2014 Opening Day: A Look At The Kansas City Royals Roster

Kansas City Royals SS

Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports

Defense

Grade: A

The Royals were arguably the best defense in all of MLB last season. They led the league in defensive runs saved and Hosmer was Top 10 in Fielding Percentage, according to fangraphs.com.

While the Royals have downgraded a little on defense, this team is still very strong. According to Fangraphs.com, Infante has posted an 18.2 UZR over the last three seasons, according to fangraphs.com, while Chris Getz, the second basemen he replaced, has been 3x worse, only having had 6.4 UZR.

The Royals return three Gold Glovers, including Perez, Hosmer, and Gordon. These players look likely to repeat this year. Other players, including Moustakas and Escobar, have Gold Glove aspirations this year.

There is certainly room for improvement after their spring performance, as they are averaging about one error per game, but those defensive deficiencies are typical in spring training. They should improve once they start the regular season and return to Kauffman.

While the Orioles, who also had three Gold Glovers last season, may have the best defense in baseball, the Royals aren’t far behind. Look for the Royals to be near the top of the league in defensive runs saved again this year, and near the bottom of the league in errors.