Montgomery, Zimmer impress in Royals’ Wednesday intrasquad game
Lefty Mike Montgomery and right-hander Kyle Zimmer delivered standout performances on Wednesday night as the Kansas City Royals continued their preparations for the abbreviated 2020 season with an intrasquad game at Kauffman Stadium.
For the second straight night, the Royals approached the scrimmage in an unconventional way, going through a series of scripted “rotations” rather than following a traditional nine-inning format, with those rotations featuring different pitchers, hitters and defensive players in an effort to evaluate as many players in as many different situations as possible.
Montgomery and Zimmer, the first two pitchers to take the mound Wednesday, both had impressive outings. Montgomery, considered a virtual lock to be part of Kansas City’s Opening Day rotation, threw four scoreless frames.
Monty and the defense kept the run off the board last inning. He went four scoreless.
— Lynn Worthy (@LWorthySports) July 16, 2020
Zimmer, meanwhile, faced some early adversity when he allowed a leadoff triple to Bubba Starling, but he rebounded by striking out Hunter Dozier and Jorge Soler. He finished with one run allowed over two rotations. For Zimmer, a starter in the minors who was eventually converted to the bullpen but has been discussed as a potential opener, this was an encouraging outing that could help solidify his spot on the Opening Day roster.
Kyle Zimmer looked good tonight. Bubba Starling smacked an opening triple off him in first inning. Zimmer proceeded to strike out Dozier and Soler. In the second frame, Zimmer allowed two singles to Gordo and Franco, but both came with two strikes. FB had life & curve was sharp.
— Alec Lewis (@alec_lewis) July 16, 2020
RHP Jake Newberry now coming in out of the pen. Zimmer worked two rotations and allowed one run
— Lynn Worthy (@LWorthySports) July 16, 2020
The relievers to see action in Wednesday’s scrimmage included Jake Newberry, Greg Holland, Scott Barlow, Tyler Zuber and Richard Lovelady.
Seeing his first action behind the plate this summer after reporting to camp Tuesday, Salvador Perez looked like his old, five-time Gold Glove-winning self, throwing out outfield prospect Nick Heath at second base.
Confirmed: Salvy’s arm is in midseason form.#AlwaysRoyal pic.twitter.com/Rjsu38ZcG1
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) July 16, 2020
From an offensive standpoint, utility player Erick Mejia continued to impress. The 25-year-old had an RBI single Wednesday night and now has at least one hit in every intrasquad game the Royals have played this summer. While the fact that he’s not currently on the 40-man roster may hurt his chances, Mejia is making a serious push for a spot on Kansas City’s Opening Day roster.
Mejia with an RBI single. Mejia still with at least one hit in each of the intrasquads of spring training 2.0. He’s not going to make it easy to leave him off the 30
— Lynn Worthy (@LWorthySports) July 16, 2020
First base prospect Nick Pratto, the Royals’ first-round pick in 2017, made a beautiful leaping grab on a high throw and a great tag to prevent Whit Merrifield from collecting an infield hit.
Pretty, Pratto.@n_pratto // #AlwaysRoyal pic.twitter.com/6O5j7FmtL5
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) July 16, 2020
Aside from the on-field action, Wednesday night’s intrasquad game was notable because it was the first time the Royals incorporated artificial crowd noise. Manager Mike Matheny has advocated for the pumped-in ambience in recent days in order to ensure that players don’t feel like they’re suppressing their emotions while trying to avoid being picked up by on-field microphones.
And for the first time this spring training/summer camp, the Royals have artificial crowd noise pumped in during their intrasquad
— Lynn Worthy (@LWorthySports) July 15, 2020
Matheny says he favors piping in fan noise for games, but it’s not about creating an atmosphere for players: “It’s about kind of masking some of the stuff that you wouldn’t normally hear.” #Royals pic.twitter.com/2DBSHersf4
— FOX Sports Kansas City (@FSKansasCity) July 10, 2020
With the audio crew experimenting with the technology for the first time Wednesday night, some humorous situations played out during the intrasquad game, such as Whit Merrifield getting a massive (artificial) ovation after a routine single and promptly gesturing for the imaginary crowd to get louder.
The crowd’s energy had @WhitMerrifield pumped.#AlwaysRoyal pic.twitter.com/4nhOhJ8fpX
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) July 16, 2020
Though he did not participate, catcher Meibrys Viloria was in uniform for Wednesday’s scrimmage. Matheny clarified after the game that while the 23-year-old backstop has yet to be officially activated from the injured list, he has been cleared for baseball activities.
Royals C Meibrys Viloria is in uniform here at the K. Had been on the 10-day IL since July 4.
— Alec Lewis (@alec_lewis) July 16, 2020
Despite the fact that Heath was thrown out trying to steal second during the intrasquad game, Matheny raved about the 26-year-old outfielder during his postgame press conference, saying that he’s a “natural base stealer” who provides constant energy.
Mike Matheny raves about outfield prospect Nick Heath: “Just energy all over the place. He’s a natural base stealer. That’s a weapon.” #Royals pic.twitter.com/gwsZkR5P1W
— FOX Sports Kansas City (@FSKansasCity) July 16, 2020
After playing three straight intrasquad games from Monday-Wednesday — the most they’ve played in a row since summer camp began — they’ll back off a bit on Thursday afternoon, conducting a light workout with several live batting practice sessions.
