Royals’ top pitching prospect Daniel Lynch enjoys strong outing in win over the Cubs
Despite a little trouble spotting his fastball early, Kansas City Royals top pitching prospect Daniel Lynch showed the type of potential that has put him in such high regard.
The left-hander Lynch struck out five, didn’t walk a batter and allowed two hits and two runs in three innings as the Royals rolled to a 10-2 win against the Chicago Cubs in a 7-inning Cactus League game on Saturday at Surprise Stadium in Arizona.
Minor-league first baseman Nick Pratto belted a pair of home runs, and Jorge Soler also homered for the Royals, who improved to 10-3 this spring.
“I always like to have no walks,” Lynch said. “I felt good about that. I struggled to get ahead of some guys. My fastball command early was not great, but I felt like I commanded my slider and my changeup really well, and those were kind of able to bail me out.”
In his previous two Cactus League appearances of the spring, Lynch allowed five runs on five hits and four walks in 3 2/3 innings. He’s also struck out four in those two outings.
Saturday, Lynch gave up his only two hits back-to-back to start the second inning, including a two-run home run by Ildemaro Vargas. However, Lynch retired the next three batters in order courtesy of a pair of ground outs and a strikeout. The Royals responded with three runs in the bottom half of that inning.
“He picked out a pitch and put a good swing on it, and that’s going to happen. These guys are good hitters,” Lynch said of the home run. “I definitely felt like the next inning — I told myself to go out and make the outing defined by the last inning when I shut down, and after we got some runs.”
In the third inning, Eric Sogard reached on a fielding error, but Lynch struck out two and got a fly out that stranded the runner.
“I’d like to think if it were the real season I’d have taken us into the seventh inning, given up two runs and not given up anymore,” Lynch said with a smile.
The Royals’ three-run second inning began with Soler’s third home run of the spring.
After Soler’s homer, Jarrod Dyson reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second base and advanced to third when Nicky Lopez struck out but reached when the third strike wasn’t caught by the catcher. With runners on the corners, Lopez stole second and a throwing error allowed both Dyson and Lopez to score on the play.
The Royals collected eight extra-base hits, including a triple by Seuly Matias and doubles by Andrew Benintendi, Adalberto Mondesi, Anderson Miller and Soler.
They forced the Cubs into four errors with their aggressive play.
“I just think that’s the kind of team we are,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “When it’s your identity, that’s what you do whether it’s in Surprise, Arizona, or whether it’s in Kansas City. That’s the kind of team we want to be, the kind of team you’ve got to expect from yourself as we walk out there every day.”
Roster moves
During the day off Friday, the Royals announced a barrage of roster moves that included pitchers Scott Blewett and Ronald Bolaños, catcher Meibrys Viloria and outfielder Edward Olivares having been optioned to Triple-A.
Meanwhile, pitchers Jonathan Bowlan, Austin Cox, Grant Gavin, Jon Heasley, Asa Lacy, Alec Marsh, Noah Murdock, Carlos Sanabria, Collin Snider, Andres Sotillet, Gabe Spier and Jace Vines as well as catchers Freddy Fermin and M.J. Melendez. infielders Gabriel Cancel, Clay Dungan, Jeison Guzmán, Nick Loftin, Nick Pratto and Emmanuel Rivera and outfielders Seuly Matias, Anderson Miller and Erick Peña were all reassigned to minor-league camp.
On Saturday, the Royals also announced they’d optioned pitchers Daniel Tillo and Angel Zerpa, while pitcher Eric Skoglund has been reassigned to minor-league camp. Tillo is rehabbing from Tommy John surgery last summer.
“We’ll get in as many games as we can,” Matheny said of playing games on the back fields at the complex in Arizona. “As far as the work goes, the guys that get sent out will be working out with the minor-league staff and they’ll kind of have their own separate workouts.”
Players do not have to be assigned to minor-league camp in order to participate in “B” games.
“B” game
The Royals played the Texas Rangers — the two clubs share the Surprise training complex — in a “B” game on Saturday morning.
Right-hander Jakob Junis pitched 3 1/3 innings and allowed three runs on five hits (one home run) and two walks in that game. Relievers Greg Holland, Tyler Zuber, Jake Kalish and Collin Snider all had scoreless outings. Zuber struck out all three batters he faced.
Lucius Fox (two RBIs), Seuly Matias, Gabriel Cancel and Meibrys Viloria had hits for the Royals.
Prime Time
Sunday’s Royals at Los Angeles Dodgers spring-training game will air on MLB Network television in the Kansas City market at 8 p.m. CT.
Right-hander Brady Singer is scheduled to start the game for the Royals, while the Dodgers list left-hander Julio Urías as their scheduled starting pitcher.
Singer made his MLB debut in 2020, and he posted a 4-5 record with a 4.06 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 61 strikeouts and 23 walks in 64 1/3 innings over 12 starts.
Urías went 3-0 with a 3.27 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 45 strikeouts and 18 walks in 55 innings in 11 games (10 starts) for the eventual World Series champion Dodgers last year.
