Hot Stove: A rundown of each team in the offseason
and what they are looking to improve in 2012.
Kansas City Royals: The
next team in the AL Central (alphabetically) is the Kansas City Royals.
Projected Starting
Lineup:
1B Eric
Hosmer
2B Johnny
Giavotella
SS Alcides
Escobar
3B Mike
Moustakas
LF Alex
Gordon
CF Lorenzo
Cain
RF Jeff
Francoeur
C Salvador
Perez
DH Billy
Butler
Projected Starting
Rotation:
Felipe Paulino
Bruce Chen
Luke Hochevar
Aaron Crow
Jonathan Sanchez
Projected Batting
Order:
LF Alex
Gordon
SS Alcides
Escobar
DH Billy
Butler
1B Eric
Hosmer
RF Jeff
Francoeur
3B Mike
Moustakas
2B Johnny
Giovatella
C Salvador
Perez
CF Lorenzo
Cain
The Royals finished last season, like so many before it
recently, with a losing record. In
fact, they’ve had only one winning record since 1994. Last year they started out hot, going 10-4 in the first 14
games. It was the best record in
the American League. However they
struggled soon after that and by the All Star Break had the worst record in the
American League. Quite the
swing. They finished the year at
71-91, good enough for 4th in the AL Central, 24 games back of
first. They’ve pretty much brought
up all the young guys they were claiming would be the saviors for the
team. They’ve been re-building for
years. This is the year we start
to get an idea of if these guys are going to be any good. I don’t think we settle it this year,
they are all still very young. But
hopefully we see some improvement as these guys make some strides in their
second years in the majors.
The Royals had three different hitters leading them in AVG,
HR and RBI. Melky Cabrera led the
team with a 305 AVG, as well as hitting 18 HR, 87 RBI, scoring a team leading 102
R and stealing 20 bases. It was a
breakout year for the star who they brought in on a low-risk one-year
deal. They traded him in the
offseason to the Giants for a talented young starter named Jonathan
Sanchez. More about him
later. But young Lorenzo Cain will
now take over in center for Cabrera.
Cain has only played parts of two seasons in Milwaukee and Kansas
City. But in 49 games he has a 302
AVG with 1 HR, 14 RBI, 21 R and 7 SBs.
He doesn’t have a lot of experience, but he’s being handed the starting
job, and they’ll see what they have in him. The depth chart is pretty shallow at this position, so they
hope he works out. One of the
other three leaders on this team was Alex Gordon, who led the team with 23
HR. He really figured things out
last year, and finally found a place to play in the field. He won a Gold Glove for his defense in
left field, and hit 303 with those 23 HR and 87 RBI. He stole 17 bases and scored 101 R. He’s the leadoff hitter for this club
and is finally living up to his potential as a high draft pick. His OBP was fantastic and with that AVG
and all his tools, the Royals look forward to him leading off for them for
years to come. The third offensive
leader for this club was DH Billy Butler.
Butler is one of the youngest DHs in the majors. He’s not DHing because he’s an aging
veteran (though he is one of the oldest players on this team), but because with
their wealth of young talent, they have a better defensive first baseman on the
team. Butler led the team with 95
RBI last season. That came with a
291 AVG, 19 HR and 74 R. He’s the
enforcer. The big bat. They were worried about his power a few
years ago, but some of his league leading doubles numbers carried a little more
last year and went over the fence.
He hits for a plus AVG and now seems able to hit 20 HR. Even when he doesn’t, he hits 40
doubles and knows how to drive in runs.
He’s being counted on to be an offensive leader for this club. After Butler, the only other real
veteran on this club is right fielder Jeff Francoeur, who had a career year
coming over to Kansas City.
Perhaps the lack of expectations is what he needed to flourish. He hit 285 with 20 HR and 87 RBI. He also stole 22 bases and scored 77
R. He’s still very young and has
tons of tools. And while he washed
out with the Braves and Mets, he is having a renaissance with the Royals. His 20/20 season came out of nowhere,
and showed that the Royals can make smart, low-risk investments. He’ll probably hit 5th for
this club, providing some protection to Butler, and the youngster Eric
Hosmer. Hosmer had quite the
rookie year. He hit 293 with 19
HR, 78 RBI, 11 SBs and 66 R in 128 games.
A full season could see 25 HR, 20 SBs and 90 RBI. He’s slotted to hit cleanup and drive
in the runners who get on in front of him. That would include Alex Gordon, Billy Butler, and, for my
money Alcides Escobar. A lot of
people think second baseman Johnny Giovatella will be hitting second for the
team. Last year Melky Cabrera was
in the two hole and was fantastic.
