Welcome to a new feature on I70 Baseball, the Royals Power Rankings. Each week we’ll rank the top five Royals in 2013 with a heavy emphasis on their performance in the past seven days. Just moments ago, Alex Gordon topped a 4-1 week with a walk off hit in the tenth inning. The club now sits at 17-10, on pace for 102 victories. As awesome as Gordon’s hit was, the week belonged to Lorenzo Cain, who continues to be the best hitter on the club in 2012.

#5 James Shields- Big Game James was brought in to be the ace and I seriously doubt the Royals thought his 3.00 ERA would rank third on the starting staff more than a month into the season. Shields picked up a victory off his old team with a gutsy performance on Tuesday night. After surrendering two runs in the first, Shields proceeded to pitch six shutout innings and notch his second victory of the season. It was the third time this season Shields has pitched 6+ innings and given up two runs of less.

#4 Alex Gordon- Sunday’s big hit aside, it was a rough week for the Royals’ left fielder. Gordon was 3/23 on the week before his 10^th inning stroke and saw his average slide from .337 to .303 this week. Still, he leads the team with 20 RBI and is tied for the team lead in both home runs (3) and doubles (6)

#3 Jeremy Guthrie- The performance of the week goes to Guthrie for his complete game shutout of the White Sox on Saturday night. Guthrie completely owns the Sox, and has now gone a club-record 17 straight starts without a loss. Guthrie hasn’t given up a run in his last two starts.

#2 Ervin Santana- The official stats will tell you that Ervin Santana didn’t even pitch last week, but of course we all know that’s not true. Santana continued his dominance on Thursday afternoon before a snow out erased his efforts. To say Santana has been great this year would be underselling it. He’s struck out 31 batters in 36 innings and sports a 2.00 ERA.

#1 Lorenzo Cain- Cain was one of the biggest question marks heading into the 2013 campaign and so far he’s been incredible. He leads the club with a .341 average and didn’t do anything to hurt that this week. We was 8/20 with five runs scored and five RBI on the week (including the only two RBI in the team’s 2-0 win on Saturday night. Through five weeks Cain has been the best player on the team and one of the best in the league.

Honorable mention: Bruce Chen- Chen picked up his second victory of the season with two shutout innings against the Rays on Wednesday night. Chen has now made five appearances out of the pen without allowing an earned run. Perhaps more impressively, he’s struck out 11 batters in only 9 2/3 innings.

With the desert in the rear view mirror and the Cactus League preseason in the books, it’s about time to get things going for real.

The soaring hopes of Royals fans were tempered considerably in Surpise by injuries to Joakim Soria, Salvador Perez, Blake Wood and Felipe Paulino. The team scrambled to plug the gaps, but spring training quickly went from idyllic to daunting.

The injury to Perez was particularly detrimental to the team’s lineup, because KC lacked a big-league-caliber Plan B.

One thing is for certain, with a few exceptions, the hitters far outpaced the pitchers in Surprise. That probably comes as no surprise, actually. The combination of dry air, altitude and an off-season’s accumulation of rust would tend to hamper the pitchers. But two things are apparent – the Royals have a talented collection of hitters, and they are unsettled in the starting rotation.

But as for the hitters, no one is really shocked that Eric Hosmer led all of baseball in RBIs this spring, least of all Ned Yost.

“I feel like every time he comes us with a runner on, he’s going to drive him in,” Yost told reporters in Surprise. “I think he’s going to be a special player for us in the years to come.”

Hosmer drove in 29 runs in just 26 games, and led the Royals with a .416 average (among those with more than 10 at bats).

Possibly the most positive event of the spring was the dominance of centerfielder Lorenzo Cain. There was no question going in – he was handed the job. But rather than merely accept it, he claimed it like he was at an audition.

Cain quieted any doubters by bashing five homers in just 66 at bats, tied with Hosmer for the team lead. He batted .394, stole four bases and drove in eleven runs. Best of all, he led all regulars with a 1.255 OPS. Cain was so impressive, Yost is considering repositioning his centerfielder in the second spot in the batting order.

Right behind Cain in nearly every category was Alex Gordon, whose signing to a long-term deal was probably the highlight of the spring. Gordon added four homers, 14 RBIs, a .385 average and 1.086 OPS.

Other positives are that Alcides Escobar hit .350 and struck out just four times, and Billy Butler hit the ball with authority – four homers and seven doubles for a .672 slugging percentage.

