PEORIA, Ariz. -- Michael Wacha needed 15 pitches to get three outs in his 2024 spring debut on Tuesday afternoon. Ten of those pitches in his first appearance with the Royals were strikes. He didn’t allow a hit nor a walk, and he struck out two of the Padres’ best hitters: Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado.

But as meticulous as Wacha is, he was more focused on the misses and what he needed to work on following the Royals’ 6-3 split-squad loss to the Padres at Peoria Sports Complex.

• Royals' revamped bullpen depth will be put to test early

“Fastball command wasn’t quite where I wanted it,” Wacha said. “I was getting ahead and throwing strikes with it, but I wouldn’t necessarily say it was exactly where I wanted it. I’ve got to be a little bit more fine, especially when these guys get a little more locked in at the plate.”

Said manager Matt Quatraro: “He looked composed. He expects a lot from himself.”

His own criticism aside, Wacha looked the part in the small sample Tuesday, pounding the strike zone and using all his pitches to get ahead of the three batters he faced. The velocity was there, with his fastball in the low-to-mid 90s, and his changeup continued to throw hitters’ timing off.

He even heard a little trash talk from his former team after the first pitch of the inning, when the Royals dealt with a PitchCom delay.

“Some pace-of-play chirps coming over from that side, so I’ll have to shoot some texts over to those guys to keep it down,” Wacha said with a grin.

Wacha is planning on a normal five-day rotation as he builds up over the next month. He dealt with an illness last week that pushed him back a few days, which is why the Royals had him throw just one inning Tuesday, but he’s ready to ramp up for the start of the season.

“Getting the first one of spring out of the way, officially starting that buildup for the season and getting that game action -- it’s an exciting time,” Wacha said. “... I was real happy with how the ball was coming out. Definitely some stuff to work on with some of the command. Got away with some mistakes today, but just overall, pretty pleased with the results, for sure.”

Two weeks into their first Spring Training, Wacha and Seth Lugo have been exactly what the Royals hoped when they committed $77 million to the two starting pitchers over the winter.

They’ll be counted on for innings, for their strike-throwing capabilities and for their leadership with a young pitching staff surrounding them.

Both have the experience, which is already paying off already for those in the Royals’ clubhouse this spring.

“The biggest thing is, obviously, they’ve had success, but it’s how much they care about their craft and how much they still work on their craft,” said Brady Singer, who will make his spring debut on Wednesday against the Mariners. “They’re just brilliant. They’re so smart about what they do. The feelings they have when throwing, how they have a feel for the baseball, it’s impressive to see how much they know. It’s cool for a young guy to sit there and watch it.”

Wacha is all for helping out when he can and being someone the Royals go to for advice. He has encouraged pitchers to try new stuff in spring -- whether it’s with their arsenal or mechanics -- and lean on him during the season when it comes to scouting reports.

“Like, ‘Hey, you’ve faced this guy numerous times in your career, what have you had success with?’” Wacha said. “I love that stuff. Let’s talk all day. But in Spring Training, I love that conversation gets started early. It’s only going to help us in the long road.”

From his early years with the Cardinals, Wacha knows how valuable it is to have veteran voices around. But more than anything, he wants to win, having bought into the vision general manager J.J. Picollo laid out when recruiting him to Kansas City this offseason.

So if Wacha’s mentorship off the field helps the Royals on the field, he’ll embrace it.

“A lot of guys are asking questions, which I love because it makes me think, as well, on what we’re doing out there,” Wacha said. “Any way that I can help somebody, I’m all here for that. Because I know that it’s going to help us win games this year and get us where we want to be. So we try to bring everybody up and get everyone performing at a high level.”