Brad Keller takes lumps on tough night as Royals lose 13-0 to Mariners in Cactus League
Well, the Kansas City Royals weren’t going to dominate every spring training game. Even if they did, those wins wouldn’t get added to the regular season total.
Right-handed starting pitcher Brad Keller battled through a tough outing and reliever Brad Brach got roughed up by the Seattle Mariners on Tuesday night as the Royals endured a 13-0 loss at Surprise Stadium in Arizona. The loss stopped a five-game win streak for the Royals (12-4).
The Mariners scored one in the first, two in the second and three in the third against Keller. They went on to score in six of the first seven innings.
“The only positive was I threw some good changeups, especially right-on-right to (Mitch) Haniger,” Keller said. “I think I threw four in a row right there to end the inning in the third. I got a swing and miss on the previous AB, two swing and misses on that last one. Other than that, battled all night and fell behind everyone. Fastball command wasn’t there.”
Keller threw 77 pitches, according to the Fox Sports Kansas City broadcast pitch count, in three innings. Keller said he felt like he threw 120 pitches, but physically he was fine. He was more frustrated that he needed so many pitches in a relatively short outing.
With his mechanics out of whack and after defensive error on the first play of the game, Keller allowed six runs (five earned) on six hits and three walks. He struck out two.
“I think I was out there trying to search for it myself,” Keller said of the issues with his pitching mechanics. “One pitch I got quick. One pitch I tried to slow down and it was like an over-correct. That’s where I’d sail one and the other would be down. That was probably the most frustrating because I need to be better at making that adjustment quicker and noticing it.”
Brach hadn’t given up a run in his previous three outings this spring, but he gave up a single, a walk and a pair of two-run home runs before he recorded an out in the fourth inning. Brach gave up five runs in 1/3 inning.
Royals pitchers Wade Davis, Jesse Hahn and Eric Skoglund pitched a scoreless inning apiece. Scott Barlow gave up one unearned run and didn’t allow a hit.
Carlos Hernandez gave up one run on one hit (a home run) in 1 2/3 innings.
“It was just one of those days that everybody is going to have,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “It just kind of happened in large numbers. ... It’s one of those things that’s going to happen when we get to Kansas City too, you just don’t have that grip. It was a little cooler and the ball was dry. You could tell they were having trouble at times with grip, but the other team was doing the exact same thing.”
Prior to the game, the Royals announced they’d optioned catcher Sebastian Rivero and right-handed relief pitcher Tyler Zuber to Triple-A.
Fanning the flames
Royals top prospect and former No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft Bobby Witt Jr. has made a case for making the jump to the majors after having not played above Rookie League in the minors prior to last year.
Witt, drafted as a shortstop, started at second base on Tuesday night against the Mariners. He played all nine innings and went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts and a fly ball caught on the warning track.
Earlier in the evening, Royals general manager Dayton Moore spoke glowingly about Witt in a SiriusXM radio interview.
“He’s just a special talent, and it has been a joy watching him compete this spring,” Moore said during an interview with Jim Bowden’s Fantasy Alarm Show on Tuesday night.
Moore lauded the work Witt and everyone else at the alternate training site put in last summer, but put Witt at the “head of that class.”
While Moore didn’t make any definitive proclamation about Witt potentially breaking camp with the major-league club, he didn’t reject the idea of Witt making the Opening Day roster.
“We’re going to be very open-minded,” Moore said. “... He has earned the respect of all his teammates. Now that he has been able to do that, I’m very much open-minded of him being on this team as we break this camp, but there’s still two weeks to go.
“Mike is going to continue to challenge him, and keep him in the lineup and look for matchups where he is facing the best pitching possible. Then we’ll make a decision when the time comes. I’m not going to go ahead and make an advanced decision now. We’re going to let the player tell us.”
Matheny on experimental rules
MLB announced experimental rules set to debut in the minors this year, including larger bases at Triple-A, limitations on defensive positioning at Double-A, a step off rule and pickoff limitations at High-A, and a pitch timer and automatic strike zone at Low-A.
While Matheny didn’t have one rule he felt the need to campaign for above any other, there certainly was one that the former major-league catcher and four-time Gold Glove winner was less than thrilled about.
“I don’t think I’m really hard-line in the camp of any one of them,” Matheny said. “I’ve never been a big fan of the shift, just doesn’t feel like baseball to me. But part of baseball is making adjustments, so there’s a great argument there.
“The automated strike zone. I would probably have never played in the major leagues had we had an automated strike zone. That’s just a fact. You’re taking away, I believe, a skill set. And it seems like a lot of this keeps coming back to catchers. These catchers who work their entire lives, working on something to help them help a team. It’s now going to become obsolete. I’m not a big fan, but I understand the bigger picture of the game.”
Matheny said he viewed the larger bases as a response to the feedback from fans about wanting more action and more speed, something Matheny has been an advocate in favor of for some time.
He also said he’s most intrigued by the pitch clock and it’s potential to speed up the game.
“I’m tired of listening to the second verse of a guy’s walk-up song,” Matheny quipped. “So I just want them to get in the box, get to work, let’s keep this thing moving. That one I’m probably more in favor of than any of the others.”
Opening Day opponent
Texas Rangers manager Chris Woodward announced on Tuesday that right-hander Kyle Gibson, a University of Missouri product, will start the season opener against the Royals in Kansas City on April 1.
Selected by the Minnesota Twins with the 22nd overall pick in the 2009 MLB Draft, Gibson enters his second season with the Rangers. Last season, Gibson went 2-6 with a 5.35 ERA in 12 starts with one shutout.
The Royals have not yet announced their Opening Day starting pitcher.
This story was originally published March 16, 2021 at 11:55 PM.
