Spring Training Recap – 2/23/24

Jared Perkins February 23, 2024 in News Tagged Daniel Lynch IV, Drew Waters, Jake Brentz, Kansas City Royals - 2 Minutes

Final Score: KC 4 | TEX 5

Overall Spring Record: 0-1

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

Daniel Lynch IV: The best part of day one of spring training was seeing Daniel Lynch IV back on the mound. The lefty threw one scoreless inning. He worked around a leadoff walk to Marcus Semien. He had his fastball working from 91-93 mph. For Lynch IV, who is trying to make his way back after missing much of last year with an injury, this is a lovely sight to see. If he can get the velocity back to where it is sitting, 93-95, we could see him take it to that next level in 2024. A good first start for Lynch IV.

Drew Waters: We’ve got our first home run of spring training, and it comes from none other than outfielder Drew Waters. He finished the day 1-for-2. According to Anne Rogers, he destroyed the ball over the left-center berm. For years now, we have known that Waters possesses all the tools in the world but has struggled to advance his hit tool. Isbel seems to have the upper hand on the starting centerfield job, but a loud spring for Waters, and he could find his way to the starting job or even on the strong side of a platoon.

Jake Brentz: Jake Brentz hasn’t been on a major league mound since 2022, so getting back out there was a massive step for him. But I am sure it didn’t go as planned for him. The lefty only went a third of an inning while walking four, striking out one, and giving up three earned runs. According to the scoreboard, he was mostly around 93 mph and apparently hit 95 mph. Good progress to see velocity-wise but was a bit off from where he used to be. Most of this spring will be an opportunity for Brentz to find his feet on the mound again