As spring games begin, 4 storylines move to Royals' forefront

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Royals media relations director Nick Kappel posts it on social media every spring, early in the morning on the first day of baseball’s return: Beginning Friday with their Cactus League opener, the Royals are scheduled to play 194 games over the next 220 days of the spring and regular season.

Baseball is so back.

The Royals’ 7-3 win over the Rangers on Friday at Surprise Stadium kicked off the spring slate. The club has just over a month before Opening Day on March 27 in Atlanta to trim down its camp roster and get everyone ready for the season.

Here are storylines to watch:

Rotation spots
The first three games of the spring season will feature three starters trying to force the coaching staff into some tough decisions: Stephen Kolek threw two innings Friday, Ryan Bergert is scheduled for Saturday’s game against the Padres and Bailey Falter is scheduled to start Sunday’s first road game against the Brewers.

Kolek averaged 95.7 mph with his four-seam fastball Friday. He’d like to get more swing and miss this year, and utilizing his four-seamer more is a way to do that.

“That’s been one of my things that I think I haven’t utilized enough,” Kolek said. “And then just quality two-strike pitches, whether it’s spin to my glove side or changeups, just the ability to execute those at a higher level and have more competitive pitches over the plate and near the zone.”

While Noah Cameron is viewed as having the advantage for the fifth spot in the rotation, the Royals do want to give Kolek, Falter and Bergert, along with the other starters building up, a true chance at earning a spot. Falter is out of Minor League options, so he could find a spot in the bullpen. If Kolek and/or Bergert aren’t in the MLB rotation, the Royals probably want them starting in Triple-A to preserve the depth.

Bench competition
We know how most of the everyday lineup will shake out. The final spots of the position player group, though, are still up for grabs.

“The competition is going to be how we fill out the last, I’ll say, 10 through 13,” president of baseball operations and general manager J.J. Picollo said. “We have some guys that have more experience than others, but it’ll play out through Spring Training. I think our guys are hungry. They understand what the competition’s like, and they want to go out and win it.”

Michael Massey -- who homered Friday -- Nick Loftin, Tyler Tolbert, Drew Waters, John Rave, Kameron Misner and Dairon Blanco, along with non-roster invitees Abraham Toro, Brandon Drury, Kevin Newman, Connor Kaiser and Josh Rojas are all vying for a spot. And the Royals are keeping their options open, thinking through the offensive skillset, handedness and positional versatility that each brings, but also watching how they perform in Cactus League games.

Bullpen makeup
Similar to the bench competition is the bullpen, with the last two or three spots open for competition. One of those is likely to go to Alex Lange, who is healthy and throwing well. Another will go to a lefty, either Daniel Lynch IV or Falter. Luinder Avila is building up as a starter, but he’s been the name everyone is talking about in camp so far and could earn a spot in the ‘pen.

Steven Cruz, Mason Black, James McArthur and Eric Cerantola, along with NRIs Jose Cuas, Eli Morgan, Héctor Neris and Helcris Olivárez are all trying to show they should be on the roster.

ABS learning curve
The Royals are encouraging their Major League hitters and catchers to get used to the ABS Challenge System and challenge pitches early in the game as they see fit. That was the case Friday, when the Royals lost both challenges -- one by Salvador Perez on defense and the other by Maikel Garcia at the plate -- by the third inning. Garcia challenged a strike call on an outside pitch, but it just nicked the strike zone upon review, so the call stood.

A 1-1 count with no outs and nobody on base is probably not when the Royals want to challenge, but it was good to get the experience. Those are the kind of scenarios the Royals have to work through.

“I went over to [manager Matt Quatraro] and said, ‘We’re bad at this, huh?’” Vinnie Pasquantino said jokingly. “We’ll have to figure something out. I guess the way we’re looking at it is you get five innings for two challenges. It’s not that we don’t want guys in the later half of the game to not be able to do it, but we just need to get used to it.”