Size doesn't matter to Royals' Collins

SURRISE, Ariz. (AP) - Tim Collins is hoping to show the Kansas City Royals his stats are more important than his stature.

The 5-foot-7 left-hander with a 95 mph fastball and a knee-buckling curve has an opportunity to open the season in the Royals' bullpen after putting up eye-popping numbers in the minors.

"I just want to pick him up and burp him," said pitcher Luke Hochevar, who stands 6-5.

Collins said he has heard about every short joke, even while being compared to Billy Wagner, a small, hard-throwing left-handed reliever with 422 career saves.

"Just listen around the clubhouse and they'll make short jokes and I'll make them right back," Collins said Sunday. "That's the easiest way to deal with that. Obviously, I've been dealing with that my whole life. I'm accustomed to it."

Has Collins ever read an article about him that does not mention short, small, diminutive or tiny? "Nope," he replies.

Nor does he ever wish he was as tall as Hochevar, his fellow pitcher.

"That would be nice, but not really," Collins said. "It's nice being weird, not average."

Collins is anything but average on the mound. He has put up some mind-boggling numbers in the minors: 329 strikeouts in 223 innings, averaging 13.28 per nine innings. In 151 minor-league games, he has held opponents to a .179 batting average.

Maybe his size, or lack of it, fools hitters. He seems to defy physics.

"I still haven't figured it out," Collins said. "It's still a mystery."

When Collins was a senior at Worcester (Mass.) Voca- tional High School, he said he weighed "130 pounds soaking wet" and was throwing in the low 80s. He wasn't drafted, but former Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi - who also is from Worcester - went to scout game a game for another pitcher. Collins was on the mound instead, and struck out all 12 batters he faced.

"I threw really good," Collins said. "He liked what he saw."

The Blue Jays signed Collins and he moved quickly in the minors, compiling a 1.58 ERA and 14 saves while striking out 98 for Lansing in the Midwest League. The next year, he struck out 99 in 65 2 /3 innings for Dunedin of the Florida State League.

Then last season, he was swapped to the Atlanta Braves in a five-player trade on July 14, only to be sent to the Royals in another five-player swap.

"Three different organizations in three weeks," Collins said. "I went from hotel to hotel. I was living on couches. The first trade I didn't see coming at all. It was just a shock to me. The Blue Jays trade was a little harder. I had come up through their system."

Collins pitched for New Hampshire, Mississippi and Omaha last season, going 3-1 with 15 saves and a 2.02 ERA in 56 games, allowing only 40 hits in 71 1 /3 innings. He struck out 108 while walking only 27, taking time out to pitch for Team USA in a Pan-Am Games qualifier.

Dusty Hughes was the Royals primary left-handed reliever last season, but the Minnesota Twins claimed him on waivers in January. Manager Ned Yost said he would like to carry two or three left-handed relievers, giving Collins a good opportunity to break camp with the club.

The other candidates include Everett Teaford and Danny Duffy, who like Collins have not pitched an inning in the majors.

"He's a little unorthodox, but there's a lot of deception in that delivery, which is really, really good," Yost said. "It doesn't surprise me he throws that hard. Ron Guidry was a little guy and he threw extremely hard. It doesn't surprise me what he's capable of doing."

The Royals agreed to oneyear deals with seven players: Ps Henry Barrera, Kevin Pucetas, Kanekoa Texeira and Teaford, INFs Alcides Escobar and Mike Aviles and C Lucas May.