By Matthew Hays

– Staff Writer

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Jun 2, 2011 – Last month we named Eric Hosmer and Danny Duffy the Royals minor league players of the month for April, and ironically both have been called up to the big league club since that time. While that likely won’t be the case this month, it is very likely we will see one in Kansas City very soon, while the other should soon be promoted to the next level of minor league ball.

The pitcher of the month award goes to Jake Odorizzi of Class A Wilmington. In May, Odorizzi was 3-0 with a 2.96 ERA. He pitched a total of 26.2 innings, striking out 26 while walking just eight. Odorizzi, who was acquired in the the Greinke trade with Milwaukee this past December, is 4-0 this year with a 2.05 ERA in 10 starts. On the year he has 74 strikeouts against just 14 walks. It will be no surprise when the 21 year-old right hander is called up to AA Northwest Arkansas soon.

By now, even the most casual of Royals fan has heard the name Mike Moustakas The 22 year-old was choosen in the first around of the 2007 draft and is on the brink of joining the Kansas City team. After starting the season in somewhat of a slump, Moustakas brought out in May, batting .321/.382/.560 with five home runs and 23 RBI. Look for him starting at third base in Kansas City real soon.

Other notable efforts for May include:

Jason Adam, P – Kane County (Low Class A) 2-0 1.96 ERA 18.1 IP 12 SO 5 BB

Cheslor Cuthbert, 3B – Kane County (Low Class A) .308/.357/.513 2 HR 8 RBI

Lorenzo Cain, CF – Omaha (AAA) .321/.382/.518 2 HR 18 RBI

Read More: Lorenzo Cain (CF – KAN), Danny Duffy (P – KAN), Mike Moustakas (3B – KAN), Eric Hosmer (1B – KAN), Kansas City Royals

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Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) – When you have lost as much as the Kansas City Royals have lost in the last 10 years, the one silver lining is that your farm system should be completely stocked.

Well that is certainly the case for the 2011 Royals, and even better for manager Ned Yost, some of that burgeoning talent is almost ready to start contributing at the big league level.

The Royals placed five players in the top-20 of Baseball America’s Top-100 Prospects list and two of those players, first baseman Eric Hosmer and third baseman Mike Moustakas, are on target to make their big league debuts this season.

General manager Dayton Moore continued to stockpile talent this winter, as he dealt ace and former Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke to the Milwaukee Brewers for a bevy of prospects. Unfortunately, though, shortstop Alcides Escobar is the only player who is expected to contribute this year.

The Royals also brought in outfielders Jeff Francoeur and Melky Cabrera and took a chance on oft-injured left-hander Jeff Francis, who could be a real bright spot if he can stay healthy.

Yost’s team probably won’t be better than a fourth-place club this season, but if they do in fact begin to turn it around over the next few years, this will be the season people in Kansas City point to as when things all started to change.

Below we take a capsule look at the 2011 edition of the Royals, with a personnel evaluation and prognosis included therein:

2010 FINISH (67-95) – Fourth Place (AL Central)

KEY OFFSEASON ADDITIONS: Jeff Francoeur (OF); Alcides Escobar (SS); Vin Mazzaro (RHP)

KEY OFFSEASON SUBTRACTIONS: Zack Greinke (RHP); Yuniesky Betancourt (SS); Josh Fields (IF/OF); David DeJesus (OF)

PROJECTED LINEUP: Mike Aviles (3B); Melky Cabrera (CF); Billy Butler (1B); Kila Ka’aihue (DH); Jeff Francoeur (RF); Alex Gordon (LF); Brayan Pena (C); Chris Getz (2B); Alcides Escobar (SS)

PROJECTED ROTATION: Luke Hochevar (RHP); Jeff Francis (LHP); Kyle Davies (RHP); Bruce Chen (LHP); Vin Mazzaro (RHP)

PROJECTED CLOSER: Joakim Soria

MANAGER: Ned Yost

INFIELD

If there was one shining star in this lineup a year ago it was first baseman Billy Butler, who batted a career-high .318 last season while hitting 15 home runs and driving in 78 runs. He also established career-bests with 189 hits, 69 walks and a .388 on-base percentage.

The Royals rewarded Butler with a four-year contract extension this winter.

With super prospect Hosmer on the cusp of being ready, Butler’s days at first base will likely be numbered. Nobody in Kansas City will complain about that, as Butler is a liability defensively and is more suited for a designated hitter role.

Until that happens, though, Kila Ka’aihue will get bats at DH and spell Butler in the field. Ka’aihue must be better than the .217 clip he hit at last year, however.

Escobar was one of the prospects that came over from Milwaukee in the Greinke deal. The slick-fielding shortstop struggled at the plate last year as a rookie, hitting just .235, but he was close to a .300 hitter in the minors.

