Michael Wacha settles into Kansas City Royals’ tenure with first spring start

Michael Wacha walked to the mound in a game for the first time this spring. He sported his No. 52 Kansas City Royals uniform as the Royals faced the San Diego Padres at the Peoria Sports Complex in Peoria, Arizona.

And he was greeted by a familiar face.

Padres star Fernando Tatis Jr. stepped to the plate. Wacha, who played for the Padres last season, didn’t flinch in the moment. Instead, he just went to work against one of the game’s best hitters.

“I try not to look at who is in the box whenever I’m in there,” Wacha said. “I was just focused on Sandy’s (Leon) mitt and try to execute a plan that we had going into the game.”

Wacha executed the plan well. He froze Tatis with a 93-mph fastball in recording his first strikeout. Later, Wacha hauled in a line drive back up the middle and struck out Padres infielder Manny Machado to end the inning.

It was a clean inning of work. Wacha threw 16 pitches and didn’t face any trouble. As he walked off the mound, he drew some playful banter from his Royals teammates.

“The guys were ragging me a bit in the dugout asking or saying, you know, that’s all you got type of chatter in there,” Wacha said.

However, it was all part of the Royals’ plan. Wacha worked one inning after dealing with a minor illness earlier in camp.

What was not planned was Padres outfielder Jackson Merrill’s line drive off the bat. Wacha quickly snared the baseball and got the out.

“I’d rather it not come back at my face,” Wacha said with a smile. … We practice those a lot in spring (Pitcher’s Fielding Practice or PFP). I wouldn’t say the line drives back at you, but we practice a lot of PFPs. Once you let go of the ball, we become a defender, you know, we got to make plays out there as well.”

Wacha will continue to ramp up ahead of the 2024 regular season. He is set to resume the normal five-day routine and is set for a rotation spot alongside teammates Cole Ragans, Seth Lugo and Brady Singer.

The Royals hope to be competitive in the American League Central. Several players aim to make the playoffs, given the veteran experience added this offseason.

Wacha posted a 3.22 ERA and 124 strikeouts in 24 starts last season. This spring, he is working to gain more command of his pitches. He felt he got away with some pitches against the Padres.

“Continue to get the command of some of those off-speed pitches,” Wacha said. “The fastball command wasn’t quite where I wanted it. Yeah, I was getting ahead and throwing strikes with it. I wouldn’t necessarily say, you know, it was exactly where I wanted it. You got to be a little more fine, especially whenever these guys start to get more locked in at the plate.”

Royals manager Matt Quatraro was pleased with Wacha’s scoreless inning. He looks forward to Wacha continuing to progress in his spring starts.

“It was good,” Quatraro said. “He looked composed, and he obviously threw strikes and a couple of good changeups there. It looked like he located the ball well.”

Royals split spring games vs. Rockies, Padres

The Royals lost 6-3 to the Padres. San Diego scored five runs in the seventh inning in picking up the victory.

Royals catcher Rodolfo Duran hit a solo home run in the ninth inning. Fellow catcher Luca Tresh added three RBIs.

In the third inning, pitcher John Schreiber made his Royals debut. He allowed two hits but induced a double play and a line out to end the frame.

“Feels good to get the first one out of the way,” Schreiber said. “You know, everything felt good out there.”

Royals outfielder Drew Waters made another highlight catch in center field. He robbed Merrill of extra bases and preserved Schreiber’s scoreless inning.

“He’s going to generate a lot of ground balls, and hopefully they are at guys,” Quatraro said of Schreiber. “It was a nice double play from (Garrett) Hampson there.”

The Royals defeated the Colorado Rockies 4-3 in their other split-squad game. Royals outfielder Nate Eaton hit a solo home run.

KC will return to the Peoria Sports Complex on Wednesday. The Royals face the Seattle Mariners with first pitch scheduled for 2:10 p.m., Central Time.