Kansas City Royals: Where did it all go wrong in 2019?

Injuries

• Salvador Pérez (Catcher) – Tommy John surgery in Spring Training. Losing your heart and soul right out of the gate doesn’t help any team. Pérez was coming off arguably his best season in the Majors. His leadership, consistency at the plate, and defense behind the dish were sorely missed in 2019. His replacements in Martín Maldonado, Cam Gallagher, Meibrys Viloria, and Nick Dini haven’t been able to fill the void.
• Adalberto Mondesi (Shortstop) – Was on Injury List from 7/16/19 until this past weekend. Mondesi is a highlight reel and extending his breakout off of the back end of the 2018 season until injury derailed the ride. Mondesi brings speed, power, and defense to a premier position and looks to be a cornerstone of the Royals for seasons to come.
• Hunter Dozier (Third Base) – Injury List 5/30/19 – 6/21/19; Dozier is having an outstanding breakout season. Losing him to injury at the start of June looked like it was going to stunt all of his growth. Dozier has come back and proved the injury wasn’t going to prevent him from taking his place as a cornerstone for the Royals moving forward. Along with Mondesi, I am excited to see what Dozier can do for the Royals in 2020.
• Danny Duffy (Starting Pitcher) – Injury List 5/31/19 – 6/6/19 and 8/3/19 – This weekend. Duffy is the staff leader, but hasn’t been himself this year constantly fighting injury. A return to his 2017 form is much needed for Duffy and the pitching staff moving forward into 2020.
• Brad Keller (Starting Pitcher) – Injury shut down remainder of season. Keller has been the most consistent pitcher for the Royals the past two seasons and the decision to shut him down for the remainder of 2019 is the appropriate one. A fully healthy Keller for 2020 is a necessity for such a volatile pitching staff. Keller presents to be a least one reliable and consistent starter on the pitching staff in 2020.