KC Royals: Scariest Players in Team History
By Joel Wagler
The Scariest Players in KC Royals History – Number Four (tied): Yuniesky Betancourt, Neifi Perez, and Tony Pena
These three shortstops all played in this century and were statistically some of the worst Royals ever. If it weren’t for his Rookie of the Year season in 2003, Angel Berroa could be on this list, too.
Let’s start with one of the worst players in team history – Neifi Perez. After coming to the Royals for Jermaine Dye, he compiled some stats over 194 games that are truly mind boggling.
- Batting Average – .238
- On Base Percentage – .265
- Wins Above Replacement – minus 3.2
- Ultimate Zone Rating – minus 10.2
He didn’t hit home runs, he didn’t steal many bases, he didn’t do anything well. At least the Royals didn’t give up much for him.
Yuniesky Betancourt wasn’t much better over 279 games.
- Batting Average – .248
- On Base Percentage – .276
- Wins Above Replacement – minus 2.3
- Ultimate Zone Rating – minus 23.4 (that is not a typo – his UZR was -23.4)
Betancourt did hit some home runs (27) and drive in some runs (141) but that wasn’t near enough to overcome his numerous shortcomings.
Tony Pena made this list because of his lack of offensive skills, not because of his glovework. Pena saw action in 287 games for Kansas City.
- Batting Average – .238
- On Base Percentage – .247 (Ugh!)
- Wins Above Replacement – minus 1.5
- Ultimate Zone Rating – 14.8
Pena was spectacular to watch while in the field but other than the ability to leg out a few triples; he was frighteningly bad at the plate.
Are you scared yet?
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