The Kansas City Royals are in pursuit of one of the three Wild Card slots, and they still have a chance of getting one of them. Unfortunately, they are pursuing three teams–the New York Yankees, the Boston Red Sox, and the Seattle Mariners–who are legitimately good. And with only one month left, there is precious little margin for error.
As a result, Sunday’s rubber match against the AL Central leading Detroit Tigers was a pretty big deal. Kansas City just can’t lose many more series if they want to play October baseball, and Sunday was a chance to take the series against a very good foe. There are no off games, no opportunity for easing off the gas.
So it was maybe a little bit of a shock to see the lineup that manager Matt Quatraro used. Absent was leadoff wizard Mike Yasztrzemski, lightning-in-a-bottle Adam Frazier, or key offseason acquisition Jonathan India. Instead, we saw a lineup featuring green rookie pinch runner Tyler Tolbert, third catcher Luke Maile, and low exit velocity utilityman Nick Loftin.
But there was a clear reason why that was the case, and it represents a problem the Royals will have this year: Kansas City is extremely vulnerable to left-handed pitching. Against lefty Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, Quatraro was trying to put together a right-handed heavy lineup to counter the Tigers starter.
Now, the Royals do have some cornerstone righties–Bobby Witt Jr. is obviously one of the best right-handed offensive forces in baseball, Maikel Garcia has flourished into a dynamic and athletic hitter, and Salvador Perez is a bigtime power threat.
That is, unfortunately, about it for impact right-handed bats. The Royals heavily skew left-handed, at least on the offensive side of the ball. Kyle Isbel, Adam Frazier, Michael Massey, and Mike Yastrzemski all hit left-handed. Vinnie Pasquantino is a lefty, as is newly recalled Jac Caglianone. Carter Jensen hits from the left side, too.
The data bears this out. Against right-handed pitching this year, the Royals have hit .250/.308/.403, good for a 94 wRC+. Against left-handed pitching this year, the Royals have hit .239/.306/.367, only good for an 83 wRC+. Only two batters (Witt and Garcia, naturally) have at least 40 plate appearances against lefties and a wRC+ of at least 100 against southpaws.
This is an organization-wide imbalance, too. In Double-A, the most promising hitters–Carson Roccaforte, Gavin Cross, Javier Vaz, and Spencer Nivens–all bat left-handed. Those in Triple-A Omaha who have spent time in the big leagues–John Rave, Nick Pratto, MJ Melendez–also hit lefty. 2023 first round selection Blake Mitchell and 2025 first round selection Sean Gamble? Yeah, you guessed it.
It’s better that the Royals have this problem than the other way around, as only 25% to 30% of innings every year are tossed by left-handed pitchers. But in the playoffs, teams find a way to exploit weaknesses, as relievers pitch with more rest and a starting rotation can be pruned to its most efficient.
The Royals know this is an issue. That’s why they went out to acquire Mark Canha in the offseason, and it’s why they retained the services of Hunter Renfroe (who was a roughly league average hitter against lefties last year) coming into the season. They went out and acquired Randal Grichuk, who is the classic right-handed bat in a platoon. They traded Brady Singer for Jonathan India.
Unfortunately, none of the Royals’ plans have worked out. Canha and Renfroe both turned out to be cooked. Grichuk looks a lot like Renfroe did last year, and Loftin, Tolbert, Drew Waters, and Tyler Gentry have either taken steps back or haven’t taken strong enough steps forward to earn a role as a left-handed pitching specialist. And India started off strong but has turned into one of the most disappointing acquisitions in recent memory.
Practically, this means that the Royals are going to have to spend to get somebody or somebodies who can fit the bill. Could it mean swapping out some left-handed hitting talent for some right-handed hitting talent? It just might. But that is where the Royals are right now, and filling this hole should be one of the Royals’ biggest offseason goals.
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‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.royalsreview.com ’
