Kansas City Royals have defensive flexibility in 2019

When the Kansas City Royals went to back-to-back World Series, they typically had the same lineup every day with those same players playing the same positions nearly every single game. That hasn’t been the case in 2019.

When looking at the Kansas City Royals roster, it’s noticeable how so many of their players don’t play just one position. As I mentioned in the introduction, when the Royals were a legitimate contender, they had the same lineup with guys playing in the same spot on a daily basis.

This season has been a whole different story.

Below are all of the defensive positions each utility Royal has played at this season (bolded positions is the one they’ve spent the most time at):

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• Hunter Dozier – 1B, 3B
• Whit Merrifield – 1B, 2B, OF
• Chris Owings – 2B, 3B, SS, CF, RF
• Terrance Gore – LF, CF, RF

While Chris Owings and his .147 batting average haven’t been what the Royals were hoping for, he does provide them the ability to be a lot more flexible on defense. Once Nicky Lopez is called up, however, Owings won’t be as useful and that could be when the team opts to DFA him.

As of now, the only mainstays at their respective positions are Alex Gordon in left field, Ryan O’Hearn at first base, and Kelvin Gutierrez at third base. Hunter Dozier has been swinging the bat so well that he’s been able to be slotted in at designated hitter despite Gutierrez taking over (for the most part) at third base.

Whit Merrifield started the year in right field, but was moved back to second base (his main position prior to this year) after it was clear that Owings wasn’t going to get much better at the plate. Merrifield can play just about anywhere, but the Royals usually have him at second base or in right field.

Speaking of right field, Jorge Soler and Owings are usually the two playing there now. Soler started the year as the designated hitter, but Dozier being as hot as he is offensively forced the hand of shifting Soler back to the outfield.

In the outfield, Gordon and Billy Hamilton are normally at left and center field respectively, but Terrance Gore has seen some starts in both spots. If Bubba Starling gets called up this year (please let it happen soon), he could be another option to start in the outfield as well.

As mentioned above, Nicky Lopez’s impending call-up will be another player who can play multiple positions. Lopez has spent time at shortstop and second base in the minors, so if the Royals bring him up, they could put him at second base, and move Merrifield back to the outfield.

It really does take a lot of creativity to get the lineup set every day due to how good some of these guys have been with the bat. Fortunately, there’s a lot of flexibility between all of these players and that makes things a little bit easier for Ned Yost when it comes to putting the lineup together every day.