The following article was published in the Topeka Capital-Journal on May 12, 2018 – you can read it here.
Fans eager for a rebuild of the Kansas City Royals have questioned why management filled the lineup with veterans. With each signing of a stopgap – Alcides Escobar, Lucas Duda, Mike Moustakas and Jon Jay – observers wondered why the Royals would delay the anticipated youth movement. The team was expected to be bad anyway, so why not give the prospects on-the-job training.
Those fans may still wonder what’s going on, but a youth movement is taking place in an area they may not have noticed.
While the veterans take the field each night, take a peek into the bullpen and you’ll see plenty of fresh faces – guys cutting their teeth one inning at a time, without fanfare or even much notice by the casual fan.
A few years ago, the Royals employed a unique combination of average starting pitching and historically dominant relief pitching to reach two World Series, winning one. The tactic was revolutionary.
Aside from current closer Kelvin Herrera, that crew has since moved on. But perhaps the pieces are coming together to form another effective bullpen for the Royals to build upon.
Lefthander Tim Hill is leading the rebuild, slinging biting darts from a three-quarters angle that are nearly unhittable by left-handed hitters.
At 28, Hill is somewhat old by rookie standards. Three years ago, Hill’s path to the big leagues was slowed by a life-threatening bout with colon cancer. But having been drafted out of college at 24 years of age, he didn’t spend much time in the minors. Hill has been designated a reliever from day one and advanced quickly through the farm system.
Still, Hill didn’t have a lot of assurance he would break spring camp with the Royals in March. The Royals added veterans to the bullpen mix over the winter, and it looked like Hill would start the season in Triple A at Omaha. But Hill so impressed Yost during spring training, not only did he promote him to the big league roster, but called on him in pressure situations from the get-go.
“It was pretty special finding out that I was going to be on the opening day roster,” said the product of Bacone College in Muskogee, Okla. “It was something you’ve been working for years, basically your whole life, to get to have that moment.”
Hill started out red hot. He didn’t allow a hit in his first six appearances, and at that point his ERA was a dazzling 1.35. He has since cooled off, but remains one of Yost’s trusted assets.
The Royals broke camp with veterans Brandon Maurer, Justin Grimm and Blaine Boyer looking to set the table for Herrera. But quickly that formula was scrapped as Yost turned more and more to a collection of rookies in the bullpen, including Burch Smith and Brad Keller. Also making their debuts out of the bullpen have been Scott Barlow, Eric Stout and Overland Park native Jason Adam.
“Timing has a lot to do with it,” Hill said of the opportunity the rookies are being given. “You have to be pitching well, obviously, and then there has to be that opportunity. Those two things don’t always go hand in hand.
“There are lot of guys out there, in different organizations, who have the ability but just aren’t getting the opportunity. Or the opening is there, but they aren’t pitching well at the right time.”
Yost has yet to solidify a 7th and 8th inning tandem to set up Herrera, but Hill said time will sort out the roles in the bullpen.
“Everybody’s out there just cheering each other on,” Hill said “As the season goes on, roles kind of get established. But that kind of takes care of itself. I don’t think we (the relievers) should worry about what our role is. We should just focus on going out there when they give you a job to do, and just do that job that day. If everybody can just do their job well, we’ll be pretty good.”