Chris Getz will open the season at second base, at least until Moustakas is ready to take on the third base job. For now, though, Mike Aviles will man the hot corner.

Aviles hit .304 last season with eight home runs, 32 RBI and 63 runs scored.

Jason Kendall will eventually be behind the plate, but he is still recovering from shoulder surgery that will keep him out of the lineup until at least May, meaning Brayan Pena will likely open the year at catcher.

OUTFIELD

With David DeJesus gone the Royals outfield will have a new look this season with Francoeur and Cabrera. First-round bust Alex Gordon will also be part of the trio, as he gets perhaps one last shot to prove that he belongs at the big league level.

Francoeur was signed this winter to give the Royals some pop in the middle of the lineup. Francoeur split last season with the New York Mets and Texas Rangers, who acquired him just prior to the August 31 waiver trade deadline this past season from the Mets, and the 26-year-old outfielder hit .340 with two home runs and 11 RBI in 15 regular season games with the club.

Defensively, Francoeur is a former Gold Glove winner and his 81 career outfield assists since the beginning of the 2005 season lead all Major League outfielders, 17 more than second-place Alfonso Soriano.

Cabrera spent the 2010 season with the Atlanta Braves after beginning his big league career with the New York Yankees. He hit .255 in 147 games last season with 27 doubles, four homers and 42 runs batted in.

The most intriguing of the three, though, is Gordon, the former second overall pick of the Royals back in 2005. After flaming out as a third baseman, Gordon made a seamless transition to the outfield last season. However, at the plate he has still yet to show the pop that made him the Minor League Player of the Year back in 2006.

STARTING ROTATION

With Greinke gone there is a huge void atop the rotation. The Royals are hoping Luke Hochevar can step into the role of ace. Hochevar, the first overall pick in the 2006 draft, has shown flashes at times, but has yet to win more than seven games in a season. Last year the 27-year-old right-hander was 6-6 with a 4.81 ERA, but missed 2 1/2 months with an elbow ailment.

The left-handed Francis could be an All-Star for Kansas City this season. Then again, he could wind up making less than 10 starts. Francis won 44 games for the Colorado Rockies from 2005-07, but has made just 43 starts in three seasons since and missed all of 2009 while recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Righty Kyle Davies had trouble finding the strike zone last year, as he walked 80 batters and ended the year 8-12 with a 5.34 ERA.

After winning just one game from 2006-09, Bruce Chen led the Royals with 12 wins a year ago and was a pretty solid left-handed option, pitching to a 4.17 ERA.

Vin Mazzaro came over from Oakland in the DeJesus deal and will be the team’s fifth starter. Mazzaro, 24, is just 10-17 lifetime with a 4.27 ERA in 41 games, 35 of which have been starts. However, he was 0-5 with 4.63 ERA after Aug. 1 last season.

BULLPEN

Joakim Soria is one of the best closers in the American League and last year was no exception, as he made good on 43-of-46 save opportunities and pitched to a 1.78 ERA, while fanning 71 batters in 65 2/3 innings.

Getting to Soria, though, was a problem last season and could be again this year.

Righty Robinson Tejeda and rookie left-hander Tim Collins will likely serve as the main bridges to the All-Star closer. Righties Luis Mendoza, Sean O’Sullivan, Kaneoka Texeira and Jeremy Jeffress will also contribute. Jeffress was another player obtained in the Greinke deal and has hit 100 mph on the radar gun this spring.

Of that group Collins has the most potential, but the diminutive flamethrower is only 21 years old.

BENCH

Wilson Betemit will fill a number of roles for Yost this season, as he will play everywhere in the infield. Mitch Maier had been slated to be an everyday outfielder until Francoeur and Cabrera were inked. Gregor Blanco could also find time in the outfield.

Until Kendall returns Lucas May will hang around as the team’s backup catcher.

OUTLOOK

After 100-loss season after 100-loss season, there is finally some light at the end of the tunnel for the Kansas City Royals. Baseball America’s Top Prospects list was littered with Royals this past year, some of which could be playing in Kansas City at some point this season. While they probably won’t make an impact, players like Hosmer and Moustakas should get their first real taste of major league action. Anytime you lose a Zack Greinke you are going to struggle and that should be the case with this Royals rotation. It was a bad staff last year with Greinke and it could be atrocious if Hochevar does not progress. Butler is becoming one of the better hitters in the AL, but other than him there is not much there. Until Gordon actually contributes, he can’t be counted on and Francoeur is just too streaky. Still, there is hope coming down the road. Unfortunately, the Royals seem headed to another fourth place finish in the AL Central.

