KC Royals: What should the Royals expect from Billy Burns in 2018
There are a lot of new faces on the KC Royals this year in spring training, but Billy Burns is heading into his third year (and second full season) as a member of the Royals. What should we expect from him?
When the Kansas City Royals traded for Billy Burns in the 2016 season, a lot of fans wondered why. It was a move that I assumed meant the Royals were going to be moving on from Jarrod Dyson and just that occurred months later.
Dyson was traded to Seattle before the 2017 season began and yet… Billy Burns still didn’t do much of anything. The two players were (and still are) quite similar, but funny enough, Burns was actually more productive offensively in Oakland than Dyson had been in Kansas City. The Royals just haven’t seen any type of offensive production from Burns since he’s been here, but to be fair, the opportunities haven’t really been there.
Burns is now 28 years old and has had just 46 plate appearances during his time with the Royals. Part of the problem has been that the Royals didn’t really have a role for Burns, but now that Lorenzo Cain isn’t in center field, Burns has an opportunity to try and win that job.
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A big part as to why Burns hasn’t gotten much playing time is easily his offensive numbers while in Kansas City. His offense has been atrocious, slashing a measly .233/.261/.233 during his season and a half. As I mentioned earlier, however, the chances have been limited for Burns to even get to the plate.
Burns has the ability to hit, as his batting average with the Oakland Athletics was .273. He even batted .294 in 2015 in 520 at bats, so the ability to be solid at the plate is certainly there. Kansas City just hasn’t seen it yet.
Billy Burns was traded for so that he could replace what Jarrod Dyson used to do. That’s play just about anywhere in the outfield and be available to pinch run when called upon. Burns didn’t get many opportunities to do that in 2017, but he had three stolen bases for the Royals in 2016.
It’s time for Billy Burns to take the next step and be a contributor both offensively and defensively for the Kansas City Royals. He’s 28 years old and can’t spend another year in the minors. This is the time to see what the Royals have with Burns and hopefully he can step up his game in spring training and even win the starting center field job (or at least play in the outfield on a daily basis).
Burns doesn’t have to bat .294 (though that would certainly be nice), but he needs to start producing at the dish. If he can do that and continue to play nice defense, he should fit in just fine with the KC Royals’ future plans.