SPRINGDALE, Ark. – The Naturals’ parent club, the Kansas City Royals announced  that starting pitcher Danny Duffy will begin his Major League rehab assignment with the Naturals on Sunday against the San Antonio Missions.

Duffy is expected to be with the Naturals for their upcoming homestand that begins on Tuesday May 28^th.

Last season the hard-throwing lefthander made the Royals starting rotation out of Spring Training and made six starts, going 2-2 with a 3.90 ERA, striking out 28 batters in 27⅔ innings, before being placed in the Disabled List on May 14 with a left elbow injury and undergoing Tommy John surgery on June 13.

A major contributor on the Naturals Texas League Championship team, Duffy made two post-season starts and earned the win in the opening game of the Texas League Championship Series against the Midland RockHounds. Duffy went 5-2 with a 2.95 ERA in seven regular season starts with the Naturals in 2010.

Duffy is the second former Natural to return to the team on a rehab assignment, joining Greg Holland who returned to Northwest Arkansas for two games in 2012.

The Southern California-native will wear number 41 for the Naturals. The Naturals roster is at the Texas League limit of 25 players, plus Duffy who is on a Major League rehab assignment.

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the Double-A Texas League Affiliate of the Kansas City Royals and proud host of the 77^th Annual Texas League All Star Game. The Naturals play at state-of-the-art Arvest Ballpark in Springdale, AR. For more information including statistics, ticket options, and more, please visit NWANaturals.com, and follow us on Twitter @NWANaturals and Facebook.com/Naturals.

The Kansas City Royals took huge measures this offseason to fix their number one on-field issue, the rotation.  The addition of James Shields gave them a legitimate ace pitcher at the front of their rotation.  The rebuilt rotation looks stronger but leaves the question open: Who’s number two?

Throughout 2012 the opinion around the Royals fanbase was very similar.  Many people felt that the team was full of pitchers that projected as the fourth or fifth best pitcher in a rotation.  There was no clear cut “ace” nor was there anyone that the fans felt confident in taking the mound to stop a losing streak.  The team had major league quality pitching, it just was not elite.

Dayton Moore seemingly set out to fix that during the end of 2012 and into the offseason.  A three year contract was reached with Jeremy Guthrie, who had pitched very well after joining the Royals during the second half of 2012, and trades were made for Shields, Wade Davis, and Ervin Santana.  The fifth spot is up for grabs this spring and eventually Danny Duffy will join these four to round out the starting five.

Shields obviously will head line the starting rotation for the Royals and is the type of pitcher that would headline most rotations across baseball.  Last year was a team full of rotation guys that projected as four and five starters, this year, it appears that the rotation may be full of guys that are top-three style pitchers.

Looking at the four starters that are set into the rotation this season, where will they rank at the end of 2013?

Wade Davis: Number Four

Davis has been a solid Major League pitcher for the Tampa Bay Rays.  In four seasons he has proven to be a durable starter and a reliable relief pitcher.  The Royals brought him in as insurance and an upgrade over the pitchers they currently had, but he was never projected to be near the top of the rotation.  Davis will provide some inning-eating starts throughout the summer and be serviceable in his role, but ultimately will remain as a lower-rotation starter that may end up back in the bullpen before long if other pitchers are pitching well when Duffy returns.

Ervin Santana: Number Three

Santana is the pitcher that the Royals most hope can realize his potential.  In eight seasons of starting pitching for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Santana has won 16 or more games three times in his career.  He has also lost 12 or more games three times as well.  An up-and-down career has seen moments of brilliance and frustration for Santana.  The Royals will hope that Dave Eiland can work with Santana on mechanical flaws in his delivery and help him regain his top-of-the-rotation form.  Santana should be able to be the number three starter when the smoke clears, though Kansas City may be hoping he is better than that.

Jeremy Guthrie: Number Two

Looking at past performance of all three starters would rank Guthrie much lower in this conversation.  However, in recent interviews Guthrie has talked very openly about a renewed confidence, a satisfaction with management and coaching and overcoming a mental block that he felt kept him for being a better pitcher in Colorado.  He has spoken to the fact that Kauffman Stadium is a pitcher friendly environment and that he feels that he has one of the best defenses in the league behind him.  The confidence shows in his statistics from last season, with nearly all of his stats showing best in his career type numbers.  He is pitching to contact, keeping the ball in the park, and letting his defense do the work.

