Three big questions looming over Kansas City Royals camp as spring training starts
The six-week spring training excursion in Arizona begins Wednesday for Kansas City Royals pitchers and catchers, a fresh starting point for a club with a refurbished lineup hoping to make appreciable progress after three seasons at or near the bottom of the American League Central Division.
This period in the desert will play a key role in establishing what to expect from this club this season.
After an aggressive offseason that included multiple veteran free-agent signings as well as the recent trade to acquire outfielder Andrew Benintendi from the Boston Red Sox, the Royals certainly appear to have added upside headed into this spring.
Here are three questions that will likely loom over spring training and the early stages of the regular season:
What’s a reasonable expectation for this pitching staff?
In a 60-game season, the Royals team ERA ranked near the middle of the majors (12th, 4.30) with the relievers having performed better relative to their counterparts. The bullpen ranked eighth in ERA vs. 18th for the starters.
Overall, the Royals pitching staff finished in the middle third of the majors in strikeouts per 9 innings (16th, 9.00), walks per 9 innings (16th, 3.67), WHIP (19th, 1.38) and the bottom third in batting average against (22nd, .251).
It shouldn’t be forgotten that the Royals started last season with a rotation in shambles because of COVID-19 having temporarily sidelined Brad Keller and Jakob Junis, and because of Mike Montgomery’s lat injury.
Openers and bullpen days put them in a tough position out of the gate.
They certainly appear, on paper, to have increased their overall talent and experience level headed into 2021.
Brady Singer and Kris Bubic got their first taste of the majors in 2020. Free-agent addition Mike Minor fills the role Montgomery wasn’t healthy enough to take on last year. Danny Duffy, Keller and Junis return.
The core of their bullpen remains intact with Greg Holland providing a veteran presence, Scott Barlow having been a workhorse in 2020 (32 appearances in 60 games) and the likes of Josh Staumont, Jesse Hahn, Kyle Zimmer and Tyler Zuber each having shown flashes last season.
Can they find consistency and do they have the depth to cover the innings they’ll need coming off of a year when workloads were limited?
As enticing as all the young talent in the upper levels of the Royals farm system remains, prospect rankings and major-league performance are not directly related.
Coming off of an unprecedented season with a truncated MLB season as well as the absence of a minor-league season, predicting performance for inexperienced pitchers such as Daniel Lynch or Jackson Kowar becomes even more of a precarious exercise.
Will Jorge Soler and Hunter Dozier bounce back?
The Royals’ addition of Carlos Santana as a middle-of-the-order hitter with a proven track record of power and on-base percentage will certainly warrant plenty of attention.
However, the way designated hitter Jorge Soler and third baseman Hunter Dozier respond after uninspiring 2020 seasons could go a long way to raising their offense to a different tier.
Soler played through an injury for part of the pandemic season. The oblique issue eventually sidelined him and sent him to the injured list. In 43 games, he slashed .228/.326/.443 with eight home runs, 24 RBIs, 17 runs scored and 60 strikeouts.
Soler enjoyed a career year in 2019, setting the franchise single-season home run record and leading the AL with 48 homers while posting a slash line of .265/.354/.569 with 117 RBIs and 95 runs scored. He stayed healthy and played in all 162 games that season.
Dozier never fully got on track after contracting COVID-19 at the end of spring training 2.0. He began 2020 on the injured list and later admitted the effects of the virus lingered in his body after he rejoined the team.
In 44 games last season, Dozier slashed .228/.344/.392 with six homers, 12 RBIs and 29 runs scored.
Dozier experienced a breakout offensive year in 2019 with a .279/.348/.522 slash line along with 26 homers, 84 RBIs, 10 triples, and 75 runs scored in 139 games.
If Soler and Dozier appear poised to perform closer to their 2019 level, it makes the lineup significantly more dangerous and powerful with the additions of Santana, Andrew Benintendi and a full season of a healthy Salvador Perez.
Can Michael A. Taylor and/or Nicky Lopez realize their offensive upside?
Center fielder Michael A. Taylor and second baseman Nicky Lopez are capable of providing game-changing defense up the middle along with shortstop Adalberto Mondesi at Perez behind the plate.
Taylor’s defensive metrics rated among the top center fielders in 2017. He did not log enough innings in the field in 2018 to qualify, but would have been among the leaders in defensive runs saved again that season.
Lopez, a Gold Glove finalist last season, led all second baseman with eight defensive runs saved and ranked second among AL second basemen in putouts (74), assists (135) and double plays turned.
Taylor’s mixture of a lithe body and demonstrated power at the major-league level certainly attracted the Royals’ brass.
There’s a belief that he still has the ability to produce at his 2017 level when he batted .271 and slugged .486 with 19 homers and 17 stolen bases, if not surpass that production.
Lopez still has just shy of 600 plate appearances in the majors, and he hasn’t been the pesky, on-base, high-contact, use the entire field hitter he’d shown himself to be in the minors.
So far, Lopez has struck out at a much higher rate (12.7 percent in 2019, 21.4 percent in 2020) than he did in the minors (between 7-11.5 percent). He has batted .228 with a .279 on-base percentage in the majors, but during his career in the minors he’d been a .300 hitter with an on-base near .380.
Either Taylor or Lopez taking steps forward offensively should give the Royals one of the deeper lineups they’ve had in several years along with stellar defense.
