Royals Spring Training Updates – Hochevar Moved To Bullpen

Despite being a former top overall draft pick, Luke Hochevar has struggled with consistency as a starter his entire career in Kansas City. Now it appears that the right-hander’s days as a starter with the Royals are over, as Kansas City announced that Hochevar will be moved to the bullpen.

Hochevar had been competing with Bruce Chen and Luis Mendoza for the final spot in the starting rotation along with James Shields, Jeremy Guthrie, Ervin Santana and Wade Davis. Now the battle is between Chen and Mendoza. Chen has been steady for the Royals, and has the most wins of any pitcher with the organization over the past three years. Despite Chen’s consistency, Mendoza has to be the favorite. After a rocky start to last season, Mendoza has pitched very well and could be due for a big season.

Hochevar has baffled Kansas City fans with his inconsistency – at times he looks like a dominant starter, other times he looks like he doesn’t belong in the major leagues. Unfortunately, the bad has outweighed the good in his career, and the former top pick has a 5.39 ERA and a 38-59 record in 132 career starts.

While Mendoza and Chen are the front-runners to win the fifth starter’s spot, Will Smith has emerged as a dark horse candidate. Smith has a 1.29 ERA so far this spring and could be a potential starter down the road for Kansas City.

The emergence of Smith may lead to Kansas City considering trading Hochevar, as Kansas City already has a loaded bullpen. Greg Holland’s job as the closer and Kelvin Herrera’s position as his setup man are locks, and the Royals also have Aaron Crow, Tim Collins, Nate Adcock and Louis Coleman as relief pitchers. The loser of the Chen and Mendoza battle could also be used in relief, and it appears there isn’t much room for Hochevar. Don’t be surprised if the Royals try to shop Hochevar over the next couple of weeks.

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Royals Shut Out A's - Jeremy Guthrie Continues To Dominate

Almost a month ago, the Royals traded the struggling Jonathan Sanchez for Jeremy Guthrie, a pitcher who was also in the middle of a bad season. At first it appeared that the Royals failed to gain anything from the trade, as Guthrie struggled in his first start in Kansas City. Now, that trade appears to be a steal, as the new Royals pitcher is in the middle of an incredible pitching streak and could become a mainstay in Kansas City’s rotation.

Last night against the A’s, Guthrie completely shut down an Oakland team that has been one of the biggest surprises in baseball this season and is currently fighting for a playoff spot. Guthrie only allowed three singles in seven innings, adding a season-high eight strikeouts to completely dominate Oakland. The Royals would use a hot fifth inning to put the A’s away and wound up winning 5-0, improving the team’s record to 50-65 on the season.

It appears that Guthrie is coming into his own in Kansas City, as the pitcher currently has a 15 inning scoreless streak and three strong consecutive starts. He will be a free agent after this season, but it appears that the team may have plans to resign him and offer him a starting position next year. A change of scenery may have been all that Guthrie needed, and he claims that working with Royals pitching coach Dave Eiland has given his game a significant boost. For the moment, it appears that he has impressed both general manager Dayton Moore and manager Ned Yost, and may be part of the team’s future, even though Kansas City will be getting several talented pitchers back from injury next season.

The Royals face the A’s again tonight at home in the second game of the teams’ three game series. Will Smith (3-4) will start for Kansas City, while Brandon McCarthy (6-3) will start for the A’s. The game starts at 7:10 a.m.

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Royals Make Roster Moves Following Losses To Blue Jays

After winning four games in a row to pull four games under .500, the Royals have entered a bit of a tailspin, losing five of their last six. Their past two losses to the Toronto Blue Jays have forced the team to make several roster changes as Kansas City looks to get back in contention before the All Star game.

To address both injuries and a lack of production in their pitching staff, the Royals have recalled pitchers Nate Adcock and Louis Coleman from Triple-A Omaha. Adcock is 0-3 with a 3.12 ERA in nine games, including two starts with the Royals this season, while Coleman has a 4.91 ERA in 17 appearances out of the bullpen. After a disastrous last outing, pitcher Vin Mazzaro will be heading back to Triple-A. After being handed a 3-0 lead, Mazzaro gave up six runs and 13 hits in only 5 1/3 innings in Kansas City’s 6-3 loss to Toronto. Mazzaro has gone 3-3 for the Royals this season with a 5.70 ERA. The Royals also designated Mitch Maier for assignment. Maier has hit .172 with two homers and seven RBI in 32 games this year.

The Royals only have four games remaining before the 2012 All Star game festivities hit Kansas City, and it will need to get pick up some wins to stay in contention in the AL Central. Tonight, the Royals will try to salvage a four game split with the Blue Jays, playing at 6:07 p.m. Luke Hochevar (5-8) will start for Kansas City, while the red hot Henderson Alvarez (5-6) will start for Toronto. After wrapping up its series with the Blue Jays, the Royals will travel to Detroit for a three game series before the All Star break.

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Royals Swept By Cardinals

Just when the Royals had crawled back into contention and found themselves only a few games out of first place, disaster struck. Kansas City’s starting pitching was dreadful all weekend, and the Royals were swept by the St. Louis Cardinals.

The sweep highlights why Kansas City will once again have a sub .500 season – the Royals simply do not have capable starting pitching. Against St. Louis, the Royals gave up 41 hits and 30 runs over three games. The poor pitching performances wasted a great offensive output from the Royals on Sunday, when Mike Moustakas hit two home runs and both Jeff Francoeur and Billy Butler went yard as well.

Injuries have completely decimated the rotation, forcing the team to start players that really have no business pitching in the major leagues. At the moment, Bruce Chen is the team’s best pitcher who is not on the disabled list, and he is sporting a 4.81 ERA for the season. Chen is who he is, a decent option for a fourth of fifth starter, but he shouldn’t be the Royals best option at this point. Luke Hochevar has made it official that he is never coming close to living up to his first overall draft status as well, meaning that Kansas City is going to have to score a lot of runs night in and night out to have a shot. That is simply too much pressure on the offense, and it appears that it will likely be downhill from here for the rest of the season.

The Royals will try to get back on track tonight, when they start a three-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays. Hochevar (4-7) will start for the Royals, while Alex Cobb (3-3) will take the mound for the Rays. Game one is tonight at 7:10 p.m. at Kauffman Stadium.

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Royals Blast Orioles, Take Series

Kansas City's offense caught fire again last night, as the Royals humiliated the Orioles 9-1. The win gave Kansas City the series, and after losing six straight, the Royals have rebounded to win five of its last six.

Bruce Chen had yet another solid start, and has established himself as Kansas City's top starter this season. Chen improved his record to 4-1 for the season, and the lefty has brought some consistency to a rotation that has been up and down all year. Following the win, the Royals announced that top prospect Eric Hosmer will be called up from the minors, while the struggling Kila Ka'aihue will be demoted to Omaha. Hosmer will join an offense that has been one of the best in the majors this season, and his gaudy minor league stats have shown he is ready to take on the big league.

The Royals have gone 14-6 at home this season, and will look to continue its dominance in Kansas City tonight against Oakland. The Royals will face a talented pitcher in Gio Gonzalez, however the A's offense hasn't been anything to write home about this season. I expect Hosmer to give Kansas City a boost, and the Royals should have no trouble at least taking the series from the A's.