SURPRISE, Ariz. -- The Royals are making a pretty big hoorah about having a left-hander in the pitching rotation this season, so that's why Horacio Ramirez's workout drew attention on Sunday.

Ramirez is the lefty designated this year to give the five-man alignment a different wrinkle. In 2008, just three of 162 starts were by a lefty, John Bale.

So the job's been assigned to Ramirez, brought back on a $1.8 million contract that also includes a possible $1 million in performance bonuses. That's a sizable investment for a guy who hasn't started a Major League game since 2007.

Even so, Ramirez is 29 and has six big league seasons behind him, and he's not kidding himself about being a lock.

"I don't look at it that way," he said. "I look at it as I'm trying for a spot, and I'm just out here to prove to myself and to other people that I can start in the big leagues again."

So Ramirez got on the mound on practice field No. 4 on Sunday morning and threw to some Minor League hitters, and everything went just fine. When Ramirez snapped off a nice breaking pitch, catcher Miguel Olivo oozed an appreciative "N-i-c-e!" The young hitters didn't manage much more than a loud foul.

After a poor 2007 for the Seattle Mariners punctuated by shoulder tendinitis, Ramirez was released in Spring Training last year.

"Once I got released by Seattle and I was home for a month and a half, it kind of hit me that it's not an easy thing to stay in the big leagues. And not to take it for granted," he said.

He'd started his career with Atlanta, and Royals general manager Dayton Moore knew him from their mutual Braves days. So Ramirez signed a Triple-A contract with Omaha, pitched three games and was brought up by the Royals on June 23. That marked one of the biggest moments of his career because he was so grateful to be back.

"When I came back up, I was more nervous than when I first got to the big leagues with my first start in 2003. I don't feel I took the game for granted, but I just learned a lot by what happened to me," he said.

After starting 104 of his previous 106 Major League games, he made 15 relief outings for the Royals. Then, on Aug. 9, they swapped him to the Chicago White Sox for outfielder Paulo Orlando. His bullpen tour continued until the end of the season.

"It was different -- and good, I think. I learned some things coming out of the bullpen. You had that excitement every day -- there's a chance that I can pitch," Ramirez said. "But I just kind of like being out there for more than an inning, controlling my own game. That's something I enjoy and hope I can get back to."

Royals manager Trey Hillman will concede that it's not an absolute necessity to have a lefty in the rotation but, in the case of the American League Central, it should help.

The division is studded with left-handed threats like Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer of Minnesota, Grady Sizemore of Cleveland and Jim Thome of Chicago.

"Unlike our ballpark, with the way the ball carries in Minnesota and Cleveland and Chicago -- not necessarily Detroit -- but you've got three out of the four teams in your own division with some left-handed pop," Hillman said. "And in three of those ballparks that we play nine games in, it helps you keep those left-handed hitters a little bit more off-balance and gives them something else to think about."

Pitching coach Bob McClure hearkened back to an observation by a right-handed Hall of Fame hitter, ex-teammate Robin Yount.

"He didn't like facing left-handers," McClure said. "The ball just moves differently. You see right-hander, right-hander, right-hander, right-hander and then a left-hander -- it's just a different movement no matter what the speed was. He always said it was always a tough look for him."

Ramirez and McClure, also a lefty, seemed to click last season.

"I learned a lot from Mac in the short time I was here, and I wanted to work with him again. So that was a big reason why I wanted to come back," Ramirez said.

McClure noticed that all of Ramirez's pitches had a tendency to look the same, so he's urging him to change speeds more often.

"What I'm looking for from him is to try to be more of a pitcher rather than just a power guy. Like [Mark] Buehrle does. You've got to guess what side of the plate he's going to throw it on and then the speed of it," McClure said.

Ramirez is with that program.

"I consider myself like a balanced pitcher. There's not one pitch that's going to jump out. I just kind of work both sides of the plate, change speeds, keep the ball down in the zone -- fastballs, changeups, two-seam cutter. I throw a little curveball once in a while," he said. "I just need to change speeds and stay unpredictable."

Hillman would like him to be predictable in one regard -- that he fits right into the rotation. Not that it's an absolute gimme, though.

"He's got to perform well to win that spot," Hillman said.