Kansas City Royals jostle roster, lineup in hopes of igniting offense against Red Sox
The Kansas City Royals’ recent offensive woes prompted both a roster move and a lineup shakeup headed into their series opener against the Boston Red Sox.
Emmanuel Rivera, 24, will make his major-league debut and start at third base and bat sixth for the Royals at Fenway Park Monday night.
The Royals selected Rivera’s contract prior to the game and designated third baseman Kelvin Gutierrez for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster. Gutierrez slashed .215/.254/.296 with seven extra-base hits and nine errors in 38 games.
Royals manager Mike Matheny also moved struggling outfielder/designated hitter Jorge Soler into the No. 2 spot in the batting order in an attempt to jump-start his productivity.
The Royals enter the week scoring an average of 4.12 runs per game, below the MLB average of 4.40. And their lack of scoring has been exacerbated of late.
In Sunday’s 4-1 loss to the Rangers, the Royals left seven men on base. They’re batting .169 (27-for-160) with runners in scoring position since June 5.
Their offensive futility has further devolved with the losses to injuries of Andrew Benintendi (.283/.340/.429 with eight home runs, 31 RBIs and 31 runs in 60 games) and Adalberto Mondesi (.361/.378/.833 with four home runs and nine RBIs in 10 games).
Rivera, the 6-foot-2, 225-pound right-handed hitter, has slashed .282/.337/.593 with 14 home runs and 40 RBIs in 40 games for Triple-A Omaha.
“Obviously, we’re working on having the best offense we can have while also giving guys opportunities when they show that they’ve prepared and they’re ready,” Matheny said. “He’s having a great season there, offensively, and very consistent on the defensive side.”
A native of Puerto Rico, Rivera had been a non-roster invitee to major-league spring training in 2020 and 2021. He also appeared in 11 Cactus League games combined from 2018-19.
Rivera made a big impression on the major-league staff in spring training this year. Matheny described Rivera’s performance this spring as a “considerable jump from the year before, from spring to spring.”
Soler, who enjoyed a career season in 2019 with a slash line of .265/.354/.569 and a franchise-record 48 home runs, has been one of the least productive hitters in the majors this season, as measured by several offensive metrics.
Matheny hoped the move in the order would jolt Soler into approaching his at-bats differently than he had been recently, and give him “a different concept of himself as a hitter.”
Soler has slashed .179/.282/.319 in 70 games this season.
“What can we do to get this guy going?” Matheny asked rhetorically. “To continue the same route, it’s not working right now. So I had a very clear conversation with him.
“What this is not is him taking the same at-bats in a different spot in the lineup. Let’s truly start rethinking your at-bats. That two-spot is a guy that gets things done. Yeah, he’ll take a walk, but he’ll also move a runner. He’ll grind through at-bats. We want good at-bats all the way through.”
While Carlos Santana (.366 OBP, 12 home runs) will bat behind Soler, Matheny said the idea of lineup protection was not a significant factor in the decision to move Soler up to the No. 2 hole.
Being “pitched around” was not the issue as much as pitchers having exploited his failure to make adjustments at the plate.
