Billy Butler admitted before Tuesday’s game that he’s not locked in like he was earlier in the season. His average has dipped below .300, and he only had one extra-base hit since he hit a home run on April 14.
Butler, though, is taking a reasoned approach.
“I think I’m having good at-bats; I’m just missing the pitch I’m going after,” Butler said. “(Monday night) aside, I don’t think there is anything I could have done. That’s how good (Ervin) Santana was.
“Those (extra-base hits) will come. You can’t go out there trying to do too much. You do what you can with a pitch. If it is out over the plate, you can do something with it.”
Butler did exactly that in his second at-bat Tuesday night against Angels right-hander Nick Adenhart. Butler got his second extra-base hit since April 14 when he ripped a two-out double to left field. He scored on Alex Gordon’s double in the bottom of the third.
Although Butler will get the bulk of his at-bats as a designated hitter, he enjoys the games when he gets to play first base.
“The more you play over there, the more comfortable you get,” Butler said. “I love playing first, being a complete part of the team. It keeps me in the game more.”
The worst part about being a designated hitter is the waiting around after having a poor at-bat. The position doesn’t allow the player to help the team on defense.
“If you have a bad at-bat, you try to forget about it, but you have an hour before your next at-bat, so that’s all you think about,” Butler said. “If you have a good at-bat, you have a good hour.”
Quality starts
Even though Zack Greinke hasn’t picked up a victory in his last three starts, that will not be his focus when he takes the mound tonight against the Angels.
Greinke understands that his main focus is to come up with a “quality start” whether he gets the victory or not. What matters is the Royals win when he pitches.
And Greinke has given the Royals a real chance to win in all six of his starts. His ERA is 1.47.
“Every time, you just try to have another quality start, and more than likely you will win if you do that consistently,” he said.
Greinke credits the defense behind him for his good start.
“Things have worked out pretty well when I pitched,” Greinke said. “The defense has been good. We are playing amazing defense.”
Greinke likes Angels
The Angels have a lot of admirers because of the types of teams they have fielded this decade. Greinke is among them.
“If I were a general manager, I would try to make a team like them,” Greinke said. “They have great speed. They have a couple of guys who can hit home runs. It’s not a perfect team, but if I were the general manager, that’s the team I would put together.”
Aggressive base running
The Royals have stolen 16 bases this year but have been caught 13 times. It’s not a good ratio, but manager Trey Hillman wants his team to remain aggressive on the base paths.
“I want unpredictability to add another component to our offense,” Hillman said.
Minor details
The Royals’ first-round draft pick from last year, shortstop Mike Moustakas, is really heating up for the Burlington Bees in Class A. For the third game in a row, Moustakas went two for four. Included in Moustakas’ two hits Tuesday against Fort Wayne was his fourth home run in his last seven games. He is batting .221.
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