Kansas City Star: Royals notebook: Radar gun should tell story today on Meche

It’s no secret the Royals will be watching closely this afternoon to see if right-hander Gil Meche shows any signs of the “dead arm” that limited his effectiveness last Friday in Pittsburgh.

You can play along, too, by tracking Meche’s velocity on the radar gun in the 1:10 p.m. game against the Twins. If he is topping out in the high 80s, regard that as a warning siren.

“Everything else feeds off my fastball,” Meche said. “So if my fastball is not good, my curveball is going to be terrible. So on and so forth. I’ve never had to be a pitcher who completely relied on location.

“The other day, I gave up a couple of home runs right over the plate. If those pitches are 93-94 (mph), maybe they get fouled off. It makes the biggest difference in the world.”

plus, a Wednesday morning interlude...