K.C. wants more:
Cueto becomes ace of staff; Zobrist provides help all around
The Royals bulked up at the trade deadline and are proving to the baseball world that last year’s run to the World Series was no fluke.
Lorenzo Cain could only laugh and shrug at how the outside world’s perception of the Kansas City Royals had changed over the course of the season.
“In spring training, everyone was saying that what we did last October was a fluke,” the Royals center fielder said. “Now everyone says we’re the favorites to get the World Series. That’s how it goes, I guess.”
The Royals stormed through the postseason in October, staging a comeback for the ages to beat the Oakland Athletics in the American League wild-card game then sweeping the Los Angeles Angels and Baltimore Orioles in a combined seven games in the AL Division Series and AL Championship Series before losing to the San Francisco Giants in seven games in the World Series.
Yet critics pointed to the Royals’ 89-73 regular-season record and loss of right-hander James Shields to the San Diego Padres in free agency and generally picked them to finish third or fourth in the AL Central this season.
“It was hard to understand,” Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer said. “We proved we had a good team last October. We beat some really good teams. We didn’t understand why so many people thought we still had to prove ourselves.
“You take coming within one game of the winning the World Series and then so many people not taking us seriously, and it gave us a lot of motivation coming into the season.”
Duly motivated, the Royals carried a 62-42 record into Monday, second best in the major leagues behind the St. Louis Cardinals. Kansas City also had an eight-game lead on the Minnesota Twins in the AL Central, the biggest cushion of any of baseball’s six division leaders.
No longer does anyone take the Royals lightly.
“Kansas City has an excellent team,” Cleveland Indians center fielder Michael Bourn said. “They are playing consistent baseball; that’s why they’re in first place. They pitch. They hit. They run. They’re aggressive. They have everything you want.”
The Royals have an even better roster than they did while building their substantial lead after acquiring right-hander Johnny Cueto from the Cincinnati Reds and star utility player Ben Zobrist from the Oakland Athletics in the days leading up to the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.
Cueto gives the Royals the top-of-the-rotation starter they lost when Shields left. Switchhitting Zobrist will play left field in place on Alex Gordon, who is on the disabled list with a severe left groin muscle strain, then move all around the diamond once Gordon returns, which the Royals hope is by the end of August.
“Very seldom does an organization get into the position we’re in, with the chance to do something special,” manager Ned Yost said. “So you want to take advantage of this opportunity.
“It’s nice to be able to add pieces to what is already a dynamic team.”
The Royals have openly talked about getting back to the World Series since the first few minutes after they lost a 3-2 heartbreaker to the Giants in last year’s Game 7 at home at Kauffman Stadium.
They don’t shy away from the expectations that have been added following the trade for Cueto and Zobrist.
“Our whole goal is to get back to the World Series and win it,” Yost said. “It’s great that we are able to bring in quality players like this to help us achieve something special like that.”
The trades continue to show how differently things have become for the Royals.
They won the lone World Series title in franchise history in 1985 then did not return to the playoffs until last season.
Hosmer joined the organization in 2008, when he was a firstround draft pick — third overall — from American Heritage High School in Plantation, Fla. The Royals were in the midst of nine consecutive losing seasons from 2004-12, including three with at least 100 losses.
“It’s fun to see us in position to add someone like a Johnny Cueto and a Ben Zobrist,” Hosmer said. “It shows that we’re committed to winning and that management has our backs and is doing everything it can to give us our best chance to win. It just motivates you even more to go out and win games.”
Cueto, 29, had spent his eightyear career with the Reds, going 92-63 with a 3.21 ERA in 213 starts while developing into one of the best pitchers in the National League.
He was 7-6 this season in 19 starts, which belied a fine 2.62 ERA.
He won 20 games last season, though, to become the first Cin- cinnati pitcher to reach that level since Danny Jackson was a 23game winner in 1988.
“He was our top priority for us,” Royals general manager Dayton Moore said. “We thought he fit us. We felt he was a pitcher that matched up very well with anybody. He’s a top of the rotation starter.”
In his Royals debut July 30, Cueto allowed three runs in six innings in a no-decision against the host Toronto Blue Jays.
While Cueto held his own against the highest-scoring team in the major leagues, he made an even bigger impression two days earlier when he joined the Royals in Cleveland and immediately took off from the clubhouse to run the stadium steps at Progressive Field.
“It just shows you the work ethic he has and how much he enjoys this game,” third baseman Mike Moustakas said.
Always-upbeat Zobrist also enjoys playing the game and was one of the most sought-after hitters on the market at the deadline. Yost nearly ran out of ad- jectives when asked what Zobrist brings to the Royals.
“Versatility, a two-time AllStar, a switch-hitter who is a good runner from both sides, he can play multiple positions, and he has a winner’s attitude,” Yost said.
Zobrist, 34, hit .268 with six home runs in 67 games with the A’s after spending the first nine years of his career with the Tampa Bay Rays. His season was interrupted by torn cartilage in his left knee that required arthroscopic surgery and kept him out from April 24 to May 25.
However, Zobrist is healthy again and made a big impact in his third game with the Royals on Saturday at Toronto. He hit home runs from both sides of the plate to rally Kansas City to a 7-6 win and end a three-game losing streak that came after the Royals had won 16 of their previous 21 games.
Zobrist, for his part, is just trying to fit in.
“I’m already joining a team that’s already a great team,” he said. “And the addition of Johnny Cueto, you got to believe there’s going to be a lot more wins coming over the next couple months. I’m super excited about it.”
Though Cueto has a much different personality than Zobrist — he is quiet, almost shy, and reluctant to speak English without a translator — he, too, is excited about being with the Royals.
“I know they play baseball very good,” he said. “I know it’s going to be good for my career and good for the team.”
Both Cueto and Zobrist are eligible for free agency at the end of the season, and it is doubtful that the Royals will be able to afford to re-sign either player. But the duo has been welcomed with open arms by their new teammates.
“It’s an easy group to get along with,” Hosmer said. “We have a lot of fun. When the game starts we play, we give everything we’ve got. We know they are similartype guys. We’re happy to have them. They make what was already a really good team even better.”