Royals’ Terrance Gore strives to be more than a designated base stealer

It was the optimum scenario for Royals rookie outfielder Terrance Gore.

The Royals led Cincinnati 3-2 in the bottom of the eighth inning and had runners at first and third with nobody out on Saturday when the speedy and diminutive Gore came to the plate.

Unfortunately, everything that could go wrong went wrong. Gore missed the squeeze sign, and Ryan Jackson, mistakenly given the suicide squeeze sign by third-base coach Mike Jirschele instead of the safety squeeze ordered by manager Ned Yost, was out by 20 feet at the plate while Gabriel Noriega took second.

Gore, who has one major league at-bat but became a cult hero as a designated runner and base stealer during the Royals’ postseason run, then took a called third strike.

“I missed it,” Gore said sheepishly. “It happens in baseball … I didn’t get the job done, but you can’t be 100 percent successful all the time.”

Yost took some of the blame for the confusion with the signs but didn’t completely absolve Gore.

“Those are situations where that’s Gore’s game,” said Yost. “He’s got to be able to have success in those types of situations.”

Gore, a 5-foot-7 blazer, began last season in Class A before rocketing to the Royals as a September call-up after stealing 47 bases in 54 minor-league attempts. With the Royals, he appeared in 11 regular-season games, nine as a pinch runner, and scored five runs and stole five bases without getting caught.

And in the postseason, Gore added to his lore by swiping three bases in three attempts and scoring two runs.

But there’s no secret what Gore, a 20th-round draft pick in 2011, needs to do if he is to progress from a designated- running novelty act to a legitimate player.

“You gotta hit and be able to get on base,” Yost said of Gore. “You’ve got to be able to bunt. He’s got a very special talent. He’s still developing his abilities, offensively and defensively. But he can steal a base … in world-class style.”

Gore, who hit .215 with a league-leading 68 stolen bases at low Class A Lexington in 2013 and .218 with 36 steals at high Class A Wilmington in 2014, realizes he needs to earn his way on base.

“I want to be an everyday ballplayer, that’s what you strive to be,” said Gore, 23. “Of course, it was great to be in the big leagues and all, but I want to stay in the big leagues. I’m going to go back to the minor leagues and work on my game … my hitting, my throwing … just little things that will make me more valuable and a better player.”

To that end, Gore has spent extra time in the cages with hitting coach Dale Sveum and on the bases with first-base and running-game coach Rusty Kuntz to expand his game.

“I’m working on putting the ball in play, keep it on the ground … line drives,” Gore said. “Not in the air, because that does me no good. That’s just as bad as striking out.

“Bunting is key. That’s my go-to. When I’m struggling a little bit, I always go back to bunting. I always have that in my back pocket.”

Gore, a right-handed batter, spends anywhere between 20 and 30 minutes before each home game in Surprise working on bunting.

“He’s blessed with a great tool,” Kuntz said of Gore’s speed, “and he wants to get all the other tools to match up to what he can do with his speed. He’s been working on his arm strength so he’s not just a left fielder. We’ve got to get him in center field with that kind of speed.”

Though it’s hard to believe Gore can improve as a base runner, he never stops looking for ways to make him even harder to catch, even when everyone in the stadium knows he’s stealing.

“That’s what you need to have if you’re going to be a good base stealer,” Kuntz said. “You think you can steal every base every pitch. Gore has a 10-12 foot lead at first base. The average time for a pitcher is 1.3 seconds to the plate, and the catcher’s pop time from home to second is 2.0, so if you add them up at 3.3, he steals them at 2.9.

“So your pitcher has to be a 1.0 and catcher a 1.8. That that’s not going to happen, ever.”

The Royals, sparked by Jarrod Dyson (36 steals), Alcides Escobar (31) and Lorenzo Cain (28), led the American League with 153 steals in each of the last two years, and Gore added an air of invincibility to the group.

“You’ve got to be a little cocky out there,” Gore said. “My first three steps, I can tell you whether I’m going to be safe or out. Every pitcher has a key. You just have to find out what it is.

“I’m very confident now. I think it’s funny they fear me at first base. I think the pitcher is a lot more scared than I am.”

This story was originally published March 8, 2015 at 6:13 PM with the headline "Royals’ Terrance Gore strives to be more than a designated base stealer."