By the time the smoke clears on the 2013 season, the Royals will be looking at a rotation that will feature top-tier players at most of the slots.  Jeremy Guthrie has every opportunity to become a great part of that rotation for the next three years.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball
Follow him on Twitter here.

As we sit at the All-Star Break, we take some time to reflect on the Kansas City Royals performance by position in the first half of the season.

There is no denying that expectations were higher for this Royals team. With this being the first year having most of the young players Royals’ fans have been hearing about starting the season with the team, it is only natural that fans expected to see production right away. Well, for the first week, things looked pretty decent. Then Johnny Broxton blew a game in Oakland and everything went to hell in a handbasket for 2 weeks. The Royals proceeded to get blown out on their home opener in front of a sold out crowd, in the second of 12 consecutive losses. Once the Royals finally snapped their losing streak, they actually began playing well. Despite several more injuries to key players, they managed to claw back to 5-6 games out of first place. Then they hit a swoon last week that puts them currently at 37-47 and 9 1/2 games out of first place in the division. How has each position performed? We will fill you in on that right now:

Starting Pitcher-C minus

People may feel like this is being too generous. But based on the injuries to guys like Duffy and Paulino, what more could you expect? Bruce Chen has regressed a little, and Luke Hochevar has been his same unreliable and inconsistent self. But Luis Mendoza has been a pleasant surprise, and guys like Vin Mazzarro, Nate Adcock, and Everett Teaford have done an ok job filling in. If it wasn’t for Jonathan Sanchez, I might be able to give this group a B minus.

Catcher-B
Brayan Pena will always be Brayan Pena. But this year he has solidified himself as a solid clubhouse presence as well as a high quality backup catcher. He and Humberto Quintero had to start more games than the Royals would have preferred due to Salvador Perez‘s knee injury, but that’s what they’re there for. Quintero is now gone, and since Perez returned from injury, he has been a monster in every respect. It would not surprise me if the Catcher position receives an A for its final grade based on what Perez is able to contribute in the second half of the season.

First Base-D plus

Eric Hosmer now has his batting average up to .231. This is saying something, considering it doesn’t seem that long ago that he was hitting a meager .179. The Royals and their fans expected more out of Hosmer this season, as they should have. I believe he will turn it around and have a very solid 2nd half of the season.

2nd Base-B

The tandem of Yuniesky Betancourt and Chris Getz (when he as been healthy) has certainly outpaced expectations for this year. Johnny Giovatella’s less than inspiring performance after getting called up is certainly a downer, but overall I think the Royals have gotten more offensively than they expected to out of the 2nd Base position.

3rd Base-A

Mike Moustakas has exceeded all expectations both offensively and defensively. He is currently on pace for 29 HR’s and 91 RBI. While nobody doubted he could put up numbers like this eventually, nobody expected it to come this year. On top of that, he is playing gold glove calibur defense.

Shortstop-A

Alcides Escobar is hitting .307 and slugging .410. He also has 21 doubles at the break. And is probably the best defensive shortstop in the game. Yes, we will take that.

Outfield-C

Defensively, the trio of Alex Gordon, Jeff Francoeur, and Jarrod Dyson has performed quite well. Offensively, however, the production coming from the 3 outfield spots is well below where it was last year and well below where anyone expected it to be this year. After a slow start, Alex Gordon has now raised his batting average to .274 with 27 doubles. However, his 5 HR’s are well off the pace of the 23 that he clubbed in 2011. His speed on the basebaths has also somehow disappeared, as he sits at 3 SB’s after swiping 17 bags last year. Jeff Francoeur has been similarly disappointing at the plate. After hitting .285 with 20 HR, 85 RBI, and 22 SB’s a season ago, he currently sits with a batting average of .251, 7 HR, 25 RBI, and just 1 SB. This is far from the kind of production they were hoping for in 2012, and is the primary reason Royals fans are clamoring for Wil Myers to replace Frenchy in RF. And the lack of production in CF is almost entirely due to the injury of Lorenzo Cain, who is scheduled to return this coming weekend. Jarrod Dyson is a nice player with a limited skillset, so he is performing about as well as one could reasonably expect him to. So once Cain comes back we should see an uptick in production from the CF position.

