Ned Yost media session: July 13

Ned Yost met with the media today before the first game of the 10-game homestand which opens the unofficial second half of the season. The Royals welcome back Chris Getz and Lorenzo Cain after being on the disabled list. Yost will be taking it day-by-day with which games Getz will be playing, as Yuniesky Betancourt in in the lineup tonight. Cain is coming back with no limitations and is starting in center. “He feels pretty good right now. We still want to mix (Jarrod) Dyson in, we don’t want to leave him out of the mix, and we have (Jason) Bourgeois, but I imagine Lorenzo will play five days a week. I just want to give him the opportunity to be the player we think he can be. He is an above-average defender out there and we think he has the ability to swing the bat and drive in some runs,” said Yost.

Bruce Chen will be taking the mound against the Chicago White Sox in tonight’s game. Chen has been the club’smost consistent pitcher the past two years, but to this point of the season, he has not met that standard. Yost said, “Bruce’s struggles have been in day games, I don’t really know why, but his numbers are pretty different in day games and pretty effective in night games.”  To help Chen better understand his numbers during day games it was suggested he may just have to start his routine earlier before he takes the mound. Since tonight is a night game, the club is expecting great things with Chen as the starting pitcher.