Spring training battles: The starting rotation

Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty ImagesThe Royals have long stressed pitching, but the starting rotation has been a bit of a mess lately. Royals starters finished last year with a 5.30 ERA, their highest as a team since 2010, when guys like Sean O’Sullivan, Bruce Chen, and Kyle Davies were starting games.

But there are signs things are getting better. Brad Keller showed his rookie campaign was no fluke. Danny Duffy seems healthy and is firing bullets in camp. The Royals may have made a shrewd trade in bringing in Mike Montgomery from the Cubs last summer. Jakob Junis had flashes of brilliance. And of course, over the horizon is a collection of young minor league pitching prospects the…