Despite receiving a warm round of applause as he left the field during Monday’s spring-training game, Royals pitcher Nathan Karns gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head.
Karns was not happy with himself after giving up two base runners to the Diamondbacks, prompting manager Ned Yost to call on a reliever in the Royals’ 4-1 loss. The thing is: The plan was for Karns to throw 45 pitches, but he cruised through three innings in just 34 pitches.
Pitching coach Dave Eiland suggested a little more work in the bullpen, Karns said, but he wanted to stay in the game.