2011 saw the Royals’ top hitting prospects take a step forward, while many of their pitching prospects took a step sideways, down or out.

Spring training saw a similar result, as many of the position players the Royals are banking on flourished, while pitching remained the big question mark.

As of Friday, the games count. But the results from spring training are worth some analysis as the Royals head north with high aspirations.

The Royals’ opening day starter, Bruce Chen, probably deserves a pass this spring. He’s been through this countless times, and he wasn’t pitching to win a spot in the rotation. He was doing what he needs to do to be ready for the season.

Courtesy of Minda Haas

That said, Chen was not good in Arizona. He surrendered 37 hits in 22 innings, including an alarming six homers. Opponents batted .378 against him, and his ERA was an unsightly 9.41.

Another lock to start, Luke Hochevar hopes to put his roller-coaster highs and lows behind him. He was very solid in spring, surrendering just a 2.84 ERA and 1.21 WHIP. Best of all, he allowed just one homer in 19 innings pitched.

The stud of the spring was undoubtedly Luis Mendoza. I predicted back in late February that Mendoza could provide the surprise boost the Royals pitching staff needs. The 28-year-old righty got credit for four wins in the spring. Opponents could barely scratch out a hit against him – 11 in 16 innings. His ERA was just 0.54 and his WHIP was 0.84.

If Mendoza was the stud of the spring, then Mike Montgomery was the dud. While KC had a list of about 8 guys who were seriously in contention for rotation slots, the door would certainly have been held open for the 22-year-old Montgomery. But Montgomery flubbed the opportunity and manager Ned Yost was noticeably disappointed in the big lefty. I wrote last week about why Montgomery might be headed in the wrong direction (link).

Not far behind Montgomery was second-year candidate Danny Duffy. The Royals stood by Duffy during his painful learning experience in year one. But this spring, he looked no less lost than in 2011. He struggled his way to an 8.31 ERA and a 1.92 WHIP.

Duffy was terrible, and his main competition, Felipe Paulino, was equally bad. Paulino will start the season rehabbing an injury, most likely in Omaha, and he’ll have to earn a return to KC after posting a 7.71 spring ERA.

Horrifyingly, Duffy and Paulino were not the worst pitchers in Surprise (aside from Chen). That honor goes to Jonathan Sanchez, who got bombed this spring after coming over from San Francisco, supposedly to give the Royals an “ace.”

Sanchez gave up 17 hits and 13 runs in just 11.1 innings. His 2.03 WHIP led all Royals with more than 10 innings pitched. He was even worse in the exhibition game in San Diego, where he allowed two home runs in just two innings.

Last year’s All Star rep Aaron Crow made the switch to the rotation, made one start, then switched back after Joakim Soria blew out his arm. Crow was solid, allowing opponents to bat just .238 in the split role. He looks comfortable back in the bullpen and will look to put to rest fears that he was a half-season wonder.

Crow’s fellow closers, Jonathan Broxton and Greg Holland were equally solid in Arizona. Likely bullpen mates Tim Collins, Louis Coleman were ok as well.

Two other pleasant revelations were relievers Kelvin Herrera and Jose Mijares. Herrera has been lights-out at every level, and he was no less dominant in Surprise. He struck out 15 hitters in 13 innings, and his ERA was just 1.38. He gave up just five walks and no homers. I expected him to start the season in Omaha, but the Royals found they just couldn’t leave him behind.

Mijares also will start the year in KC after posting a 0.82 ERA and 1.36 WHIP in Arizona. He struck out just six in 11 innings, but hopefully will continue to lock down left-handed hitters in the big leagues.

One guy KC appeared ready to give up on made a solid case for himself in Arizona – Sean O’Sullivan. The big righty allowed opponents to bat just .268 against him, and his WHIP was a an impressive 1.13. He’ll start the season in Omaha, but hopefully will prove a reliable insurance plan as both a starter and reliever if needed in KC.

The relievers performed about as well as expected in Arizona. Crow shifted to the pen when Soria was lost, and Herrera and Mijares should make the bullpen collection dynamite.

But the rotation candidates, other than Hochevar, performed worse than was imaginable. Were it not for the incredible work by Mendoza, the spring would be a complete failure for the starters.

Only time will tell if Mendoza is as good, and Sanchez is as bad, as the numbers from Surprise would say they are.

Asked Tuesday afternoon if he has thought about his future [contract] since suffering a fracture in a bone near his left wrist, Pujols answered, “That’s a stupid question, come on.”

Really? “Ridiculous,” he said, and walked away from reporters gathered around his locker.

-Albert Pujols via TSN

Albert Pujols has taken a lot of heat from fans in his own city about calling Joe Strauss’ inquiry about his future “stupid.” The complaints range to a reporter just doing his job to Pujols just being a spoiled brat. Maybe–maybe–someone on the outside who didn’t know much about who Pujols is could misunderstand the context of his walking out on the press. But people who call themselves Cardinals fans? Come on.

Albert is being painted as the jerk and the bad guy here. But what we need to clarify the situation is context–something most of his critics on this issue lack. Why would he snap at reporters in a press conference specifically held to talk about his injury? Because the conversation deviated from his season-denting injury. The focus shifted to something Pujols hates to talk about: his contract.

Some will say “So what? It’s a free country and Albert should have to face the media.” True, there shouldn’t be anything stopping a reporter (who is doing his job) from asking what everyone was thinking. But the same goes for Pujols in that he doesn’t have to answer.

And really, Strauss should have never asked. He writes for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch covering the Cardinals every day. Are you telling me he didn’t know about Albert’s constant, numerous statements to the media saying that this would be a distraction and he didn’t want to mention it until the season was over? Yeah, he knew. And he asked anyways. So why isn’t Pujols intitled to call a stupid question stupid without any brush-back from the fans?

I have aspirations of doing something very similar to Strauss’ job when I’m out of school; so I usually take the side of the media man in conflicts such as Armando Galarraga’s demotion outburst and Tony LaRussa wanting to talk about Skip Schumaker’s walk-off homer after the team’s best player just went down for the count. But there are times when the media is in the wrong, such as LaRussa’s “It’s the first week of the season!” press conference (which was also started by a bait question). This is one of those times.

Although, maybe Strauss got what he wanted. Pujols’ refusal to answer his question stemmed from both ignorance of his previous statements and that he’s thinking the same thing we are: How will this affect his future? What will it do to the amount he’s getting at the end of the year?

Will the injury linger?

He’s thinking about this too. He knows what’s potentially at stake. Let’s not drill the guy with repetitive reminders.

I got your back, mang.