Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Second base battle in KC
By Doug Mittler
One of the more wide-open spring training battles in Arizona will be to see who plays second base for the Kansas City Royals.
Pete Grathoff of the Kansas City Star gives a Tale of the Tape of the battle between Chris Getz, who is returning from a broken thumb, and Johnny Giavotella, who hit .323/.404/.472 at Triple-A Omaha. At last month’s FanFest, manager Ned Yost would not tip his hand, saying only that the competition would be “very interesting.”
Health is an issue with Getz, a .257 career hitter who has made five trips to the DL in his career. The Royals like Giavotella’s potential at the plate, but there are concerns about his defense and that may the main reason the 25-year-old is not already an everyday player. Giavotella hit.250/.276/.330 with one home run in 32 games for the Royals last season after Getz went down with his thumb injury.
