Kansas City Royals: All-Time Worst Defenders

Shortstop: Jackie Hernandez

Total TZ: -13 over 1,819.0 innings

TZ per 1,500 innings: -10.7

Jackie Hernandez only played for the Royals for two seasons. He was with the team in 1969 during their inaugural. The good news for the Royals is that they’ve never had a shortstop as defensively bad as Hernandez since he left the team. At least, not one who played at least 1,500 innings at the position.

There were a couple of players that easily could be considered the Royals’ worst shortstop. Both Kurt Stillwell and Angel Berroa were less than stellar defenders in their time with the Royals. But neither of them had a double digit negative TZ when averaged out over 1,500 innings.

Unlike other Royals players on this list, Hernandez wasn’t gifted with the bat either. He batted only .208 in his career so it’s kind of surprising to see that his career lasted as long as it did.

In his career, the only season he ever totaled more than 100 games was for the 1969 Kansas City Royals. Hernandez wasn’t so much a player that the Royals wanted to use, he was likely one of their only options.

Royals’ fans are in good shape these days with their shortstop. While Hernandez wasn’t a good shortstop, Alcides Escobar is exceptional with his glove. He’s coming off his first Gold Glove award and makes flashy plays with ease. He’s also plus in both defensive runs saved and in ultimate zone rating (UZR).

It will never get old seeing things like this:

While Angel Berroa didn’t make this list, he was still a bad defender and a player that was on the team in the 2000’s. Maybe defense wins championships in more than just football (cough, Daniel Murphy, cough).

Next: Another Royal's Original