2020 Kansas City Royals Preview – MLB Preview
The Royals are one team that has really looked impressive at times, but improvements that have been made in the AL Central Division by teams like the White Sox, Twins, and the older Indians team with the talent level can really be showing here. The Royals, though, are one team that has been able to pull out a lot of the different surprises in the year. That is before the Royals competition really made a lot of the moves to help them in improving and starting to look quite a bit better than what the Royals do this year.
Kansas City Royals Starters
The starting pitchers for the Royals could be decent, but at the same time could have some question marks as well. Some of those question marks for the Royal is stemming from the injury bug that has worked its way through the Royals in the recent past. The Royals are headlined by Danny Duffy who is projected to be the opening day starter. The Royals then have Brad Keller, Mike Montgomery, Jakob Junis, and Brady Singer. Duffy for the Royals last year ended up starting in 23 games for the Royals with 130.2 innings pitched. Danny Duffy did end up striking out 115 batters while posting at 7-6 record and posting an ERA of 4.34.
Kansas City Royals Relievers
When it comes to the bullpen the Royals are one team that does not really have a standout name. Even when the Royals turn to their closer Kennedy is not really a standout pitcher. The relievers for the Royals are Trevor Rosenthal, Tim Hill, Scott Barlow, Glenn Sparkman, and Greg Holland. Closing out the games for the Royals is Ian Kennedy. Kennedy last year threw in 63 games for the Royals and completed 63.1 innings while striking out 73 batters with a 3-2 record, but did record 30 saves and only blew 4 saves. Ian Kennedy did get an ERA of 3.41 last year.
Kansas City Royals Catchers
Salvador Perez is the starting catcher for the Royals this season according to the depth chart. The backup for the Royals in the catching position is Cam Gallagher. Last year Perez was not on the field for the Royals or any teams. However, on the 2018 season, Perez ended up getting to play in 129 games for the Royals and hit at a clip of .235 and managed to get 27 homers and brought home 80 runners. What else is really impressive is Perez ended up throwing out 48% of the runners.
Kansas City Royals Corners
The corners for the Royals does not have much in the way of standout players with Ryan O’Hearn and former Phillies star Maikel Franco playing third. The backup for the Royals at first is Ryan McBroom and at third it is Hunter Dozier. O’Hearn last year played in a total of 105 games. He did end up hitting at a clip of only .195 with 14 homers and drove in 38 runners on the year. Franco will be playing in his first season for the Royals this year. Franco played in 123 games for the Phillies and ended up hitting at a clip of .234 on the year with 17 homers and 56 runners brought home.
Kansas City Royals Middle Infield
Playing in the middle infield for the Royals is going to be another challenge for the Royals. The second base position is slated to be Nicky Lopez with Whit Merrifield backing him up. Adalberto Mondesi is the slated starter at short and he is supposed to be backed up by Nicky Lopez. Lopez last year ended up playing in 103 games while hitting at a clip of .240 with only 2 homers and 30 runners brought home. Mondesi played in a total of 102 games for the Royals last season. Mondesi hit at a clip of .263 on the year and ended up getting 9 homers and 62 RBIs on the year.
Kansas City Royals Outfield
The outfield for the Royals has some decent starters on the year with Alex Gordon in left field, Whit Merrifield in center, and Hunter Dozier playing in right. The downside is two of those players are starters in the outfield and backup the infield Bubba Starling backs up in left and Brett Phillips backs up in center. Gordon on the season last year played in 150 games but ended up hitting at a clip of .266 with 13 homers and 76 RBIs. Merrifield was able to play in a total of 162 games on the year while hitting at a clip of .302 while hitting a total of 16 homers with 74 RBIs. Dozier last year played in 139 games while hitting at a clip of .279 with 26 homers and 84 RBIs on the year.
Kansas City Royals Designated Hitter
The designated hitter for the Royals is slated to be Jorge Soler. Soler last season ended up playing in a total of 162 games while hitting at a clip of .265 for the team. Soler was the source of the power for the Royals while hitting 48 homers and bringing home 117 runners.
Kansas City Royals Prediction
This year the Royals could have some issues as the Royals are definitely not that good of a team. Granted, the Royals have some bright spots with Soler and Merrifield on the roster. The downside is outside of those two players the Royals roster is completely lacking. Look for those issues to continue for the Royals who are going to have a lot of issues in putting together a lot of good play and what will keep the Royals out of the basement is the fact the Tigers play in the same division.
