Kansas City Royals: Standout players from week one of spring training

One week of spring training is in the books for the Kansas City Royals! What players have stood out in the early stages of spring training?

Heading into the 2020 season, there aren’t any expectations for the Kansas City Royals to make the postseason. Instead, fans are looking forward to seeing what prospects take the next leap and who could be the next big star for the Royals organization.

Let’s take a look at the players who stood out the most after week one of spring training.

BRADY SINGER

I can’t write about standout players from spring training and not talk about Brady Singer. The former Florida Gator went from potentially being a September call-up in 2020 to now being in talks to make the rotation as the fifth starter.

Singer has looked the pat of an MLB starter, throwing three innings of three hit baseball while allowing no runs and striking out four batters. He pitched one inning in his first appearance and in the second appearance – which came against the Cubs on Wednesday – he started for the Royals and threw two innings.

During that appearance, he got the best of Kris Bryant, Anthony Rizzo, and Javier Baez while on the mound. No big deal, right?

Singer is only 23 years old, so the Royals have time to let him polish up his skills in the minor leagues. There’s several more games to be played in Surprise, so let’s see if Singer can continue to turn heads and make a strong push for the Opening Day roster.

BUBBA STARLING

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but Bubba Starling is raking in spring training! The 2011 first round pick – who finally made his MLB debut this past season – has a batting average of .500 while slugging 1.200 and crushing two home runs through 11 plate appearances.

It’s crucial for Starling to make a good impression in spring training this year, as he finally got his shot to prove himself in the big leagues last year and the end result wasn’t great. He slashed just .215/.255/.317 while hitting four home runs in 197 plate appearances.

Starling also has to prove himself because he’s not going to be a starter. At best, he’s a fourth outfielder behind Alex Gordon (left), Whit Merrifield (center), and Hunter Dozier (right) and even then, he has the likes of Brett Phillips and some utility guys to contend with there.

Starling is running out of time to show his worth to the Royals, but so far, he’s doing what he needs to do in spring training.

JORGE SOLER

I’ll mention Jorge Soler due to the fact that he’s picked up where he left off in 2019 when it comes to home runs. After setting the single season home run record for the Royals last year, Soler came out of the gate hot, hitting a homer in the first game of spring training and another a few days later.

He has just those two home runs after a week, but it’s good to see the slugger still has it. He’s currently batting .167, however, which isn’t very good, but the home runs are what makes Soler lethal.

KRIS BUBIC

Kris Bubic was one of the five collegiate pitchers taken in the 2018 MLB Draft and the Stanford pitcher has flown up the prospect rankings since the Royals selected him. He’s looked sharp in spring training so far, throwing two clean innings and allowing just one run while striking out two batters.

Bubic joined Singer in the Future’s Game last year and pitched well. He’s someone the fans should be getting really excited about, but more than likely, he doesn’t come up to the big leagues until September. He might not see the big leagues until 2021 and that’s most certainly not a bad thing, as he’s just 22 years of age.

JORGE LOPEZ

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Jorge Lopez has been frustrating since the Royals acquired him via trade with the Brewers a few years ago, but he’s looking good in spring training. Lopez has thrown 4.2 clean innings while allowing just two hits and striking out six.

Lopez was initially going to be a starter for the Royals, but he struggled in that role and was moved to the bullpen. He’s still in talks for the fifth spot in the rotation, but he’s going to have to earn it. Even if Lopez doesn’t get a starting job, he’s a near lock to make the bullpen barring something unusual happening.

This is Lopez’s chance that he was worth trading for and to find his niche on the team. The Royals could use a dominant reliever and Lopez has the stuff to be that guy, but we haven’t seen that pay off in the regular season just yet.

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Obviously there have been other Royals who have impressed during spring training, but these five have really caught attention from the fans.

I didn’t even get into the bad standout players (looking at you Eric Skoglund) because spring training is a time to be excited for what players can provide. Guys like Brady Singer and Kris Bubic show that the future could be really, really good for this franchise if they both continue on this pace.

What Royals stood out to you in week one of spring training?