Bullpen-A minus

A lot has been asked of this bullpen and for the most part they have delivered. Even with Joakim Soria going down before the season, Jonathan Broxton has stepped up and performed admirably in the closer’s role. Kelvin Herrera, Tim Collins, Jose Mijares, Greg Holland, and Aaron Crow have also been very reliable options out of the pen. The hope is that this group was not over-used in the first half of the season and doesn’t break down, but time will tell.

Looking at these performances, it is hard to not feel somewhat optimistic about the 2nd half of the season. With drastic increases in production expected from Catcher (Perez), Right Field (Myers), Center-Field (Cain), and the opportunity for Gordon to show improvement from the first half, the Royals could find themselves in position to make some noise in the 2nd half of 2012.

The hits keep on coming, but it’s not Eric Hosmer hitting into better luck. With left-handed starter Danny Duffy being out for the year due to a ligament tear in his elbow, the Royals suffered another injury to a key player. The Royals already lost closer Joakim Soria for the year to Tommy John surgery. Catcher Salvador Perez won’t be back until the All-Star Break recovering from a knee injury. Center fielder Lorenzo Cain is still recovering from a groin injury he suffered early in the season. Not to mention starter Jonathan Sanchez is on the DL with biceps tendinitis. These players were supposed to be a key part of the 2012 season and help make the Royals competitive. Instead, other players are filling the void.

With the loss of Danny Duffy for the year and Jonathan Sanchez out for a few weeks, pitchers Luis Mendoza and Vin Mazzaro are in the rotation. Mendoza and Mazzaro don’t inspire much confidence from Royals fans. But last Sunday, Mendoza pitched well, filling in for injured Duffy. And Tuesday night Mazzaro was unMazzaro like and pitched well enough against the Texas Rangers to win the game.

Mendoza and Mazzaro know they have a great opportunity to prove they belong with the Royals. But they need to pitch deep into games and keep the runs down if they have any chance to stay in the rotation.

Sometimes closer Jonathan Broxton makes the ninth inning more interesting than it needs to be. But in 15 games, Broxton has eight saves and until last night’s game with Baltimore, he’s held the opposing team scoreless with a 1.32 ERA. Many fans were surprised the Royals got Broxton in the off-season, but with the loss of Soria, it looks like a smart move.

Of course the Royals would prefer to have Salvador Perez behind the plate, but Humberto Quintero and Brayan Pena are holding their own. Interesting stats: before Wednesday’s game with the Baltimore Orioles, Quintero and Pena had the same amount of hits (15), doubles (6), RBI (7) and batting average (.238). Which mean they’re about the same player performance wise and one of them will be the backup catcher when Perez returns.

With Lorenzo Cain out since early April, Jarrod Dyson was plugged in to fill the void. After a forgettable two-game stint which sent him back to Omaha, Dyson was recalled a couple of weeks later and has done well in 18 games with a .304/.383/.362 average with 17 runs, 24 hits and nine walks. However, despite his speed, Dyson only has four stolen bases and was caught stealing twice.

If Dyson continues to play well, he presents the Royals with a dilemma when Cain returns. Do the Royals keep Dyson as the starting center fielder and put Cain on the bench or does Dyson go to the bench or Omaha and Cain becomes the starting center fielder? As long as Dyson plays well and the team is winning, the Royals will cross that bridge when they get there.

Despite all the injuries, the Royals are playing better baseball. And this is with Hosmer still struggling at the plate and Alex Gordon striking out more often and getting less hits and runs. On the positive side, Chris Getz and Alcides Escobar are playing well in the infield. The bullpen is pitching better and starters Bruce Chen and Paulino are pitching well.

It’s hard to forget the 12 game losing streak earlier this season, but fans have to be encouraged by the way the Royals are playing lately, despite all the injuries. Perhaps the team is playing up to their potential. Now the Royals need Eric Hosmer to be Eric Hosmer again.

I have written a lot of positive things about a baseball team that sits 9 games under .500 less than 20% of the way through the season. Sure, I see positives…but until those positives start to show up a little more often in the win column, I thought it might be a good idea to change directions. During the Kansas City Royals 12 game losing streak many fans seemed to lose a little patience with “The Process”. I heard people mocking the same “best farm system in baseball” tag that we as fans so often quoted last season. Even within the graduation of a number of stars, the system is still stocked, so I thought I would take a look at the 4 best signs from down on the farm so far in 2012:

1. Will Myers (AA) is absolutely raking. The 21 year-old outfielder is hitting .339 with an 1.127 OPS. He’s hit 11 home runs and driven in 25 runs in just 31 games.