The Sports Network

THE OLYMPIAN | • Published March 27, 2011

2010 record/finish: 67-95, last place Manager: Ned Yost (second full season)

Key additions: OF Jeff Francoeur, OF Melky Cabrera, LHP Jeff Francis, RHP Vin Mazzaro, SS Alcides Escobar

Key losses: RHP Zack Greinke, SS Yuniesky Betancourt, OF David DeJesus, RHP Gil Meche

Outlook: They were forced to trade their best pitcher in the offseason, but Greinke was unhappy and it had to be done. The Royals are in rebuilding mode looking toward the future, so players such as Francoeur and Cabrera were brought in as stopgaps until their slew of prospects – rated the best in baseball – are ready.

Player to watch: RHP Luke Hochevar. The No. 1 overall pick in 2006 lacks consistency, but someone needs to fill the void left by Greinke.

Will win the Central if … well, they won’t.

Cynics might say this falls into the category of “somebody had to go first” but the Kansas City Royals have announced their starting pitcher for opening day.

And that somebody … is right-hander Luke Hochevar(notes).

(“Hochevar,” in case you are curious, is pronounced as awkwardly as it is spelled: HOE-shay-vur.)

You also might assume Hochevar has inherited Zack Greinke’s(notes) mantel, but Greinke has only started opening day once in his career (2010) before being traded to the Brewers. Before that, Gil Meche(notes) started three straight openers for Kansas City.

Congratulations, Luke, for inheriting Gil Meche’s mantel!

Before Meche, there was Scott Elarton (’06), Jose Lima (Lima Time in ’05!), Brian Anderson(notes) (’04), Runelvys Hernandez (’03) and Jeff Suppan(notes) (2000-03).

It’s like the Royals have been wandering around in a desert for the past decade. Or two.

Earnestly, I’m thinking the opening day designation is the sign of something big for Hochevar and the Royals.

Not only might Hochevar be on the verge of pitching well, but in researching his life, I came across his Wikipedia page, which revealed an awesome nickname (almost) nobody knew he had.

“Hochocinco.” Yesssss.

He is?! Well, sort of. As often happens, these things start on Twitter, where @prezmike25 responded to @KCYeti one day in January:

While a blatant (and purposeful) ripoff of Chad Johnson’s “Ochocinco,” the “cinco” part makes sense because  — as @KCYeti points out — Hochevar’s career ERA is 5.60.

Well, I think Hochevar’s going to pitch better than 5.60 this season. As the Fangraphs notes, his career Fielding Independent Pitching is 4.47, and it was 3.93 in 2010. That means, essentially, Hochevar is not as bad as the rest of the Royals have tried to make him look.

Hochocinco also works as a nickname because Hochevar throws a sinker.

Well, a Hochosinker.

There’s also the weird kismet of Johnson — the original (H)Ocho Gangster, himself — trying out for KC’s local MLS club. Plus, didn’t he say something about abandoning the Ochocinco nickname?

Dibs!

@KCYeti even took the step of stamping Hochocinco as “internet official” by (harmlessly) vandalizing the Wiki page. And yet, the more Hochocinco is repeated, the less likely the Wikibots will come to scrub it from Hochevar’s page.

Hochevar took something of a circuitous route to get here, but someone thought it was meant to be; The Royals tabbed him with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2006 draft.

Sure, the KC regime at the time ignored the likes of Evan Longoria(notes), Clayton Kershaw(notes) and Tim Lincecum(notes) (all of whom went in the top 10). But the Hochevar pick still might work out for GM Dayton Moore, who came to Kansas City two days after Hochevar was selected.

Hochevar is 27 years old, but that’s OK (pitchers were born older than hitters) and he’s accumulated only 387 2/3 innings in the major leagues. Did we have any idea what Nolan Ryan would become at a mere 387 innings?

Let’s just assume not.

Follow Dave on Twitter — @AnswerDave

Related: Clayton Kershaw, Tim Lincecum, Luke Hochevar, Evan Longoria, Brian Anderson, Zack Greinke, Jeff Suppan, Kansas City Royals

Zack Greinke has never dealt with attention or expectations quite like this.

When the righthander was traded from the Kansas City Royals to the Milwaukee Brewers, he entered a world unlike any he had lived in before, including the one he occupied after winning the 2009 AL Cy Young award.

The trade made him the focal point of a team with a legitimate chance to make the playoffs, meaning he had transformed the landscape of the NL Central and inherited a load of expectations.

This is something Greinke has never been comfortable with. He suffers from social anxiety disorder and depression, conditions that nearly forced him to leave baseball five years ago, and is on medication.

He also lacks a filter between his brain and mouth, which is great for filling reporter notebooks but can sometimes make the 27-year-old seem like a real jerk.

