Eibner Has Quite The Act To Follow — College Baseball, MLB Draft, Prospects

KANSAS CITY—Brett Eibner is in his second big league spring training, but he will have a difficult task repeating his first.

Eibner, the Royals’ second-round pick out of Arkansas in 2010, hit .500 with six home runs, four doubles and a triple for a 1.765 OPS in 16 games as a non-roster invitee.

“I don’t see why not,” Eibner said of duplicating those numbers. “I’m feeling healthy. It was a great camp. I had a blast with it. I’m looking forward to it. I’m excited. I’m not looking at putting any kind of number on it. I’m just looking at going out and doing what I can do.

“I was real relaxed. I was looking at the opportunity I had and to take advantage of it and not leave anything on the table, just show the staff and front office what I could do. I didn’t really put any pressure on myself.”

Eibner, 27, was added to the 40-man roster after hitting .303/.364/.514 with Triple-A Omaha. Eibner finished strong, hitting .380 with seven home runs in July and .326 in August. He also stole 10 bases without being caught after activated from the disabled list.

“He’ll show you he can do everything,” Omaha manager Brian Poldberg said. “If the health stays there, there’s a lot of upside there. Keeping him on the field is going to be big for him and us. He had a fantastic year. The big thing is he was healthy.

“He’s a five-tool type guy. Defensively, he’s solid-average to plus. He played all three outfield positions. Left field he hasn’t played as much, center and right he’s more comfortable. He used to throw in the 90s as the closer at Arkansas, so his arm is above average. He can run. He’s a guy that could steal 30-plus bases. He can hit. He maintained his average, hit .300. He can hit for power. He can drive the ball out of the ballpark anywhere. The ball jumps off his bat. He could force the issue a little bit, no question.”

A spring training injury to Jarrod Dyson opened the door for Eibner to compete for a spot on the Opening Day roster.

ROYALTIES

• Outfielder Travis Snider, Toronto’s first-round pick in 2006, signed a minor league contract with the Royals with a spring training invitation.

• Catcher Parker Morin, a 2012 14th-round pick out of Utah, was an teammate of Eibner’s on the USA Premier12 Team and a non-roster invitee to spring training.