Kool Aid Drinker’s Take: I for one think it is about time to give Myers the Hosmer treatment. Eric Hosmer ended the 2012 season by hitting 13 home runs and driving in 35 runs in 50 games at Northwest Arkansas. In 2011 the Royals made Hosmer prove it for just 26 games at Omaha before bringing him to Kansas City. Get Myers to Omaha now, and if he dominates like Hoz did, get him to Kansas City. This kid has the ability to be every bit as special at the plate as Hosmer was last season and could help fill in the void in the lineup that has been Jeff Francoeur.

1. Jake Odorizzi (AA) is striking everyone out. Odorizzi sports a 3.32 ERA with 47 Ks and 10 BBs in 38 innings.

Kool Aid Drinker’s take: I would give Odorizzi until July and if his numbers are anywhere close to the same level it’s time to move him up to Omaha. I think he could turn into a steadier Zack Greinke for the Royals by 2013-2014. His best probably isn’t as good as Greinke’s but it is good enough to battle Danny Duffy for the ace role over the next few seasons.

1. Jorge Bonifacio (A) is emerging. Bonifacio has slumped lately, but still owns a .390 on base percentage at the age of 18 years old.

Kool Aid Drinker’s take: The kid turns 19 on June 4, meaning he has a lot of development to do before he’s anywhere close to Kansas City. Still, having young talent produce early in the process can only be good for the Royals. If he can keep this up, I think he becomes a prime candidate to be included in any type of trade the Royals might make for a legitimate starter.

1. Local kid Jason Adam (A) is dominating in Wilmington. Despite his 1-4 record, Adam has been outstanding so far this season with a 2.08 ERA and nearly a 3:1 K-BB ratio.

Kool Aid Drinker’s Take: I’m not sure Adam has much more potential than back of the rotation, but there would be nothing better than seeing another KC kid in uniform 2-3 years down the road.

I have made it clear that I’m not writing off 2012, but it’s nice to know that even as we expect better results this year, the future still looks brighter than the present.

The Kansas City Royals are off to a horriffic 3-12 start and fans are demanding some answers.

It is not HIS fault

Nobody saw this coming. While opinions of what these 2012 Kansas City Royals would be varied some, there was nobody who believed the Royals would be this bad. And we are still less than 10% into the season, starting the season by losing your first 10 home games is no way for an organization to endear itself to its fans. While nobody believes the Royals will continue play at a .200 clip, it is becoming increasingly difficult to justify watching games on television, or ponying up the cash to take your family out to the K. It is getting very depressing seeing all of the empty seats, all of the double-plays, a different leadoff hitter every night, and on and on. So it is time that we, the fans of this organization who have had to put up with this garbage for the last 20 years, got some answers.

Imagine for a second, that we, the Royals fans, are the judge and jury on this matter. We have every player and member of the Royals organization in one room. It is time to find out once and for all who is at fault for this nightmare.

In doing so, the easiest thing to do is to acknowledge those whose fault it is definitely NOT. Therefore, we will go ahead and excuse the following individuals from the room:

-Billy Butler-you are hitting exactly as we expected
-Bruce Chen-you have unexpectedly been every bit as good as we could have possibly hoped
-Danny Duffy-despite some struggles in your last outing, you have been pretty darn good
-Alcides Escobar-You have played outstanding defense, stolen some bases, and are hitting better than we could have asked
-Chris Getz/Yuniesky Betancourt-Not much was expected of this 2B duo, and they have been surprisingly somewhat effective

-Sluggerr

-Humberto Quintero/Brayan Pena-See Getz/Betancourt above. Except Pena, will you please stop grounding into double-plays in key situations?
-Mitch Maier-As expected has been used sparingly, but performed alright
-Jason Bourgeois-See Maier above, with the exception of an extremely ill-advised stolen base attempt the other night
-Mike Moustakas-Has been pretty much exactly as expected, with the exception of his defense, which has been far better than expected.
-Lorenzo Cain-your injury excuses you from any blame for this mess

As for the rest of you…

Eric Hosmer, you can leave. You have shown flashes of what you can do, have 3 (4 now as I write this) Home Runs, are hitting the ball hard (just right at the other team), and look to be adjusting to the way you are being pitched to.