One positive turn of events in Surprise was Yuniesky Betancourt’s showing at second base. The jury is still out on Yuni as a utility infielder, but he showed a surprising deftness around second base and may have won the starting job.

The addition of utility outfielder/infielder Jason Bourgeois may be another unexpected positive from the spring. The newcomer brought such speed and athleticism that Jarrod Dyson became expendable. In 16 plate appearances, Bourgeois produced a .375 average to go with three walks and seven stolen bases. He should prove a capable fill-in in all outfield spots and even at second base and possibly at third.

There are, of course, negatives, starting with Mike Moustakas’ 19 strikeouts to just 3 walks in 69 at bats. Had Moose not warmed up in the final week, his numbers would have been abominable. Even with the hot finish, he wound up with just 2 homers and seven RBIs, a .261 average, and a .301 OBP.

Another negative, as far as the youth movement is concerned, is the Chris Getz/Johnny Giavotella battle for the second base job. Most everyone looked forward to Giavotella becoming yet another of the prospects to claim a starting position. But Giavotella’s work at the plate during the spring didn’t make up for his less-than-stellar defense. Giavotella will start the year at Omaha, where he can play every day.

Getz was praised by Yost for remaking himself into a different player, but his .222 average and .244 SLG looks like the same old Getz.

Jeff Francoeur did not have a good spring offensively. No one seems concerned that Francoeur’s “bounce-back” year will be a one year bounce. Frenchy managed just one homer in Surprise and all his other numbers were among the worst on the team.

One player who no one cared about his offensive numbers was newly-acquired catcher Humberto Quintero. Quintero will bring stability to the catching situation in KC, but it doesn’t look like he’ll bring much pop to the offense. In eight games, he produced just four hits (none for extra bases) and one RBI.

Spring Training statistics go into the trash as soon as the teams head north. But KC fans see some positive growth from the young hitters that make this an exciting time, in spite of the injuries. Now the youngsters have 162 games to prove what they can do for real. As the Royals tell us, this is “Our Time.”

Can’t lie, I’m pretty excited about writing this piece for i70 this year.  I’m hoping to look like I actually know what I’m talking about, and maybe just go ahead and extend my streak to two.  You see, last year, for the “Key Player” project, I wrote about a young man by the name of David Freese.  My incredible good fortune insight, luck stunning analysis, and fluke happenstance major league scout-like analysis identified the eventual NLCS and World Series MVP more than 7 months ahead of time.

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

Is there a single player, let alone pitcher, whose 2012 season will be more important to the St. Louis Cardinals’ success this year?  To borrow a phrase from the recently departed Tony LaRussa, if Adam Wainwright isn’t, then he’s certainly tied for first.  The organization, the fan base, and the entire National League had high expectations for Wainwright’s first season back to the bump following his Tommy John surgery a year ago.  For months, everyone has anticipated his return, and many of us have expected/hoped for dominance–an important arm if the Cards are to return deep into the 2012 postseason.  And that was before Carpenter went down.

“Hey, maybe one of these days, we can pitch during the same season again. Whaddya say?”

It’s been a year and a half since we’ve seen Waino pitch in a game, so it’s easy to see how a person could forget exactly just how dominant this guy has been.  For those who remember him as “pretty darn bueno”, but exactly how bueno is escaping you at the moment, here’s a quick recap on the last two years he’s pitched.

So, let’s see…something along the lines of 21 wins, an ERA near 2.21, 10 CGs, 214 Ks, a sub-one WHIP, and a Cy Young Award, all in about 227 innings should pretty much meet expectations, right?  Holy 12-to-6s, those are some ridiculous numbers!

Honestly, it’s probably ludicrous to think Waino’s 2012 campaign will be anything close to either of his past two seasons.  The one thing that drives many of these numbers (save ratios, and the “all important” win category), is IP–a number sure to be significantly lower this year.  I said in another post on another site that I could see him going more than 200 innings this year, a number that I’d now argue against.  170 to 180-ish seems more like reality at this point, though, you just never know for sure.

One thing is certain, though, with Carpenter out indefinitely, all eyes will be focused on Wainwright every time he takes the ball.  I remember many very similar conversations a year ago, though the names were exactly the opposite–let’s hope Wainwright’s April & May turns out better than Carp’s did last year.  The reality is, Wainwright’s season probably lands somewhere between Carps’s low points of April & May (a 1-7 start, with win #2 coming on June 23rd), and the highlights (wins in deciding games 5 vs. Halladay in the NLDS & game 7 of the World Series).

