Royals hope to identify their leadoff hitter during spring training

The Royals will enter the regular season boasting their deepest lineup since at least the second half of the 2015 season. But the club still lacks a traditional leadoff hitter at the top.

When a reporter gently noted this fact during an interview session Saturday morning, manager Ned Yost offered the following rebuttal.

“Have we ever?” Yost asked.

Fair enough.

The Royals remain hopeful that their offense is improved after the offseason additions of Jorge Soler and Brandon Moss. Coupled with the healthy return of Mike Moustakas and Lorenzo Cain, the club is hoping for a spike in run production after finishing 13th in the American League in runs scored with 675 in 2016.

Royals general manager Dayton Moore said the front office sought to “lengthen” the lineup during the winter, and that goal was accomplished with the acquisitions of Soler and Moss. But there is still a hole at the leadoff spot.

The most likely candidates would appear to be Alex Gordon, Alcides Escobar and Whit Merrifield — if he wins the starting second base job. But Yost remained noncommittal on the subject Saturday morning.

When asked who would be in the conversation for the leadoff spot, Yost responded: “All of them. We’ll keep an open mind.”

Yost proceeded to mention Gordon and Escobar as possibilities.

“Gordy’s done well there before,” Yost said. “We’ll see. I don’t know. We have to look at it. Esky has done OK there before.”

All the possible candidates come with question marks. Gordon possesses the on-base skills that translate to the top of the order. But he battled just .220 in 128 games last season and, at age 33, he is not getting any faster. Escobar served as the leadoff man for much of the 2015 season. But his on-base percentage has hovered below .295 for the last two seasons. Merrifield could also project as a logical option. But he first must fend off Christian Colon, Cheslor Cuthbert and Raul Mondesi at second base.

Yost also didn’t rule out the idea that the club could think outside the box and look for another option.

“Somebody could develop,” Yost said. “I try not to go into it with too many preset notions to this. I like to get into spring training, look at it and see how it feels. It doesn’t really matter right now anyway … it just matters the first game.”

Rain shortens Saturday workout

An afternoon storm shortened the Royals’ workout schedule on Saturday. Many players spent most of the morning getting physicals, a scheduling quirk that was set to delay the day’s workout by a couple of hours.

By 11:30 a.m., an approaching storm caused the Royals to move batting practice inside and limit the day’s activities. The schedule was slated to resume on Sunday.

This story was originally published February 18, 2017 at 5:52 PM with the headline "Royals hope to identify their leadoff hitter during spring training."