Yost pleased with pitchers' early workouts

SURPRISE, Ariz. -- After the first two days of pitcher-catcher workouts, the Royals' Ned Yost is a happy manager.

"Everybody's gone through one round of BP -- a five-minute side and a five-minute on-the-mound session -- and to a man, they all looked tremendous," Yost said. "Everything we do is geared around their conditioning and getting them in shape to play baseball."

Among others on Wednesday, he watched starting pitchers James Shields, Jeremy Guthrie, Ervin Santana and Wade Davis work against hitters in batting practice.

"You get everybody through it healthy -- that's the goal. And then you get 'em all through it healthy and throwing strikes and that's a real plus," Yost said. "And everybody, to a man, has felt really good when they come off the mound and they've all been banging strikes. So I'm pleased with all that."

Yost was asked if he sensed any difference in his pitchers this year because of the significant offseason upgrades to the staff.

"We're seeing much more consistency in the strike zone than we have in years past here, which is a real plus -- because it only gets sharper from here," Yost said. "But it's been pretty fun to watch."