Kansas City Royals: Maybe Paulo Orlando is the Answer
By Charles Lam
The Kansas City Royals continued their winning series streak in Minnesota. The Royals have won three straight series in a row. Thanks in large part to Paulo Orlando.
Paulo Orlando continued to rake at Minnesota. His batting average sits at .334, tops of all other Kansas City Royals hitters. He’s played in 90 games this season for the big league team.
On Sunday, he received four hits. He smashed one home run, a triple, two singles and a walk. He added three RBIs (runs batted in) as well.
Orlando went 8 for 15 in the series. The 30-year-old Brazilian looks to be hitting his stride later than most big league players.
He possesses great speed and defense to go along with his hot bat. He’s brought all the skills the KC Royals wanted and more since being called up from Triple-A Omaha a season ago.
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The crazy thing is, his numbers this season are drastically better than last season. He slashed .249/.269/.444 in 86 games played last year. Now he’s slashing .327/.349/.427 in 89 games played this season.
Those numbers rose Sunday afternoon, thanks to his epic performance against the Minnesota Twins. He’s also performing just as well in the outfield as the centerfielder for the KC Royals.
Orlando has six DRS (Defensive Runs Saved) and a 2.0 UZR (Ultimate Zone Rating) according to fangraphs.com. He has two outfield assist, zero errors and one double play started in 172 2/3 innings played in centerfield as of Saturday.
The Brazilian made two spectacular catches against the Twins on Friday night. Both plays saved Yordano Ventura from troubling innings.
Take a look at the play Orlando made on Friday robbing Miguel Sano of a should have been double.
Orlando’s WAR (Wins Above Replacement) sits at 1.4 games and should go up soon. The man has single handily saved the Kansas City Royals season. If it wasn’t for Orlando’s play all season long, the Royals would have zero playoff hopes.
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The KC Royals sit at 57 and 60, three games below .500. The team is 11 games out of first place in the American League Central division.
The “Boys in Blue” are 7.5 games out of an American League Wild Card slot. Fangraphs projects the KC Royals to finish the season at 77 and 85 and in fourth place in the American League Central.
Baseball Prospectus gives the Royals a 0.2 percent chance to make the playoffs this season. The KC Royals will literally need a miracle to make the postseason in 2016 but the chance still exists thanks to Paulo Orlando’s play.
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What do you think Royals fans? Do you think the KC Royals will defy the odds again this season? Let me know in the comments’ section below.