Royals’ Ned Yost won’t stop Alcides Escobar from playing all 162 games

Royals manager Ned Yost said Monday that he may rest some of his regulars this week as the club finishes its season with a six-game homestand against the Detroit Tigers and Arizona Diamondbacks.

Shortstop Alcides Escobar won’t be among them.

Escobar, who started his 327th straight game on Monday against the Yankees, will be in the lineup for all 162 games for a second straight year, Yost said.

“He’s going to play 162,” Yost said plainly.

Escobar’s streak of consecutive starts represents the longest in Royals history and the longest active streak in baseball. His last day off came on Sept. 25, 2015, in the month before his team claimed the World Series championship. Barring injury, Escobar will be the first Royal to play 162 games in three seasons. No other Royal has done it more than once.

“He lives for this,” Yost said.

Escobar, 30, will be a free agent this winter. Across seven seasons in Kansas City, he has stabilized a shortstop position that once qualified as a wasteland, though his production has declined in recent seasons. He has appeared in one All-Star Game and claimed one Gold Glove. He has also suffered from diminishing offense during the last three seasons.

In 2017, his .629 OPS (on-base percentage plus slugging) entering Monday represented the third worst in the majors and the worst among shortstops. Since 2015, only seven players have posted an on-base percentage lower than his .287. Yet if there is a positive to be found, it is that Escobar has not worn down in the final months of what could be his last season with the Royals. In fact, his offensive numbers been significantly improved.

After a dreadful start, he entered Monday batting .288 with a .316 on-base percentage and .741 OPS in 240 at-bats since the All-Star break. His OPS ranks 16th among major-league shortstops during that span. Escobar credits improved pitch selection for the uptick in hits.

“I’m working every day and I’m feeling way better at home plate,” he said Monday, before a makeup game at Yankee Stadium.

The Royals will have a decision in the offseason. Raul Mondesi is positioned as the heir apparent at shortstop. Yet for now, Escobar will likely finish the season with his consecutive games streak at 333. He would remain just 2,299 games shy of Cal Ripken Jr.’s all-time record of 2,632.

“Nobody can catch that,” Escobar said, smiling. “Nobody.”

This story was originally published September 25, 2017 at 12:20 PM with the headline "Royals’ Ned Yost won’t stop Alcides Escobar from playing all 162 games."