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If you need something to warm your soul, just know that in a few days, young men in Royals uniforms will be tossing the ball around in sunny Arizona. Royals pitchers and catchers will officially report on tomorrow, February 12 with their first full workout the next day. The full squad reports on February 17 with the first workout the next day. The first spring training game will be on February 23 against the Rangers.
The Royals will have at least 28 position players and 33 pitchers report to spring training, with the potential for more players to be added to camp. Here is your 2019 Royals spring training roster.
An asterisk (*) indicates the player is a non-roster invitee to spring training.
Royals position players
| No. | Position | Name | DOB | 2018 Club | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Position | Name | DOB | 2018 Club | Comments |
| 1 | IF | Humberto Arteaga* | 1/23/1994 | Omaha (AAA) | Slick fielder came around with the bat last year, could be utility infielder |
| 38 | RF | Jorge Bonifacio | 6/4/1993 | Omaha (AAA), KANSAS CITY | Struggled after returning from his suspension for PEDs |
| 71 | C | Nick Dini* | 7/27/1993 | Northwest Arkansas (AA), Omaha (AAA) | Extra catcher to have in camp, should be in Omaha this year |
| 17 | 3B | Hunter Dozier | 8/22/1991 | Omaha (AAA), KANSAS CITY | Hit .267/.297/.524 over his final 27 games |
| 67 | 1B | Samir Duenez* | 6/11/1996 | Northwest Arkansas (AA) | Athletic young 1B has hit, but needs to work on plate discipline |
| 76 | C | Xavier Fernandez* | 7/15/1995 | Wilmington (A), Northwest Arkansas (AA) | Catcher has shown some offensive skills in the low minors |
| 47 | IF/OF | Jecksson Flores* | 10/28/1993 | Northwest Arkansas (AA) | Won the Texas League batting title as a versatile player |
| 36 | C | Cam Gallagher | 12/6/1992 | Omaha (AAA), KANSAS CITY | Expected to be the backup catcher to Salvy |
| 25 | OF | Brian Goodwin | 11/2/1990 | Harrisburg (AAA), Omaha (AAA), WASHINGTON, KANSAS CITY | Versatile outfielder was hit with injuries last year |
| 4 | LF | Alex Gordon | 2/10/1984 | KANSAS CITY | Still shows off a great arm, winning his sixth Gold Glove last year |
| 0 | LF | Terrance Gore | 6/8/1991 | Omaha (AAA), Iowa (AAA), CHICAGO CUBS | Pinch-running specialist has 32 steals in 72 MLB games |
| 75 | 3B | Kelvin Gutierrez | 8/28/1994 | Harrisburg (AA), Northwest Arkansas (AA) | Slick-fielder acquired from the Nationals for Kelvin Herrera |
| 6 | CF | Billy Hamilton | 9/9/1990 | CINCINNATI | Switch-hitter has 264 steals over the last five years, most in baseball |
| 37 | OF | Elier Hernandez* | 11/21/1994 | Northwest Arkansas (AA), Omaha (AAA) | Big bonus signee out of Dominican, but bat hasn't come around |
| 9 | IF | Nicky Lopez* | 3/13/1995 | Northwest Arkansas (AA), Omaha (AAA) | One of the hardest hitters to strike out in the minors |
| 79 | IF/OF | Erick Mejia* | 11/9/1994 | Northwest Arkansas (AA) | Acquired from the Dodgers last year, bat took a step back |
| 70 | C | M.J. Melendez* | 11/29/1998 | Lexington (A) | One of the top prospects in the system, slammed 19 home runs |
| 15 | 2B | Whit Merrifield | 1/24/1989 | KANSAS CITY | Led the Majors in both hits (192) and steals (45) |
| 27 | SS | Adalberto Mondesí | 7/27/1995 | Omaha (AAA), KANSAS CITY | Finished 8th in the Majors in steals in just 75 games |
| 66 | 1B | Ryan O'Hearn | 7/26/1993 | Omaha (AAA), KANSAS CITY | 11th in AL in OPS (.932) after August 1 |
| 2 | IF/OF | Chris Owings | 8/12/1991 | ARIZONA | Former first-round pick led the NL in triples in 2016 |
| 13 | C | Salvador Perez | 5/10/1990 | KANSAS CITY | Six-time All-Star won his fifth Gold Glove last year |
| 14 | RF | Brett Phillips* | 5/30/1994 | Colorado Springs (AAA), MILWAUKEE, KANSAS CITY | Promising outfielder struggled with a high strikeout rate |
| 78 | C | Sebastian Rivero | 11/16/1998 | Lexington (A) | Excellent defender, but bat needs to come around |
| 12 | RF | Jorge Soler | 2/25/1992 | Omaha (AAA), KANSAS CITY | Promising .820 OPS, but limited to 61 games due to injury |
| 69 | 1B | Frank Schwindel* | 6/29/1992 | Omaha (AAA) | Terrific power and improved his low walk rate last year |
| 11 | CF | Bubba Starling* | 8/3/1992 | Omaha (AAA) | Former first-round pick missed nearly all of last year with injuries |
| 72 | C | Meibrys Viloria | 2/15/1997 | Wilmington (A), KANSAS CITY | Showed impressive defense in the Arizona Fall League |
Royals pitchers
| No. | Throws | Name | DOB | 2018 Club | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Throws | Name | DOB | 2018 Club | Comments |