Big picture, long-term, though…I trust that John Mozeliak will work with Mike Matheny to be sure that Adam Wainwright & his workload are handled in 2012 in a way that’s best for Waino over the course of his career.  So, if we don’t see the Wainwright that we know he can be (and maybe even better with that new arm), be patient–better to have him long term & healthy than sacrifice it for a run at another ring, and risk a more serious injury, and threaten his career.

Remember when they shut Jamie Garcia down down the stretch in 2010?  If you don’t think that worked, maybe you haven’t considered all sides of the argument.  And before you jump in with the “but Chris Carpenter…” rebuttal, remember Waino is 30 and if he keeps doing what he’s done, he’s headed for a $20MM/yr range-type deal.  Carpenter, on the other hand, will be 37 in one month, and just inked a two-year $21MM deal–likely the last deal of his career.

My supposition is that by the time June rolls around, we’ll know if we might be talking about the future possibility of Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright pitching in the same rotation ever again, and by the All-Star Break, I’ll bet we know one way or the other.  One thing’s for sure, Adam Wainwright is going to be a critical piece going forward in 2012 and beyond!

*Way to go, Kyle McClellan.

Old friend of I-70, Wally Fish (of Kings Of Kauffman fame), has a site known as Seedlings To The Stars. They are currently in the process of counting down their top 100 prospects and we thought our readers might like to drop by there for some insight. Below are I-70 players that are currently profiled. Drop by the site and read up on the future of your favorite franchise.

The Seedlings To Stars 2012 Top 100 Prospects, #16: Wil Myers
Nathan Stoltz of Seedlings To The Stars says:

It’s not easy to hold one’s own in a Double-A lineup at age 20, and that’s exactly what Myers did in 2011. He had already blown apart both A-ball levels in 2010 as a teenager, so he has a strong track record.

Myers showed a bit of everything in his game this past year, walking 12.5% of the time and posting a 5/3 K/BB ratio. He ripped 23 doubles in 99 games, and some of his doubles should start clearing the fence as he matures. Myers even stole nine bases in 11 attempts.

Myers then crushed the Arizona Fall League in the offseason, hitting .360/.481/.674 with more walks than strikeouts and 14 extra-base hits in 23 games.

Read the full profile on Wil Myers by clicking here.

The Seedlings To Stars 2012 Top 100 Prospects, #8: Shelby Miller
Nathan Stoltz of Seedlings To The Stars says:

Miller followed up an excellent 2010 season with a truly dominating performance in High-A as a 20-year-old, striking out a whopping 13.75 batters per nine innings. He then moved up to Double-A for the majority of the year, where he continued to strike out over a batter per inning and held his walk rate steady at 3.4 BB/9. He also allowed just four home runs all season, an impressive feat; his Double-A home park is probably the most hitter-friendly stadium at that level.

More than any sort of statistical dominance, Miller’s always been known for having a very powerful right arm. He whips fastballs in the 93-96 range with excellent riding life up in the zone, and he backs it up with a solid curveball and a workable changeup. His delivery is extremely simple and effortless, so he isn’t sacrificing durability for the sake of velocity. At 6’3″ and a sturdy 200 lbs. he’s built to pitch deep into games.

Red the full profile on Shelby Miller by clicking here.

If prospects are what you are looking for and you want the most in-depth analysis available, all of us here at I-70 would suggest you drop by Seedlings To The Stars often. I know it is sitting at the top of my bookmarks currently.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball as well as the Assignment Editor for BaseballDigest.com.
He is the host of I-70 Radio, hosted every week on BlogTalkRadio.com.
Follow him on Twitter here.

A team focused on a youth movement acquires a player in his own “rebuild” mode. Jonathan Broxton is going to wear Royal Blue in 2012.

Broxton has seen his share of down times in the last few years but many teams see him as a legit answer to the back end of bullpen issues. In an effort to maximize his future payday, Broxton was on the market looking for a one year deal to allow him to rebuild some value and seek a longer, more lucrative contract, in the near future.

