HOUSTON -- Barely over a week into the regular season, and already Royals Nation is alarmed that manager Ned Yost is setting up his bullpen with Kelvin Herrera primarily as the seventh-inning guy and Joakim Soria as the eighth-inning guy.
Soria had a terrific Spring Training, posting a 1.80 ERA. But the concern stems from his one shaky outing on Opening Night, when he gave up three runs.
But, as Yost has pointed out often, Soria gave up three broken-bat hits in that game and didn't pitch nearly as poorly as the stats suggested.