| 50 | RHP | Jason Adam* | 8/4/1991 | Northwest Arkansas (AA), Omaha (AAA), KANSAS CITY | Returned to the Royals with a mid-90s fastball, but struggled with home runs |
| RHP | Homer Bailey* | 5/3/1986 | CINCINNATI | Solid starter with the Reds in 2012-2013, but injuries have derailed his career | |
| 58 | RHP | Scott Barlow | 12/18/1992 | Omaha (AAA)/KANSAS CITY | Barlow had a high ERA, but an impressive strikeout rate in limited action in AAA |
| 64 | RHP | Scott Blewett | 4/19/1996 | Northwest Arkansas (AA) | Former second-round pick fared well in the Arizona Fall League last year |
| 26 | RHP | Brad Boxberger | 5/27/1988 | ARIZONA | Picked up 32 saves with the Diamondbacks last year, but struggled with control |
| 41 | LHP | Danny Duffy | 12/21/1988 | KANSAS CITY | Ace of the staff missed the final six weeks with a shoulder impingement |
| 51 | RHP | Chris Ellis | 9/22/1992 | Springfield (AA), Memphis (AAA) | 26-year old from the Cardinals organization was acquired in the Rule 5 draft |
| 49 | RHP | Heath Fillmyer | 5/16/1994 | Omaha (AAA)/KANSAS CITY | Held his own with a 4.26 ERA in 82 1/3 innings, but poor peripherals |
| 33 | LHP | Brian Flynn | 4/19/1990 | KANSAS CITY | Versatile longman had a 4.04 ERA in 75 2/3 innings |
| 62 | RHP | Conner Greene | 4/4/1995 | Springfield (AA), Memphis (AAA) | Fireballer with a high-90s fastball was claimed off waivers from the Cardinals |
| 73 | LHP | Foster Griffin* | 7/27/1995 | Northwest Arkansas (AA) | Former first-round pick took a step back in AA last year |
| 32 | RHP | Jesse Hahn | 7/30/1989 | KANSAS CITY (Disabled List) | Missed all of last year with a UCL injury and may be doubtful for the start |
| 39 | RHP | Arnaldo Hernandez | 2/9/1996 | Wilmington (A), Northwest Arkansas (AA), Omaha (AAA) | Stuff plays better than results, showed a velocity increase last year |
| 54 | LHP | Tim Hill | 2/10/1990 | KANSAS CITY | Situational sidearming lefty led the team in relief appearances last year with 70 |
| 65 | RHP | Jakob Junis | 9/16/1992 | KANSAS CITY | Only Royals pitcher to qualify for ERA title, finished 21st in AL |
| 74 | LHP | Jake Kalish* | 7/9/1991 | Northwest Arkansas (AA), Omaha (AAA) | Impressive K-BB ratio last year, but time is ticking for the 27-year old lefty |
| 56 | RHP | Brad Keller | 7/27/1995 | KANSAS CITY | Rule 5 pick wowed, finishing third among all rookie pitchers in fWAR |
| 31 | RHP | Ian Kennedy | 12/19/1984 | KANSAS CITY | Oblique injury limited him to 22 starts last year, lowest in his career since 2009 |
| 48 | RHP | Ben Lively | 3/5/1992 | Lehigh Valley (AAA), PHILADELPHIA, KANSAS CITY | Claimed off waivers from Philly late in the year, made 15 MLB starts in 2017 |
| 28 | RHP | Jorge Lopez | 2/10/1993 | Colorado Springs (AAA), MILWAUKEE, KANSAS CITY | Nearly tossed a perfect game after being acquired for Mike Moustakas |
| 46 | LHP | Richard Lovelady* | 7/7/1995 | Omaha (AAA) | Considered the best pitching prospect in the upper minors |
| 40 | RHP | Zach Lovvorn* | 5/26/1994 | Northwest Arkansas (AA), Omaha (AAA) | Low strikeout rate led to a high ERA in AA and AAA last year |
| 59 | RHP | Andres Machado* | 4/22/1993 | Northwest Arkansas (AA), Omaha (AAA) | Hammered in AAA last year, but fared better after a demotion to AA |
| 61 | RHP | Kevin McCarthy | 2/22/1992 | Omaha (AAA), KANSAS CITY | Became a dependable arm in the pen with a 3.25 ERA despite a low K rate |
| 52 | RHP | Sam McWilliams | 9/4/1995 | Charlotte (A), Visalia (A), Montgomery (AA) | 6'7'' right-hander acquired from the Diamondbacks in the Rule 5 draft |
| 68 | RHP | Jake Newberry | 11/20/1994 | Northwest Arkansas (AA), Omaha (AAA), KANSAS CITY | Followed up a terrific minor league season with a handful of MLB relief innings |
| 34 | RHP | Trevor Oaks | 3/26/1993 | Omaha (AAA)/KANSAS CITY | Pacific Coast League All-Star with a 3.23 ERA in 22 starts for Omaha |
| 43 | RHP | Wily Peralta | 5/8/1989 | Omaha (AAA)/KANSAS CITY | Didn't make the team initially, but ended as the closer going 14-of-14 in save opportunities |
| 53 | LHP | Eric Skoglund | 10/26/1992 | Northwest Arkansas (AA), Omaha (AAA), KANSAS CITY | Will miss the first 80 games after a suspension for PEDs |
| 57 | RHP | Glenn Sparkman | 5/11/1992 | Northwest Arkansas (AA), Omaha (AAA), KANSAS CITY | 26-year old had a 4.46 ERA in 38 1/3 innings with the Royals |
| 63 | RHP | Josh Staumont | 12/21/1993 | Omaha (AAA) | Fireballer with a 100 mph fastball struggles with control, but improved last year |
| 60 | RHP | Michael Ynoa* | 9/24/1991 | Did not play | Former top prospect with the A's spent a few innings with the White Sox in 2017 |
| 45 | RHP | Kyle Zimmer | 9/13/1991 | Did not play | Former first-round pick hoping for comeback after injury-ravaged career |