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Throughout the offseason, the Kansas City Royals looked to improve their outfield. Despite overtures to Anthony Santander, Jurickson Profar and Adam Duvall, the team could not secure any significant help in the outfield.
The one major addition they did make—second baseman Jonathan India—has had to learn the outfield on the fly since the Royals already have Michael Massey at second, and they need India’s on-base skillset at the top of the order.
In the early going against right-handed pitchers, the Royals are running India out in left field, Kyle Isbel in center and Hunter Renfroe in right field. Against lefties, Maikel Garcia plays center, and MJ Melendez starts in right. Melendez has become the fourth outfield at this point.
In a small sample size, Isbel has slashed a paltry .167/.167/.250, while Renfroe’s is .143/.294/.214. Melendez has been even worse—.077/.200/.077. India has been much better, but he is splitting his time between third and left field.
At this point in the season, no impactful outfielders are available. It’s doubtful that will change until mid-June at the earliest. The only hope is that maybe a couple of the franchise’s top prospects will get off to hot starts in the minors and force their way to the big-league club.
Gavin Cross is the organization’s sixth-ranked prospect but hasn’t played above AA. He had a good spring this year, slashing .375/.500/.625, but he needs to prove himself at AAA before he will get a call-up.
More intriguing is the Royals’ top farmhand, Jac Caglianone, who put up eye-popping numbers during spring training. His slash line looked like something from a video game set on the easiest level – .500/.609/1.167 in 23 plate appearances. Despite those incredible numbers, the Royals sent him down because he only has 29 minor league games under his belt. He needs to produce at a couple of different minor-league levels before he can be considered. The team would also like to see if he can play right field.
Unfortunately, expecting Caglianone or Cross to be ready before mid-June is wishful thinking. It looks like the Royals will have to muddle through with their current roster and hope they don’t fall out of the race in a weak AL Central.
The front office was unwilling to increase the budget enough to sign any available free-agent outfielders. The problem is that Isbel, Melendez and Renfroe are what they are offensively. While they probably won’t continue to be as bad as they’ve been so far this season, none are likely to help much. At least Isbel is good defensively, but the other two aren’t and India and Garcia are still learning how to play the outfield.
The Royals are stuck with who they have, at least for now. They have to wait for Cross and/or Caglianone to thrive in the minors enough to be brought up or hope a few teams fall to the wayside early and are willing to part with an outfielder.
Unfortunately, there does not appear to be any impactful help coming soon. The Royals must try to survive until options become available.
