The surprise addition of the summer is not hard to identify.

We all expected Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Danny Duffy and Johnny Giavotella to make their appearance in Kansas City sometime this season. They were highly drafted players who had risen through the Royals’ farm system.

We all expected Alcides Escobar, acquired in the Zack Greinke trade, to be entrenched at shortstop. Melky Cabrera and Jeff Francoeur were going to play every day, at least until they got traded (which obviously didn’t come to pass).

We weren’t exactly sure how well the young relievers would perform, but we knew they’d be there, so vacant was the bullpen.

And while Salvador Perez came along earlier than expected, even he was on the radar as the catcher of the future.

The biggest surprise came on June 1 when Felipe Paulino took the hill as the Royals’ starting pitcher in just his second appearance with the team.

Still hoping to contend in the AL Central, the team was desperate for starting pitching. So desperate they were willing to run out a National League castoff with a career 5-24 record and an ERA well over 5.00.

Paulino had pitched excellently the day after he was acquired for cash from the Rockies on May 26. He relieved Nate Adcock, who was getting bombed in a miserable start against Texas, entering the game trailing 7-6. Paulino hogtied the Rangers for the next 4.1 innings, surrendering just one hit.

But that was in relief. The Royals decided to give Paulino a start. And on June 1, Paulino was nearly as good as he was in relief. He held the Angels to just four hits over five innings.

Like kids with a new toy, fans got excited, momentarily. But rumors of a bad attitude and unfulfilled promise from his previous stints in Houston and Colorado tempered the enthusiasm. Soon the young guns like Hosmer, Moustakas and Duffy were stealing the limelight, and Paulino labored under the radar.

Some of his starts have been excellent. Several others, not nearly so. But the body of work deserves analysis, particularly after another stellar performance Friday against Cleveland, a game in which he took the loss, but carried a shutout into the seventh inning.

Paulino’s supposed potential has made him a frustration to managers over the years. But his numbers this season are more impressive than you might expect.

Paulino currently has the lowest ERA of Royals who have started at least one game.

He is tied for the second lowest WHIP – only Luke Hochevar is better.

He is third on the team in batter average, just a few points behind Bruce Chen.

Paulino hasn’t accumulated enough innings to show up among the league leaders. But his 7.8 strikeouts per nine innings would rank him 27^th in the big leagues, far ahead of Hochevar’s 5.34 (which is good for 81^st in the league).

In strikeouts to walks surrendered, Paulino’s 2.40 would rank him 59^th in the league and behind only Jeff Francis on the team.

While Hochevar has celebrated “ace-like” stuff and Chen is heralded for getting the most out of his limited abilities, Paulino is putting up comparable numbers. And all that from a guy who the Rockies were ready to dump for cash.

The glaring deficiency for Paulino is his lack of wins. His record would suggest that he doesn’t know how to win. Even disregarding his previous lack of success, his record as a Royal is 2-10. Last Friday’s game might be telling. After pitching flawlessly, he hit a snag in the 8^th inning and allowed the Indians to score a run and load the bases.

But if Friday night’s game is any indication, Paulino has been hindered by lack of run support and bullpen relief. The game was just 1-1 when he exited, and Tim Collins let him down by walking in a winning run.

So, other than poor relief pitching, what keeps Paulino from winning games?

A highly analytical article by David Golebiewski suggests that for some reason Paulino gives up an inordinately high average on balls put into play.

This could be a problem. Anyone who has played baseball knows that some pitchers give up soft grounders and weak pop-ups, while others give up rockets. Perhaps the issue is that when Paulino isn’t missing bats, he’s hitting them squarely.

Can the problem be fixed? I’m no pitching coach, so all I can do is hope that it’s a statistical anomaly that will work itself out as Paulino gains experience and develops confidence.

Paulino turns 28 in October. He’s earning $790,000. Those two numbers should work in his favor.

If the Royals were willing to suffer through years of Kyle Davies, waiting for him to capitalize on his “quality stuff,” shouldn’t they be more than patient for Paulino to harness his far superior talent. Paulino routinely throws in the mid-90s and has been clocked at over 100 mph.

What about the attitude problem? Is Paulino a Carlos Zambrano-like cancer who can’t win and brings the rest of the team down?

After Collins walked in the winning run Friday, Paulino could be seen in the dugout trying to boost the young reliever’s spirits. Ryan Lefebvre and Frank White praised Paulino as a “team guy” and someone who they’d found to be nothing but pleasant in their interactions.

While Hosmer, Moustakas and company gain all the headlines, as expected, a May acquisition – for cash no less – could go down as the surprise of the summer. Dayton Moore may have just won one, bringing in a fire-balling starter when no one else was looking.

At least a dozen people will be glued to their TV sets on Tuesday night to see if Aaron Crow gets into the All-Star Game as a pitcher for the American League team.

Don’t hold your breath.

