KANSAS CITY, Mo. — There's a "buzz" around Spring Training for the Kansas City Royals, according to the club's second-year manager Mike Matheny.
“We don’t have the whole club here yet, but what we’ve seen from the number of the position players here and all of our pitchers and catchers is really good work so far," Matheny said. "Very directed work. It looked like they just came in with a purpose each and everyone of them and it’s fun to watch."
Matheny said the club is building off the momentum from last season and so far in Spring Training, he likes what he's seeing. Plus, this time around, he isn’t starting from square one, making it easier for players to trust his process.
“You can’t get up here and just start saying some stuff and have them buy in if they don’t believe it," Matheny said. "Obviously, we all would have loved to have had a full season last year, but what it did was it forced us to via Zoom how can we connect?”
Now thousands of Zooms later, Matheny said he feels he’s not just brought a team together, but built relationships within his clubhouse.
“I think there is so much to be said about guys believing in themselves and believing in each other… That’s what’s exciting right now because you see that they’re in and that they believe in each other,” Matheny said.
After finishing the 60-game season 26-34, the Royals look to ramp up Spring Training with the goal of once again becoming a playoff-contending club.