While Broxton’s 2011 was cut short by injury, his arrival on the scene in 2006 showed sure dominance. A fireballer out of the bullpen, Broxton opened his first full career season by striking out 97 hitters in just 76 1/3 innings. His rise came quickly and he would find himself in the All Star game in 2009 and 2010. A lifetime strikeout to walk ratio of 3.09 shows a guy that is going to force hitters to beat him.

The Broxton signing will leave fans to wonder what the future holds for closer Joakim Soria. In my opinion, you will see Broxton setting up Soria and one or the other being used as trade bait near the deadline if they are both performing. Soria has team options stacked up for 2013 and 2014, making him the more attractive piece to other teams, but also making him the more valuable piece to the Royals.

Broxton will get $4 million for the 2012 campaign, including $1 million dollars in incentives based on games pitched, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com who broke the news.

I must admit, Dayton Moore is showing signs of making some good moves in my opinion this off season. His next few moves may be the big ones that everyone is waiting for.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball as well as the Assignment Editor for BaseballDigest.com.
He is the host of I-70 Radio, hosted every week on BlogTalkRadio.com.
Follow him on Twitter here.

The official Press Release from the Royals is below:

KANSAS CITY, MO (November 29, 2011) – The Kansas City Royals announced today that the club has agreed to terms with right-handed relief pitcher Jonathan Broxton on a one-year Major League contract for the 2012 season, pending a physical exam. Consistent with club policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.

“We are delighted to add someone as talented as Jonathan to our bullpen,” Royals GM Dayton Moore said. “He will be used in a set up role to closer Joakim Soria and will help solidify what we feel is a young and talented bullpen.”

The 27-year-old Broxton was a two-time National League All-Star (2009, 2010) while playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers, including picking up the save for the National League in the 2010 Midsummer Classic in Anaheim. Since debuting in 2005 for the Dodgers, Broxton has compiled a 25-20 record with 84 saves and a 3.19 ERA in 386 appearances, all in relief. In 392.0 career innings, the 6-foot-4 right-hander has struck out 503, a ratio of 11.55 strikeouts per nine innings which is the third-highest in baseball since 2005 among pitchers with at least 350 innings. Broxton was 1-2 with seven saves and a 5.68 ERA in just 14 games for the Dodgers in 2011 before being placed on the Disabled List on May 6 with bone spurs in his right elbow that eventually required arthroscopic surgery on September 19.

Broxton and his wife, Elizabeth, have a son, Jonathan Brooks, and reside in Waynesboro, Ga.

The Cardinals have plenty of heroes to thank for their late charge into playoff contention. Albert Pujols‘ .388/.463/.626 slash line since August 11th. Jamie Garcia’s dominance since August 25th. And so on. One of the unsung heroes of this season has been Yadier Molina. Molina has had a down year defensively but has made up for it with a career year at the plate.

During Thursday’s game Molina knocked in his 62nd and 63rd runs on the year, the latter setting a new personal best for RBI in a season. Since RBI are more a measure of how well the hitters ahead of you in the order get themselves into scoring position, let’s also look at his OPS+. Molina has posted a 121 OPS+ this season, his best by 21 points, and fourth on the club among those with 450+ PA, behind the usual subjects (Lance Berkman (169), Pujols (156), Matt Holliday (154)). A big part of that has been newfound power – his 13 HR this season is almost double his previous high (7, in 2008).

His batting average is also up, sitting right at .300 going into yesterday. That is a bounce-back from the .263 he posted in 2010, and in line with the two seasons before that (.293 and .300, respectively, for 2009/2008). Sometimes when a player’s batting average ticks up we see a corresponding increase in Batting Average on Balls In Play, indicating the player is having a little better luck than other hitters. Not so with Molina – his BABIP in 2011 is .307. Yes that is the second highest he’s ever posted, but not out of line with his last 5 seasons, where it hovered between .281 and .310.

So what has changed? Well, his ground ball rate is down and his fly ball rate is up as compared to his two previous seasons. He is getting more loft on the ball, meaning he is driving the ball better. Both rates are right where they were in 2007, his previous best season. It appears he has re-discovered what he did well at the plate 4 years ago, with excellent results.

Molina’s year also puts him on the short list of current catchers who can hit. His wRC+ 0f 117 is almost identical to Miguel Montero‘s (119), the cleanup hitter for the pending NL West champion Arizona Diamondbacks. His fWAR of 3.7 places him in a virtual dead heat with Carlos Santana of Minnesota (3.7), Brian McCann (3.8), and Matt Weiters of Baltimore (4.0), three guys who came into the league with well-deserved reputations for superior offense.

