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KC Royals: Mike Moustakas Needs More Than Bunts

By John Viril

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Kansas City Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas is at a career crossroads. As I wrote earlier in this winter, he must beat the shift to establish himself as a major-league regular.

The good thing is he knows it. Mike Moustakas told Fox Sports reporter Jeffrey Flanagan Thursday that he is working on beating the shift:

"“I got to find a way to beat it,” he said. “I have been a pull hitter most of my life. It’s smart for other teams to play that way with me.”“So I just have to adapt and if that means laying down more bunts, going the other way, I’ll do it.”"

Moose also knows it won’t be easy. He told Flanagan:

"“It’s something I never felt comfortable doing,” he said. “I was always told just to swing the bat. Now, with the way the game has changed, you have to try other ways to get on base. I’m sure [first-base coach] Rusty [Kuntz] and I will be in the cage a lot working on bunting.”"

Mike Moustakas, however, will need to do more than bunt if he wants to keep his place in the KC Royals lineup. Let’s take a look at his isolated power last year against right-handed pitchers (all heatmaps courtesy of Brooks Baseball.net):

[Note: heat maps are from the catcher’s POV. Since Moose is a left-handed batter, he will swing from the right side of the diagram.]

[Note: Cell phone users might need to click on images to see full heatmap.]

Let’s now look at Moose’s Batting Average heat map also against right-handed pitching:

From these two heatmaps you can see that Moose’s power is low and inside. He hits the ball well in the middle of the zone (pretty much like every other hitter), with the exception of the inside edge—which by-the-way probably explains the very open stance he adopted last off-season. He’s trying to fix that inside hole.

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The way to attack Mike Moustakas is to pitch him high and away, usually with four-seam fastballs because breaking pitches will tend to move down in the zone.

In short, Moose needs to use the bunt as a weapon against righties with good four-seam fastballs who pound him away. Guys who throw two-seamers (which tend to sink) risk pitching into his power. Those guys he wants to pull.

However, bunting is not an option when the pitcher gets two strikes on him. Then Moose will have to shorten his stroke and take those high outside pitches the opposite way.

Remember, this is with guys who are killing Mike Moustakas with high strikes. If a guy throws sinkers, Moose is better served sticking with his regular pull approach because of the power upside.

Let’s look at Moustakas’ isolated power against lefties:

Let’s look at the Batting Average vs. LHP:

Now that, boys and girls, is seriously ugly.

Mike Moustakas was almost helpless against left-handed pitchers last season. He only has power if the pitcher gets in the middle of the plate. He only hits for any kind of reasonable batting average on low balls.

If the ball is out of the strike zone, forget it. Moose is meat against lefties.

Mike Moustakas is so bad vs. left-handed pitchers you wonder why Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost even plays him. His career splits vs. lefties is a hideous slash line of .211/.267/.328. Perhaps the team would be better off with Christian Colon in the lineup.

If Moose IS in the lineup vs. a lefty and the defense pulls a shift on him, he might be better off bunting almost every time—unless the guy is low ball pitcher.

Improving his plate discipline against lefties is also a must if Moustakas wants to be useful as an everyday, rather than platoon, player.

The bunt can be a powerful weapon if teams continue to play the shift against Moustakas. He just needs to employ it under the correct circumstances.

Next: Bo Jackson's Ten Best Plays As A KC Royal (Video)

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