Kansas City drafted two infielders with top 3 picks when they took third baseman Mike Moustakas with the second pick in the 2007 MLB Draft. One year later, the Royals added Eric Hosmer with the third overall pick in the 2008 MLB Draft. Building through the MLB Draft allowed the World Series to make the 2014 World Series against the San Francisco Giants and win the 2015 World Series against the New York Mets.
Chris Ransom follow @DraftUtopia Posted on 3/30/2016.
Kansas City Royals Batting Lineup
NO.
Batter
POS.
BA
HR
RBI
BB
SO
SB
1
Alcides Escobar
SS
.257
3
47
26
75
17
2
Lorenzo Cain
CF
.307
16
72
37
98
28
3
Eric Hosmer
1B
.297
18
93
61
108
7
4
Mike Moustakas
3B
.284
22
82
43
76
1
5
Kendrys Morales
DH
.290
22
106
58
103
0
6
Alex Gordon
LF
.271
13
48
49
92
2
7
Salvador Perez
C
.260
21
70
13
82
1
8
Omar Infante
2B
.220
2
44
9
69
2
9
Paulo Orlando
RF
.249
7
27
5
53
3
Kansas City Royals Batting Lineup Summary: Kansas City did much better in 2015 with their batting lineup, even though I had questions about their lineup heading into the season. Kansas City has guys that bat 2-7 that can hit consistently and get results. Right fielder Alex Rios is the only batter they lost, and the Royals can still bring him back because he is a Free Agent at the moment.
Kansas City Royals Starting Rotation
NO.
Pitcher
IP
H
ERA
BB
SO
W
L
1
Edison Volquez
200.1
190
3.55
72
155
13
9
2
Yorando Ventura
163.1
154
4.08
58
157
13
8
3
Ian Kennedy
168.2
166
4.28
52
174
9
15
4
Chris Young
123.1
91
3.06
43
83
11
6
5
Kris Medlen
58.1
56
4.01
18
40
6
2
Kansas City Royals Starting Rotation Summary: The loss of James Shields didn't affect this rotation. Edison Volquez jumped ahead of Yordano Ventura in the Royals' rotation last season.
Ventura was woeful as a #1 starter and did slightly better as a #2 starter after being a #3 starter in 2014. Ventura actually did well as a #3 starter down the stretch once the team got Johnny Cueto. Ventura may be inconsistent with his ERA, but he posted a 6-1 record for the Royals during the MLB Playoffs in each of the last two seasons as a #3 starter, but will now be a #2 starter in this rotation.
Ian Kennedy is the #3 starter after his awful year in 2015. This is a bad sign for the Royals.
Chris Young went 11-6 last year after going from a long reliever to a #4 starter in the Royals rotation. Young was actually decent last year. The Royals are concerned about Young's 5.40 ERA during spring training as Young is now 36-years-old. Young went 1-0 in the 2015 MLB Playoffs, but also only pitched 4 innings in 2 of his three starts with those two starts being outside of the World Series.
Kris Medlen did a good job in limited action. Medlen needs to do more though in 2016 while cutting back on his ERA.
Kansas City Royals Bullpen
NO.
Pitcher
IP
H
ERA
BB
SO
W
L
LR
Danny Duffy
136.2
137
4.08
53
102
7
8
LR
Chein-Ming Wang
0
0
0.00
0
0
0
0
MR
Tim Collins
0
0
0.00
0
0
0
0
MR
Dillon Gee
39.2
55
5.90
11
25
0
3
MR
Luke Hochevar
50.2
49
3.73
16
49
1
1
MR
Kelvin Herrera
69.2
57
2.71
26
64
4
3
SU
Joakim Soria
67.2
55
2.53
19
64
3
1
CL
Wade Davis
67.1
33
0.94
20
78
8
1
Kansas City Royals Bullpen Summary: The Kansas City Royals bullpen was strong the last two years. Wade Davis showed he could go from being the setup pitcher to the closer after Greg Holland got injured.
The Royals brought in Joakim Soria from the Pittsburgh Pirates to be the teams new setup pitcher. Kelvin Herrera was an effective setup pitcher for the Royals when Holland went down in 2015. With Soria in the bullpen Herrera can go back to a middle reliever role.
Luke Hochevar had limited action at middle reliever for the Royals in 2015 after coming off Tommy John Surgery. Dillon Gee was awful at middle reliever for the New York Mets in 2015. Gee was so bad, that the Mets refused to pitch him during their 2015 Playoff run.
Middle reliever Tim Collins will be out for the second season in a row so the Royals will have to rely on on Herrera and Hochevar as their main middle relievers.
Danny Duffy is moving from a starting pitcher to a long reliever. Chein-Ming Wang is moving up from AAA to the MLB and should do well as a long reliever.
Prediction: The Royals starting rotation and bullpen is much weaker now. The Royals got to where they were the last two years due to batting, speed, pitching, and getting outs on defense. The Royals are not going to be as strong this season with multiple guys in the bullpen injured. The Royals averaged 4.46 runs per game and all of their starters have an ERA below 4.46 so there is enough talent for the Royals to return to the 2016 MLB Playoffs, but I don't expect them to win get past the ALDS even if they win the Wild Card game.
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