Welcome to this week’s Royals Beat newsletter. My name is Anne Rogers, and I’ll be delivering news and insight to your inboxes all season long.

CLEVELAND -- Brewer Hicklen remembers standing in the outfield at Riders Field one day last season, watching Texas’ Double-A lineup come to the plate against his team, Northwest Arkansas, and thinking about what would come next. Not the next play, nor the next at-bat, but what he would do when he was done playing in the Royals organization --  a time he thought, at that moment, would come soon.

“I really was at probably the lowest place in my life,” Hicklen said. “… Just struggling so bad that I didn’t even know if I was good enough to be here. I just said, 'This may be the end for me. I don’t know if I’ll ever get it figured out.'”

Almost a year later, Hicklen is still playing -- and he got a quick opportunity at the Major League level. The 26-year-old outfielder was called up last week to fill the Royals’ outfield need with both Michael A. Taylor and Kyle Isbel landing on the COVID-19 injured list.

Hicklen made his debut on Thursday, and while he was optioned back to Triple-A Omaha when Isbel returned Monday, Hicklen remains with the Royals on the taxi squad and is focused on being present for every moment.

That's a mindset he might not have been able to maintain a year ago. 

Hicklen, once ranked in the Royals’ Top 30 prospect because of his power and speed, got off to a tough start in Double-A last season, hitting .164 during May. His OPS climbed to .633 in June and .678 in July, but that wasn’t close to the level he wanted -- or needed -- his performance to be.

“I was just doing life alone,” Hicklen said. “I was isolated, everyone was having success around me. I was trying to be the leader in the clubhouse without telling people I was struggling.”

That feeling led to the day in Frisco, Texas, where Hicklen thought about what he would pursue after baseball. As the feeling persisted into the following weeks, he searched for someone to talk to one night after a game. He called Larry Sutton, a former Royals player and coach who managed Hicklen’s Low-A team in 2018. Everyone else Hicklen knew was asleep that night, but Sutton was in Korea coaching in the KBO. The time change worked out, and Sutton answered.

“I just immediately said one word and started crying, breaking down, because I had so much weight on my shoulders, trying to carry it alone,” Hicklen said. “He just reminded me to go back to my roots. … 'Be where your feet are at' is a motto I’ve taken in life. Be where your feet are, to make the most impact on the people you’re around. A lot of times, people want to be in a different place, they’re in a different headspace, but if they really just digest what’s going on around you, sink in what’s going on with the situation you’re in, you’re going to have so much more impact that way.”

From there, Hicklen took off. He posted a 1.143 OPS with seven homers in August and an .827 mark in September. It wasn’t as if Hicklen had all of a sudden changed the mechanics of his swing or approach; rather, it was a mindset shift. That’s continued into his 2022 season with Omaha.

“I’ve probably had some of my worst games this year, but it’s funny because I go home, and I see my wife, I see my dog, and I really don’t get nearly as frustrated as I used to,” Hicklen said. “I just have so much inner peace, and I do think that’s freed me up.”

Hicklen emphasizes that he’s still competitive, and he wants “to be the best No. 75 out there.” He knows results and playing opportunities decided his spot on the big league roster when Isbel returned. But as he looked out onto Target Field this weekend and thought back to last year and whether he would ever get this far, he shook his head.

“I really didn’t,” Hicklen said. “And shame on me for thinking that. I’m made for bigger things. I was made to be here. I belong here. I feel that way. I’m confident that I belong here and that I can contribute to this team.”

BARLOW PUTS A SPIN ON IT

It’s been five days, but I’m still thinking about ever-reliable reliever Scott Barlow’s two-inning, 41-pitch save on Thursday night. Not only because it was such a clutch performance, but also because of how he did it.

Only four pitches of Barlow’s 41 were fastballs. He leaned heavily on his slider and curveball, a trend the 29-year-old reliever has carried throughout his career -- but also one that has reached new heights to begin 2022.

Of the five relief pitchers who had two pitches with a 40% whiff rate (minimum 100 swings) last season, Barlow was the only one whose two were breaking balls (slider and curveball). The rest of the list, for comparison: Josh Hader (slider, sinker), J.P. Feyereisen (slider, changeup), Codi Heuer (changeup, slider), Raisel Iglesias (slider, changeup).

