Royals’ Chris Young follows first spring start with more work in bullpen

Chris Young emerged from the Royals dugout on early Sunday afternoon and began a slow walk to the bullpen down the left-field line here at Tempe Diablo Stadium.

He already had thrown two innings in his spring debut, allowing a run and three hits in the Royals’ 6-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. But as the bottom of the third began with right-hander Dillon Gee on the mound, Young headed to complete his scheduled regimen.

For close to eight minutes, Young worked through a short bullpen session, simulating eight pitches to bring his pitch count to 35, taking stock of his command in early March.

“You have to start somewhere,” Young said. “But we’ve had 3  1/2 months without facing competition. You need to get back in there, get the juices flowing.”

Sunday marked the first start of the spring for Young, the veteran righty who signed a two-year, $11.5 million contract to return to Kansas City this offseason. Last fall, he took the win in Game 1 of the World Series, throwing three scoreless innings of relief, before returning to start Game 4 in New York. Four months later, Young is back, his 6-foot-10 frame positioned to occupy one of the final slots in the Royals’ starting rotation.

On Sunday, he maneuvered around trouble in the first inning before allowing a single run in the bottom of the second. As the inning began, he allowed a leadoff double to first baseman C.J. Cron, who scored on a sacrifice fly to right from catcher Carlos Perez.

Former Royals second baseman Johnny Giavotella followed with a two-out triple, but Young ended the inning by coaxing a fly ball to right off the bat of Yunel Escobar. In two innings, Young showcased his signature style, inducing four outs in the air.

“[My] slider command was better than the fastball command, which is normally not the case for me this time of year,” Young said. “But fastball command will come. It’s just repetition. But overall, I threw some good pitches, threw some mistakes, but again, I’ll take it this time of year.”

Young’s two innings set the stage for the Royals’ first victory of the spring after beginning the Cactus League with four straight losses. He also set the stage for Gee, a non-roster invitee who could push for a spot in the Royals’ bullpen. Gee threw two scoreless innings, allowing a hit and a walk in his first action of the spring.

“I thought they both threw well,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “You know with Chris, a big, tall guy, it takes him some outings to get everything in synch. But I thought he threw the ball well. I thought Gee threw the ball exceptionally well, too.”

As the Royals’ staff held the Angels in check, top prospect Raul A. Mondesi sparked the offense with a two-run single to right-center in the top of the fifth. Second baseman Dusty Coleman capped a two-run seventh with an RBI triple to right. Jorge Bonifiacio helped bust the game open in the eighth, roping a double to deep left and scoring on a triple from Orlando Calixte.

Pinch-running specialist Terrance Gore singled to center in the ninth inning, his first Cactus League hit after going 0 for 9 last year in spring training. Inside the Royals’ dugout, bench coach Don Wakamatsu joked that Gore, who wears No. 0, should change his jersey number.

“He got a hit,” Yost said. “And as soon as he got it, Wak said, ‘We’re going to have to change his number to 1 now.’ ”

The Arms

Reliever Kelvin Herrera made his first appearance of the spring, working a scoreless fifth inning while allowing one hit. Left-hander Brian Flynn recorded his second straight scoreless outing, striking out one in the bottom of the eighth. Veteran right-hander Chien-Ming Wang allowed a hit in two scoreless innings.

The regulars

Center fielder Lorenzo Cain returned to the starting lineup just two days after getting hit in the foot on Friday night. He finished 0 for 3 with two strikeouts. Left fielder Alex Gordon was 1 for 3 with a strikeout. Yost continued his every-other-day schedule with most of his starters. First baseman Eric Hosmer, third baseman Mike Moustakas and shortstop Alcides had days off. Catcher Salvador Perez served as the designated hitter after catching on Saturday. He finished 0 for 4 with a walk.

Position battles

Second baseman Omar Infante is close to making his spring debut after recovering from offseason surgery on his elbow, Yost said Sunday. Infante could serve as a designated hitter on Monday. His main competition at second base, Christian Colon, was hitless in three at-bats.

Next up

The Royals will play two games on Monday. Right-hander Kris Medlen will start against the Chicago Cubs at 2:05 at Sloan Park in Mesa. Right-hander Kyle Zimmer will make his second start of the spring, facing the Oakland A’s at 2:05 p.m. at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Ariz.

Sunday’s summary

Royals 6, Angels 1

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E: Y.Escobar (1), J.Marte (1). DP: Kansas City 1, Los Angeles 2. LOB: Kansas City 8, Los Angeles 6. 2B: J.Bonifacio (1), Cron (2), Ortega (1). 3B: D.Coleman (1), Calixte (1), Giavotella (1). HR: SB: Mondesi (1), Cuthbert (1), W.Merrifield (1). CS: S: R.Torres. SF: C.Perez.

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Blown save:

HBP: by Luetge (B.Fuenmayor), by Morin (Cuthbert). WP: J.Guerra. Umpires: Home, Dana DeMuth; First, Brian Gorman; Second, Carlos Torres; Third, Chris Segal. Time: 2:45. Att: 9,097 (9,708).

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This story was originally published March 6, 2016 at 5:11 PM with the headline "Royals’ Chris Young follows first spring start with more work in bullpen."