PHOENIX -- When Jack Hughes slapped the puck into the net to give the United States its first Olympic gold medal in men’s hockey since 1980 and beat rival Canada, the Royals' clubhouse in Surprise, Ariz. -- more than 5,000 miles away from Milan and eight hours behind in the day -- erupted in cheers.
USA chants broke out. Bobby Witt Jr. grabbed the USA onesie he wore to the complex that morning and ran around the clubhouse waving it in elation. Thinking about his participation with Team USA at the World Baseball Classic in a few weeks, Witt immediately tried to buy a Hughes USA jersey online but discovered they were already sold out.
“[Canada] got the Four Nations, so we get the Olympics,” catcher Carter Jensen said, referring to an international hockey tournament between NHL players from Canada, Finland, Sweden and the United States. “We won against the whole world, they won against three other countries. We’ll take the big one.”
Because these baseball players are athletes and competitors, it was easy to get them thinking about who would be the best hockey player in the clubhouse.
“Bobby’s a fast guy, so if he’s good at skating, he could be like a [Connor] McDavid type player,” Jensen said. “Sneaky pick? Michael Wacha -- defenseman. Tall dude, slapshots from the top.”
“Me,” Witt said, smiling.
“I could see Jenzo being pretty dang good,” Michael Massey said, referencing Jensen.
When Kyle Isbel walked by at that moment, Massey added: “Izzy would definitely stand in front of the net and have the most penalty minutes.”
(Isbel smiled and nodded in agreement.)
Jensen got a lot of votes from his teammates, which he was glad to hear about because he played hockey growing up before baseball took over in high school. Jensen’s dad, Jim, played in the ECHL, a minor professional hockey league, and Carter started playing around 10 years old. Every so often in the offseason, Jensen tries to get back on the ice for a bit and skate around.
“I miss it still,” Jensen said. “That’s why I like watching it so much.”
But the name by far brought up the most -- including by Witt and Jensen -- was the player who was actually drafted to play hockey as an amateur. Before right-hander Eric Cerantola went to Mississippi State and was drafted by the Royals in the fifth round in 2021, he was selected in the 2016 Ontario Hockey League Draft.
“I mean, I don’t think it’s close,” Cerantola said with a grin.
The Quebec-born, Ontario-raised pitcher was planning on playing hockey until his baseball career took off and he committed to college.
“My dad says it all the time: We would have never in a million years, when I made the transition to one sport, have thought it was going to be baseball,” Cerantola said. “I grew up in Montreal. It was hockey all the way. And then I just kind of played baseball in the summertime. So I just did that and kept playing it, and it just took off. But I was fully hockey until sophomore year, junior year of high school.”
Cerantola still follows hockey closely, which is why Sunday was a little tougher for the Canadian in the clubhouse. Cerantola had woken up a little earlier than normal Sunday -- 5:45 a.m. instead of his typical 6:30 a.m. alarm -- and drove to the complex after the first intermission. He was hoping it would be worth the early wakeup call.
After the USA chants, Cerantola snuck back into the clubhouse and got ready for workouts that were beginning shortly on the backfields.
“The guys have been good about it,” Cerantola said. “All friendly.”
Collins’ game plan
Isaac Collins hasn’t gotten into a game yet, but it’ll be soon. The Royals outfielder is scheduled to play in Tuesday’s road game against the Reds and then again on Friday at home against the A’s.
Collins has been taking live at-bats against Royals pitchers and participating in all workouts, but the Royals have been intentionally taking his workload a little slower. Collins received platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections in his knees this offseason, which manager Matt Quatraro said the Royals knew about. Collins has been healthy otherwise and feels good, Quatraro said, but the club felt like there was no reason to rush him into games right when the Cactus League slate opened.
After Friday’s game, Collins will be full go and on a normal build-up schedule. He would be one of the Royals getting priority at-bats anyway in the spring, but it’ll be even more so when several hitters leave for the Classic.
“He’s feeling great,” Quatraro said. “Everything’s been good out here. There’s just no reason to rush him.”