It’s been a long time since St Louis had a catcher who put up this kind of offensive season. Since 1901, only 6 Cardinals have played 130 games or more at catcher and posted an OPS+ of 110 0r better. Molina is the first to do it since Darrell Porter in 1983. The other 4 names are a who’s who of great Cardinal Catchers: Ted Simmons, who did it six times; Tim McCarver, Bob O’Farrell, and Frank Snyder.

A lineup featuring Berkman, Pujols, and Holliday is imposing enough. Having a threat from behind the plate is a welcome luxury. Yadier Molina is having a fantastic year with the stick. We would be remiss if we did not acknowledge it.

Mike Metzger is a life-long Cardinals fan still with his fingers crossed in San Diego. He also blogs about the Padres. Follow him on Twitter.

The discussion as of late has began to center around improvements that need to happen to the 2012 team. Even the Cardinals front office has started working towards next season. The rotation is set, potential veteran free agents are having open discussions about possible returns, and everyone is beginning to focus once again on Albert Pujols.

In the midst of all the September call-ups that should be getting playing time to determine if they are, in fact, ready for the big leagues, another player is slowly establishing himself in a key 2012 role for the team.

Jason Motte has become a closer.

He was one of the few back of the bullpen guys to not get a shot early in the season when Ryan Franklin fell apart. The pitchers that the team went through were generally given a few games to see what they could do. While Motte was being used in late inning situations, he was not being given the opportunity to close the door for the team. In the midst of it all, Motte started stringing together an impressive 2011 season. Consider some of the facts…

The most obvious show of dominance has occurred from July 26th through September 3rd. During that time frame, Motte would make 21 appearances over 18 2/3 innings pitched without being credited with a single run allowed. He would inherit 15 base runners, allowing one to score on August 22nd against the Dodgers in St. Louis. His command, which has frequently been in question, would stabilize as he would strike out 15 batters over this stretch of the season while only walking two.

Overlapping that time frame was a span of games from July 26th through August 28th in which Motte would pitchin 14 1/3 innings and only surrender one base hit. Gaby Sanchez would reach on a line drive that hit Motte on the sixth of August as the Cardinals played the Marlins in Florida.

This month alone, Motte has made eight appearances, striking out seven hitters over 8 2/3 innings, walking one, surrendering one run, and compiling a record of one win and six saves.

In short, Motte has started becoming the dominant pitcher that the Cardinals have hoped he would become. His control has been much better and his effectiveness has risen to the challenge.

When it comes to 2012, the Cardinals may not need to be looking for a closer to nail down the bullpen.

Seems to me, they already have their guy.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball as well as the Assignment Editor for BaseballDigest.com.
He is the host of I-70 Radio, hosted every week on BlogTalkRadio.com.
Follow him on Twitter here.

I live in a rural part of Kansas. The high school of the town I live in plays 8-Man Football. When it comes to television providers my choices are Dish Network or Direct TV. I have been with Dish Network for several years. When the MLB Network was launched in 2009 I gave Dish Network an earful for not carrying the MLB Network. After all, I had access to NFL Network, NBA Network, and NHL Network, yet I didn’t have the network of my favorite sport. Yet, I stayed with Dish because I certainly wasn’t paying what DirectTV wanted for their services. And really, it wasn’t worth a vacation day for me to wait on a technician to come out and make the switch.

Which is why I was elated when I saw MLB Network appear on my program guide last Thursday. To my wife’s chagrin this will make this coming off-season a lot easier to handle. It also allows me to keep up on other baseball teams. I could do that before with the internet, but it takes a lot more effort to do that. One of the teams I like to follow is the Phillies. I have more than one friend in real life that is Phillies fan. I converse with several more via Twitter and other social media. I like good pitching and the Phillies have a lot of it. MLB Network shows a lot of Phillies games and this allows to me to watch more of them.

The Phillies are in a good place. All 5 of their starters would be the ace on the Royals pitching staff. Weird stuff happens in the MLB play-offs, but with that pitching staff anything short of a title would be a disappointment. However, I recently read this article at Grantland by the Dean of Royals Bloggers Rany Jazayerli. Read it for yourself but he essentially says the likelihood of the Phillies continuing their dominance is anything but a given.