The rest of you better make yourselves comfortable. Yes, I’m talking to you Ned Yost, Dave Eiland, Kevin Seitzer, the entire bullpen, Luis Mendoza…

On second thought, Mendoza, get out of here. You are performing exactly as we expected you to. Your negative impact on the team should more be blamed on the people who continue to put you in position to hurt the team.

OK, where were we…

If you have not yet been excused, then this is directed at you. We are going to address each of you either as the unit you are a part of or individually. Starting with…

-Royals marketing department-Seriously guys…WTF were you thinking? OUR TIME? Our time for what?!? Dayton Moore has tried to tell the fan base that The Process will likely take 7 years. That would put “our time” at approximately 2014. So what on earth possessed you to declare that this year would be OUR TIME?!? This was a big mistake that has contributed to unrealistic expectations.

-Ned Yost-Ned, when we watch you in your post game interviews, we get the feeling that you are very aware of why you were sent packing from a Brewers team that at was in 1st place in September. You have a reputation for being too tightly wound, and over-thinking every situation. That is why we have been somewhat impressed with the way you have maintained your composure (for the most part) in front of the media during this stretch. At the same time though, we don’t want a manager that second-guesses his decisions. We want a manager with conviction, who makes a decision and defends it. Your players need to know that you are decisive and your blabber about having Jose Mijares pitch to Prince Fielder last Wednesday portrayed you as being anything but decisive.  And on top of that, all of the bunts and ill-advised stolen base attempts have gotten completely out of hand.

-Alex Gordon-You seem like a really great guy, Alex, and your baseball talent is off the charts. There is no doubt you are committed to your craft and are an extremely hard worker. That being said, have you ever done anything of note in the major leagues when there was the tiniest amount of pressure being put on you? If you have, we can’t recall. Your best season (by far) was last year, when pretty much everyone had given up on you being the player you were originally expected to be. And it took place in a season when the Royals had pretty much zero expectations of being competitive. It is still only April, and you have come up countless times in late game situations with opportunities to drive in key runs and have consistently come up empty. This is unacceptable.

-Jonathan Sanchez-By this point in your career you should be able to throw strikes. You have demonstrated an extreme inability to do this. It has to get better.

-Luke Hochevar-With the exception of one inning, you have mostly been decent. But that one inning was likely the most important inning of this whole season. Some may say that it was the final inning in the third game agains the Oakland A’s that sent this season spiraling into oblivion, but my feeling is that it was the first half inning in the home opener against Cleveland. To say this half inning was deflating for Royals fans would be a massive understatement.

-The Bullpen-Wasn’t this supposed to be a strength of this team? Between Broxton’s blown save against Oakland, Greg Holland‘s struggles, Jose Mijares’ struggles, and overall inconsistency from everyone else, this has been a train wreck for the most part. Poor pitching out of the pen has been the reason for more than a few of these 10 consecutive losses.

-Jeff Francoeur-What happened to your power, dude? 0 HR’s and 2 RBI’s at the end of April isn’t the type of production this club had in mind from it’s #5 hitter.

-Dave Eiland-Show us where you’ve made a difference with ONE of our pitchers, Dave. Danny Duffy you say? Ok, show us two. In fact, tell us why all of these pitchers who were good last year with Bob McClure as pitching coach are all of a sudden worse this year?

-Kevin Seitzer-We wanted to excuse you, Kevin. But it is time we got some of these guys going. We don’t hold you responsible yet, but if more of these guys don’t start hitting at their potential soon, we will be looking to you for answers.

-Dayton Moore-Where is our return for David DeJesus? So far, it is not appearing that you maximized the return for Melky Cabrera. Where are the rest of the young starting pitchers?  We are not going to beat up on you too much, Dayton. Underperformance is not the General Manager’s fault. But this losing is getting really old.  And this is the second manager you have hand-picked that appears to be on the verge of a mental meltdown.

And finally…

-You, David & Dan Glass…Yes, we understand you have tried to do things better in the last 5 years. But that does not make up for the previous years of ineptitude. And you are the one constant through all of this misery we have had to endure. And now we are going to host the All-Star Game with the worst team in baseball. Talk about embarrassing.

As you can see, we officially have more places to point the finger than all of us not named Antonio Alfonseca have on our 2 hands combined.  It has unfortunately gotten to this point.

