Kansas City Royals: 3 things we’ve learned halfway through the season
By Cody Rickman
2. Royals have struggled to get on-base and score runners on-base
The Royals’ inability to get on-base and make meaningful contact with runners on has been the main driver in their offensive failures this season.
- The 2020 Royals rank 25th in the MLB with a .305 OBP and have the 14th most strikeouts.
- In the Royals’ 617 opportunities to bat with a runner on-base, they have only been successful in scoring the runner in 13.6% of the time ranking them 24th in the MLB.
- In 267 plate appearances, the Royals have put together a slash-line of .250/.309/.428 with 69 strikeouts and 22 walks with runners in scoring position.
- They have the 6th most strikeouts with runners in scoring position, 17th ranked batting average, and 27th ranked on-base-percentage.
The Royals offense has been putrid this season, ranking 29th in the MLB in runs scored per game at 3.93. The struggles of Adalberto Mondesi, Nicky Lopez, and Alex Gordon have been killers so far to the offense. The Royals will not be able to compete for the final playoff spot if these guys do not start pulling their weight in the batting order.
The Royals are one of 11 teams that currently have at least 5 players (Doz, McB, Soler,Whit, Salvy) on their roster (min. 50 PA) with a 120+ wRC+.
— Royals Farm Report (@RoyalsFarm) August 26, 2020
They're also one of only 7 teams to consistently roll out at least 3 players (Nicky, Gordo, Mondi) with a sub-60 wRC+.
The Royals are starting to show some signs of life on offense, winning their first game trailing after the 7th inning against the Cardinals on Tuesday night. Mondesi and Lopez have appeared to be pressing and have been overly aggressive at the plate. If each of them can be more selective at the plate with their decision to swing, they should see their numbers improve.
Adalberto Mondesi is obviously struggling at the plate. He knows it. The club knows it. They’re working hard daily to turn the tide. His ability to separate it, though, and do what he’s done defensively, speaks volumes.
— Alec Lewis (@alec_lewis) August 26, 2020
Mondesi is a game-changer on the base-paths and I believe he will start to get hot in the second half of the season. Lopez has shown some really nice at-bats lately, if he can be more a threat in driving the ball, he should be able to get on-base at a significant rate.
Alex Gordon has started to drive the ball back-up the middle with more authority. When he has done this in the past his offensive numbers began to take off. Gordon should have a significantly better second half.