Greinke made his Brewers debut Tuesday, walking three White Sox in 1 1/3 innings, and afterward, speaking to reporters for only the second time this spring, was brutally honest about requesting a trade out of Kansas City.

“I had to be the bad guy (in Kansas City),” Greinke said. “If I kept on being the sweet person, the fans would be outraged (at the team) if I got traded. It seemed like all the fans liked me.”

So Greinke was thinking about the fans. Understandable and pretty noble if that was his grand plan.

But it was just a week ago that Greinke basically said fans “annoy” him. During a nearly 40-minute media session with local writers — Greinke refused to speak with national media until Tuesday — he was again honest about how he views fans and media, saying they both waste his time.

“Ninety-nine percent of the reason I do it like this is I come to the park and want to get focused on my next start,” said Greinke, who rarely made eye contact with the reporters in the room. “If I didn’t do it this way, some random guy I’ve never met would come and talk to me.

“Some lady came up to me yesterday and just started talking nonsense. It takes eight minutes to get a real question out because it’s buttering me up. Then they get to the question and it’s a stupid question. So I’ve wasted 10 minutes and in that 10-minute time I didn’t get to do what I needed to do. And even if it is a good question, I spend 10 minutes and they take the one quote that didn’t mean anything.”

Later he added to his feelings.

“I don’t like talking bad about fans, but they annoy me a lot of times, like the autograph guys out here,” Greinke said. “The ones who annoy me the most is when we get to the hotels. Sometimes I feel like I can’t go outside because there are fans downstairs.”

The fact that rumors swirled about Greinke possibly being traded to New York or Boston are absurd because of his battles with social anxiety and depression. Had he wound up with the Yankees or Red Sox, Greinke said, he would just ignore those teams’ reporters and fans. Though he plans to do the same in Milwaukee, that act wouldn’t fly in the AL East’s larger, more baseball-crazed markets.

And even though he is in Wisconsin, the attention is still focused on him in a big way. How he deals with it could become an interesting saga.

SURPRISE, Ariz. (AP) — There were 33 pitchers in Kansas City Royals uniforms at spring training yesterday. The biggest name was the guy who wasn’t here.

Zack Greinke, the 2009 American League Cy Young Award winner, is gone. He and shortstop Yuniesky Betancourt were traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in December for four prospects — outfielder Lorenzo Cain, shortstop Alcides Escobar and right-handed pitchers Jeremy Jeffress and Jake Odorizzi.

Without Greinke, who was 16-8 with a 2.16 ERA and 242 strikeouts in 2291/3 innings in 2009, the Royals lack a true ace and a guy who generated a lot of welcome buzz for a team that hasn’t been to the playoffs since the 1985 World Series team.

“It’s time for guys to step up,” Royals Manager Ned Yost said yesterday. “There are very few clubs that have a pitcher that has the ability that Zack Greinke has. He’s one of the top five pitchers in all of baseball as far as I’m concerned. Everybody else has what we have — a bunch of real good solid kids that can compete. We just have to find out who those five are going to be.

“It’s not easy. Nobody can take a Zack Greinke and replace him because he’s just too good. You just find the five best guys and go forward with it.”

Luke Hochevar, the first pick in the 2006 draft, is the leading candidate to be the Royals’ starter on opening day. He has a 19-32 record with a 5.60 ERA in the majors and has never won more than seven games in a season. Plus, he was limited to 17 starts last season because of an elbow injury.

A new addition to the Royals, left-hander Jeff Francis, won 17 games in 2007 with the Colorado Rockies. But he is 8-16 with an ERA higher than five since then, and he missed the 2009 season after shoulder surgery.

Bruce Chen led the Royals with 12 victories last season but from 2006-09 was 1-13 in the majors and missed the 2008 season after having elbow surgery. Kyle Davies, who is 42-56 with a 5.49 ERA in the majors, figures to be in the middle of the rotation. Vin Mazzaro and Sean O’Sullivan are the other starting candidates.

“Losing a guy like Greinke from just the whole team’s perspective, he’s our ace,” Davies said. “He’s a very consistent and a very good pitcher. Does everyone in the rotation have to feel they have to pick up the slack? No. You just do whatever you’re capable of doing, and it’s all going to work out.

“If you’re capable of throwing 200 innings, you do that. If everyone just does exactly what they are capable of doing and not trying to do too much, we’ll be fine.”

O’Sullivan, who went 3-6 with a 6.11 ERA in 14 games with the Royals, said he learned from Greinke.

“Even with him, everyone has to step up and do their part,” O’Sullivan said. “If we go out as individuals and take care of our part, do our job, then we’ll be fine.”

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