After
being shut out and held to five singles last Friday (May
11), the Kansas City Royals' came back and won Saturday
and Sunday to take the series against the Chicago White
Sox. KC improved their record to 13-20.
In fairness to the front office, the Royals have
suffered some devastating injuries and don't have the
necessary depth to cope with such hardships. Closer
Joakim Soria was lost for the season; catcher Salvy
Perez is out indefinitely following knee surgery; and
center fielder Lorenzo Cain has been out with various
ailments since early in the season. In addition,
infielder Yuniesky Betancourt and star reliever Greg
Holland have been on the DL. That's a lot of key players
who have been missing.
KC's starting pitching has been dismal, but the
everyday players haven't been much better. The Royals'
regular infield consists of Eric Hosmer at first, Chris
Getz at second, Alcides Escobar at shortstop, Mike
Moustakas at third, and Humberto Quintero as the
catcher.
Through May 12, Hosmer was hitting an alarming .179.
KC's highly regarded second-year player has been
struggling big-time at the plate. Hosmer has been
swinging at pitches that are way out of the strike zone,
most of those low and outside. His fielding has been
exceptional and his hitting will return, but Hosmer is
struggling.
Getz plays an adequate second base on defense, but
his range is just average. His batting average was a
satisfactory .292; however, that's deceiving. Getz has
no power and his hits are grounders through the infield
or soft liners in front of the defensive outfielders.
Getz would be a useful utility player, but he lacks the
offensive ability to be a regular.
Shortstop Escobar has been his usual sensational self
on defense and his May 12 batting average of .277 was
excellent. Escobar, however, swings at a lot of bad
pitches and has been ineffective with runners in scoring
position.
Moustakas at third has been a ray of sunshine on a
cloudy day; he's been outstanding on defense and hitting
well at .308. Of all the Royals, Moustakas' play has
been the most encouraging.
Humberto Quintero is a stopgap catcher; he was signed
because of the injury to Perez. Manager Ned Yost has
favored Quintero over KC's other catcher, Brayan Pena.
Neither is much on defense, but Pena is a switch hitter
and much more productive at the plate than Quintero. As
of May 12, Quintero was hitting .241 and he's been an
almost sure out with runners in scoring position.
In the outfield, Alex Gordon in left and Jeff
Francoeur in right have been regulars all season. Jarrod
Dyson has been playing center field for the last two
weeks. Gordon has been improving at the plate with a
.264 average after a substandard start. His fielding has
been close to flawless.
Francoeur is another story. His batting average
through May 12 was a disappointing .233. Francoeur has
been swinging at a lot of pitches that are well out of
the strike zone and also swings too hard at pitches that
are in the strike zone. His defense, like Gordon's, is
outstanding.
Dyson has great speed and was hitting a promising
.298. Dyson has played decent defense in center field
and his hitting has been overshadowed by the overall
poor offense by the Royals. He is playing in place of
the injured Lorenzo Cain, but Dyson may be hard to move
out of the starting lineup when Cain returns. It's
beginning to look like Cain is injury prone.
Billy Butler has been solid as the designated hitter
with a batting average of .291, six homers, and a
team-leading 24 RBIs. Butler's liability is that he
would have a tough time beating Charlie Weis in a
40-yard dash.
On the positive side, Kansas City's everyday players
have played excellent overall defense; it's the hitting
that's been a problem.
Hitting coach Kevin Seitzer has received much
favorable coverage from the KC media; whether or not
that positive coverage is deserved is another matter.
KC's hitters have one thing in common—they swing at way
too many pitches out of the strike zone. Seitzer is in
his fourth year as KC's hitting instructor and this
negative characteristic has been consistent on all the
teams he has coached. There's a simple solution to this
problem: Get the players to agree to grabbing their
ankles and taking a swat with a paddle for every swing
they take at a bad pitch. In no time at all KC's
strikeouts would decline and their walks would increase,
along with their batting averages. Okay—that won't
happen but it's a good idea.
Reach Mac Stevenson: macsteve@cox.net or call him at
(785) 826-9200.
(MAC STEVENSON LIVES IN SALINA, AND WRITES A WEEKLY
COLUMN FOR OVER TEN NEWSPAPERS IN KANSAS.)
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