Joakim Soria ...

He is the Mariano of Missouri. He's the K-Rod of K.C.

He'll never be as recognized as Boston's Jonathan Papelbon but that's just fine with Royals closer Joakim Soria.

Soria is content with the fact that he is neither larger than life like Big Papi or the louder than life like David Ortiz's Red Sox teammate, the big Pape.

Saving games, not grabbing the headlines, is Soria's number one priority. Besides, everybody will likely get to know the young Mexican with 20 saves in his first 21 save opportunities come the All-Star break. He is among the top candidates to represent his club at the Mid-Summer Classic in New York next month and his statistics are hard to argue with.

In addition to his saves, he has a 1.32 ERA in 34 innings. He has 35 strikeouts in 32 appearances.

"I don't think about the fame or being famous," Soria, 24, said. "I don't consider myself overlooked because I don't think that way. Right now in my career, I am just trying to do my job and help my team win. I'm not thinking about that type of stuff. Recognition comes when you win and do a good job."

He's right. Yankees closer Mariano Rivera is revered for his postseason track record as much as he is feared for his cut-fastball. Angels closer Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez won a World Series in Anaheim and his slider will make the free-agent-to-be a rich man this offseason. Ask and most will say Rodriguez appears in line to be the next great closer in the game once Rivera retires.

The key word of late is "appears" because Soria is making a strong case to be the next great closer. But the right-hander plays in small market Kansas City and not New York or Los Angeles so his road to becoming a household name is tougher than most.

It doesn't help that the Royals are in last place in the American League Central and the save opportunities don't come often for Soria. But when they do, he takes advantage of them.

"He's a talented young arm and he has a good pitch repertoire that is a little bit different than most closers," Royals manager Trey Hillman said. "He's deceptive. If you look at the radar gun, he's 90 to 91 mph but you don't see too many consistent good swings. I think that can be attributed to the fact that guys don't pick up the ball very well."

Soria is good, some say great. But the age-old riddle remains: If a Major League team is shut down in the ninth inning by closer from a small market team and nobody is around, does it make a sound?

The answer is yes. Ask his manager. Then take a step back to hear his respectful yet firm answer.

"He's put up pretty good numbers for almost a year. I wouldn't say people are over looking him," Hillman said. "Maybe we are not the most popular team to be looking for star players because it hasn't been a contending team. Teams that are contending tend to get more air-time and more star-time for their players."

Make no mistake, Soria is not taking anything for granted but excuse him while he catches his breath before complaining about not getting the amount of publicity he deserves. The road to Kansas City has been a long one.

He arrived at Royals camp last year as an anonymous Rule 5 Draft pick who had never pitched above Class A, and was deemed not good enough for the San Diego Padres, who had left him off their 40-man roster. Last season, Soria went 2-3 with a 2.48 ERA with a team-leading 17 saves for Kansas City after taking over the closer's job from Octavio Dotel.

This is his first full season as the team's closer. The Monclova, Mexico-native honed his pitching skills playing for the Mexico City Diablos Rojos and the Obregon Yaquis in the Mexican League as a starting pitcher.

"I am trying to be in control about it all and just do my job when I get the chance," Soria said. "The goal is to have a good season but we all want to win for the team. We are working together for that."

But what about leaving the bullpen and returning to the starting rotation one day? Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain has made the switch -- with much fanfare. The theatrics of the Papelbon "bullpen-to-the-rotation-back-to-the-bullpen" drama a few seasons ago was made-for-television.

Soria smiles because he's not thinking about changing jobs at the moment. And if he did, he's not sure what type of attention the move would generate anyway.

"I know the closer role is very important in baseball so I am glad the manager has the confidence in me to do it," he said. "I'll keep doing it as long as I can or until they ask me to do something else. It's their decision."