The goal was to capitalize on that this season, with Barlow upping his curve usage. Entering Monday, Barlow has thrown his slider 46.7% of the time this year, his curveball 32.5% -- up from 20.3% last season -- and his four-seam fastball just 20.7% in 2022.

He has a 45% whiff rate and a .097 batting average against on that curveball this season, and although his slider whiff rate is down to 23.6% (from 44.2% a year ago), hitters have a .219 average against it. Compare that to his fastball: 11.8% whiff rate, .497 average. It’s also seen a significant drop in velocity, from 95.3 mph to 92.8 mph. While that certainly sparks outside concern for potential injury -- coupled with the low usage -- Barlow insists he’s not worried about it.

“I try to be as smart as possible with the fastball, because it’s the pitch that hitters are typically the best at hitting,” Barlow said earlier in the season. “So just trying to be smart with it, really, and not trying to overuse it.”

Barlow’s trust has rubbed off on his fellow relievers -- such as Dylan Coleman, who is a very different pitcher than Barlow, boasting a 97-100 mph fastball and a biting slider. Coleman made the Opening Day roster, flashed potential but struggled with command, leading to a demotion on May 20. He returned Thursday because the Royals needed a reliever with Amir Garrett hitting the COVID-19 injured list.

Coleman tossed two scoreless innings, striking out one and walking one. The Twins made contact on his fastball in the zone, but not well enough to do damage. When Coleman was sent to Triple-A, he realized that he had likely been giving opposing hitters too much credit -- while not trusting his high-powered arsenal enough. His fastball plays differently than most, and he can throw hitters off with that slider.

A conversation with Barlow reiterated that.

“The thing I’ve noticed, especially from Barlow, he really trusts his stuff,” Coleman said. “He was talking about how he hadn’t been throwing his fastball a lot, but he’s getting the results you want with the other two pitches. I can take a lot from that when it comes to trusting what I do best.”

IN THE NEWS

Some must-read stories around baseball this week …

• A name you might recognize from the Royals’ farm system made MLB Pipeline’s Team of the Week.

• The White Sox designated veteran lefty Dallas Keuchel for assignment. Beat writer Scott Merkin detailed why.

• Here’s an excerpt from Brewers beat writer Adam McCalvy’s newsletter -- which ends with an all-time quote about the birth of Harvey’s Wallbangers in 1982.

TRIVIA

After splitting a four-game series with the Twins this weekend, the Royals are continuing their American League Central stretch with a three-game series against the Guardians this week, their first matchup with Cleveland this season. Who is the only Baseball Hall of Famer to play for both Kansas City and Cleveland?

A) Joe Sewell
B) Orlando Cepeda
C) Gaylord Perry
D) Harmon Killebrew

THE PIPELINE

All the hype right now is focused on Vinnie Pasquantino, who is red-hot with Triple-A Omaha. I talked to general manager J.J. Picollo about when we might see the Royals’ No. 4 prospect, as well as first baseman Nick Pratto, in Kansas City.

In other Triple-A news, Nate Eaton (pictured above), was promoted to Omaha on Friday and crushed his first home run two days later in the Storm Chasers’ big win over Louisville. Eaton is a fringe Top 30 prospect, but I hear a ton about him from both Royals officials and opposing scouts. They love the way the versatile 25-year-old infielder/outfielder plays the game. Eaton can play pretty much anywhere on the field, is fast and takes great at-bats, evidenced by his .263 average and .331 on-base percentage in Double-A to begin the year.

The Royals’ 21st-round Draft pick in 2018, Eaton’s contact skills and versatility make him stand out. There are a ton of names to know in Kansas City's farm system, many of whom will be crucial to the organization’s potential success, and Eaton is becoming one of them.

TRIVIA ANSWER

C. Gaylord Perry

The two-time Cy Young Award winner was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a San Francisco Giant, but he played with Cleveland for three and a half seasons (1972-75) before finishing his career as a Royal in '83. He made 14 starts with Kansas City at the end of that season, posting a 4.27 ERA.

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