There have been plenty of people, players and fans alike, who have expressed their displeasure with the World Baseball Classic this spring. Some people saw it as a distraction that only put their team's players at risk to injury, while some of the players in the WBC just thought it was a bit too boring for their taste. I'm guessing one player with no complaints about it is Sidney Ponson.Ponson made two solid starts against the Dominican Republic while playing for the Netherlands and landed a minor-league deal with the Kansas City Royals. Now, after only a few weeks with the team and the recent demotion of Luke Hochevar, it looks as though Ponson has earned a job in the Royals rotation.
Manager Trey Hillman would go no further Tuesday than to say Ponson is "still in the mix" with Horacio Ramirez and Brian Bannister for the two rotation spots behind Gil Meche, Zack Greinke and Kyle Davies.Another indication is that Ponson will pitch once more this spring, and that start will leave him lined up to pitch in the Royals' fourth game on a full five days of rest. To pitch either Bannister or Ramirez in that spot, the Royals would have to shuffle their rotation a bit.
Even so, all signs point to Ponson.
The strongest indication came earlier Tuesday when the club optioned right-hander Luke Hochevar to Class AAA Omaha. Hochevar had been generally viewed as Ponson's biggest competition to landing a job.
This could be somewhat surprising to anybody who has seen Ponson pitch this spring, however. In two starts and 10 1/3 innings Sir Sidney has given up 15 hits and has an ERA of 9.58. Of course, when you consider that Ramirez has an ERA of 9.00 this spring and Bannister checks in at 8.53, it's not like Sidney's being out-pitched.
