Kansas City Royals excited to get back on field after waiting through lockout
A young fan roaming between the upper fields and the bullpen area of the Kansas City Royals training complex in Arizona turned with pure elation on his face as he explained he hoped to never wash his right hand again because Nicky Lopez touched it.
With that, baseball returned. The Royals held their first full-squad spring training workout with spectators looking on and Opening Day less than four full weeks away.
The buzz was unique as the air carried a renewed energy because fans hadn’t been on the premises during spring training since before the coronavirus outbreak in 2020.
Of course, this spring training also isn’t typical thanks to the truncated nature.
The 99-day MLB lockout ended on Thursday night and the mad dash started for players to get to Arizona. After waiting and watching as the calendar pushed well past the time when their internal clocks tell them they should’ve already started playing exhibition games, the enthusiasm to get started was evident on the faces of players like Royals All-Star catcher Salvador Perez.
“I was super happy,” Perez said of the lockout ending. “I was at home with my wife and started to pack everything. They told me Thursday, and I almost flew on Friday. That was too quick. I had to wait another day, send my car, prepared my luggage and take the first plane on Saturday. I’m super excited to be back.”
The Royals expect to have 61 players in big-league camp. As of Monday morning, Royals manager Mike Matheny said there were a few players traveling internationally who still hadn’t arrived.
“We had a couple with international flight issues,” Matheny said. “Short notice. Put them in a bind. I had trouble getting a flight, so I can’t imagine coming from out of the country. I could’ve jumped in a car and made it happen. They didn’t have an option.”
So far, no players have come in with major health concerns. The players were not allowed to have any contact with the team nor the medical staff during the lockout, so the coaching and training staffs would have just learned about any physical issues players had in recent days.
Relief pitcher Tyler Zuber was dealing with a shoulder ailment that will delay his participation in spring training but it’s not thought to be a serious injury.
Establishing a starting point
Matheny addressed the club in a team meeting Monday morning, setting the table for what will be his third season at the helm. The Royals will try to build on a 74-88 record last season with a squad that largely returns the same core.
Matheny joked that he’d delivered a Knute Rockne-type address.
“No, I just talked to them,” Matheny added as he strolled toward the upper fields beaming with enthusiasm. “Any time somebody shows up, you want to know what it is we’re trying to do. And want to know what’s expected of you. That’s just fair. So, we had that conversation.
“A lot of today is getting names and faces and everybody introduced. And then letting them know how much we miss them, how excited we are to see them, and how important it is, what we do. And we believe it’s more than just baseball.”
Matheny’s message also conveyed to the room that he wants players taking ownership of the club, and that’s something that should start immediately.
While the Royals have been a young, rebuilding club for the past several years, they now have experienced leadership in the room as well as a group of players who’ve been around each other in various capacities for an extended period.
For the club to take the next step and put itself in postseason contention and start the sustained period of winning that ownership and the front office have stated as their goal, it will start with the players.
“I think that’s a point of emphasis, at least talking to him this morning, of us being the ones to set the tone, not rely on the coaching staff or whoever to come in and do that,” Royals two-time All-Star infielder/outfielder Whit Merrifield said. “That’s not getting guys in a circle and giving a speech every day, that’s how we go about our business and the way we carry ourselves and our expectations day in and day out. So we got to do a better job of doing it amongst ourselves and not relying on Mike to do it. We can, and we will.”
This story was originally published March 14, 2022 at 6:45 PM.