*As I finish writing this, the Royals proceed to drop their 11th in a row to go 0-10 at home and 3-13 on the year. :SIGH:

Well, the Kansas City Royals aren’t making it easy to be a fan, are they? With a 3-8 record through Tuesday and losing to the Detroit Tigers 4-3 while I’m writing this Wednesday night, the Royals are digging themselves into the American League Central cellar. Again.

In 2004, the Royals and former manager Tony Pena came up with the slogan, “Together We Can,” after a surprising 83-79 2003 season. It showed the optimism of a promising 2004 season. However, by mid season “Together We Can” became a punchline and the Royals ended up with a 58-104 record.

This year, the slogan is “Our Time.” But after a six game losing streak, it appears it’s “our time” for the Royals to be the same old Royals. Let’s look at the good (it’s Our Time) and the bad (same old Royals) of the 2012 season.

It’s Our Time: Danny Duffy is pretty good. In two starts, the Royals fifth starter is pitching like a, well, at least a number two or three starter. In two starts, Duffy has a 2.13 ERA with a team leading 15 strikeouts and 12.2 innings pitched. Sure, he gave up two home runs in a loss to the Detroit Tigers and he’s issued five walks. Besides Bruce Chen, he’s doing something the other starters are not: pitching effectively every start.

Same old Royals: Uh, what’s up with Greg Holland? In six games, Holland pitched 6.1 innings, giving up five runs and 10 hits. In 2011, Holland pitched 60 innings and gave up just 13 runs and 37 hits. And he’s giving up these runs when the Royals can’t afford to give up runs. The bright side is he has 10 strikeouts, two walks and hasn’t give up any home runs yet. But so far he’s not the Greg Holland of 2011.

It’s Our Time: Billy is being Billy. As of Tuesday, Butler has a .356/.370/.622 line, leading the team with 16 hits, eight of them for extra bases. He also leads the team with nine RBI. Sure, Butler is a slow runner and he needs to hit more home runs, but he’s a bright spot in a lineup that’s looking a little dim.

Same old Royals: Alex Gordon and Eric Hosmer are under the Mario Mendoza line. As of Tuesday, Gordon is hitting .140/.245/.233 and Hosmer is at .182/.280/.364. They’re also striking out a lot, with Gordon at 16 and Hosmer at eight. They are leading the team in taking walks, each with six free passes. But they need to start hitting, especially with runners on base.

It’s Our Time: Alex Gordon is doing well in left field. Where Gordon is struggling at the plate, he’s making it up for his play in left field. He’s made some spectacular catches, including one where he bounced his face on the turf, holding on to the ball. He also leads the outfielders with 23 putouts.

Same old Royals: The Royals sure miss Lorenzo Cain‘s defense. When Cain was playing, he wasn’t hitting well, with only a .133/.176/.133 line. But his play in center was good, getting balls Melky Cabrera probably wouldn’t get. And there was the great catch in Oakland that resulted in a double play and a stint on the DL with a groin injury.

The Royals called up Jarrod Dyson from AAA Omaha and with his speed the Royals started him in center. Well, he was fast, but speed doesn’t matter when you misjudge fly balls and they sail over your head. After two games, the Royals sent Dyson back to Omaha. Now Mitch Maier is starting in center field, who should have been starting there in the first place.

It’s Our Time: It’s early in the season. They have time to figure it out. Over a 162 game season, the Royals have played about ten percent of their games. And if a few things had gone differently in their losses, they might have a chance to win those games, except last Sunday’s game against the Indians. When the Royals pitching is good, the offense struggles. If the offense is good, the pitching struggles. If the Royals get the pitching and offense working together, they will win more games.

Same old Royals: The Royals have no problem losing several games in a row, and they usually play bad in April. Since 2007, the Royals are 55-70 in April. However, except in 2007 (8-18) and 2010 (9-14), the Royals have been around .500 in the other years. Of course the team does have a knack of losing several games in a row and maybe win a few games in a row here and there. When the losing happens early in the season, it magnifies the Royals struggles and gets fans thinking about the Chiefs upcoming season.

The Royals aren’t doing themselves any favors losing six games in a row, with five of them against A.L. Central opponents. If the Royals want to make 2012 their time and not be the same old Royals, they need to get their offense going, stay away from big innings and get Lorenzo Cain back in center field.

It’s almost a week into the 2012 season for the Kansas City Royals. After taking two out of three from the Los Angeles Angels and one out of three from the Oakland A’s, the Royals are showing some promise, but there’s still a ways to go.

