Spring Temperature Check: Who's Hot and Who's Cold in Royals Camp? (Mar 13-Mar 15)

[Philip Ruo]

Image courtesy of © Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

The Royals have less than two weeks left until Opening Day in Atlanta. As the number of players in big league camp begins to thin, many players are still fighting for their spots on the roster. With time running out to make an impression, which players are making the most of their opportunities?

As a reminder, don't read too much into spring training performances. Sample sizes are small, competition levels vary, and players may be working on specific adjustments that don't necessarily translate to traditional stats. This post is only meant to inform and summarize what has happened in the past few games.

Who’s Hot? 🔥

Carter Jensen

Jensen continued his strong spring training with another impressive performance on Friday. Jensen went 2-4 with a home run and two RBIs. He had a quieter day on Sunday, going 0-3, but was able to score after earning a walk in the seventh inning.

Following this weekend, his spring slashline is .267/.313/.567. His underlying Statcast metrics have been encouraging this spring. He is hitting the ball hard with an average exit velocity of 95.4 mph (93rd percentile) and a hard hit rate of 59.1% (84th percentile).

Jensen has taken advantage of spending extra time behind the plate while Salvador Perez is spending time with Team Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic. While there are still some aspects of his game this spring that could use improvement, only walking twice in his 32 plate appearances, the Royals will be happy with how their projected backup catcher is hitting the ball.

Nick Mears

Mears had another strong outing on Saturday, recording outs against all four batters he faced, including two strikeouts. Mears generated high chase and whiff rates on Saturday, and his slider was his standout pitch, grading above average with a 105 Stuff+. 

Mears’ outing on Saturday was an improvement on his spring so far, where he had allowed four earned runs in his first five innings pitched. If he can continue to show improved command this spring, he will surely be a lock for a spot in the bullpen in 2026.

Kyle Isbel

After a rough start to his spring training, Isbel had a couple of good games at the plate this weekend. On Friday, he went 1-3 with a walk, and he followed it up by going 2-2 with a double and a run scored on Sunday. After Sunday, his spring slash line improved to .231/.355/.269. With a pair of hard-hit balls this weekend, his hard-hit rate is sitting at 57.9% this spring.

As a defense-first centerfielder, the Royals will not be asking Isbel to carry this offense in 2026. If he can provide hard contact and get on base similar to this weekend, then he could be a boost at the end of the lineup that the Royals were missing last season.

Who’s Not? 🧊

Ryan Bergert

Bergert allowed five earned runs in 3 ⅔ innings on Saturday against the Athletics. The A’s were hitting the ball hard against Bergert with four home runs, nine hard-hit balls, and an average exit velocity of 98.1 mph. 

Despite allowing such hard contact, Bergert was able to induce high chase and whiff rates of 46.2% and 42.1%, respectively. Bergert induced 16 whiffs and four strikeouts in his 20 plate appearances. Bergert’s overall Stuff+ was 101, with his slider and sweeper standing out in particular. The key to Bergert’s success going into the 2026 season will be to limit the hard contact with his above-average ability to induce swings and misses and swings outside of the zone.

Helcris Olivárez

Olivárez has been featured as a hot player for the Royals this spring, but he struggled greatly in his appearance against the Diamondbacks. Olivárez faced six hitters and was only able to get one out before being relieved in the ninth inning. Olivárez could not find the zone with a low zone rate of 20.8%, leading to three walks and one hit batter. While Olivárez was unable to find strikes, hitters against him stayed disciplined and refused to chase pitches out of the zone.

The silver lining is that when hitters were able to make contact, they did not make hard contact. Despite his lack of control, his sinker and curveball graded above average with Stuff+ of 105 and 103, respectively. He also throws hard with his fastball, and averaging 97.4 mph (94th percentile for all pitchers this spring with at least 25 PAs), and his sinker averages 98.0 mph. The key for Olivárez to make the Royals’ roster this year will be his ability to find the strike zone and limit walks. 

Peyton Wilson

On Saturday, Wilson did not have his best day at the plate, going 0-3 with three strikeouts. He also made a substitute appearance on Friday, going 0-2 with a walk and a strikeout. While Wilson hit a home run in his one plate appearance on Sunday, the non-roster invitee has not had the best spring with a .174 batting average and .256 wOBA. While he has struggled to find hits this spring, Wilson has had good plate discipline with six walks in his 30 plate appearances. 

Wilson has not been able to repeat his hot spring training from 2025, where he saw more success and power with a .263 batting average and a .432 wOBA in 22 plate appearances. If Wilson can return to hitting the ball hard (58.3% hard hit rate in 2025 compared to 31.3% this spring) and limit his strikeouts, he should be able to bounce back.

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