KC Royals Fans Should Be Excited About Jarrod Dyson

The KC Royals had a few vacancies heading into the 2016 season. One of the vacancies that left Kansas City Royals fans the most concerned this offseason, however, was that of right field.

Although Ben Zobrist signed with the Cubs, it was fairly clear that Omar Infante would at least get a chance to reclaim his job at second base. And while an Alex Gordon re-signing was far from certain, there were expectations that at the very least, a second-tier signing like Dexter Fowler or Gerardo Parra would occur. But right field, well…

It’s safe to say no one was looking for Alex Rios: Part II unless it came at a very reduced rate. The fact that the team has two well-liked, major-league experienced guys ready (plus a slew of successful AAA talent), a promotion from within was likely.

The problem is that fans aren’t too enthusiastic about a 31-year-old with no power and a .212 career average against lefties fulfilling a role typically reserved for a strong offensive threat.

Yet the naysayers might be missing something. There’s a lot of positive lurking under the “Jarrod Dyson is the starting right fielder” narrative. Before bashing the 2016 right field plan, consider the following:

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1. Ned Yost has indicated Dyson would most likely be in a platoon role with Paulo Orlando, which means he’d only see right-handed pitchers. His career .328 on-base percentage against righties isn’t sexy, but it’s adequate. The 100 stolen bases in those 850 at-bats averages out to over 70 swipes in 600 at-bats. This is some very fuzzy math, but if we count those 100 swipes as singles, his career slugging against righties shoots up from .368 to .485.
2. His defense is legit. In 2014, Dyson’s 18.8 DEF ranked eighth in the league, and he played about half the innings as full time guys. He’s also capable of manning any outfield position, which means the Royals can be mindful of Cain’s legs and stick Jarrod in center once in a while too.
3. He’s cheap! Dyson is making $1.725 million in 2016, which is less than half of the league average. Next year will be his last before free agency, so you might as well see what he’s got. We know that other teams want him, so might as well take advantage of his low-cost time now before another team offers more.
4. For those (rightfully) concerned with the other half of this platoon, keep in mind that if Orlando really struggles at the plate, the Royals have minor league all-star candidates such as Brett Eibner, Reymond Fuentes, and Jose Martinez all itching for a chance to show what they’ve got (Fuentes is a lefty, but you get the idea).

The bottom line is there’s no reason to scoff at what has the potential to be an above-average platoon, at close to the league minimum salary.

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Who knows? With guys like Austin Jackson and the seemingly age-less Marlon Byrd, still out there, all of this still has the potential to get a lot more interesting in the coming weeks.