The anticipated weak link of the Royals, the starting rotation, is doing well. In two starts against the Angels and the A’s, Bruce Chen gave up two earned runs, seven hits and seven strikeouts over 11 innings. Luke Hochevar gave up five hits and two runs over six and a third innings in a 6-3 victory over the Angels. Jonathan Sanchez was effectively wild, giving up four hits, two runs and two wild pitches in six innings in a 7-3 victory over the Angels. Against Oakland, Luis Mendoza gave up a run and five hits in five and two thirds innings, pitching a solid game in a 1-0 loss to the A’s. Duffy pitched six scoreless innings of one hit ball and eight strikeouts in a rain shortened 3-0 win over the A’s.

Fans have to be pleasantly surprised with the performance of the starting rotation, who are keeping the Royals in games and not giving up a big inning. How they do over the course of the season remains to be seen, but so far, so good.

Except for a rough eighth inning when Aaron Crow and Greg Holland gave up five runs in the opener against the Angels, and Jonathan Broxton issuing two walks and hitting two A’s batters in the 12th inning in Wednesday’s 5-4 loss, the bullpen is doing well. Lefties Jose Mijares and Tim Collins have yet to give up a run. Everett Teaford hasn’t played yet, but when Manager Ned Yost remembers Teaford is on the team, I’m sure he will make an appearance.

The offense has been up and down, being shut out in two out of three losses. So far, Alex Gordon has a .091 batting average with a single and a home run, but he’s hit the ball hard and played solid defense, like throwing out Albert Pujols at home. Gordon is traditionally a slow starter and should be warming up soon.

Lorenzo Cain isn’t tearing it up offensively like he did in spring training, but like Gordon, his defense is good. Cain made a great catch in the second inning of Tuesday’s game, resulting in a double play. Unfortunately, Cain suffered a left groin strain during the play and had to leave the game. He’s listed as day to day, with Mitch Maier filling in.

Billy Butler and Eric Hosmer leads the team in RBIs and Jeff Francoeur leads the team in batting average at .375. It’s early, but they’re playing well. Humberto Quintero is catching most of the games and has done well defensively.

And Yuni Betancourt and Chris Getz are getting regular playing time at second base, which for most fans any playing time for the duo is too much playing time. But at least they’re contributing.

The Royals are 3-3 and that’s not bad, but they lost two out of thee games against the A’s, a series they should have won. Starting Friday, the Royals have a ten game home stand against the Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers and Toronto Blue Jays. The Tigers and Jays are playing well and the Indians could win two out of three games if the Royals aren’t careful. These next ten games could determine how the season will go and if the Royals have a shot at the A.L. Central. But it’s also early in the season and there’s 156 more games to play.

The starting rotation needs to keep up their performances and the bullpen can’t afford to give up too many big innings. Mike Moustakas, Gordon and Cain have to get it going offensively. Unlike previous years, this .500 Royals team isn’t a early season mirage. They have a legitimate chance to play well this season, but they need to execute.

I attended the Futures Game at Kauffman stadium last year, hoping to catch a glimpse of the prospects that earned a #1 ranking for the Kansas City Royals by Baseball America.

Photo Courtesy of Minda Haas

Let me tell you, from that one exhibition, I came away with a new twist on an old phrase:

“I have seen the future, and it is Mike Montgomery.”

On that April 4 afternoon, all the top prospects were on display. Danny Duffy and John Lamb looked good, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Wil Myers looked ok, and Christian Colon looked awful.

But Mike Montgomery stood head and shoulders above them all.

No one was surprised. After all, he lit up spring training in Arizona and was only sent to Omaha for a little more seasoning.

Fast-forward one year, and Montgomery now not only isn’t ready for the big leagues, he seems headed in the wrong direction.

While all the news in Surprise this month swirled around contract extensions and injuries, Montgomery was quietly demoted to the minor league camp as the Royals trimmed their roster. This time around, he was one of the first to be cut.

That he didn’t make the roster isn’t shocking. But his downward spiral is. The big left-hander got blasted in his two trips to the mound in the Cactus League – 2 2/3 innings, six runs, six hits, three walks.

That disappointment comes when we all hoped for a bounce-back from the dismal 5-11 record and combustible 5.32 ERA he posted in Omaha last year.

