Royals notebook: Lack of speed contributes to offensive woes

TORONTO _ The videos of Royals outfielder Joey Gathright jumping over cars in his younger days remain youtube.com favorites and display a combination of speed and athleticism.

Gathright doesn’t jump cars anymore, but the speed is still there: 13 stolen bases in 15 attempts. The rest of the club, though, is a combined 14 for 30.

The Royals, in short, show no ability to overcome their lack power through speed.

“People think we have a lot of speed,” manager Trey Hillman said. “We don’t. We have one plus runner. That’s Joey Gathright. People think David DeJesus is an above-average runner. Under way, he is.”

DeJesus has three steals in seven attempts after getting thrown out Saturday in the first inning of a 6-0 loss to Toronto at Rogers Centre. Tony Peña (three for four) and Esteban German (two for three) are the only Royals besides Gathright to have more steals than caught-stealings. “We’re still going to look for opportunities to hit-and-run and steal,” Hillman said, “but we’re not laden with team speed. We’re not going to do anything counter-productive and just run at will.

“We’re not going to run just for the sake of thinking we’ve got to do something.”

Turf adjustments

José Guillen served as the designated hitter because of increased soreness in his ailing right hip after playing left field Friday on the aging artificial turf at Rogers Centre.

“With a guy who has been playing on different surfaces as long as he has,” Hillman said, “I’m going to trust what he says about his body. When he says it’s a soreness, I don’t want it to go back to a strain.

“You don’t want to take those 35 RBIs out of our batting order. If we do, we’re in a lot of hurt.

Veteran second baseman Mark Grudzielanek said he also felt the effects of Friday’s game on the turf.

“It’s an old turf with patches,” he said. “It’s not as bad as Montreal used to be, but it’s probably the worst still around. You can feel it right away. Your knees get sore.”

Grudzielanek played the entire game Saturday after being pulled Friday after six innings. Hillman said Grudzielanek isn’t likely to play in one of the series’ two remaining games.

“We’ve got three day games in a row,” Hillman said. “We’ll see which one he gets off.”

Early warning

The first inning offered an early disaster warning despite David DeJesus’ leadoff single against Toronto starter Jesse Litsch.

Alex Gordon believed he’d drawn a one-out walk on a 3-1 offering, even throwing away his bat before learning Bruce Dreckman had called the pitch a strike. Gordon then checked his swing on the full count as DeJesus took off for second.

Dreckman called it a ball as catcher Gregg Zaun threw to second. DeJesus eased into the base, seeing the walk, and was tagged by shortstop Marco Scutaro. First and second? Nope.

Third-base umpire Scott Barry called Gordon out on appeal, which meant DeJesus was out at second for an inning-ending double play.

Another setback

The comeback trail for right-hander Luke Hudson got a little longer last week when he experienced renewed shoulder soreness while pitching in extended spring training in Arizona.

Hudson exited after just 13 pitches of a scheduled two-inning appearance. He will be shut down for seven-to-10 days to rest his shoulder. Hudson, 31, underwent shoulder surgery last June 28 after the injury limited him to just one big-league start. He was 7-6 with a 5.12 ERA in 2006 after being signed that spring as a minor-league free agent.

Looking back It was 17 years ago Saturday that Hal McRae became the 10th full-time manager in Royals’ history when he replaced John Wathan. The Royals lost 3-2 to the Twins in McRae’s debut, but he compiled a 286-277 record in parts of four seasons before being fired after the 1994 season. None of McRae’s five full-time successors, including Hillman, have a winning record.

Minor details

Right-hander Julio Pimentel, one of the organization’s top prospects, continued his recent slide when he failed to survive a nightmarish first inning Friday night in Class AA Northwest Arkansas’ 13-4 loss to Midland.

Pimentel gave up five hits, two walks and seven runs in just two-thirds of an inning before exiting after 39 pitches. His ERA has jumped from 3.15 to 5.30 in his last three starts.

• Right-hander Blake Wood, in contrast, pitched six shutout innings in Class A Wilmington’s 8-0 victory over Lynchburg. Wood struck out six, walked two and lowered his ERA to 2.67. He is also regarded as one of the organization’s top prospects.

• Shortstop Mike Moustakas, the second overall pick in last year’s draft, went three for five with two doubles and a triple in Class A Burlington’s 7-4 loss at Beloit. Moustakas is up to .254. He is batting .318 in May after struggling at .190 in April.

Etc.

• Grudzielanek broke a zero-for-16 skid with a sixth inning. He also had a double in the ninth. The two-for-four effort boosted his average back to .300.

• Toronto starters recorded successive complete games for the first time since April 21-22, 2000 when Chris Carpenter and Kelvim Escobar did it against the Yankees.

• Mark Teahen’s average is down to .243. He is zero for 17 with eight walks since his homer in the third inning of last Sunday’s 9-3 victory at Florida. • Joey Gathright had a bunt single in the eighth inning and is five for 12 with four walks in four games since returning from a three-game absence due to a sore left shoulder.

• Gordon is hitless in his last nine at-bats.

To reach Bob Dutton, Royals reporter for The Star, call (816) 234-4352 or send email to bdutton@kcstar.com.