Kansas City Royals: Raul Mondesi Named Starting Second Baseman
With Opening Day drawing closer, the Kansas City Royals have named their starting second baseman and the lucky guy is Raul Mondesi. Mondesi won the job with an impressive Spring Training down in Surprise, Arizona.
Never listen to me again, Royals fans. The other day I pegged this as the Jayhawks’ year to win a National title and we all know how that ended. A few weeks earlier, I said that Raul Mondesi Jr. needed to start this season in Triple-A, and now he’s the starting second baseman for the Kansas City Royals.
No one can blame me for having that opinion, as Mondesi did not have a great year offensively with the Royals in 2016. It was his first time in the majors during the regular season and the nerves showed big time.
Mondesi slashed .185/.231/.281 with the Royals last season and struck out a whopping 48 times. He was called up last season due to injuries and also because the team needed some excitement after not putting on a good show during their victory tour.
Ned Yost named Raul Mondesi the Royals' starting second baseman.
— Rustin Dodd (@rustindodd) March 27, 2017
This spring, however, Mondesi proved himself to be worthy of a strong look as the starter at second base. He played in 19 games and had 45 at bats and in those appearances, he had 17 hits, scored seven runs, plated four RBI, and smashed two home runs to give him a .378 batting average.
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Mondesi struck out 12 times though, which I think will really show when he starts this season. As we saw with Alex Gordon last year, strikeouts can kill a player’s momentum at the dish.
With Mondesi staying with the big boys, that leaves one question unanswered. What happens to the other potential guys at second base? Rustin Dodd answered that on Twitter.
Ned Yost says Whit Merrifield and Christian Colon will continue battling for bench spot this week.
— Rustin Dodd (@rustindodd) March 27, 2017
The Royals are out of options on Christian Colon, meaning they can’t send him to Omaha or the minor leagues. Whit Merrifield, on the other hand, can be sent down, which is what I ultimately think will happen.
Not thinking with my heart though, keeping Merrifield is probably the best thing for the KC Royals at this point. Yes, Colon has come through in some huge moments for the team, but Merrifield’s versatility in the diamond is what should make him a contender to win that final bench spot.
I’m surprised about Raul Mondesi Jr. winning the second base job, but at the same time, he earned it, man. Let’s hope the Royals aren’t pushing him into this role too soon and that he can become a star for the Kansas City Royals.