Royals Spring Training Update

Royals Spring Training is now in full swing in Surprise, Arizona, with minor league camp also officially beginning on Monday. Several Storm Chasers players from past years are looking to take advantage of opportunities with the Big League club to secure their spot on the defending World Series champions' roster.

One of the early Spring Training storylines for the Royals is the fifth outfielder position, with 2015 Storm Chasers alums Reymond Fuentes and Pacific Coast League batting champion Jose Martinez among those battling for that spot. Coming into Thursday both have played in six games thus far and own matching .400 batting averages, recording four hits in ten at bats. The early injury of Jarrod Dyson also creates an opportunity for those players, with Dyson expected to be out several weeks due to a strained oblique suffered in the Royals' first Spring Training camp.

Not to be ignored, outfielder Whit Merrifield has also gotten off to a nice start in the spring, posting a .375 clip (3-8) through six contests, adding three runs along with a triple and one RBI. Fellow outfielder Brett Eibner has also been a name that has come up for the fifth outfielder battle, and has compiled a .182 mark (2-11) with two runs, though he has displayed solid patience by drawing five walks for a .438 on-base percentage.

Several pitchers have dazzled early on in Major League action, including 2015 southpaw Scott Alexander, who has yielded only one hit over 4.1 shutout frames to produce a .077 batting average against and 0.46 WHIP. 2013 Storm Chasers pitcher and top Royals pitching prospect Kyle Zimmer has been solid over his two starts thus far, recording a 1.80 ERA (1 ER/5.0 IP) with four strikeouts early on. Right-hander Miguel Almonte entered Thursday pacing the club with seven strikeouts over five innings in his two appearances thus far, surrendering a lone earned run.

Many eyes have been focused on former Nebraska commit and Royals first round pick Bubba Starling this Spring, with the outfielder smashing an inside-the-park home run for his first hit of Big League camp on Tuesday, displaying his speed and power in one swing. Former Chasers OF Jorge Bonifacio also owns a longball in the spring, tallying a .273 clip (3-11) in eight games, adding four runs, one double and one RBI.

The best single-game performance of the spring belongs to outfielder Alex Gordon, who smacked four hits in as many at bats on Wednesday, which included a roundtripper. Of the Royals' nine home runs so far in Spring Training action, six have been crushed by Storm Chasers alums, including Bonifacio, Gordon, Eric Hosmer, Parker Morin, Mike Moustakas and Paulo Orlando. Orlando is considered by many to be the frontrunner for the starting right field spot with the injury to Dyson.

See below for a full listing of Royals statistics thus far in the spring entering play on Friday, March 11. Players whose names are in bold have previously played for the Storm Chasers.

BATTERS   AVG G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS OBP SLG OPS SF SH HBP E Barmes, Clint .250 5 12 1 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .308 .417 .724 0 0 1 0 Bonifacio, Jorge .308 9 13 6 4 2 0 1 3 2 5 0 0 .400 .692 1.092 0 0 0 0 Butera, Drew .231 6 13 2 3 0 0 2 4 2 3 0 0 .333 .692 1.026 0 0 0 0 Cain, Lorenzo .182 5 11 1 2 1 0 0 0 1 5 0 0 .308 .273 .580 0 0 1 0 Calixte, Orlando .231 7 13 4 3 0 1 0 2 0 2 0 0 .231 .385 .615 0 0 0 0 Coleman, Dusty .222 6 9 1 2 1 1 0 1 1 4 0 0 .300 .556 .856 0 0 0 0 Colon, Christian .000 8 17 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 2 0 0 .190 .000 .190 0 0 1 0 Cruz, Tony .000 6 14 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 Cuthbert, Cheslor .333 3 6 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 .429 .333 .762 0 0 1 1 Decker, Cody .250 6 12 3 3 1 0 1 1 1 4 0 0 .357 .583 .940 0 0 1 0 Dozier, Hunter .333 6 12 4 4 1 0 0 0 1 5 0 0 .385 .417 .801 0 0 0 0 Dyson, Jarrod .000 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 Eibner, Brett .182 8 11 3 2 0 0 0 0 6 3 0 0 .471 .182 .652 0 0 0 0 Escalera, Alfredo .000 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 Escobar, Alcides .125 3 8 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 .222 .250 .472 0 0 1 0 Evans, Zane .500 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .500 .500 1.000 0 0 0 0 Fuenmayor, Balbino .182 6 11 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 .250 .182 .432 0 0 1 0 Fuentes, Reymond .417 7 12 2 5 1 0 0 1 2 2 1 1 .533 .500 1.033 0 0 1 0 Fukofuka, Amalani .000 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 1 Gordon, Alex .412 6 17 2 7 0 0 1 2 2 4 0 0 .474 .588 1.062 0 0 0 1 Gore, Terrance .250 4 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 .250 .250 .500 0 0 0 0 Hernandez, Elier 1.000 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1.000 1.000 2.000 0 0 0 0 Hosmer, Eric .333 6 12 1 4 1 0 1 5 2 1 0 0 .375 .667 1.042 2 0 0 1 Infante, Omar .000 2 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .125 .000 .125 0 0 0 0 Martinez, Jose .417 7 12 0 5 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .417 .500 .917 0 0 0 0 Merrifield, Whit .400 7 10 4 4 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 .417 .700 1.117 1 0 0 1 Mondesi, Raul .250 8 12 1 3 1 0 0 3 0 1 1 0 .250 .333 .583 0 0 0 0 Moon, Logan .000 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 Morales, Kendrys .308 5 13 0 4 1 0 0 2 1 2 0 0 .357 .385 .742 0 0 0 0 Morin, Parker .250 6 4 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 2 0 0 .250 1.000 1.250 0 0 0 0 Moustakas, Mike .583 5 12 1 7 4 0 1 5 1 1 0 0 .615 1.167 1.782 0 1 0 0 O'Hearn, Ryan 1.000 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000 1.000 2.000 0 0 0 0 Orlando, Paulo .294 7 17 1 5 1 0 1 2 0 2 0 0 .294 .529 .824 0 0 0 0 Perez, Salvador .059 5 17 0 1 0 0 0 2 1 2 0 0 .158 .059 .217 0 0 1 0 Ramos, Mauricio .000 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 Snider, Travis .167 6 12 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 5 0 0 .231 .167 .397 0 0 0 0 Starling, Bubba .133 6 15 2 2 0 0 1 3 0 4 0 0 .133 .333 .467 0 0 0 0 Torres, Ramon .273 7 11 1 3 0 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 .273 .273 .545 0 1 0 1 Toups, Corey .000 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 0 0 0 0 Total .244 11 360 46 88 20 3 10 42 29 75 4 4 .314 .400 .714 3 2 9 7

