KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The 2016 Royals team had a postgame victory celebration tradition. There was music. And some dancing, all of which was exciting. Hunter Dozier, who was called up to the big leagues that year, not only participated in the tradition but also carried it on.
The celebration didn’t change much over the years. But in 2020, Dozier and Royals All-Star second baseman Whit Merrifield got to talking.
We need to change it up, they agreed. This is kind of getting old.
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This year, they flipped the script. They purchased a fog machine. A championship belt, per sources, is en route. Mr. “Bury me a Royal,” starter Danny Duffy, snags the aux cord and pumps the beats. The Royals then celebrate the way close teams tend to. And really, while it can be goofy to broach the subject of postgame celebrations, there is something to this. It speaks to a shift in mindset. To a different set of relationships among those within the clubhouse. To a newness that has shown through in the Royals’ 7-4 start, their best since 2016.
Not everything has gone the club’s way. Starting shortstop Adalberto Mondesi, who was penciled in as the No. 3 hitter, has been out with a strained right oblique. Dozier has battled a thumb injury. The starting pitching stumbled out of the gate. Yet the Royals have been able to win close games.
A couple of weeks into the season, we thought it’d be valuable to provide some insight into the roster. Here are some thoughts, fueled by what we’ve seen and heard.
1. We started the story with Dozier, so let’s get right to his right thumb and his start to the season. Dozier’s right thumb started to swell the first game of the season. This was frustrating because Dozier said he felt like this spring training was the best of his career and because Dozier contracted COVID-19 before the start of the 2020 season.
The thumb initially “blew up,” Dozier said, referencing the swelling. The Royals gave him time to heal, and throughout Dozier’s mindset was this: “Don’t feel sorry for yourself. Injuries happen. Just battle through it.”
He returned April 7 in Cleveland but went 0-for-4. The next day, in Chicago, he went 0-for-3. The thumb was still hurting at that point. He wore a batting glove with a cast underneath, which he wasn’t used to. Wanting a better feel, he tried a gel pad with tape, which didn’t give him much protection. Now he’s wearing a rubber Direct Protect cushion and the thumb has improved.
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On Wednesday, Dozier recorded his first hit of the season. It was a relief, though he knew the production would come.
“I kept telling myself: I have over 600 more plate appearances; we have 150-something games left; it’s a long season,” he said.
2. While we’re on the subject of injuries, Royals manager Mike Matheny was asked Thursday about Mondesi.
“This is the first time I have anything different,” Matheny said. “Usually my answer is very bland and boring when it comes to injured guys. But he seems to be moving along good now. It had been this, wait and rest. That’s really what that injury comes down to. … But they seem very happy with where he is to where he’s doing some more movements. And that’s always a step in the right direction.”
The Royals placed Mondesi on the 10-day injured list days before the season. They did not provide a timetable, but it seemed he would be out at least a month. That Mondesi has made progress is positive, but the Royals aren’t going to push him until he is absolutely healthy. They do not want any setbacks, so if that means going two weeks extra on the front end to make sure he’s healthy on the backend, that is the approach they will take.
3. Let’s bounce from starting shortstop to replacement shortstop. On Thursday night, Nicky Lopez tripled down the left-field line. It was an easy swing, short and compact featuring rhythm. His pitch recognition allowed him to wait on the breaking ball and knife it out to the outfield, a snapshot of what he’s done through 11 games.
We could mention the average or the OPS, but what matters most is Lopez’s .351 on-base percentage in 37 plate appearances. He’s whiffing at only 13.8 percent of pitches. (The MLB average is 24.4 percent.) And he’s making contact on 92.9 percent of pitches in the strike zone (The MLB average is 82.2 percent.)
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This success is a testament to Lopez’s work ethic and the work the Royals did to get him in the right spot after they’d optioned him. Lopez spent days in Surprise, Ariz., watching video with staffers, ironing out what had made him so successful before the Royals promoted him to the big leagues in 2018. The pre-swing rhythm was a part of that. So was Lopez relying on his pitch recognition ability.
Right now, considering the stellar defense he’s playing, too, Lopez is exactly the player the Royals want and need him to be.
4. Speaking of need, here’s what one Royals coach said recently about utility infielder Hanser Alberto: “Oh my gosh, does this guy bring it every day. Oh my gosh. He’s like a Tasmanian Devil. I mean, if you come in and you’re dragging, this guy will lift you and get you motivated to play. You’ll run through a wall for this guy after you’ve been around him for five minutes.”
Alberto, whom the Royals signed to a minor-league deal before spring training, isn’t too shabby in the field either. He has an .800 OPS in 20 plate appearances and has driven in three runs. He’s also filled in nicely at third base in Dozier’s absence.
The Royals are set to face a handful of lefties in their next five-game stretch, so it’s likely Alberto will see more opportunity.
5. Because we’ve delved deeply into the lineup, let’s finish it off with an assessment of Andrew Benintendi’s and Carlos Santana’s early season performances. On Wednesday, Santana crushed an opposite-field homer. On Thursday, Benintendi doubled to the gap in left-center at Kauffman Stadium.
Both players have had their moments. Santana’s defensive ability at first base has been a highlight. The quality of Benintendi’s at-bats has been impressive. Still, some underlying numbers are a bit concerning.
Benintendi has yet to barrel a ball. His hard-hit rate (23.1 percent) ranks in the bottom 7 percent of the league. His 31.9 percent whiff percentage is the second-highest of his career. Santana’s whiff rate (22.7 percent) is the highest of his career, and his chase percentage (31.7 percent) is, too.
