Royals Baseball Is Back!!!
At 2:05 central time winter is officially over. The Royals start off cactus league play today against the Texas Rangers at Surprise Stadium.
The First Lineup
Now don’t read too much into this first lineup card. It’s still early and new manager Matt Quatraro is definitely still feeling out his job with a whole new group of players.
However their are a few players to keep a eye on in this lineup today.
First the new guys Franmil Reyes and Johan Camargo both have a lot to prove this spring. Both were former highly touted starters in the past. Especially Franmil who is just one season removed from a ‘21 campaign that saw him hit 30 home runs with Cleveland. Since their starting days both have fell out of starting spots and even cut by Atlanta (Johans former home) and Cleveland (Franmils former home). Now these guys have a opportunity to show out this spring and earn a spot on a rebuilding Royals team with aspirations on challenging for a wild card spot.
The guy to watch in this first lineup is left fielder John Rave.
John Rave isn’t one of the more flashy prospects in the farm system. He is kinda a more old school,small ball,good fielder type player.
He isn’t going too hit double digit home runs nor is he going to challenge for gold gloves in the future because he mostly profiles as a back up outfielder.
But he is a name to watch this spring because many in the industry thinks he can arrive to the major leagues this season. Fangraphs for instance projects John Rave to arrive in 2023 as does MLB pipeline.
So what can I expect from John Rave?
Well he’s a left handed bat and a left handed thrower in the field. He can hit for contact pretty well not much on the power end. He is a very strong fielder and runner on the base paths. After that honestly I need to watch him more this spring because quite frankly I don’t really know that much about this guy besides what I have mentioned before.
Here’s a quick look at his stats from last season
Double A: 111 G 461 AB 102 H 14 HR 22 SB 115 SO 24.9 K% 63 BB 13.7 BB% .364 OBP .354 wOBA 102 wRC+ .332 BABIP .262 BA
Triple A: 11 G 43 PA 8 H 2 HR 1 SB 13 SO 30.2 K% 2 BB 4.7 BB% .233 OBP .269 wOBA 58 wRC+ .231 BABIP .195 BA
With the oblique injury to Drew Waters that has opened up a bigger door in the outfield for guys like Rave,Olivares,Eaton,Reyes,Dozier,and even Nick Pratto to make the team and play right field alongside M.J. in left and Kyle Isbel now in center.
And guys like Eaton and Rave should have a leg up on the competition to start in right to try and offset the defensive fielding they lose with M.J. out there.
*Note probably going to be unrealistic aspirations but crazier things have happened.
Where Can I Watch The Game?
Well unfortunately for some strange reason Bally Sports Kansas City only broadcasts a handful of spring games each year. And even more unfortunately the one today at 2:05 against Texas is one of the games they will not be broadcasting.
But do not despair because 610 Sports Kansas City does broadcast all the games this spring on the radio because they are super gigachads. And even if you don’t want to just drive around aimlessly around town listening to the game. If you download the Audacy app for FREE with no subscription necessary and search up 610 Sports Kansas City it will let you listen to the station and the game today for FREE.
The Steps For How To Watch
Download the Audacy app on IOS or Android for free
Create a Account for free
Search up 610 Sports Kansas City
Click Listen
All For FREE
If you like me you should also follow my royals Instagram account @_depressed_royals_fan_ for some more hilarious content about the team you all know and love