The Royals were initially slated to play two games on Friday, but one of the games was canceled due to rain. The game that they did play against the Cleveland Guardians was a 6-1 loss.

Final Score: Royals 1 | Guardians 6

Overall Record: 13-8

Key Highlights

Brady Singer

Brady Singer pitched four full innings on Friday. He finished his day without allowing a run but worked through plenty of traffic on the basepaths between three walks and three hits. He did strike out four Guardians in the process. Singer continues to ramp up for Opening Day, but the rainy elements today didn’t help him much. His velocity was in the low 90s for much of the afternoon.

CJ Alexander

CJ Alexander got the start at third base, finishing his day 2/3 with a double. He also started a nifty double-play. Alexander was acquired alongside Andrew Hoffmann and Drew Waters before spending most of last season in Triple-A Omaha. An injury interrupted his 2023 season, but he’s had a strong spring thus far. After Friday’s performance, he’s now hitting .318 this spring with a .863 OPS.

Nelson Velázquez

Nelson Velázquez has had perhaps the quietest spring among presumptive starters for the Royals. He finished his day Friday 0/2 with a walk and a strikeout. He’s now hitting a measly .172 with a .480 OPS. Although it wasn’t seen as a competition at the onset of spring training, Velázquez may have just played himself into a camp battle thanks in part to Nick Pratto’s scorching hot spring.

Other notable performances:

Blake Mitchell: 0/3, 3 K

Javier Vaz: 1/1, R

Salvador Perez: 1/2, K

Nick Anderson: 1.0 IP, 4H, 4ER, 1BB, 1 SO

Matt Sauer: 1.0 IP, 1H, 0ER, 0BB, 1 SO

Next up:

Kansas City Royals vs. Chicago Cubs – 3/16/24, 3:05 CST

Kansas City Probable: Jordan Lyles (0.00)

Chicago Probable: Drew Smyly (6.14)

Image credit: Joe Camporeale, USA Today