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Royals camp report
SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Five things to know about the Kansas City Royals:
1. Most noticeable thing about new manager Trey Hillman is his attention to detail, something the Royals can definitely use. He held several position players back for a postgame meeting after one Cactus League game last week to go over a handful of base-running mistakes and get that fixed. "I really like him," left fielder Mark Teahen says. "He's really energetic, and easy to talk to. He'll come find you. The communication is great. He's holding us to a higher standard. Some guys might see that as more college style, but with the age of our team, I think it's good."
2. Veteran starters Brett Tomko and Hideo Nomo are here in camp as stopgaps while young Royals stockpile young pitching prospects. Gil Meche, Brian Bannister and Zack Greinke are the top three starters and then, after that, the competition is on. Nomo hasn't pitched in the majors since 2005 but is throwing reasonably well, comparatively speaking (which is either a tribute to him or a condemnation on the lack of quality here). Among those competing for the No. 4 and 5 slots are Tomko, Nomo, Luke Hochevar, Kyle Davies and John Bale. "Last year we were coming off of having the worst staff (ERA-wise) in the history of the Royals, and the worst staff in baseball," general manager Dayton Moore says. "Thanks to our scouts and Buddy's staff (former manager Buddy Bell), we were seventh in the AL last year. We're still not where we need to be, but we're better."
3. Among several other reasons to believe that the Royals will be better than their 2007 record of 69-93 (their best in five years!): You've got to figure third baseman Alex Gordon won't hit .173 in April and .195 in May again. Gordon was hitting .173 with only three homers and eight RBI through his first 53 games, and just .129 in his first 43 plate appearances with runners in scoring position. He ended up at .287 with runners in scoring position during the rest of the year. "His demeanor remained consistent, and his teammates continued to believe in him and the coaching staff continued to believe in him," Moore says. "Believe me, we asked a lot of questions and really pressed our coaching staff on whether Alex should stay here or go down, and they all felt very strongly about him staying here. It was important for him to meet the challenges he was facing."
4. The Royals were 21-22 in one-run games last season and 6-20 in two-run games. Significance? "One of the best things about our development last year as a baseball team was that we were in games late, and therefore the concentration level had to be there all game," Moore says. Meaning, there weren't many occasions where the game was decided by the sixth inning and the young Royals spent the last three innings thinking about whether to stop at Steak 'n' Shake or McDonald's on the way home. They mostly were forced to focus hard through game's end, which Moore hopes helps speed the education process.
5. Meche on the 2008 Royals: "The biggest key is Gordon and all those young guys who struggled at the beginning of last year suddenly are figuring things out. They're figuring out how guys pitch them, different pitch sequences. I know nobody is counting us in this year, but I think if we take care of our own things on the field, things will work out."