Yost on his Royals: '...they're not kids anymore'

Published Feb. 26, 2014 7:03 p.m. ET

foxsports

The good news that came out of Surprise, Ariz., on Wednesday was that apparently, the Royals won't be using youth as an excuse any longer.

Manager Ned Yost seemed to imply to reporters that he believes his troops are all grown up.

"Our kids are ready, but you know, I've got to stop calling them kids because they're not kids anymore," Yost said. "But our players are ready. They've been working their tails off. They're confident. They feel good both physically and mentally.

"And that does tend to add a little added level of excitement going into the season. But you know, we still have 25-30 games we have to play (in spring training) and we have to stay healthy through those games and ramp ourselves up a little bit so come April 1, we're ready to go."

"Excitement" seemed to be the active buzzword Wednesday as Yost discussed the different levels of emotions he goes through during spring training.

"You're excited to get here, then you're excited when pitchers and catchers get here," Yost said. "Then you're excited when the full squad gets here, then excited for the first game, and that lasts about three days. Then you start looking forward to that exhibition game in Milwaukee. It's only an exhibition game but it's in a major-league stadium and you get the feel for a major-league game.

"Then you have the excitement of opening day and that excitement stays with you the whole season."

Yost also said there are no negative thoughts this time of year.

"From my experience I always come into spring training real positive and thinking about the good that can happen," he said. "I adjust to the bad but am always thinking about the good that can happen. This is no different. I know a lot of (good) things have to happen for us to be successful, which is true for any team."

You can follow Jeffrey Flanagan on Twitter at @jflanagankc or email jeffreyflanagan6@gmail.com.