Kansas City Royals: Paulo Orlando likely odd man out in Royals outfield
The Kansas City Royals should be getting both Alex Gordon and Salvador Perez back here shortly. Fans know what Perez’s return will mean roster wise, but who will be the odd man out when Gordon returns?
With Alex Gordon set to return this week, someone in the outfield has to be optioned to the minors. The Kansas City Royals have a lot of bodies in the outfield, but who will be packing their suitcases and heading to Omaha?
The easy answer to that question is Paulo Orlando. Before this past week, Abraham Almonte probably would have been getting shipped off to Omaha, but after a weekend in which Almonte raised his batting average from .154 to .242 (not to mention that grand slam), Orlando now appears to be the odd one out.
Orlando hasn’t had a great season thus far, slashing .191/.224/.234 with nine hits, four RBI, and two doubles in 47 at bats. Orlando hasn’t made much of an impact since the 2016 season where he hit .302. Since then, he has either been injured or simply hasn’t been producing at the plate.
Ned Yost said Sal Perez and Alex Gordon are "very close" to returning from rehab stints. It's not official that they'll return after Monday's day off, but it appears to be trending that way. "It could very well be the next series," he said, "but we just have to wait and see."
— Rustin Dodd (@rustindodd) April 22, 2018
When looking at the rest of the outfield, we already covered why Almonte is probably safe, but it’s also worth mentioning that he’s four years younger than Orlando.
Jorge Soler has been red hot lately, batting .288 and on a seven-game hitting streak. That is FANTASTIC to see! Soler already has more hits this season (15) then he had throughout the entire 2017 season (14). So yeah, Soler isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
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Jon Jay won’t be an option since he’s one of the few decent hitters for this lineup. He’s also probably going to be used as trade bait in a few months, so the Royals definitely want Jay in the lineup every day and getting as many at bats as possible before July gets here.
When looking at all of those names, Paulo Orlando is without a doubt the easy answer to send down to the minors. He still has options left and honestly, the Royals haven’t been getting much out of him. Had Jorge Bonifacio not been slapped with an 80-game suspension, it’s very possible that Orlando wouldn’t have even made the team out of spring training.
Should Paulo Orlando get sent down to the minors, it could be the last Royals fans see of him in the big leagues. He was a part of that 2015 World Series champions team so fans would be bummed for his career as a Royal to be over, but it might be time. He just doesn’t appear to be a good hitter anymore.
If for some reason Abraham Almonte gets optioned to Triple-A, then that whole acquisition will become even more confusing. More than likely, however, it’ll be Orlando taking the trip to Omaha for a stint in the minors.