In the moments before his debut outing with the Royals, Nathan Karns sought to calm his nerves. His adrenalin pumped during a pregame bullpen session. His body tensed with anxious energy. He carried the mood to the mound Wednesday at Surprise Stadium.
“There’s a lot of reasons I could have been amped up,” Karns said.
A pitcher cannot win a job on one spring training outing. But Karns offered up a strong first impression, posting a tidy, workmanlike performance against an undermanned version of the defending World Series champion Chicago Cubs.
Karns breezed through two perfect innings.