The first ever Royal in an All-Star Game – catcher Ellie Rodriguez – recorded just one statistic in the 1969 exhibition. DNP. Disappointing for the fledgling franchise. But the team would soon be well represented by stars like Amos Otis, Cookie Rojas and John Mayberry, who made significant contributions in the game in the early 1970s.

Then came George Brett, Frank White and Hal McRae, and the Royals were all over the All-Star field.

But it seems fitting looking back that the first Royal All-Star recorded a DNP, because that appears to be a new trend.

Five of the last nine KC “representatives” in the midsummer classic never left the bench.

2010: Joakim Soria – DNP. 2007: Gil Meche – DNP. 2006: Mark Redman – DNP. 2003: Mike Sweeney and Mike MacDougal – DNP.

Having lacked a legitimate “star” for years, it’s been a long time since Royals fans had much reason to care about the All-Star Game. So all the DNPs seem to have gone by without much notice. Lesser players are often forced to wait until late in the games to pinch-hit, or are held out for extra innings. So most casual fans have gone to bed by the time the benches start clearing.

But it would seem that American League managers haven’t felt compelled to get the KC representatives into the games in recent years.

Is there a conspiracy here, is this just a coincidence, or is it a consequence of how the All-Star Game is played?

One could argue that while every team is allotted a representative to the roster, there is no guarantee that players from every team should play. Some players may just not be deemed worthy of participation.

One could make that argument particularly in the case of Redman, who was probably saved from embarrassment. Imagine the PA announcer introducing the Royals rep in 2006:

“Now entering the game, your Kansas City Royals All-Star, with a 5-4 record and a 5.27 ERA…”

It’s possible that because the Royals tend to be represented by pitchers, there is more of a likelihood that their rep won’t get in the game. Every year an average of 8.5 pitchers don’t play. (This is based on the past decade. For more statistics on pitcher DNPs, see below.)

But it could also be that no one feels compelled to insert into the game the representatives of a lack-luster franchise in fly-over territory. After all, five DNPs in eight years seems high if it is just a coincidence.

During a 13-year stretch – 1990 to 2002 – when the team was pretty bad, the Royals had just one DNP – Jeff Montgomery in 1996. So based on that fact, it would appear Royals representatives are not getting into the games as frequently as they once did.

And it wasn’t that all the Royals representatives were legitimate stars (see Jose Rosado in 1997 and 1999 and Dean Palmer in 1998).

It all started with what looks like the biggest slap in the face back in 2003. In the one season when the Royals were actually good – leading the Central Division with a 51-41 mark – the Royals sent legit slugger Sweeney and lights-out closer (at the time) McDougal to the game.

Neither played.

In defense of Mike Scioscia, the AL manager that year, seven other AL guys didn’t play either. But to keep two guys from the same team out seemed a bit much.

Could it be that, now that the home field in the World Series is determined by the midsummer classic, more emphasis is placed on winning than on getting all the players into the game?

That may provide some motivation to the games’ managers, but it certainly doesn’t seem to be affecting the leagues teams or its star players. Justin Verlander and C.C. Sabathia felt it was more important to pitch in their teams’ last game before the break than to play in the exhibition. And Derek Jeter, healthy enough to go 5 for 5 last Saturday, isn’t feeling up to putting in a couple of innings.

No, winning doesn’t seem to be that big of a deal.

While no one outside of Topeka probably cares if Aaron Crow plays or not, it will most likely seem more important next year when the All-Star Game comes to Kauffman Stadium. Most likely the league will feel compelled to try to get a position player from KC into the game for a couple of innings.

For the record, when the game was last played in KC in 1973, Otis and Mayberry were in the starting lineup, with Rojas coming off the bench. As a group, they came to bat a total of 6 times in the game.

But you have to go all the way back to 2000, when Jermaine Dye started the game to find a Royal position player that recorded significant time in the field in an All-Star Game. So we’ll see if Alex Gordon, Eric Hosmer or some other position player can finally see some time at a position in next years’ game.

Congrats, Aaron Crow. No matter what everyone says, you are an All-Star. I hope you get a chance to show it on the field.

But if you don’t get in the game, I doubt anyone will speak out in your defense. After all, you’re a Royal. Based on the last eight years, it appears no one cares whether you play or not.

Pitcher DNPs:

In the past decade, 264 pitchers were named to All-Star squads, with a high of 34 last season and a low of 22 in 2001.

178 pitched in the games, with a high of 23 in 2008 and a low of 15 in 2003 and 2006.

The lowest number of DNPs among pitchers came in 2008 with 2. The highest number came in 2010 with 15.

