Fans get pro baseball fix in Arvest Ballpark this week

SPRINGDALE -- Baseball fans will get a sneak peek of professional baseball for the first time in almost 19 months in Arvest Ballpark this week.

The home of the Northwest Arkansas Naturals is being utilized as an alternate training site in April for the Kansas City Royals. Fans will be allowed to purchase tickets and watch workouts Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The workouts on Thursday, Friday and Saturday will be in the evening beginning at 7. Sunday will begin at 2 p.m. Gates will open an hour prior to the start of the workout. The crowd will be limited to around 700, said Naturals general manager Justin Cole.

Top prospect Bobby Witt Jr. is among those training along with pitchers Kris Bubic and Daniel Lynch at Arvest Ballpark this month. Witt was the second overall pick in the 2019 draft and considered the Royals' top prospect.

Cole likes the idea of getting fans back in the ballpark. It's not an actual game, but even he enjoyed the chance to watch guys take infield and getting a few swings in the batting cage.

"It won't quite look the same as a Naturals game, but it's at least an opportunity to come out and watch these guys play," Cole said. "We haven't been able to do that in so long. There's some prospects and some former Naturals here. It will be good getting fans back in the building on a smaller scale."

J.J. Picollo, the Royals assistant general manager in charge of player personnel, said Springdale was considered for the alternate training site last season but the Royals chose the former Kansas City T-Bones Stadium particularly for its proximity to Kaufman Stadium. The T-Bones, who are now known as the Monarchs, are an independent league team.

Tthat facility was booked already for other events, Picollo said.

The alternate site roster will include mostly Triple-A and some Double-A players, according to Picollo.

It was created to help with health and safety protocols for spring training in Arizona. Teams broke up spring training essentially into two parts this season. Lower level minor leaguers came to camp after the Major Leaguers left to start the regular season in early April. The Triple-A and Double-A seasons don't start until early May.

The alternate site roster must have a minimum of 20 players, but it will likely include somewhere between 28-32 much of the month. Only players from the alternate site may be called up to the Major League club until the Minor League seasons begin in May.

Teams will travel to play some games this month, but the Royals haven't been able to make the schedule line up to play any games at Arvest Ballpark to this point, Picollo said. The Royals alternate site group traveled to Louisville to play last week and are scheduled to go to Round Rock, Texas, late in the month.

By rule, teams may only travel when the Major League team is on the road, Picollo said. In addition, the alternate site group must also travel by bus, which limits the options. That's the reason they haven't been able to find opponents to play in Arvest Ballpark.

Those games are important for development, he said.

"We played the intrasquads last year and it served its purpose," Picollo said. "But there's nothing that substitutes for playing other teams. Even if it's more of a sprint training type game. It's still better than intrasquads."

The Naturals, the Royals' Double-A affiliate, are scheduled to open their season on May 4 with the home opener a week later. This has been a great opportunity for the ballpark staff to prepare for the upcoming season, Cole said.

"It does help build a bridge to our season of getting back in rhythm, adjusting to the health and safety protocols and helps stress test our operation a little bit, too," Cole said. "I feel like we're ready, but it's good to get in our routine."