KC Royals: Alcides Escobar Leading Off Could be Last Ditch Effort
Not much has gone the KC Royals’ way this season, but perhaps they’re trying to change their luck by putting shortstop Alcides Escobar into the leadoff spot. It worked during the 2014 and 2015 seasons!
It’s been a rough start for the Kansas City Royals during the first month of the 2017 season. A lot of the team’s struggles have stemmed from the offense doing next to nothing during the early part of the season.
Because of the team’s lack of production at the plate, Ned Yost has had to try all sorts of different lineups throughout the past month. Alex Gordon leading off didn’t work, Whit Merrifield leading off was short lived, and even putting Mike Moustakas and Lorenzo Cain at the top of the lineup didn’t seem to spark this offense.
Yost finally caved and gave the fans what they wanted – Alcides Escobar at the top of the lineup. This is a move that would only make sense to Royals fans, as Escobar has been awful offensively this season. Escobar’s slash line is currently sitting at .184/.218/.254, which is dreadful for this part of the season.
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The logistics of Esky batting leadoff make no sense, yet it seems to always work for the Kansas City Royals. When he led off in 2014 and 2015, the team went to the World Series both years… and so far, in both games since he’s returned to the top of the order, the “Esky Magic” appears to be working once again.
The Royals had 13 hits against Tampa on Monday and scored seven runs for only the second time this season. They would go on to comeback on Tuesday night, winning 7-6 in extra innings.
Fans might be excited about Esky Magic returning to their team, but this move could signify the end of this current group.
To me, putting Escobar as the leadoff guy shows that the Royals are running out of options when it comes to their offense and are literally trying the only thing left that they think MIGHT work. If the offense slumps throughout the rest of this current series, then there just might not be any hope left for this team when it comes to scoring runs.
Realistically – We’re a month into the season. The Kansas City Royals aren’t out of anything yet, but one month later and the offense is still struggling to score runs. Perhaps Yost put Esky at the top of the lineup because he really thought it could work, or perhaps he did it as “one last hurrah” for the core group and for the fans.