SURPRISE, Ariz – The Royals clubhouse looked a little more normal Wednesday afternoon. Vinnie Pasquantino was wandering around. Jac Caglianone was joking around with Carter Jensen, who had been missing his friend and locker mate. Carlos Estévez had a group of Latin American pitchers huddled around his locker as he shared stories.
Later in the afternoon, Salvador Perez’s booming voice could be heard around the complex. When pitchers were stretching on the conditioning field, Bobby Witt Jr. and Maikel Garcia walked into the complex to a round of applause from their teammates.
“I have to hold the door for him,” Witt joked, nodding toward Garcia, the World Baseball Classic MVP and champion with Venezuela.
The Royals who were buzzing on the global stage at the WBC for the past two weeks made their way back to Surprise as the focus now shifts to Opening Day, which looms just nine days away.
“It’s nice to be back,” Seth Lugo said. “Being back with familiar faces, getting my routine back. It was kind of hectic there for a little bit. Excited to get the schedule back on track.”
“I don’t think anything’s really set in,” Pasquantino added about what transpired for him as Italy’s captain. “I think I’m still trying to catch up on sleep.”
With the full squad back, here are three things to watch in the final days of camp:
1. The bullpen competition
The rotation seems fairly set, with Cole Ragans starting Opening Day and then some order of Michael Wacha, Lugo, Kris Bubic and Noah Cameron, with Bailey Falter now preparing as a swingman/long reliever. That’s going to have implications for the rest of the bullpen.
Right now, Estévez, Lucas Erceg, Matt Strahm, John Schreiber and Nick Mears are locks. Alex Lange is out of options and seems likely to make the team, and if Falter also breaks camp with the club, that leaves one spot still up for grabs. Falter is a lefty, but if the Royals want another typical lefty reliever to go alongside Strahm, Daniel Lynch IV will have the inside track.
Steven Cruz has looked good this spring, too, and the Royals will need to decide what to do with Luinder Avila, who pitched well in the WBC and could either start in Triple-A as a depth option or make the team out of the bullpen.
2. Health and wellness
Getting everyone through Spring Training healthy is the goal for every team, and the Royals have had some bumps and bruises to deal with recently.
Isaac Collins returned to Cactus League action on Wednesday as the designated hitter, and he’s scheduled to play in the field Friday after missing some time with a back/left side issue. The Royals need to be certain he’s ready to go and figure out how much they can rely on him to begin the season.
Michael Massey is sidelined with a left calf strain but has been taking at-bats in Minor League backfield games. His status for Opening Day will come down to whether he can run at 100%, weighing whether a short injured list stint would be better for his long-term health than pushing it for Opening Day.
The Royals are also closely monitoring Estévez, who pitched a scoreless inning Wednesday despite three walks and feeling “out of sync,” he said, because of how long it had been since he last pitched on March 9 for the Dominican Republic. He averaged 89.2 mph with his fastball, which was about the same as when he left for the WBC. He averaged 90.7 mph during his one WBC outing – still 5 mph below his 2025 average.
“A big priority will be getting Estévez built up and where he needs to be because he only threw the exhibition and one real inning while he was gone,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said.
Although Estévez continues to emphasize that he’s fine, the Royals still need to make sure he’s OK heading into the season.
“Once adrenaline hits, it’s a different game for me,” Estévez said. “It’s weird how that works, but that’s how it works.”
3. The final bench spot(s)
The position player side of the roster is looking like this right now:
Catchers: Perez, Jensen
First base: Pasquantino
Second base: Jonathan India
Shortstop: Witt
Third base: Garcia
Outfield: Collins, Caglianone, Kyle Isbel, Lane Thomas, Starling Marte
That’s 11 players with two spots still open. One of those will likely be Massey if he’s healthy. There are still plenty of hitters competing for the final spot, including Nick Loftin, Tyler Tolbert, Drew Waters, Abraham Toro, Josh Rojas, Kevin Newman and Brandon Drury. Loftin, Tolbert and Waters have the advantage of being on the roster already, and Waters is out of options.
A lot will depend on how the Royals feel about the health of their roster overall. If they think they’re going to have to manage at-bats for Collins or Massey early on, there’s a bigger need for a player who could be used for offense more often.