It’s time for baseball

Camps open this week!

It’s easy to appreciate the NFL getting the hell out of the way for the most important sporting event to happen so far this year: The opening of Major League Baseball Spring Training camps.

Let the bullpen sessions, batting practice, PFPs and assorted other fielding drills begin.

Camps open this week for pitchers and catchers and for players participating in the upcoming World Baseball Classic. I had previously attempted to cultivate a list of Royals who would be representing their countries in this edition of the WBC. The official lists were released late last week. The Royals will have plenty of players in the tournament.

Jorge Alfaro (Colombia)
Jac Caglianone (Italy)
Eric Cerantola (Canada)
Carlos Estévez (Dominican Republic)
Maikel Garcia (Venezuela)
Omar Hernández (Cuba)
Seth Lugo (Puerto Rico)
Eli Morgan (Israel)
Vinnie Pasquantino (Italy)
Salvador Perez (Venezuela)
Oscar Rayo (Nicaragua)
Abraham Toro (Canada)
Michael Wacha (United States)
Bobby Witt Jr. (United States)

We knew about most of the headliners above, but there are still some surprises on this list. I had assumed that Lugo would not be on Team Puerto Rico, due to the injury that kept him sidelined for most of the second half of 2025 and the fact that several of their key players had difficulty securing insurance, but you know what they say when you assume…

Also, I did not anticipate Michael Wacha being on Team USA. The presence of 2/5ths of the Royals starting rotation out of camp doesn’t exactly excite me. The same goes to a degree for Cerantola, a reliever who is on the 40-man roster yet is ticketed to open the year returning for an encore in Omaha. Hopefully, team federations have learned from the past how to keep pitchers in this tournament on their preseason routines so those involved can do their duty for country and then get back into action with their club.

Rounding out the list, Alfaro, Hernandez, Morgan and Toro are non-roster invitees. Hernandez and Alfaro are both in the batch of catchers required to catch bullpens. Alfaro is the veteran who has turned out for six major league teams while Hernandez has been in the Royals system since 2018. Toro is a veteran first baseman who has become quite the journeyman himself.

The reliever Morgan is someone to watch. After being dealt from Cleveland to Chicago, he missed most of last season with right elbow impingement. The right-hander rolls with a three pitch mix—four-seam, change, slider—and has generated some chase in the past. He had around a 35 percent chase rate covering his combined 2024 and 2023 seasons covering about 110 innings. But last year’s elbow impingement hasn’t been the only injury on his medical charts. He missed some time in 2024 with both elbow and shoulder issues. There’s obvious risk in this profile, but it’s one worth taking. Most important for the Royals is the fact he has an option remaining. JJ Picollo has mentioned in the run up to camps opening that he would like to get some bullpen guys they can shuttle between KC and Omaha. Morgan could fit that bill.

Joining Lugo on Team Puerto Rico will be his former Royals teammate, MJ Melendez. It’s been a big week for Melendez as he also signed a major league deal on Sunday with the New York Mets. He will make $1.5 million if he’s in the majors. He can net an extra $500,000 in incentives.

While I do not think this is a Ryan O’Hearn situation where the dude needed to escape Kansas City to find success, I do think Melendez deserves at least one more opportunity to see if there’s anything there.

At the very least, I can track a few more swing changes this spring.

I was remiss in mentioning the selection of John Wathan to the Royals Hall of Fame last week.

As noted in the press release, Wathan spent 47 out of his 51 years in professional baseball with the Royals. He was drafted by the team in 1971 and spent parts of 10 seasons with the team in Kansas City. He had a couple of solid offensive seasons, and his claim to fame as a player was setting a record for stolen bases by a catcher. His 36 steals in 1982 remains a record. He retired as a World Champion after the 1985 season.

During his playing days, Wathan earned the nickname “Duke.” If my memory for Royals trivia hasn’t failed me, that nickname came about because he could do an uncanny impersonation of John Wayne. It’s a great nickname because it’s so simple and because it’s stuck to Wathan all these years.

He was named manager of the Royals in August of 1987 and led the team for parts of five seasons before a poor start in 1991 following a subpar 1990 season led to his firing. Overall, he has a 287-270 career record as manager of the Royals.

He spent some time with the Angels, and managed the team for a spell in 1992, before he returned to Kansas City in 1996. Since then, he’s held just about every position imaginable, working in broadcasting, scouting and player development roles. He’s so understated and operates behind the scenes, but if there’s anyone other than George Brett who bleeds the Royals blue, it’s truly Duke.

Also, I believe that Wathan, along with George Brett, Hal McRae and Frank White were the only Royals to appear for the team during their entire run of dominance from 1976 to 1985. The latter three are already enshrined in the Royals Hall. Now it’s time for Duke.

Congratulations to a life-long Royal on a well-deserved honor.