Happy start to spring training games!

There are four spring training games today, with one in the Grapefruit League that is currently underway and three in the Cactus League. The KC Royals begin today against the Texas Rangers, who they share their spring training facility with in Surprise.

• Yesterday, the Royals had photo day, a short workout, and a Jeff Francoeur organized golf outing. Click HERE for photos from the day.

• Aaron Crow has faced the fact that he is best in relief.

• Outfielder Lorenzo Cain is still on the mend from a hand injury. He is expected to take batting practice on Saturday and hopes to play in Monday’s game. Jarrod Dyson will start today’s opener in center field.

Here is the rest of today’s lineup:

LF Alex Gordon, SS Alcides Escobar, 1B Eric Hosmer, DH Billy Butler, C Salvador Perez, 3B Mike Moustakas, 2B Johnny Giavotella, and Dyson. Lefty Will Smith will get the start with Yordano Ventura, Justin Marks, Nate Adcock, Sugar Ray Marimon, Michael Mariot, and Blaine Boyer scheduled to pitch.

The Royals will face Rangers lefty Derek Holland, followed by Robbie Ross and Alexi Ogando.

So, say you are heading to Arizona to see the KC Royals during spring training, but you only want to attend a few games, not spend your whole vacation at a ballpark.

There are PLENTY of things to do in Arizona and not far from the Royals spring training home of Surprise, Arizona.

You can head over to the Cactus League’s website, where they have a link to a trip planner that takes you to the towns’ in Arizona (that have spring training facilities) visitors bureau sites.

You can also check out Arizona Scenic Tours, which tells you about popular destinations in Arizona and different types of tours you can take. They offer a variety of Day Tours that pick you up and drop you off at your Metro Phoenix location. They include tours such as a wineries tour, a Tuscon tour, a Grand Canyon tour, a Historic Route 66 loop, and a Sedona tour.

Or you can request an Arizona travel guide or a Phoenix area travel guide (especially if you plan on flying into the Phoenix airport).

Maybe you just want to stay in Surprise, which is considered one of America’s fastest growing cities. According to About.com, here are some things to do in Surprise:

• There is a 10,562 square foot Aquatics Center
• West Valley Art Museum
• White Tank Regional Park, where there is a rare desert waterfall. There is also Waterfall Trail, which is popular and an easy hike. It is also a great place to have a picnic lunch with beautiful views.
• Eight championship golf courses, like Cimarron at San City Grand
• Speedworld Dragstrip
• Surprise Tennis and Raquet complex, where from February 18-24 the USTA Pro Circuit Event will take place.

I mentioned in yesterday’s first post that Glendale is about 20 minutes away from Surprise. On their site, they have a link to 101 Things to Do in Glendale and West Valley. Yup, 101. However, the list isn’t exactly updated (like a few of the places have closed).

Maybe you like animals and would like to visit the Wildlife World Zoo and Aquarium, where they just opened a fourth building to their aquarium. Or would like to see what it would be like to go to space at the Challenger Space Center, where they offer Family Star Nights from 6:30-9pm to check out stars such as the Orion Nebula (February 23rd), the March Sky (March 9th), and the Equinox and Solstice (March 23rd).

» Continue reading “Guide to Royals Spring Training Part 2″

KC Royals 2013 spring training tickets are on sale now, as spring training is right around the corner.

The Royals open up their Cactus League schedule on the road against the Texas Rangers on February 22nd. On the road when playing the Rangers just means being the road team at Surprise Stadium. Their first home game is the following afternoon against the Rangers. They end their Cactus League season on March 29th at home against Cleveland.

The Royals lone off day is on Monday, March 11th.

Which spring training games do you find most intriguing? Which ones would you want to attend?

I would want to check out the Rangers and see how good that offense is going to be without Josh Hamilton (and it wasn’t too good at the end of last season). You can check out the Rangers on February 22, 23, and 24 and then again on March 18.

Both the LA Dodgers and LA Angels spent a ton of money this off season (or in the Dodgers case, since last July). The Dodgers are in Surprise on March 20th and 25th. The Angels travel to Surprise on March 10th.

Want to see a team that is a World Champion? Well, the SF Giants visit Surprise on March 2nd.

With Houston joining the American League, there will be more Interleague Games during the regular season. But if you want to check out some National League teams, there are two good times to head to Arizona.

One is February 27th thru March 3rd. The Royals are home on three of those days. They play Milwaukee on the 27th, Cincinnati on the first, and the Giants on the second. They head to Peoria to play San Diego on the 28th and to Goodyear on the third to play the Reds.

The second trip is March 27-28. They have two games on the 27th: in the afternoon they are in Maryvale playing the Brewers and at night they are home playing the Chicago Cubs. The following day, the Royals are in Goodyear playing the Reds.

I have never been to Arizona for spring training, but I have heard that the cities are not too far away. So if you are heading out to Surprise to check out the Royals, why not head out on the road to support them.

Most hope 2013 will be an exciting season for the Royals so why not check out the team in a warmer climate.

The KC Royals debuted Jonathan Sanchez on the mound on Wednesday. It didn’t exactly turn out as planned. The Royals hosted the Chicago Cubs and lost, 6-4.

He made it through just one inning and needed 31 pitches to get through it. He allowed four hits and four runs (though only three were earned).

The positives: he was back on the mound after injuries derailed his 2011 season and he did not walk a batter.

Walking batters wasn’t a concern today; it was giving up hits. After Sanchez, the Royals bullpen allowed 11 hits over the final seven innings. Each reliever allowed at least two hits.

Now getting to my headline: sloppy in Surprise. Sanchez wasn’t helped out by his defense in that first inning. The Royals made three errors, two by third baseman Mike Moustakas. One was a fielding error and the other was a throwing error, right after right fielder Jeff Francoeur threw the ball away. Since I am not in Arizona, I’m assuming it looked a little like little leaguers throwing the ball around.

