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Former Royals pitcher and Kansas City native David Cone barely recognized his hometown ballpark when he arrived at Kauffman Stadium.
“I couldn’t find my way in,” Cone, now a Yankees television analyst, said of the stadium renovations. “It’s the Big Dig out there.
“That scoreboard is beautiful. Royals Stadium has always been such a beautiful park, it’s kind of hard to find something better to do with it, but I guess there are always renovations to be done.”
Cone liked the move of the bullpens from beneath the outfield stands to behind the fences in left and center.
“I never liked sitting out there in the pit the whole game,” Cone said.
“I love what I see. This is a good young team, and the stadium is going to be great.”
Greinke starts today
When Zack Greinke makes his second start of the season against the Yankees tonight, he said he knows he has to locate his pitches a little better than he did against Detroit.
Those words almost make you wonder what Greinke is talking about. In seven innings against Detroit, Greinke allowed only a bases-empty home run. How much better could he be?
But when Greinke explained what he meant by needing better location, it made perfect sense.
“The thing about throwing harder is if you get behind in the count you can challenge the guy over the plate and it’s not as easy for them to hit it,” Greinke said. “But if you do that over the course of the year they are eventually going to catch up with it. It’s not going to work every outing, but it will work sometime.”
No switch for Rodriguez
With Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter out for a while, has third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who won two Gold Gloves as a shortstop earlier in his career, thought about shifting back to his old position?
“I haven’t taken a ground ball over there in five years, not even playing around,” Rodriguez said. “It would definitely be a challenge, but I think if Joe (Girardi, the Yankees’ manager) thought that was the best combination, I would definitely let it fly.”
No place like home
Although it was the seventh game of the season, Royals outfielder Mark Teahen realizes the fans get pumped up for the home opener even on a cool, cloudy day.
“There’s a little less hype for it, but it is the first time we get to play in front of our fans,” Teahen said. “They get so up for it. It makes it one of the most fun days of the year.
“There is definitely some stuff to be excited about around here. They can feel that energy.”
DeJesus out again
Center fielder David DeJesus was kept out of the starting lineup for the sixth straight game because of a sprained ankle.
“It’s getting better,” DeJesus said.
DeJesus hopes to return to the lineup before the six-game home stand concludes Sunday.
“There’s nothing new. The pain is still there,” Royals manager Trey Hillman said. “He did a lot of activity (Monday), but still a lot of soreness.”
Hillman added that he’s less inclined to play DeJesus in the damp conditions that are predicted for most of the home stand.
Guillen update
Outfielder Jose Guillen should find out today whether he will have to serve a 15-day suspension for violating baseball’s drug policy.
Tonight would be his last game unless officials from the commissioner’s office and the player’ union agree to another delay. The two sides are in negotiations to strengthen the game’s drug policy for performance-enhancing drugs.
If Guillen has to begin serving a suspension, the Royals could call up outfielder Shane Costa to replace him.
Guillen had a forgettable home debut, going zero for five with two strikeouts.
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