What we learned about the Kansas City Royals in shortened 2020 season

Outfield will look quite different

Alex Gordon played his final game as a Royals outfielder on Sunday, calling it a career after a 14-year career. Because of Gordon’s decision to retire, the Royals will have a new left fielder moving forward and that’s going to take me a bit to get used to honestly because of how great of a defender Gordon was in left field for a decade.

Gordon, Whit Merrifield, and Hunter Dozier started the season as the starting outfielders (well, Dozier was out due to COVID, but this was supposed to be the starting group) and it’s possible that none of them are in the outfield next year. Merrifield could (and should) be traded while Dozier might be moved back to his original position of third base if Maikel Franco isn’t re-signed.

So, where does that leave the outfield? Fortunately, the Royals added several outfielders this year, with Franchy Cordero and Edward Olivares (both from the Padres) joining the team. Cordero batted just .211 in 42 plate appearances and played all over the outfield, but spent the most time in right field. Olivares finished the season with a .274 batting average in 65 plate appearances and played in center field the most.

If the Royals opt to have those two in the outfield, left field could come down between Nick Heath and prospects Kyle Isbel, Khalil Lee, and Seuly Matias, all of whom are on the verge of getting their MLB call-up.

It’s possible that Merrifield is still on the team and if so, he will likely be slotted in left field, but the Royals have options. We definitely learned that the Royals have tons of options for the outfield moving forward and it’ll be interesting to see how that works itself out.