Opening Day is a tough ticket in Kansas City. The other 80 home games, after all, usually mean so little. The 2011 Royals are not expected to contend -- again. Yet the baseball world agrees that the organization has a group of potential stars coming up through the minor leagues. The 2011 season is the long layover before the jet lands in paradise.
Here are five story lines to watch until the 21-year-olds pitch and hit their way into our hearts, only to break them when they're eligible for free agency in six years.
How long before Tim Collins becomes a folk hero?
The best moment of the 2010 season might have been the day in July when G.M. Dayton Moore traded Rick Ankiel and Kyle Farnsworth to Atlanta for a package that included pitcher Tim Collins, who is left-handed and 5 feet 7 inches tall. Collins, 21, has put up sick numbers at every level he's pitched, mocking the scouts who felt that he was too shrimpy to merit a college scholarship, much less a draft pick. Collins made the team as a reliever. His Bieberish dimensions and ability to strike out hitters should result in a quick and enthusiastic adoption by the fanbase.
Will Billy Butler hit if he doesn't play in the field?
Manager Ned Yost has indicated that he wants Billy Butler, a nonathletic doubles machine, to serve as the team's primary designated hitter. Butler is accustomed to playing first base every day, and, though he doesn't do it well, standing on the field with a glove on his hand gives him a chance to clear his head between at-bats.
But Butler is too doughy to stay out there, and prospect Eric Hosmer, who is said to be agile at the position, is scheduled to arrive in 2012. Butler needs to learn to be productive, even if the only time he leaves the dugout, it's with a bat in his hands. Or to fight someone.
Can Alex Gordon resemble a good player?
Fans laughed when the No. 2 pick in the 2005 draft announced late last season that he was going to "dominate" in 2011. Alex Gordon has been a disappointment to everyone -- including himself -- since he made his major league debut four years ago. (Jesus, has it been that long since he struck out with bases loaded on Opening Day?)
To Gordon's credit, he acknowledged that it sounded silly for a career .244 hitter to talk about dominating anywhere but the meat station at Golden Corral. Gordon has made some changes to his swing -- hitting coach Kevin Seitzer says he's a "different guy." Yost is so taken with Gordon's more efficient stroke that he wants him to bat third in the order. Responding well to pressure has not been Gordon's M.O. But he needs to turn a corner, regardless of where he hits in the lineup.
Yost met with reporters before spring training began, and he sounded like a man who just watched his team lose 8-3 and fall 20 games out first place. When KMBC's Karen Kornacki asked about catcher Jason Kendall's "health," Yost went into red-ass mode and snapped at her because she didn't use the word "injury." Of course, everyone in the room knew that Kornacki was trying to get information about Kendall's shoulder -- and not his lipid count. So Yost just looked like a jerk. If the occasional outburst inspires his players to perform, well, then, that's great. But if not, the season will feel like six months in captivity with a crazy person.
Will Mike Moustakas be the team's best player once he arrives?
Mike Moustakas hit 36 home runs at AA and AAA levels last year. It's a bittersweet number: No Royals player has ever hit more than 36 home runs in a season. Even when steroids were being consumed like gummy bears, the Royals couldn't produce a 40-home-run power threat. One step ahead of the other prospects working their way to Kauffmam Stadium, Moustakas figures to take over at third base at some point during the season. The organization needs him to start hitting the minute he gets here. Because that's what star hitters do.
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