MLB NEWS

Royals not paying attention to preseason predictions

The Sports Xchange

April 14, 2015 at 12:15 am.

MINNEAPOLIS — The Kansas City Royals have ignored the predictions and pundits to have one of the best starts in all of baseball over the first week of the regular season.

A 12-3 win against the Minnesota Twins on Monday moved the Royals to 7-0, one year after the club came within two runs of winning a World Series championship.

Despite the run to the World Series last season, the Royals were picked by many to finish fourth in the American League Central this year. Defending division champion Detroit still has plenty of star power, Cleveland was the trendy pick to jump into the playoffs and Chicago had one of the best offseasons in all of baseball.

One might not fault the Royals for feeling a little disrespected.

Not so, says Royals manager Ned Yost.

“That stuff is overrated,” Yost said. “We ignore it. We know we’ve got a good group and a good team and it doesn’t matter what anyone says or what anyone picks. It’s all opinion, that’s all it is. There’s no bearing on what we do because of someone’s opinion.”

Kansas City lost several critical pieces off their American League championship squad from a year ago, including right-handed pitcher James Shields, designated hitter Billy Butler and outfielder Nori Aoki.

The guys they brought in to replace them had plenty of questions. Designated hitter Kendrys Morales was coming off a terrible year in Minnesota and Seattle. Outfielder Alex Rios has seen his power numbers dip dramatically in recent years. Right-handed pitcher Edinson Volquez hadn’t pitched in the American League in eight years and hasn’t had an ERA under 4.00 since 2008.

Yost said all have made the Royals clubhouse even better than it was a year ago.

“The guys that we brought in are top-notch teammates, they are top-notch clubhouse guys. They’re also great players,” Yost said. “Our chemistry is actually better than it was last year, which is a very important component to our team.”