On a day manager Ned Yost solidified the Royals’ starting rotation, Jason Hammel offered the latest evidence that the unit could be vastly improved in 2017.
The day began with Yost announcing right-hander Nathan Karns as the club’s No. 5 starter. It continued at Surprise Stadium in the afternoon, where Hammel yielded just one run in 5 1/3 innings in a 10-6 loss the Cincinnati Reds.
The Royals’ relief corps would crumble in the eighth inning, when left-hander Matt Strahm was tagged for five runs while recording just one out. For Strahm, who will work out of the back end of the bullpen, it was the ugliest performance of his spring.