The purpose of this Phillies love fest is not to relive the 1980 World Series where the Phillies and Royals paths crossed. It’s to compare two franchises at different ends of a spectrum. Looking at the information Rany lays out in his article. Where would you rather have your favorite franchise? Like the Phillies with a World Series title at hand but trending down. Or like the Royals near the bottom of the league in everything but trending up.

If I were buying stock I would buy the Royals. However, fandom in the sports world does not have inherent value. Winning a World Series involves being good, and being lucky. Outside the Yankees and Cardinals Word Series Championships are hard to come by. The Royals have one in their 42 seasons. Winning a World Series is the goal of a baseball team. Having a great organization top to bottom is good because it increases the likelihood of winning a World Series, not the other way around. Maybe my point of reference is off because I’ve been watching bad baseball for so many years. But if the Baseball Gods promised me a Royals World Series trophy in exchange for five years of 90+ loss seasons I think I would agree to that.

CardsFanInBigD checks in on Lance Berkman and his utter dominance of his former club in Houston.

Feeling pretty good about Alex Gordon right now? Do you think he’s turned a corner on his career? Well, before you cast your all-star vote for Gordon, remember how you felt about six months ago. Or a year ago. Or two years ago. Weren’t you calling him a disappointment? A wasted draft pick? A career AAAA star?

We’re all quite excited to see him succeed, for his sake as much as ours. It hurts to watch a guy fail in spite of lofty expectations.

Well, we’ve got another such case on our hands in Luke Hochevar. And right now it hurts to watch.

After another night in which his ERA creeps closer to 9.00, are you about ready to write off the former #1 pick in the draft?

Last night was pretty much a disaster. Our “ace” was once again battered, this time in a 9-4 loss to the division leading Cleveland Indians.

But more indicative of the frustration with Luke would be his outing against Cleveland on April 20, when he spun five perfect innings, only to blow a gasket in the sixth.

I missed the first five innings of Luke’s last start. (That’s right, I don’t have DVR or DirecTV. I actually have to watch sports in real time!) I walked in and turned the game on just as he recorded the last out, just as they put up on the screen a list of the four no-hitters thrown by KC pitchers.

So I missed seeing the dominance. What I was in time to see, however, was the two balks in the sixth, the back-to-back walks to lead off the seventh, and several hits in between.

It is in times like that I find myself saying the same things about Luke that I said about Gordon. “He was a wasted draft pick.” “He’s never going to get it.” “We should give up on him and try someone else a try.”

I am as sick as anyone of watching Luke underachieve. More than once I’ve been ready to throw in the towel on the guy.

But watching Gordon this year has caused me to reign in my impatience a bit.

Remember, Luke wasn’t supposed to be the ace of a World Series winner this year anyway. Don’t let the Royals’ decent start distort your expectations for this season. We weren’t planning on winning this year. Remember?

This is the year of auditions for 2012 and 2013. The guys in the rotation this year are making their case to be included in the pitching staff of the future. That staff will hopefully feature guys currently honing their craft at Omaha and Northwest Arkansas. But most of those young studs are still a year or more away.

We can assume Luke will be given every chance to outlast the Mazzaros, the Chens, the Davies and the Francises. He’s going to be around for a while.

Luke is still relatively cheap. He’s only costing the Royals $1.76 million this year (a bargain compared to Davies!). He will be eligible for arbitration in 2012, but won’t be a free agent until 2015. With both time and money on their side, the Royals should settle in for the long haul with Hochevar.

That doesn’t make it any less frustrating to watch. Seeing Luke balk away a masterful five innings, I said “It’s all in his head. He’s lost it.”

But wasn’t that basically true about Gordon? Wasn’t the pressure and repeated failure eating away at him when he was sent down last year?

One thing that happened with Gordon was that the spotlight was taken off him last year. Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and baseball’s number one minor league system suddenly stole the headlines. Fans stopped caring about the current Royals team and started buying into the future.

That shift allowed Gordon to go to work with Kevin Seitzer in private, without mountains of pressure being heaped on him. The same could happen with Luke, as fans shift all their hopes onto Mike Montgomery, Danny Duffy and John Lamb.

So let’s settle in for the long haul with Luke and hope he has a Gordon-like epiphany. Let’s hope, like Gordon, he works long and hard, receives good coaching and finally masters that talent he obviously possesses.

After all, anyone who can throw five perfect innings against a contending team shouldn’t just be kicked to the curb.