nick Pratto put dents in the pavement beyond the outfield wall.
How much leash does Greg Holland have and is Josh Staumont next? — Matt P.
Let’s use this question more to make a broader point: Thinking about the closer role is somewhat a thing of the past. For so many years managers used traditional closers and it made sense, right? Put your best arm at the end of the game to close it out. Here’s the issue with that: Sometimes you need your best arm in the highest-leverage point in the sixth inning. Or the seventh. Or the fourth. Games are so often lost in those moments.
With that aside, I don’t think there’s any leash on Holland as a pivotal piece in the bullpen. Simultaneously, I don’t think Staumont is next. He’s present. He’s a pivotal piece, too. If hitters struggle against a tight-moving slider, Holland might fit the bill in that situation. If a hitter can’t catch up to a 102 mph fastball, Staumont might slide into that role. It’s a chess match. It’s mix-and-match.
That’s the modern way of doing things.
Mr. L, How is Kyle Zimmer’s health? He closed ’20 on the injured list, I believe. — Terry P.
Answering this is a nod to Andy McCullough above all else. He’s the OG recipient of this question. It wouldn’t be right to answer it without a shoutout.
On a serious note: You’re right. Zimmer pitched an inning on Sept. 22 against the St. Louis Cardinals but had a “zinger,” essentially the feeling of an electric shock through the arm. He’d had one earlier in the season, so the Royals put him through tests after the game. The results revealed good news, but the Royals remained cautious; Zimmer didn’t pitch again in 2020.
He is healthy now, though. He threw a live Thursday on the backfields. His heater was hissing. The slider was working. He should be a reliable piece in the 2021 bullpen.
With three roster spots open on the 40-man roster as well as the fact they have three catchers without options available, do you foresee Dayton making another trade prior to the season or are they saving the open spots strictly for non-roster invitees? — Booten C.
It’s hard, in my line of work, to “foresee” a trade. I’d love to be able to but I don’t yet have those powers. On serious terms, no, I don’t think another trade is on the horizon before the season. Wade Davis, Ervin Santana, Brad Brach, Hanser Alberto, Bubba Starling and others are all non-roster invitees. It seems as if a few of them will finalize the 40-man roster. Meibrys Viloria, one of those three catchers who is out of options, is the type of guy who could sneak through waivers.
With the Benintendi and Taylor signings, what are the chances Starling makes the Opening Day roster? — Matt K.
This is a good question. The Royals are going to need outfield depth. Starling makes sense as an option and potential late-game defensive replacement, at minimum. He’d have to be added to the 40-man, which might affect the depth, but it wouldn’t be the most surprising thing. That said, current 40-man players such as Nick Heath or Edward Olivares might have better shots.
Who are some off-the-radar names that you could see moving quickly through the minors? — Jared S.
Erick Peña, a left-handed-hitting outfielder from the 2019 international signing class, is one. Angel Zerpa is another. Clay Dungan, a ninth-round pick from the 2019 MLB Draft, hasn’t played above short-season Idaho Falls. He could move. Nick Loftin, a first-round pick from the 2020 MLB Draft, is another.
Do you think Erick Peña will find his way on top-100 prospect lists by the end of this season? — Jared S.
I do. He’s bigger than he was last season, and in live batting practice against high-end arms, he’s held his own. Peña could be really special.
In your experience, what has been the toughest part about being a beat writer for a Major League Baseball team? — David S.
I’m not one to dwell on the tough parts of something — it can only make things tougher — but I think I’ll use this space to discuss the last year or so. The COVID-19 pandemic has distanced us, reporters and writers, from the people we cover. That, in turn, can tend to affect the types of stories that are told. Sometimes stories bubbled up through a meaningless conversation in the clubhouse. Other times, relationships would form, leading to more in-depth work. That has been the most difficult part for me, someone who wants to tell the stories of the humans these guys are, what they’ve had to go through to get to where they are as people.
But again, I’m not one to dwell on it.
Spring training has arrived. I’m in Surprise, Ariz., around the people we cover. It’s been a blast.
The hope is that that will come through in these stories for weeks to come.
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