That, combined with Bannister’s poor finish in 2007 and a goal of increasing his innings by another 20 or 30 have him preparing a little differently this spring.
“You have this tendency to overdo everything because you want to show off your stuff,” he says. “But you also have to throttle back a little bit, recover, make sure you’re not throwing too much between starts, make sure you have that extra stamina.”
•••
Hillman has a plan to help out the second-year players.
He likes the talent of each sophomore. The focus of Gordon, the offensive production of Butler, the game study of Peña and Bannister, and the coolness of Soria.
“The biggest thing I need to do is protect these guys,” Hillman says. “Protection is the biggest thing, because this game is so hard. When’s the right time to give them a day off? That’s key, it’s real important in specific matchups for the offensive guys, and for Soria, how many days we go with him in a row.”
Moore says one of the things that makes this all so hard is that continued development comes only through continued competition, continued exposure to major-league baseball.
It’s not quite sink-or-swim — Hillman is there to play lifeguard — but you get the idea.
For his part, Butler thinks second-year regression comes when guys get too comfortable. And he doesn’t think that’s a concern with him or any of the rest of the Royals’ freshman class of 2007.
“That ain’t gonna happen with me or any of these guys,” Butler says. “We’re dedicated to winning a championship, so that’s not being satisfied with any part of your game.”
•Angel Berroa: After winning the AL Rookie of the Year award in 2003, Berroa’s homers dropped from 17 to eight and his average fell 25 points.
•Mark Teahen: In his second season, Teahen’s slugging percentage jumped from .376 as a rookie to .517 and he was the Royals’ player of the year.
•Zack Greinke: He was the Royals’ pitcher of the year in 2004 as a rookie, but by the All-Star break the next season he had a 1-11 record.
•David DeJesus: Placed sixth in the AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2004, then improved his OPS by 42 points the following year.
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