The Royals played their first spring training game on Friday. Which players have started off hot, and which players have looked a bit rusty?
Don’t read too much into spring training performances. Sample sizes are small, competition levels vary, and players may be working on specific adjustments that don’t necessarily translate to traditional stats. This is only meant to inform and summarize what has happened in the past few games.
However, underlying metrics and early performances are still worth monitoring to see how they progress throughout spring training.
Who’s Hot? 🔥
Salvador Perez: Perez was not messing around in his first plate appearance of spring when he hit a solo home run with an exit velocity of 108.8 mph. In his third plate appearance, he belted a double with an exit velocity of 106.6 mph. Both hits were classified as hard hits and barrels. On Saturday, he did not record a hit in two plate appearances, but he did produce a 104.2 mph groundout. With a 75% hard hit rate and 50% barrel rate through his first two spring games, Perez is clearly seeing the ball well.
Team Venezuela will also be excited that their starting catcher and captain is off to a hot start with the World Baseball Classic getting ready to start.
Stephen Kolek: Kolek was the starter in the Royals’ spring training opener against the Rangers, where he pitched the first two innings. While he did give up a run and struggled to get batters to whiff and chase pitches, the Stuff+ grades on his pitches were above average for four of the six pitches in his arsenal. His Changeup stood out, earning a grade of 113.
Kolek’s fastball averaged 95.6 mph, which is a noticeable increase from his average of 94.0 mph last season. That velocity could be worth keeping an eye on to see whether he can maintain it throughout the season. If he can, is there a place for him in this year’s rotation?
Helcris Olivárez: Olivárez has only allowed one baserunner in his two appearances this spring, who was hit by a pitch. In two innings pitched, he has only allowed two hard hits. While he has not yet recorded a strikeout, four of his outs were by inducing ground balls, which will be key for success at Kauffman Stadium after the fences were brought in this offseason.
His Stuff+ is sitting at 101, helped by his fastball at 103, which averages 96.6 mph. His chase rate has started high at 50%, if he can convert that chase into more swing-and-misses to get more strikeouts, he could be a valuable asset to this Royals bullpen.
Who’s Cold? 🧊
Ben Kurdna: Kudrna was scheduled to pitch the fifth and sixth innings during Saturday’s game against the Padres. The Royals’ No. 6 prospect struggled in his outing and was unable to complete the 6th inning, allowing four earned runs on six hits and two walks in 1 2⁄3 innings. He failed to record a strikeout before being taken out with two outs in the sixth inning.
Padres hitters had a 60% hard hit rate against Kudrna, so even some of his outs were off hard contact. Kudrna also struggled to generate swing and misses, with a 6.7% whiff rate across 37 pitches. Kudrna will look to bounce back in his next outing this spring.
Vinnie Pasquantino: Pasquantino has yet to record a hit in his two appearances this spring. He has just one walk in five plate appearances with a pair of strikeouts. Of his two batted balls, he did have a 98.1 mph lineout that was caught. Perhaps he was a little unlucky since that lineout had an expected batting average of .740.
There is still plenty of time for Pasquantino to hit his stride this spring. He will look to get as many at-bats as possible to prepare to compete with Italy in the World Baseball Classic.
Aaron Sanchez: Sanchez was hit hard in his first outing of spring. While only allowing one run, he failed to record a strikeout and allowed four baserunners (two hits and two walks) in two innings pitched. Of the eight batted balls Sanchez faced, seven were classified as hard hits, including a 111.6 mph RBI double from William Contreras. If Sanchez hopes to reestablish himself as a viable MLB option, he will need to limit his hard-hit rate.
Sanchez struggled to find the strike zone with a zone rate of 45.5%, and he struggled to get batters to chase those balls out of the zone. His Stuff+ was 94 for the day. A full breakdown can be seen below.
