Kansas City Royals: Weird Lineups Work
By Charles Lam
The Kansas City Royals have tossed out some weird lineups as of late. Lorenzo Cain went down with a hamstring injury limiting the offense. Ned Yost changed the lineup a couple of times and its worked.
Before Kendrys Morales played a game in right field for the Kansas City Royals, I thought it wouldn’t work. The man with six screws in his ankle got the call twice in St.Louis. He made a spectacular running catch to rob Matt Carpenter of an extra base hit Wednesday night.
During Wednesday nights game, I was thinking about how to prepare the crow I’d have to eat after the game. Do I want it baked, grilled or smoked? Tough question. Morales showed me he can play a solid right field and be consistent on offense.
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On Wednesday, Morales batted third in the lineup basically taking over for Lorenzo Cain. This is different because on Monday he batted sixth at Kauffman Stadium. Morales moved up three spots and it paid off. The went 3-4 all of his hits being singles.
The next day Morales did even better. He blasted two doubles and a no doubter home run going 3-4 with two runs batted. He also played a clean right field making no errors during the two night escapade in St. Louis.
Wednesdays starting lineup was by far the scariest (in a bad way) looking lineup of both games in St. Louis. Whit Merrifield and Paulo Orlando received a “day off” that evening. Thankfully both players played during the 12 inning marathon and helped the Kansas City Royals win a close game.
Here’s what the original lineup looked like heading into the first game at St. Louis
#Royals vs RHP Martinez:
— Joel Goldberg (@goldbergkc) June 29, 2016
Escobar SS
Gordon LF
Morales RF
Hosmer 1B
Perez C
Cuthbert 3B
Colon 2B
Dyson CF
Volquez P
Christian Colon replaced Merrifield at second base and Kendrys Morales replaced Orlando in right. Morales did his job offensively and defensively. Colon filled in for Merrifield nicely, he went 2-3 with a walk and one run scored. Merrifield and Orlando came into the game later and replaced Morales and Colon ending their fine evenings.
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Merrifield proved to be the difference in the game. He went 2-3 with a run batted in and one run scored. The Royals won the game in 12 innings 3-2. Merrifield received the patent pending “Salvy Splash” after the game. Salvador Perez poured a few cups of water on Merrifield’s head in celebration.
Interestingly enough, this lineup left 17 on base. The majority of the runners were left in scoring position as well. Davis and Soria both blew a save opportunities and the Royals still won riding two scoreless innings by Chien-Ming Wang. It was disappointing that the Kansas City Royals didn’t score more runs for Davis or Soria but a win is a win no matter how ugly it may have been.
Thursday’s lineup looked a bit better. Here’s the lineup tweeted out by Royals sideline reporter, Joel Goldberg.
#Royals vs RHP Leake:
— Joel Goldberg (@goldbergkc) June 30, 2016
Gordon LF
Merrifield 2B
Morales RF
Hosmer 1B
Perez C
Colon 3B
Escobar SS
Dyson CF
Young P
This is a better looking lineup. Alcides Escobar went back down in the lineup to seventh in favor of Alex Gordon taking the reigns at lead off. Ned Yost said something that made since before the game.
On moving Alex Gordon to leadoff, Ned Yost said he wanted to maximize Gordon's OBP skills and have Merrifield's versatility in two spot.
— Rustin Dodd (@rustindodd) June 30, 2016
I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time. Yost is finally looking at numbers instead of going with his gut instinct. This should help the Royals going forward. The days of a sub .300 on base percentage are over (.282).
Morales did it again yesterday. He went 3-4 with two doubles and one long home run. That home run hit off the upper deck of New Bush Stadium.
That Kendrys Morales homer was estimated at 456 feet. That ties for the longest by an opposing player at Busch Stadium III.
— Rustin Dodd (@rustindodd) July 1, 2016
With all of these new lineups working, the Royals could be in good shape until Lorenzo Cain comes back after the All-Star break. If the starting pitching can be steady giving the offense a chance to win the game the Royals should go on a role.
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The Kansas City Royals will need to keep winning to keep pace with the Cleveland Indians. They have won 13-straight games. Cleveland is six games up on Kansas City for the central division lead. There’s still more than half the season left to be played so the division is still up for grabs. If the Royals new lineups continue to work, Kansas City should be back in the playoffs this post-season.