KCKingdom
Fansided

Fantasy Impact: KC Royals Will Replace Injured Alex Rios With Platoon

By John Viril

facebooktwitterreddit

KC Royals right fielder Alex Rios broke his left pinky finger when he got hit by a pitch on Monday, and was placed on the 15-day disabled list on Tuesday. Alex Rios is out indefinitely.

On Wednesday, the Kansas City Royals announced they will replace Rios with a platoon of Paulo Orlando (right) and Jarrod Dyson (left), according to 610 Sports Radio in Kansas City:

As you can see from the tweet, the KC Royals also brought up outfielder Terrance Gore to take Alex Rios’ roster spot.

More from Fantasy Baseball

Under the current plan, Jarrod Dyson will get most of the at bats as the left-handed half of the platoon. That includes the start against the Twins’ Kyle Gibson Wednesday night. Don’t count out right-handed hitter Paulo Orlando, who became the first player in major league history to collect three triples as his first three hits in his major-league career.

If either player starts putting up dominant numbers, they could take over the platoon.

From a fantasy perspective, the 30-year-old Jarrod Dyson is a slap hitter that will help you in fantasy as a source of stolen bases. Dyson has 120 steals in 354 games, and 978 plate appearances, in his major-league career.

However, Jarrod Dyson has no power. He’s averaged a .257/.343/.336 line over his career for an OPS (on base plus slugging) of .659 with only 4 home runs.

Dyson, however,  is a good source of triples, with 15 in his career.

We all know Paulo Orlando, henceforth known as “Mr. Three-bagger”, will also help you with triples. That’s no fluke either. Orlando has 63 triples in his nine-year minor league career. While Paulo Orlando offers more power than Jarrod Dyson, he has a modest .403 slugging percentage in the minors.

One less obvious impact on the KC Royals lineup is that the ailing Alex Gordon, who is hitting an anemic .063, is unlikely to sit down with Alex Rios on the disabled list.

The other, obvious impact is the loss of Alex Rios who was slashing .321/.345/.464 with 1 double, 1 home run, 8 RBIs, and 2 stolen bases. He’s a combination of power and speed that will be difficult to replace in your fantasy lineup, though you can see a list of similar fantasy players here.

Alex Rios has been nursing a sore thumb in spring training on his right hand. Now, he breaks his left pinky finger. An injury to the same thumb in 2014 held Rios to four home runs and a .280/.311/.398 slash line. Injuries to both hands raises doubt that Rios can continue his strong start—even after he returns from the disabled list.

The Kansas City Royals have been roaring to begin the 2015 season, jumping out to a 7-0 start and remain the only unbeaten team in baseball. Now they will face their first challenge of the season.

Will the loss of Alex Rios derail the team’s unexpectedly strong offensive performance?

I doubt it. The KC Royals are playing with too much confidence.

Next: Keys To Kansas City Royals Perfect Start

More from KC Kingdom

Home/Fantasy Baseball