 

PITCHERS   W L ERA G GS SV SVO IP H R ER HR HB BB SO WP WHIP AVG HLD Alexander, Scott 0 0 0.00 4 0 0 0 4.1 1 0 0 0 1 1 2 0 0.46 .077 1 Almonte, Miguel 0 0 1.80 2 0 0 0 5.0 5 1 1 0 0 1 7 0 1.20 .263 1 Binford, Christian 0 1 11.25 2 0 0 0 4.0 6 7 5 1 0 1 5 0 1.75 .316 0 Culver, Malcom 0 0 0.00 1 0 1 1 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 .000 0 Davis, Wade 0 0 0.00 1 0 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.00 .000 1 Duensing, Brian 0 0 4.50 4 0 0 0 4.0 4 2 2 0 0 0 6 0 1.00 .267 1 Duffy, Danny 1 0 7.20 2 0 0 0 5.0 7 4 4 2 2 1 2 1 1.60 .333 0 Dziedzic, Jonathan 0 0 3.86 2 0 0 1 2.1 3 1 1 0 0 0 2 0 1.29 .300 0 Flynn, Brian 1 0 3.00 3 0 0 1 3.0 5 1 1 1 0 0 3 0 1.67 .417 0 Gee, Dillon 1 0 0.00 1 0 0 0 2.0 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1.00 .167 0 Herrera, Kelvin 0 0 4.50 2 0 0 0 2.0 3 1 1 0 0 0 1 0 1.50 .333 2 Hochevar, Luke 0 0 0.00 2 0 0 0 2.0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0.50 .000 0 Huff, David 1 1 9.00 3 0 0 0 4.0 8 4 4 1 0 0 1 0 2.00 .471 0 Kennedy, Ian 0 0 3.60 2 2 0 0 5.0 6 2 2 1 0 1 4 0 1.40 .300 0 Lannan, John 0 0 0.00 3 0 0 1 3.0 4 2 0 0 0 1 1 1 1.67 .286 0 Medlen, Kris 0 0 0.00 1 1 0 0 2.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0.00 .000 0 Mills, Alec 0 0 0.00 2 0 0 0 4.0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 0 0.25 .000 2 Moylan, Peter 0 1 4.50 4 0 0 0 4.0 3 2 2 0 1 4 6 1 1.75 .250 2 Nina, Aroni 0 0 6.00 3 0 0 0 3.0 3 2 2 1 1 2 2 0 1.67 .273 1 Ohlendorf, Ross 0 1 13.50 4 0 1 1 4.0 8 6 6 3 0 1 3 0 2.25 .400 0 Pounders, Brooks 0 1 18.00 3 0 0 0 3.0 7 7 6 1 0 1 1 2 2.67 .438 0 Selman, Sam 0 0 3.00 3 0 1 2 3.0 1 1 1 1 0 2 1 0 1.00 .100 0 Soria, Joakim 0 0 0.00 1 0 0 0 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 .000 1 Strahm, Matt 0 0 0.00 2 1 0 0 4.2 2 2 0 0 0 1 4 0 0.64 .125 1 Ventura, Yordano 0 0 5.40 2 2 0 0 5.0 6 3 3 0 0 0 4 0 1.20 .286 0 Volquez, Edinson 1 1 1.93 2 2 0 0 4.2 2 1 1 0 1 2 4 0 0.86 .125 0 Wang, Chien-Ming 0 0 0.00 2 0 0 0 3.0 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.67 .200 1 Young, Chris 0 0 4.50 1 1 0 0 2.0 3 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 2.00 .375 0 Zimmer, Kyle 0 0 1.80 2 2 0 0 5.0 6 1 1 0 0 0 4 0 1.20 .316 0 Total 5 6 4.13 11 11 3 7 96.0 96 51 44 12 7 23 73 5 1.24 .262 14