KC Royals: Striking Out At Surprising Rate

The KC Royals were kings of contact in 2015 and their ability to avoid strikeouts was widely discussed. That’s not the case early this season.

The KC Royals don’t do things the same way as other teams. They don’t hit a lot of home runs, much to the chagrin of Coach Kent Murphy. They only hit 139 last season which was the seventh fewest in the MLB.

They also don’t draw a lot of free passes. They only drew 383 walks last season which was good enough for second to last in that category. Obviously, those statistics do not a World Series Champion make.

The Royals did come in last place last year as a team in one statistical category that had them frustrating other teams. They struck out 973 times in 2015 which was the fewest by any team. They were also the only team that had less than 1,000 strikeouts on the year.

This year, the mold looks very similar. The Royals have nine home runs which is tied for sixth fewest in the league. They’ve only walked 27 times which is good enough to be third from the bottom in that category.

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There is something amiss with the winning formula in spite of those two things adding up. The strikeout rate for the team this season is a lot higher. They have struck out 88 times which has them tied for 15th most strikeouts in the league. It also has them on pace to strikeout 1,188 times on the year.

They have struck out 88 times which has them tied for 15th most strikeouts in the league. It also has them on pace to strikeout 1,188 times on the year.

Last season, the Royals had two players strikeout more than 100 times. Eric Hosmer struck out 108 times, but also drew enough walks to even things out. Kendrys Morales also struck out more than 100 times (To be fair, Alex Gordon would have far exceeded the 100 strikeout mark if he played for the whole season).

This season, the Royals have six players who are on pace to strikeout more than 100 times. While Alex Gordon is one of the players, the most surprising player on pace for more than 100 whiffs is Lorenzo Cain.

Lorenzo Cain struck out only 98 times last season. He had a strikeout rate of 17.7 percent which is right in line with the team’s 17.5 percent strikeout rate.

This season the team is striking out at a 23.1 percent clip and Lorenzo Cain is striking out 34.09 percent of the time. For a player who’s speed is one of his biggest weapons, not putting the ball in play is a big problem.

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Alex Gordon, who has always had a high strikeout rate, is on pace to strikeout over 200 times. His strikeout rate currently stands at 44 percent, but he still manages an OBP greater than .300.

There is some good news in all of this. The Royals came out red hot to start last season. They were piling up hits and limiting strikeouts at above-average rates and it helped them win a lot of games.

This year, it’s hard to argue that the Royals are on fire at the plate. The uptick in strikeouts has the team in a bit of a slump. In spite of that, the royals are still 8-4 on the year and are tied for first place in their division. It’s going to be a fun time when those bats finally come to life

Maybe the off day today will be what it takes to get the Royals locked in at the plate. It’s unlikely that they’ll change that high contact approach after it just won them a World Series.

Take it as an early season slump and be happy that the limited hits have been timely. In spite of the increased strikeouts, they are still tenth in the league in number of hits so it’s not all bad. They’ll just be that much better when they make contact and pressure the defense to make a play.

Next: Minor League Rundown Week Two

Well what do you think KC Royals’ fans? Is anyone worried about the Royals’ offense? Is a bigger concern Chris Young‘s first three outings? Is 12 games still too small a sample size to make any kind of predictions? (I lean towards yes.) Let me know your thoughts in the comments’ section below.