Kansas City Royals: Projecting positional player stats for 2020 season

Right Field

• Hunter Dozier (2020 Steamer projection) – .252/.322/.445 with 60 extra base hits (22 home runs) – 1.3 WAR

Hunter Dozier had the breakout season in 2019 that the Royals envisioned when they drafted with under-slot value at eighth overall in the 2013 MLB amateur draft. The Royals patience paid dividends in 2019 when Dozier hit .279/.348/.522 with 65 extra base hits (26 home runs).

The defensive metrics with the Steamer projection aren’t kind to Dozier, having him at -7.3, but the statcast metrics actually have him as an average defender at third base. With the signing of Maikel Franco set to play third base, the Royals are moving Hunter Dozier and his breakout offensive ability to right field.

This will be the first time the Royals have had this amount of power production in right field since Jeff Francouer in 2011. Dozier should be an average fielder defensively in the outfield and will be subjected to less stress on his 6’4″, 220 pound frame.

If Dozier is able to stay healthy for a full season and build off of his 2019 production, he should be able to produce at least 3.5 WAR for the Royals in 2020.

• Bubba Starling (2020 Steamer projection) – .237/.284/.363 with 22 extra base hits (6 home runs) – -0.4 WAR

Bubba Starling, much like Brett Phillips, is an excellent defender in the outfield and is out of minor league options. Starling will need to remain on the Royals MLB roster in 2020 and he showed signs of offensive promise in 2018 and 2019 with his minor league campaigns and made his made major league debut in 2019.

Starling has tremendous potential being drafted fifth overall in a star-studded amateur draft of 2011. Unfortunately, there were some issues with his swing that the Royals have worked tirelessly to correct since.

Starling has a very selective approach at the plate and waits for a pitcher to make a mistake. This approach found him some success in the upper minors in 2018 and 2019, but didn’t reflect the same success at the major league level.

Starling makes a good amount of contact with pitches in the zone (89.7%), but with his selective approach he finds himself behind in the count and has to make contact with pitches outside of the zone too often in his plate appearances.

If you look really hard at Starling ability, there’s still the potential for the five-tool player the Royals hoped for when they drafted him in 2011. Unfortunately, the reality is that Bubba Starling is a defensive replacement for the Royals in 2020 with the ability to be streaky at the plate.