Who is the fastest Royals player? Terrance Gore is open to finding out
When outfielder Brett Phillips was traded to Milwaukee in 2015, the BrewCrew Ball blog noted he was an “above average to plus runner.”
Growing up, Phillips said, he was always one of the fastest players on his team. But that’s changed now that he’s with the Royals, who signed outfielders Terrance Gore and Billy Hamilton in the offseason. And the team already had Whit Merrifield, the stolen base champion, and Adalberto Mondesi, who was fourth in the AL in steals despite playing less than half a season.
“What am I the 10th fastest now?” Phillips said at FanFest. “I’m looking forward to a) watching these guys run and b) playing alongside of them. Just because I know that’s been the hot topic, wow these guys are fast. I like to think that I’m kind of fast, but when you put me next to these guys, I feel slow. But that’s awesome.”
According to Statcast, Hamilton had the fifth fastest sprint speed in the majors last season, while Mondesi was 11th. Gore spent most of the season in the minors and didn’t qualify for the rankings, but Kansas City knows all about his ability to move fast.
So, who is the fastest Royal? That question came up a lot at FanFest.
“I signed autographs for like an hour,” Gore said, “and I heard it at least 15 times.”
Gore wasn’t sure who is the fastest, but noted, “I’ve still got it. I haven’t lost a step.”
So, how about a race to determine the fastest Royals player? Gore is on board, but with one qualifier.
“I’m all for it,” Gore said, “but if something happens I don’t want to be the person who said, ‘hey, let’s do this race.’ I doubt it happens, but I’m all for it.”
Both Gore and Hamilton have topped 22 mph on the basepaths, and Mondesi can flat-out fly, too.
If we’re dreaming of races, perhaps the winner of a Royals race could then take on Chiefs receiver Tyreek Hill, who in 2016 reached 23.24 mph during a game at Houston. Gore has been amazed by Hill’s speed.
“I played football. I feel like it’s really impressive that he’s that fast even with pads on and all that equipment he has on,” Gore said. “That’s the the really impressive part to me, personally, fast guy to fast guy. That’s what really stands out to me. Yeah, he’s fast, but he’s just as fast as we are even when he has shoulder pads and all this stuff on his body. Imagine if he didn’t have anything on, just how fast he’d be.”
This story was originally published January 30, 2019 at 10:19 AM.