When the New York Giants (57-27) came into St. Louis on July 15, 1954, manager Eddie Stanky knew he had his hands full. The Giants were a very solid team and were playing exceptional baseball. Their pitching was very good, and if the opposition somehow got into the bullpen, they had to contend with the likes of Hoyt Willhem (12-4) and Marv Grissom (10-7), both with ERA’s hovering around 2 runs per game. If that wasn’t enough, manning center field was a young slugger named Willie Mays. Mays would go on to win the first of his two Most Valuable Player awards, the other coming in 1965.

The Cardinals would split the first two of this early summer three game series. They would be shut out in the opener, 4-0, but after nearly blowing a lead late, Ray Jablonski drove in Wally Moon with a 2 out walk off single in the ninth. That set up an exciting rubber game on Saturday.

Royce Lint would get the start for the Cardinals. The rookie left-hander would start the season in the bullpen, and had been shaky at times. He had also been able to work long relief, often 5 innings or more. Thanks to a doubleheader in Chicago on July 4, Lint would make his first major league start and it was a dandy – a complete game shutout at Wrigley Field. That would earn him another start, and he pitched well enough to win, but the Cardinals bats did not cooperate. This game would be his third start, and also the shortest of his brief career, lasting just 1/3 of an inning.

Cot Deal

Three of the first four Giants batters would reach base against Lint. With the score 2-0, Stanky goes to his bullpen for Cot Deal. Deal was a veteran who had been called up several times, but failed to stay with the big club for long. Entering the game in a difficult situation, he gets Willie Mays to hit into a double play, ending the inning without any further damage.

Deal would retire the Giants in order in the second inning, but totally fell apart in the third. Deal would face seven men in that brutal inning, not retiring any of them. A pair of errors by Ray Jablonski, the late inning hero the day before, extended the inning and led to a barrage of subsequent hits and runs.

Ralph Beard would enter the game with runners on the corners and a 7-0 deficit. A pair of fly balls would give the Giants two more runs and a seemingly insurmountable 9-0 lead. Or that’s what the modest crowd at Sportman’s Park thought.

Beard would pitch three more scoreless innings, doing all that he could to give the Cardinals a chance for a comeback. That comeback would start in the sixth inning.

Giants starter, Johnny Antonelli, had been cruising until the Cardinals bats came to life in the sixth inning. And that inning reads like a Who’s Who in Cardinals history: Wally Moon, Stan Musial, Joe Cunningham and Red Schoendienst. The big blow in the inning was a two out double by Red, cutting the Giants lead to 9-5. The Cardinals also managed to chase Atonelli, with Hoyt Willhem taking over in relief.

The Cardinals would pull even closer in the seventh. With Ray Jablonski on first base with two outs, pinch hitter Solly Hemus draws a walk. Pinch hitter Joe Frazier would rip a triple, scoring Jablonski and Hemus. That would be the end of Wilhelm’s appearance, a rare short and ineffective outing. Frazier would not stay on third base for long. A Rip Repulski single brought the Cardinals to within a run at 9-8.

Meanwhile the Cardinals bullpen was just brilliant. The Giants had not been able to mount anything resembling a rally against Ralph Beard, Joe Presko, and the new Cardinals hurler, Al Brazle.

Harry "Peanuts" Lowrey

With the score still 9-8 in favor of the Giants, the Cardinals were about to accomplish the unthinkable. After chasing Hoyt Willhem, they were about to tie the game against the Giants All Star reliever, Marv Grissom. And it was just the kind of run you would expect in a game like this. With runners at first and second base with one out, Joe Cunningham grounded into what looked like an inning ending double play. But the 3-6-3 is one of the hardest to turn, and the Giants failed to do so. Dick Schofield, grandfather of the Washington Nationals right fielder Jayson Werth, scored from second base when a throw went wild, tying the game. Solly Hemus would extend the inning with a single, putting the go-ahead run on third base. Unfortunately, Peanuts Lowrey was unable to drive Cunningham home.

The game would go into the ninth inning tied at 9 runs apiece. Marv Grissom and Harvey Haddix were now the pitchers of record. They would still be on the mound when the Giants took the lead in the 11th inning, and it was a beautifully manufactured run, typical of how that Giants team won many of those 58 games. A lead-off single, sacrifice bunt and infield single would put the potential winning run on third base. That run would score on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Don Mueller. Haddix limited the damage to just one run, but that would prove to be enough as Windy McCall retires the now disappointed Cardinals in order in the bottom of the 11th.

Marv Grissom failed to earn the save, but a courageous long relief effort was enough to earn him the win. McCall would pick up the save. Harvey Haddix would take the loss for the Cardinals.

Following this series, the Giants would continue steamrolling over opponents in the National League. They would go on to win 97 games, capturing the NL Pennant by 5 games over their crosstown rivals, the Brooklyn Dodgers. In a workman like fashion, they would sweep the Cleveland Indians in the World Series.

Bob Netherton covers Cardinals history for i70baseball.com and writes at On the Outside Corner. You may follow Bob on Twitter here or on Facebook here.