Kansas City Royals’ Bullpen Mystery: Could This Unseen Factor Define Their Season?

Jaylon Thompson talks to J.J. Picollo about the performance of Royals players at the World Baseball Classic.

“Exactly what we witnessed was what you hope they get out of it,” Picollo said. “High-intensity games helps development. You kind of get to see how your players play in the big moments, and our guys did great. So we feel like it really turned out well, and the guys really enjoyed it. They were all back (Wednesday). They were cutting up with each other in the locker room talking about it. So there was an excitement around our facility with what our guys were doing. So it turned out to be really a good thing for us.

“There was a lot of discussion nationally about the Royals and the players we have and just to see them and what they did on the big stage, I thought was really, really cool. And they all had their moments.”

He also writes about if Maikel Garcia can use the WBC to elevate to the next level.

Can Garcia reach the next level? That’s the million-dollar question as he looks to build off his meteoric rise in Kansas City.

“He’s already an All-Star and Gold Glove winner, so that’s a pretty good ceiling right there,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “So I think it’s (learning) the same type of maturity that guys go through. Less time between inconsistent at-bats and those kinds of things. He’s got room to grow with power, probably. It’s hard to say more than he can be an All-Star, right? Just keep doing it year after year.”

The Royals sent Luinder Avila and Steven Cruz to the minors.

Sending him to Triple-A is a bit of a compromise: He’s likely going to get starts there, but it’ll be three to four innings at a time rather than a full starter’s workload. That will allow Avila to build up innings but also be ready quicker in between his outings in case the Royals need him in the Majors.

“We want to look forward to the future with him, too, and understanding that if he only pitches 50 innings this year [in the bullpen], that’s probably not good for him or us,” manager Matt Quatraro said. “His is more of a bigger picture look, stretching him out to multiple innings and getting him to throw some innings before we need him up here.”

Gavin Cross was a standout during the Spring Breakout on Friday.

No. 27 prospect Gavin Cross has had a solid big league Spring Training and has looked more and more locked in recently at the plate. That showed up again Friday with his two-run home run in the third inning, putting the Royals on the board. It was crushed – with a 110.1 mph exit velocity – and hit a Statcast-projected 404 feet.

“The pitch before that, I kind of missed it a little bit out front,” Cross said of the cutter he fouled off. “But just sticking to the same approach and going to get the next one worked out well.”

Royals fans should know soon what cable and satellite providers will carry Royals.TV.

But the Royals said an announcement on how to watch on cable or satellite will come before next Friday’s opener at Atlanta.

“Our priority is accessibility and the history of teams joining MLB Local Media shows an improved streaming experience and games available on the major cable and satellite providers fans are used to watching,” said Sam Mellinger, the Royals Vice President of Communications. “Fans will know where to watch our games as soon as those deals are finalized.”

Kevin O’Brien at Royals Keep highlights players from the Royals’ Spring Breakout game.