J.J. Picollo, the Kansas City Royals assistant general manager, has been at Werner Park the past couple of days. On Friday, he was Brett Pollock's guest on Storm Chasers Live! – a video program that runs before Omaha home games. The Storm Chasers provided Omaha Baseball 360 with a copy of the interview:
Pollock: There was so much talk about the talent on this team this year and about who would be the first to get the call to go up. Hosmer was first and Moustakas joined him about a month later. When you looked at Moustakas’ progression over the last month, what did you see that warranted the call?
Picollo: Well, all year long Mike has really been swinging the bat fine. He’s been a run producer which is really the number one thing we need Mike to do. He was knocking in runs all year. I think over the last couple of weeks, he started swinging the bat a little more consistently. And the roving coaches – some of our front office personnel kind of thought he hit his stride and it was just a matter of time.
Pollock: I mentioned Eric Hosmer. He was batting over .400 here and he did it with the glove as well. He seemingly had a very smooth transition to the big leagues. Picked up right where he left off and I think one of the interesting things about Hosmer – the thing that really jumped out at you, aside from his talent on the field was the way he carried himself. And it seems like already he’s kind of taken up the mantel of being the face of the franchise.
Picollo: He’s a very mature guy. He’s been that way since high school. He’s just continued from the time he signed until the time he got called up to the major leagues. He’s been the same guy he always has been. He’s a winner. He’s a competitor. We’re excited about having him there. We look forward to having him in the middle of our lineup for a long time.
Pollock: There was so much talk about the talent on this team this year and about who would be the first to get the call to go up. Hosmer was first and Moustakas joined him about a month later. When you looked at Moustakas’ progression over the last month, what did you see that warranted the call?
Picollo: Well, all year long Mike has really been swinging the bat fine. He’s been a run producer which is really the number one thing we need Mike to do. He was knocking in runs all year. I think over the last couple of weeks, he started swinging the bat a little more consistently. And the roving coaches – some of our front office personnel kind of thought he hit his stride and it was just a matter of time.
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| Eric Hosmer (Photo: Minda Haas / Royal Blues) |
Picollo: He’s a very mature guy. He’s been that way since high school. He’s just continued from the time he signed until the time he got called up to the major leagues. He’s been the same guy he always has been. He’s a winner. He’s a competitor. We’re excited about having him there. We look forward to having him in the middle of our lineup for a long time.
