Kansas City Royals: Paulo Orlando Leads In Batting Average
By Charles Lam
The Kansas City Royals have a new batting average leader. Paulo Orlando has improved since last season. He’s mashing from the plate well enough to find regular playing time for the Royals this season.
Paulo Orlando came onto the stage last season. He quickly earned the nickname “Paulo Triplo” from Kansas City Royals color commentator, Rex Hudler. He earned five triples in his first seven games. He received two triples in his second big league game against the Los Angeles Angels on April 12th, 2015.
He finished the 2015 season with six triples in 86 games. He slashed .249/.269/.444 during 2015. Not the greatest numbers for the former ten-year minor leaguer but respectable.
This season has been even better for the man from Brazil. He’s slashing .326/.351/.421 in 81 games this season. He has 113 hits and 33 of those are extra base hits. He’s accumulated 24 doubles, four triples and five home runs this season.
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The only problem I have with Orlando is the lack of extra base hits. In fact, the Royals as a team have done a horrible job of getting extra base hits. The Royals are more of a singles team. When Kansas City scores a lot of runs in a game, it’s because the team gets singles mashed together in one inning. They call this “keeping the line moving”.
The line hasn’t moved that much this season. The Kansas City Royals have averaged 3.81 runs per game this season. That’s an atrocious number. This is one of the reasons Orlando leads the team in batting average.
Eric Hosmer and Kendrys Morales both struggled this season. Hosmer and Morales have played more games than Orlando but they haven’t gotten the job done as often as Orlando has. Hosmer has a .279 batting average in 107 games and Morales has a .240 batting average in 101 games.
The Kansas City Royals have had a down season. The Royals are six games under .500 at 51-57 as of August 5th. This is unacceptable for the defending World Series Champions. I realize the team has battled through many injuries this season but guys haven’t stepped up.
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The club could be tired from back-to-back World Series appearances but I thought I would see a more competitive team. The Royals lost to the lowly Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday, 12-0. That’s embarrassing.
It’s also sad that a former career minor leaguer leads the team in batting average and the second highest batting average on the team belongs to a 23-year-old rookie, Cheslor Cuthbert. Cuthbert has a .293 batting average in 76 games played in 2016.
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This team must regroup and rest during the long off-season to get back to contending next year. The 2017 season could be the last season for Eric Hosmer, Alcides Escobar, Mike Moustakas and a few more players in Royal blue. The Kansas City Royals window might close in 2018. The team must fight in 2017 for one final postseason run.