It was another tough day on offense for the Royals starters. They collected just two total hits (2-for-16).

The bench, on the other hand, went 7-for-19 with three runs scored. Max Ramirez had another good performance, as he went 1-for-1 with two RBIs. Even though Ramirez is not on the 40-man roster, the Royals have to seriously be considering keeping him as the backup catcher. I know it’s early in camp, but he has been impressive at the plate.

Mitch Maier went 2-for-2 with a run scored off the bench.

*The Cubs stole three bases off reliever Nate Adcock and catcher Salvador Perez.

*For the first time this spring, the Royals did not ground into a double play. They did however hit into one, when Perez lined out to centerfield in the 5th inning and Francoeur was doubled off first base.

**For Cubs coverage, check out A League of Her Own.

The KC Royals played two games today, one on the road against Cleveland and one at home against the SD Padres. They lost to the Indians, 3-2, but won against the Padres, 7-4.

In the loss to the Indians, there was just one inning that did in the Royals. Zach Miner was on in relief of starter Will Smith (2IP, 2H, 0R,0BB, 0K). In his first inning of work, Miner allowed a three-run homerun to Shelley Duncan.

Other than that, the Royals received pretty stellar pitching. Francisley Bueno came on in relief of Miner with two men on base and got out of the inning unscathed. He went on to pitch another scoreless inning (despite two walks). Noel Arguelles pitched two scoreless innings and only allowed a single. Jeremy Jeffress closed out the pitching with a perfect inning of relief and those in attendance said he looked really good, using his breaking ball.

Irving Falu accounted for all of the Royals’ runs with a two-run homerun in the 4th inning. He went 2-for-3. Billy Butler went 2-for-2 with a walk and Brayan Pena also collected two hits.

The Royals bench collected just two hits: a double by Kevin Kouzmanoff and a single by Christian Colon.

In the win against the Padres, Max Ramirez provided a big chunk of the Royals offense as the DH. He went 2-for-3 with two homeruns, a walk, two runs scored, and four RBIs. Johnny Giavotella was the only other player with two hits (2-for-3 with an RBI).

It was a tough day for Jake Odorizzi, who followed Luke Hochevar‘s start (2IP, H, OR, 1BB, 1K). Odorizzi allowed two runs on four hits and a walk over two innings of work. It took him 46 pitches (25 strikes) to get through those two innings, which was his major problem last season in the minors.

Joakim Soria got into his first spring game, but he allowed a run on two hits in his one inning of work.

*The Royals hit into two more double plays today, one in each game. Jeff Francoeur hit into one with the bases loaded in the 3rd inning against the Padres. It was a rally killer. Against the Indians with a runner on first and no outs in the 9th inning and losing 3-2, Yem Prades hit into a DP.

It was nice to get that first win out of the way, even though it was only spring training.

The KC Royals started with a bang, literally.

Billy Butler hit a two-run homerun in the first inning off Texas Rangers starter Colby Lewis en route to their 6-1 victory over the Rangers.

Butler went 2-for-3 with a run scored and two RBIs. He also hit into an inning-ending double play.

Others who did well offensively for the Royals were Johnny Giavotella, Mike Moustakas, and Lorenzo Cain. Gio went 1-for-2 from the two-spot in the order with a walk and a run scored. Moose went 2-for-3 with an RBI, while Cain went 2-for-2 with a run scored.

Luis Mendoza started for the Royals and only allowed one hit over the first two innings. He threw alot of pitches though (36). I was most impressed with the outing from Vin Mazzaro. He pitched two shutout innings and only needed 18 pitches to get through them (14 of his pitches were strikes). His outing came against the big league hitters of the reigning American League champions.

Kelvin Herrera was also impressive, as he struck out two of the three hitters he faced (though they were minor leaguers).

Double plays bit their ugly head again for the Royals. They hit into two of them to end innings, the 4th and 6th, and both times with chances to score runs.

Once the Royals regulars were gone, the bench couldn’t hit the Rangers relievers. The bench went just 3-for-15 with five strikeouts. David Lough and Wil Myers did collect a hit each in their only at-bats.

The two teams will play again tomorrow afternoon in Surprise, with the Royals as the home team.

*If you are interested on a recap from the Rangers side, or to know what is going on with the Rangers, check out Big Game Claws.

Today marks the first Cactus League game for the KC Royals. As I mentioned yesterday, John Sleezer of the Kansas City Star has taken some really good photos from spring training.

Below is one of shortstop Alcides Escobar. If that doesn’t get you excited, I don’t know what will. Even he looks happy for the games to begin.

Alcides Escobar via John Sleezer/Kansas City Star

KC Royals spring training games officially begin on Sunday, as they visit the Texas Rangers (well, they share the same facility). Their last game in Arizona will be Sunday, April 1st at the Seattle Mariners.

The Royals then face the SD Padres in exhibition games, one Tuesday April 3rd at Petco Park and the other on Wednesday April 4th at Lake Elsinore (the Padres High-A affiliate).

• MLB Network will be airing six Royals games, though only three will be live. Five of the six games are road games.
• 16 games will be broadcast on 610 Sports Radio (four more are to be added once the NCAA Tournament schedule is released).
• The Fox Sports Kansas City team will kick off their coverage on Friday, March 30th. They will also broadcast the April 3rd exhibition game (which will also be re-aired on MLB Network at 12am).
• All spring training games will be webcast on royals.com (not sure what that means, but we will find out on Sunday).

*Here is the Royals Cactus League schedule (ss=split squad):

Wednesday, March 7th vs. Chicago Cubs 1:05pm MST (610 Sports Radio)