PHOENIX -- Outfielder Bubba Starling spent the offseason training with former Minor League player Jeremy Jones at Building Champions, a baseball academy located in the Kansas City area, and that work, combined with the efforts of the Royals’ coaching staff, appears to be paying off.

Starling had two hits, including a home run, Wednesday against the White Sox. He has five hits, including a pair of home runs, in his first four Cactus League games. Starling is competing for a backup outfield spot with Brett Phillips, who, like Starling, is also out of Minor League options.

“I watched him hit last year, and he’s hitting with more authority this year,” Royals manager Mike Matheny said. “I think [hitting coach] Terry Bradshaw did a real nice job of putting the plan together. We know. Bubba knows. We all know that there’s more in there. How you get it out is the joy of coaching elite people. It’s great when you see some of that come through.”

In addition to use of advanced technology to measure his progress at Building Champions, Starling focused on keeping his hands back and cocked with his heels planted firmly on the ground to help his balance. Jones, along with Royals director of behavioral science Ryan Maid, also simulated game-like atmospheres to see how Starling would respond to the stress.

“We'd turn up the music and he'd have a heart monitor on me, and it was just trying to balance acting like I was in a full crowd of people yelling, screaming,” Starling said. “We were doing breaking balls, strike to balls, fastballs in or out of the zone, just trying to get it as game-like as possible. So, it was kind of cool."

The Royals could keep both Starling and Phillips on the roster. It’s still too early in camp to tell what the club will do.

“It’s the same urgency as everybody else. I don’t want to throw any more on [Starling] than anybody else, but when you do get to that spot in your career, it’s a different scenario,” Matheny said. “It’s not, ‘Hey, we don’t have it quite figured out and we are going to go to [Triple-A] Omaha and get better.’ There are tough decisions to be made, but every spring is like that. Whether it’s options or who is going north with us is a big decision. I know that’s something he wants to be a part of, so he’s competing like he’s trying to make the team.”

Junis efficient
Jakob Junis, who is on track to be the Royals' No. 3 starter, did not allow a hit and threw 16 pitches in his inning of work against the Brewers on Thursday.

Junis struck out Omar Narváez looking on a curveball and Avisaíl García looking on a slider. He also got a few swings and misses on his changeup.

“I threw a curveball all through the Minor Leagues, and it might have been my rookie when I stopped throwing it because it started morphing into that slider and it took away from the slider a little bit,” Junis said. “But I feel like I’m in a good spot now. It’s two different shapes and I like where it’s at.”

Junis went 9-14 with a 5.24 ERA in 31 starts for the Royals last season, striking out 164.

“It was good to get out there,” Junis said. “I was itching to get out there. The anticipation was building, and it felt good to finally get out there on a mound and face some hitters. It went well.”

Up next
Mike Montgomery will make his Cactus League debut when the Royals take on a split-squad Giants team on Friday at 2:05 p.m. CT at Surprise Stadium. Catcher Salvador Perez is scheduled to make his spring debut behind the plate. He was scheduled to catch his first game earlier this week, but a dental procedure pushed him back. Perez hasn't caught a game since Sept. 26 of 2018, having missed all of 2019 because of Tommy John surgery.