So either way there are some big shoes to fill. But I’d go with Escobar because the
young shortstop has more upside and great wheels. Neither hitter was great in the majors last season and both
need some seasoning to hit major league pitching. So why not let the higher ceilinged player have a shot? Escobar hit 254 with 4 HR, 46 RBI, 69 R
and a team leading 26 SBs. His bat
hasn’t been too scary in his first three years in the majors, though in 38
games in his rookie season he did hit 304. He improved in his second full season pulling his AVG from
235 to 254. Another similar
improvement this season makes him a 270 hitter. That should probably put him in line for about 30 SBs and 80
R. I’ll take that in the two hole
any day of the week. Escobar’s
competition for that spot is second baseman Johnny Giavotella. Giavotella hit 247 with 2 HR, 21 RBI, 5
SBs and 20 R in 46 games. It’s a
small sample size and they do worry about his bat. But he’s young and looks to get a lot more experience in a
full season next year. Speaking of
youngsters needing more seasoning, catcher Salvador Perez was called up to the
major league club at the age of 21 to be the final piece of this young
team. In 39 games he hit 331 with
3 HR, 21 RBI and 20 R for the major league club. In 5 minor league years that equals out to a little over two
major league seasons, he hit 285 with 20 HR and 177 RBI. He’s who they hope will be their
catcher of the future and they wanted him up here with the rest of the club who
they hope will carry them forward.
And the two main pieces of that Royals future are aforementioned first
baseman Eric Hosmer and third baseman Mike Moustakas. Moustakas didn’t arrive
with the bang of Hosmer, but still showed some great talent. He hit 263 with 5 HR, 30 RBI and 26
R. He only played 89 MLB games
last season, but they like what he’s done in the minors. He’s supposed to be a star for this
team, and is slotted to hit sixth in this lineup. The Royals have a ton of young, talented hitters. They should be a fairly formidable
offense this season. The future of
the Royals offense is bright.
Unfortunately for the Royals, hitting is only one part of
the game. The best pitcher on this
staff may have been Luke Hochevar.
He was second on the team with 11 Wins. He led the staff with 198 IP, 128 Ks and a 4.68 ERA. While some of those numbers are good,
and all are solid, none should be good enough to lead the team. At best Hochevar is a passable
pitcher. It speaks to the Royals
pitching issues that he may be their ace.
Bruce Chen led the team with 12 Wins. His 12-7 record and 3.77 ERA was a pleasant surprise in his
25 games. They’d like to see fewer
walks, but his BAA was acceptable and his ERA was good. He played well enough to be brought back
for another season in Kansas City.
Felipe Paulino is also slotted to start for this team. In 20 starts for him last season he
went 4-6 with a 4.11 ERA. He
struck out 119 hitters in 124 IP.
His WHIP and BAA were a little too high, but they’d like him to take
over as one of the leaders of this staff.
The 4th starter for this club was last year’s All Star
representative, Aaron Crow. In 57
games out of the bullpen last season he went 4-4 with a 2.76 ERA. He struck out 65 hitters in 62 innings
and had a tidy 237 BAA. They’d
like that WHIP to come down because he does walk a few too many guys. But he was the lone All Star from the
Royals last season, and he earned a shot to make this rotation. The likely fifth starter is the man who
the team received in the trade for Melky Cabrera, Jonathan Sanchez. He’s had 6 solid years in the majors,
with a 38-46 record and a career 4.26 ERA. He had a great season in 2010 going 13-9 with a 3.07
ERA. He didn’t play as well in 19
starts last season going 4-7. But
his ERA wasn’t too high at 4.26 and his 220 BAA was very good. In fact, in the last three years the
highest BAA he’s had is 221. Those
are solid numbers. They’d like for
him to walk a few less hitters and get that WHIP down. Strikeout pitchers walk a lot of
guys. But in his 205 K season in
2010 he had a 1.23 WHIP, which is pretty solid. So he’s got plenty of talent and a pretty high ceiling. So there is some talent in this
rotation. The issue for them is
that they have no ace. Their
starters are okay, and some could be good. The Royals just hope that they can keep them in games and
send it to the back end of the bullpen.
If the Royals have a lead late, they like their chances with Joakim
Soria as the closer and former Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton setting up for
him. But there are holes in this
pitching staff, and that could certainly hurt the Royals in a long season.
2012 Prediction…The Royals are improving. When you re-build for so long, you are
bound to have some talent on your team from the draft. The Royals are hoping that they are
finally at the precipice of contending.
But like so many young teams in the majors, they are talented with the
bats but lacking on the mound.
This offense is good, but still young. The pitching can’t be described with such high praise. The Royals are improved, but I’d be
shocked if they had a winning record this season and even more surprised if
they were in the playoffs in 2012.
Up next…Minnesota Twins.
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