“It was a struggle for him this year,” manager Ned Yost told reporters in Surprise. “He didn’t command the ball.”

Reading between the lines, Yost seems pretty frustrated with Montgomery’s showing.

“We wanted to see him come in and… compete for one of these spots, and it just never developed. We want him to go back and get his innings. He’s a guy that we think can come help us sometime over the course of the year, but that’s up to his performance.”

Obviously, Yost saw Montgomery as an integral piece of the youth movement. But as long as the prospects flounder, Yost has to continue to cobble together a rotation of veteran castoffs and stopgaps. (Jonathan Sanchez, Bruce Chen, Felipe Paulino, etc.)

What exactly is Montgomery’s problem?

Much was made last year of his disagreement with the organization over training methods. Montgomery has been a devotee of “long-toss” exercise, which the Royals don’t fully endorse.

Without any inside information, and because Yost gives no hint to Montgomery’s health being an issue, one has to speculate that one the following is occurring:

1) Montgomery is employing his own chosen training techniques, but they aren’t working.
2) Montgomery is being forced to follow the Royals’ prescribed regimen, and it’s not working.
3) Montgomery is allowing his frustration with the organization to affect his performance, and his “coach-ability.”

This is pure speculation, obviously. But something is most definitely wrong.

Back in January, Baseball America rated Montgomery the Royals’ top prospect. But he’s slipping down MLB.com’s list. Last year, Montgomery was rated the #14 prospect by MLB.com. This year, he fills the #31 spot.

That’s not the direction you want your stock heading.

I’m sure the Royals aren’t ready to give up on Montgomery yet. But with the “player to be named later” looming out there after the Humberto Quintero trade, I wouldn’t be surprised it that player turns out to be Montgomery. If Montgomery doesn’t want to train the way the Royals want him to, he may need to be sent elsewhere.

One year ago, the Royals farm system was flush with prospects. Former pitcher and current announcer Jeff Montgomery said at that time that the team was so loaded, it could handle failure from a fraction of those prospects.

But now, with injuries and attrition, each prospect seems like a precious resource. It’s painful to see any of them fail, particularly one of the most highly touted of all.

Last week we took a look at 23 year-old lefty Danny Duffy, and his prospects for a breakout season in 2012. The article was filled with optimism and antidotes that suggested Duffy may be ready to burst onto the scene for the Kansas City Royals. After his first outing in Spring Training, I was tempted to expand on those thoughts and the meaning of such an impressive start until I read this Rany Jazayerli piece. I think it’s fair to say that most of us are now excited by Duffy’s future, and the future is 2012. That did set me on a different path though, wondering if there were any others on the Royals staff poised for a breakout year. If you read this, then you probably know who I’m referring to; Cool Hand Luke.

For a guy with a career ERA north of 5 Luke Hochevar has a career highlight reel that would make just about any 5th year player proud:

• May 14, 2008 In just his 6th career start, Hochevar throws 6 shutout innings, striking out 5 and allowing just 4 hits.
• June 12, 2009 Hochevar holds the Cincinnati Reds to just 3 hits and 1 run in first career complete game. More impressive, he completes the feat in just 80 pitches.
• July 25, 2009 Hochevar strikes out 13 and walks 0 in 7 innings of work against the powerful Texas Rangers.
• September 18, 2009 Hochevar throws his first shutout against the Chicago White Sox. He strikes out 5 and allows only 4 base runners in the game.
• April 7, 2010 In 7 2/3 innings against the Detroit Tigers Hochevar allows 5 hits, 1 BB, and zero runs.
• May 19., 2011 Facing the eventual American League Champions Hochevar nearly goes the distance. In the end he delivers 8 2/3 inning of 1-run baseball on a night when the Royals win 2-1.
• September 3, 2011 Hochevar ended 2011 on a hot streak, but none of his performances down the stretch were better than this one against the Indians; 8 innings, 8 Ks, 1 BB and no runs.

What’s most astonishing to me, is that there are no trends represented in the data above. It’s not like he dominates early in the year and then wears down. It also isn’t a case where Hochevar just needs a few months to warm up this year. He has, over the course of 4 years, spread in completely random order a very impressive compilation of starts. Of course, the rest of the time he’s been pretty terrible. What does this mean? If anyone had the answer to that it would probably be fixed by now but at 28 years old there is still reason to believe that Hochevar could put it all together for a very dominant 2012.