Royals’ Bubba Starling still trying to grow as a big-league hitter
Despite the litany of labels, judgments and expectations placed upon Bubba Starling since being drafted fifth overall in 2011, the athletic phenom from Gardner Edgerton High remains laser-focused on growing into a productive Major League Baseball player.
Starling, who’ll turn 28 early next month, has been open about his trying journey to the big leagues with his hometown Kansas City Royals. He has been fairly forthcoming about the pressure, anxiety, doubt and injuries that derailed him until he finally made his MLB debut on July 12, 2019.
Now apparently poised to make the major-league opening-day roster for the first time in his career, Starling speaks as though he’s still finding himself and perhaps just starting to truly understand how his abilities translate at the highest level.
When Starling received his long awaited promotion to the majors last summer, a scout for an American League club told The Star that he saw “unrefined raw bat talent” in Starling’s game.
While the scout stressed that Starling isn’t a kid anymore, he also pointed to the injuries and missed time as reason to believe there’s still some “upside” left.
Last season’s stats left plenty of room for improvement, and Starling has said as much himself. In his first 56 games, he posted a slash line of .215/.255/.317 with four home runs, seven doubles, 12 RBIs, nine walks and 56 strikeouts.
This offseason, he spent a lot of time working with his former youth coach Jeremy Jones of Building Champions Baseball Academy and using technology as well as the help of the Royals behavioral science staff to prepare for this season.
Since arriving in Arizona for the club’s initial spring training camp in February, Starling has worked very closely with hitting coach Terry Bradshaw and major league coach John Mabry to refine his approach at the plate.
“Last year, it seemed like I would get a ball in the zone, but it necessarily wasn’t a ball that I could handle or do something with,” Starling said. “I was just swinging to swing. This year, I’ve got a better approach. Obviously, with Maybs and Brashaw — I’ve been working with them a lot in the cage — we’ve got a million swings in. That’s what’s nice about this quick camp, we’ve still been able to get a lot of swings.”
Starling admitted he still needs to get better with off-speed and breaking-ball pitches, but he has been “hunting” the fastball.
Starling closed Friday night’s intrasquad scrimmage at Kauffman Stadium by smashing a pitch from right-hander Stephen Woods Jr. over the left-field wall and over the bullpen for a towering grand slam.
Woods had struggled with command throughout his outing — six walks in less than two innings — and Starling looked at the bases-loaded situation as a time when he could take advantage of a pitcher’s back being against a wall.
Instead of being passive, he wanted to do damage. He took a healthy cut and missed at a previous pitch before he connected for the grand slam.
“He walked six there, but he has still got to get the ball to the plate,” Starling said. “I might have been a little too aggressive on that first swing, but I knew he had to come to me. It was a long inning there for him. I’m trying to get a good pitch, and I got a good pitch and was able to do what I wanted to do with it.”
A tremendous athlete at 6 feet, 4 inches and 215 pounds with the ability to cover ground and an outstanding throwing arm in the outfield, Starling’s defense has been viewed as a strength since early on in his career.
The Royals have a bevy of outfield options, with All-Star Whit Merrifield and Hunter Dozier expected to move from the infield to the outfield on a more full-time basis this season. Seven-time Gold Glove winner and longest-tenured Royal Alex Gordon returns in left field, while Jorge Soler may also see time in the outfield along with designated hitter.
Erick Mejia has shown the ability to play effectively all over the field, including the infield and outfield. He’s been possibly the Royals’ hottest hitter during spring training 2.0.
Starling and Brett Phillips are both out of minor-league options and vying for roster spots and roles as outfield-only players.
Starling’s ability to contribute offensively will likely go a long way towards solidifying a role on this club in a pandemic shortened season.
Before MLB suspended spring training camps in March, Starling had made a strong case with his play in Cactus League games. He’d posted a slash line of .367/.441/.767 and struck out just four times and hit three home runs in 30 at-bats.
“You see the bat path looks right,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “He’s getting strong with the top hand, but not where he’s just rolling over. He’s kind of finding that sweet middle ground of finding that angle that he’s looking for where he’s getting good pitches to hit and figuring out how to make some damage happen on the pull side. He’s driven some balls to the middle of the field as well.”
Matheny said Starling has also focused on situational hitting and using his speed this spring. The manager seemed intrigued by the idea of Starling being able to perform in a different role than he has in the past.
“It’s going to be interesting how he fits with this lineup,” Matheny said. “We don’t need him, like he had been maybe all through the minor leagues, to be the guy. You can bring him in and put him in a spot in the lineup and say, ‘Hey we just need you to be productive. Then when you get a chance to do damage, you’re feeling good and the rhythm is right — do damage.’”
This story was originally published July 18, 2020 at 3:29 PM with the headline "Royals’ Bubba Starling still trying to grow as a big-league hitter."
