Pitcher Dillon Gee ready to return to a starting role with the Royals

His career at a crossroads, Dillon Gee returned to his home in Fort Worth, Texas, last fall and pondered the next move of his career. He had spent six seasons with the New York Mets, including four as a mainstay in the starting rotation, and then it was over.

He was demoted to the minor leagues midway through last season. He missed out on the club’s surprise run to the World Series. He became a free agent for the first time last October.

The free agent process was foreign, Gee says, but it allowed him to reconsider what he wanted in a baseball organization. He had offers from multiple teams, including some with the carrot of a possible rotation spot. But he bypassed those possible destinations to sign a minor-league deal with the Royals. No roster spot was guaranteed, at least not publicly. There was little chance he would begin the season in the starting rotation. Still, it felt like the right fit, Gee says.

“I’d rather be on a team where I’m contributing to a winning team and love coming to the park every day,” Gee told The Star earlier this month. “Because I thought that will up my performance, being around guys who are all in it for one goal. Sometimes on a losing team, I’m sure it can get a little selfish.”

Baseball is a funny game, of course, and you can’t always predict what will transpire. Example: More than a month into the season, the defending World Series champion Royals are still under .500 and Gee is back in a starting rotation.

Gee, a 30-year-old right-hander, will make his first start of the season on Saturday against the Atlanta Braves. Gee is filling in for right-hander Chris Young, who landed on the disabled list with a forearm strain after posting a 6.68 ERA in seven starts.

On Sunday, left-hander Danny Duffy will start in place of right-hander Kris Medlen.

With Young out for at least another week and a half, Gee will likely get multiple opportunities to push for a more permanent spot in the rotation. For now, he is not thinking about the possible consequences of a solid audition.

“I just look at tomorrow as a start and trying to win a game,” Gee said. “I try not to look too far ahead.”

For Gee, the role is not unfamiliar. From 2010 to 2015, he made 110 starts for the Mets, posting a 40-37 record with a 4.00 ERA. In his first season in Kansas City, he has logged 20  2/3 innings as a long reliever, recording a 2.61 ERA.

Still, Gee has not started a game since last June 14. In seven appearances this season, he has not thrown more than 70 pitches. But after Gee tossed 68 pitches in 5  1/3 relief innings against the Yankees on Monday, Royals manager Ned Yost said he could be stretched out to close to 90 pitches on Saturday.

“I’m kind of the mind-set now that I’m going to try to get as deep as I can with 75, 80 pitches,” Gee said. “And go from there.”

Orlando could see more playing time,

As the Royals returned home to Kauffman Stadium to begin a six-game home stand, manager Ned Yost revealed that right fielder Paulo Orlando could see more playing time in the coming days.

With starting right fielder Jarrod Dyson struggling with the bat — he entered Friday batting just .215 overall and .125 in May — Yost said he would attempt to balance out the starts in right field.

Dyson could play four times per week, Yost said, while Orlando could take the remaining starts. The goal: See if one of the outfielders can emerge as a productive player at the lineup.

“Both of them can handle the defensive portion of the game well enough,” Yost said.

This story was originally published May 13, 2016 at 8:01 PM with the headline "Pitcher Dillon Gee ready to return to a starting role with the Royals."