Edward Olivares’ double lifts Royals to spring training win over Chicago White Sox
Kansas City Royals outfielder Edward Olivares came through with a key hit to keep the feel-good spring training vibes flowing in Arizona.
Olivares’ two-run double in the fifth inning gave the Royals their first lead of the game, 6-5, with Bobby Witt Jr. scoring the go-ahead run. The Royals held on to win by that score in a 6-inning Cactus League game Wednesday at Surprise Stadium.
Acquired last summer from the San Diego Padres in the Trevor Rosenthal trade, Olivares hit 17 for 62 and slashed .274/.292/.419 with a double, triple, two homers and seven RBI after joining the Royals.
“It’s part of growing up as a professional player, year after year you’re going to gain some experiences and learn from them,” Olivares said with assistant strength and conditioning coach Luis Perez translating. “I feel really comfortable here. I love my teammates. I love the staff. It’s a really good environment for me.”
Olivares showed some rough edges defensively, but the Royals coaches Damon Hollins and Rusty Kuntz gave Olivares specific aspects of his defense to work on during the offseason. Royals manager Mike Matheny has been encouraged by the strides he’s seen from Olivares in camp.
Royals starter Carlos Hernández allowed three runs on three hits and a walk in two innings on Wednesday. All three runs came in the first inning.
“We’re just trying to get him consistent,” Matheny said of Hernández. “I’ve been really impressed with how coachable, teachable he is with anything we give him. He’s got good body awareness to where you can throw something at him he can figure out what that should feel like, look like. I anticipate the next time we see him out there he’ll be a little bit more consistent.”
The Royals scored three runs in the second inning of Wednesday’s win without a hit. Six consecutive batters walked in the inning, while Nicky Lopez and Michael A. Taylor drew bases-loaded walks to force in runs. Cam Gallagher scored from third on a failed pick-off attempt and throwing error.
“You kind of want to try to be patient, but it’s tough in that sometimes you want to get your swing down,” Lopez said.
“But it actually kind of says a lot about us, sometimes when you get a strike on you — like for instance Cam (Gallagher) when he got a strike on him — it’s easy to start chasing right after that because, ‘Oh, he threw a strike so now I’m going to be offensive.’ Cam stayed poised and took some tough pitches and worked another walk.”
Lopez, an AL Gold Glove finalist at second base last year, went 1 for 1 with a single, a walk and an RBI.
Boom Boom
After his first two Cactus League games, Royals first baseman/outfielder Ryan McBroom had gone 3 for 3 with a home run, a double and three RBIs.
The club’s starting lineup appears fairly well set, as general manager Dayton Moore acknowledged earlier in camp. However, the right-handed-hitting former New York Yankees minor leaguer with proven power might very well hit his way into a bench role.
“He’s been part of the conversation all winter, realizing that he’s a major-league bat,” Matheny said. “This is a guy that can do a lot of damage. We love the way that he goes about his at-bats and feel that he’s going to be a good option for us.”
McBroom played in 36 games for the Royals last season, and made 19 starts (eight as the designated hitter). For the season, he slashed .247/.282/.506 with six home runs and 10 RBIs.
In a 60-game season, he set the franchise career record for pinch-hit home runs with three. He hit all of those homers in a 19-day span in August.
“He’s going to have a good spring, there’s no doubt about it,” Matheny said. “I’d say Ryan O’Hearn is going to do the exact same thing. You’re talking about two guys that are in that conversation. It’s just how is it going to fit with our club. Let them keep proving it, but I’m not surprised at all to see both of them hitting the ball hard.”
O’Hearn went into Wednesday having gone 1 for 4 with a homer and two walks since the start of Cactus League play.
Balloting begins
The Royals unveiled this year’s list of candidates for the Royals Hall of Fame on Tuesday.
The group includes former outfielder Carlos Beltrán (1998-2004), first baseman/designated hitter Billy Butler (2007-14), pitcher Kyle Davies (2007-11), outfielder Johnny Damon (1995-2000), pitcher Jeremy Guthrie (2012-15), pitcher Luke Hochevar (2007-13, 15-16) and pitcher Yordano Ventura (2013-16).
Players must have been active with the Royals for at least three seasons and recorded a minimum of 1,500 plate appearances or 300 innings pitched and must no longer be active in MLB for three years pitched in order to be eligible.
Voting is now open online to fans and will continue through Wednesday, March 10, at royals.com/hofvote.
The election process includes fan votes as well as voting by all living members of the Royals Hall of Fame, select members of the Royals front office leadership group, the Kansas City Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America, Kansas City electronic media representatives and Royals associates with at least 15 years of service.
