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Kansas City Royals: Five storylines to watch in 2019

By Leigh Oleszczak

Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Jakob Junis gets a pat on the head from second baseman Whit Merrifield as third baseman Mike Moustakas and catcher Drew Butera look on while Junis waits to be relieved in the eighth inning against the Detroit Tigers on Sunday, May 6, 2018, at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. (John Sleezer/Kansas City Star/TNS via Getty Images)
Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Jakob Junis gets a pat on the head from second baseman Whit Merrifield as third baseman Mike Moustakas and catcher Drew Butera look on while Junis waits to be relieved in the eighth inning against the Detroit Tigers on Sunday, May 6, 2018, at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. (John Sleezer/Kansas City Star/TNS via Getty Images) /
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Kansas City Royals’ Ryan O’Hearn (John Sleezer/Kansas City Star/TNS via Getty Images)
Kansas City Royals’ Ryan O’Hearn (John Sleezer/Kansas City Star/TNS via Getty Images) /

ROYALS STORYLINES TO WATCH IN 2019

NUMBER 4 – DEVELOPMENT OF DOZIER, O’HEARN, AND PHILLIPS

Three players who need to step it up for the Kansas City Royals in the coming years are Hunter Dozier, Ryan O’Hearn, and Brett Phillips. Dozier was a first round pick by the organization in 2013, O’Hearn an eighth round pick in 2014, and Phillips was acquired from the Brewers in exchange for Mike Moustakas.

Dozier has been with the organization the longest, but is basically on the same level as the other two. He briefly spent time with the big league club in 2016, but was injured all throughout 2017. Once he got called up in 2018, he didn’t get sent back down.

Dozier wasn’t great in 2018, slashing .229/.278/.395 with 11 home runs and 34 RBI. The hope when the Royals drafted Dozier in 2013 was that he’d be the successor at third base once Moustakas’ time in Kansas City was up. We’ll see if that ends up happening.

O’Hearn became one of the better players in the minors and more than deserved a chance last season. He became one of the better storylines from a season ago, slashing .254/.337/.484 with 13 home runs and 40 RBI.

We all remember Dozier and O’Hearn hitting back-to-back home runs in what ended up as a walk-off win for the Royals in August. That was fun and hopefully something we see more of down the road.

Lastly, Brett Phillips struggled in Kansas City last year, batting a mere .236 with eight home runs. With the acquisition of Billy Hamilton, the Royals might decide to send Phillips to the minors to start the year. Hopefully he gets the last half of the season to try and prove himself because the hope is that he can be the center fielder of the future.

These guys’ development is crucial for the Kansas City Royals, so it’d be nice to see glimpses of potential from all three of them in 2019.

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