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On the flip side, though, things are looking up. Benintendi recently said he “felt close.” And that things would click. Meanwhile, he’s made more contact on pitches in the strike zone over the past few games. A few games into the season, Benintendi’s zone contact percentage was 70.6. He’s upped that to 73.6 percent, though that’s still well below league average (82.2 percent). Santana, on the other hand, is hitting the ball harder than he did in a down 2020 (a 40.7 percent hard-hit rate in 2021 versus a 36.6 percent in 2020, which was the lowest of his career). That bodes well for this season.
Then there’s Jorge Soler, who struck out seven times in a row earlier this week and has a .501 OPS. Before Thursday’s game, it was hard to believe he’d flip the script, but even Matheny saw something in his first at-bat. He turned to pitching coach Pedro Grifol and said, “It’s almost like you can predict, ‘This is about to be really good.’ He’s timing things up. He’s got a fluidity. He’s on time and early. So it’d be really nice to watch him go on a tear.”
6. What also bodes well is how Royals starter Brad Keller looked Wednesday. His first two starts were concerning. Questions were coming in bunches: Is he hurt? Is he regressing in a way that was expected? What’s going on?
Internally, the Royals weren’t concerned. Keller said he was healthy, and they noticed a few things mechanically with the way his body angled toward the plate. Combined with a revamped mental approach, Keller pumped 98 mph, struck out Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani, and pitched five innings of one-run ball against the Los Angeles Angels.
“It was really nice,” Keller said. “It goes back to the work we put in between the two starts. Tried to flush what happened the first two starts. Wanted to get back to who I was.”
The mechanics were part of it.
“I couldn’t throw 98 mph with the mechanics I was working with the first two starts,” Keller said. “With the adjustments we made, it made it easier for the ball to come out cleaner.”
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The mental side was part of it, too.
“It was a mindset going out there and competing,” Keller said. “I hadn’t had any intent behind the pitches I was throwing. (On Wednesday), I did.”
The Royals are going to need Keller’s best to compete the way they want to in 2021 (and beyond), so the coaching staff and Royals officials were encouraged by the outing.
7. The five-man rotation appears to be set, given Jakob Junis pitched another gem Thursday night. The cutter, which he developed this offseason, has been a weapon. But so has the slider that made him effective in years past. Both pitches have enhanced the other. That’s what’s made him so hard to hit.
“To me, he’s making this obvious that (starting) is what he wants,” Matheny said. “He wants to take that fifth spot and run with it, and I like watching him do it.”
So what does this mean for right-hander Ervin Santana, who is built up to starter’s length right now, or left-handed prospects Kris Bubic or Daniel Lynch?
Asked about Santana’s current role, Matheny said this: “He’s very flexible in how we can use him. He’s versatile. We can pitch him early and long. We could use him short. If for any reason we needed to do an audible, he’s an option for us to start.”
As for the others, here’s something to note: Beginning April 30, the Royals will play 17 games in 18 days. Maybe they go with the five-man rotation on five-day rest. They could, however, employ Santana as a sixth starter, or even a pitcher such as Lynch, whom Royals officials believe is getting closer and closer.
He’s continued to pitch in games and continued to impress both in the way he’s repeated his delivery and the way he’s carried himself on the mound. His time is coming.
8. The Royals bullpen has garnered some interest from outsiders early this season, specifically those who play fantasy. They’ve wondered who the primary closer will be, and the answer, at least early, comes in the form of this statistic: Five Royals have recorded saves in their seven wins. This is a testament to how Matheny has utilized his arms. Before games, he’ll inform the pitchers of the specific matchups they fit best against, and when that fit may occur. On Thursday, for example, trusty reliever Scott Barlow made sense against the bottom of the order in the eighth. He worked so quickly that he earned another inning.
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This could have been Greg Holland. Or Josh Staumont. Or Wade Davis. Or Kyle Zimmer.
Or even a pitcher such as lefty Jake Brentz, who continues to perform in the spots he’s been given.
9. And how about catcher Salvador Perez? At age 30, he looks better than ever. Much of his success at the plate — he went 8-for-12 in the series against the Angels — can be attributed to concentration, which was a cornerstone of what he learned from Royals special assignment hitting coach Mike Tosar. The concentration continues to make him a force in the lineup, and his preparation on how to attack opposing pitchers has been lauded by many Royals pitchers in the past week. The Royals extended Perez four years for $82 million for a reason. The early, early returns are certainly positive.
10. We started with Dozier so let’s end with Dozier.
Before Thursday’s game, he said this: “We’re playing good baseball, and I feel like we’re not even close to clicking yet. We really haven’t played a game yet where we were swinging the bat and pitching at the same time. I know offensively I’m starting to feel better. I know other guys aren’t where they want to be. So we’re not even hot as an offense. I think we’re playing good baseball and finding ways to win, which is important. I feel like last year, some of these close games, we were losing them. We weren’t getting that hit or getting out of those jams. I feel like the past couple of years we were on the losing side. Now we’re starting to win some of these games. And it feels good. And it brings confidence. We know how good we are.”
The Royals’ pitching and offense clicked Thursday night. It led to a 7-0 lead in the fourth and ultimately a 7-5 win. The Royals have won three straight. Don’t knock the fog machine.
(Photo: Jamie Squire / Getty Images)
