Royals confident after successful spring 

The buzz around Royals camp was all anybody could talk about in the early part of Spring Training. After an offseason full of moves that signaled Kansas City's desire to contend over the next few years, players and coaches took that momentum into spring.

As of Friday morning, the Royals are 14-7 in the Cactus League, where records don’t matter but certain performances do. And Kansas City has seen its lineup start to mesh, its rotation solidify and its bullpen come together through those performances.

“You can put as much or as little value in Spring Training -- I put value on good baseball,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “We’ve been playing good baseball. Guys have been doing their job, putting together good at-bats. We’ve watched a number of pitchers throw good stuff. You can’t convince these guys, just like you can’t convince me, that those things don’t have value to what we’re trying to do over the long haul. There’s no carryover once we start into April -- we get that. Except for the belief that you have.”

Here’s a sampling of what the Royals have learned throughout camp:

Best development: The Royals have seen what Adalberto Mondesi can do to their lineup when he’s healthy and has his swing in a good place. In September of last year, he hit .356/.408/.667 across 100 plate appearances with six home runs and 20 RBIs. And the Royals were hoping that Mondesi would bring that momentum, along with good health, into the offseason and Spring Training. Despite a slow start because of a pitch that hit his foot in live batting practice, Mondesi seems to be comfortable and free at the plate, hitting .308/.357/.577 this spring. The Royals have put him at the top of the lineup to maximize his at-bats and see how he fits among their other top-of-the-order hitters.

“I think what we’ve seen is a continuation from what we saw at the end of the season,” Matheny said. “Anybody that watched this club and watched Mondi at the end of last season can say that’s one of the best baseball performances they’ve ever seen in their life, so you know that’s there. And when that’s there, he can hurt you in so many different ways. He’s in a good spot right now, and when he’s in a good place, we want to see him up there as often as possible.”

Heading into the regular season, Mondesi and the Royals are focused on keeping his health intact and him in a good place.

Unfortunate events: The Royals stayed relatively healthy throughout Spring Training, with only a few days off for hitters like Andrew Benintendi and Michael A. Taylor because of sore backs. Reliever Josh Staumont was delayed getting into camp because of a COVID-19 infection. It has caused him to take it slow as his strength increases, but he’s been flashing higher velocity recently and is on track for Opening Day.

Performance-wise, it’s worth keeping an eye on second baseman Nicky Lopez, who has hit .118/.231/.147 as of Friday morning. He acknowledged Monday that it has been hard to not see results and production when he comes to the plate, but he’s confident in the plan that he and hitting coaches John Mabry and Terry Bradshaw have put in place. But Lopez will have to execute once the regular season rolls around since the Royals have other options to use at second base if more production is needed there.

Player who opened eyes: The Royals knew they had a special talent on their hands when they drafted Bobby Witt Jr. second overall in the 2019 Draft, and he backed it up last year at the alternate training site. Then, he put it on full display this spring, hitting .289/.325/.526 across 40 plate appearances. He has power, speed and above-average defensive skills to play shortstop and second base. Having only played 37 professional games -- none above Rookie-level -- the Royals pumped the brakes on Witt’s debut and will have him start the season in the Minor Leagues. But what he showed this spring on the field and in the clubhouse, earning the respect of his older and veteran teammates, only confirmed to the Royals that Witt will fit in and be able to help the club when he’s ready -- and that could come soon.

Wow moment: Which 484-foot home run should we choose? Witt’s on March 8 or Jorge Soler on Sunday? Or maybe we could look at Seuly Matias near 500-foot (the estimated distance wasn’t clear at Goodyear Ballpark) home run that hit palm trees.

Regardless, the Royals showed serious power this spring. Perhaps you can credit the Arizona air for the distance, but there’s no denying that the balls Witt, Soler and Matias hit were crushed. And the Royals were pleased with the hard-hit rates they saw all spring from their hitters.

In case you missed it: Jakob Junis has added a cutter. Whatever role he ends up in for the Royals this year, the pitch was needed and will be useful for him to keep hitters off balance instead of relying so much on his slider. And the pitch is a legit weapon.