Latest Royals lineup totally erases fans’ September call-up excitement

The Kansas City Royals made a lot of fans happy on Sunday – and then officially on Monday – when they announced that three of their most promising young talents would be joining the major league roster when they expanded for September.

However, that excitement took a major hit on Tuesday when lineups were announced, as the first opportunity for fans potentially get to see Jac Caglianone in the lineup again or Carter Jensen for the first time will have to wait.

Neither were selected in manager Matt Quatraro’s Tuesday batting order for the Royals’ series opener against the Los Angeles Angels. Instead, the Royals’ skipper made some puzzling moves that will have fans wondering why their youthful duo isn’t starting in certain spots instead.

Royals’ puzzling Tuesday lineup decisions take excitement out of September call-ups

Now, it should be prefaced from the beginning here, fans expectations need to be kept in check when it comes to Caglianone and Jensen.

Caglianone looked excellent during his latest rehab assignment in Triple-A Omaha, but let’s not forget the fact the last time Royals fans saw him in the majors, he was a 29 wRC+ bat.

Then, when it comes to Jensen, he looked absolutely stellar against Triple-A competition, slashing .288/.404/.647 with 14 home runs, 39 RBI and a 166 wRC+ in 43 games. However, as we saw with Caglianone when he first arrived with the Royals, a lot of top prospects experience growing pains after they make that leap to the majors.

That being said, with the Angels sending southpaw Mitch Farris to the mound on Tuesday for his major league debut, it marked the perfect low-pressure environment for both Caglianone and Jensen to get their feet underneath them in The Show.

Instead though, Quatraro opted for Salvador Perez behind the plate, Mike Yastrzemski and Nick Loftin in the corner outfield spots and Randal Grichuk as the designated hitter.

Now, Perez behind the plate isn’t an issue here, as he’s still the Royals number one catcher and team captain. Jensen couldn’t have been thought to be the guy behind the dish before he even stepped into a big league batter’s box.

And as a right-handed bat, Grichuk was always primed to play against lefties, but perhaps he could’ve been moved to the outfield to make room for someone like Jensen or Caglianone at DH.

The real issues though come with Yastrzemski and Loftin’s inclusions, as there’s no real upside to having either of them in the lineup against a left-hander.

Yastrzemski is very clearly a strongside platoon bat, as he crushes right-handed pitching, hitting .262 with an .820 OPS and 129 wRC+. Against left-handers though, he’s downright awful, hitting .139 with a .419 OPS and 14 wRC+.

Then, when it comes to Loftin, it’s less a matchup problem and more a starting problem in general, as he’s looked entirely overmatched at the plate of late. The 26-year-old utility man hasn’t recorded a hit since Aug. 21 and in that span only holds a .273 OBP and 11 wRC+. He’s more poised for a trip back to Omaha than he is for the starting lineup at this point.

On the surface, Caglianone and Jensen are both left-handed hitters and this would traditionally be an unfavorable lefty-on-lefty matchup. So, this may be the Royals opting to protect them for a more favorable big league matchup as they continue to develop into major league hitters.

And the inclusion of Grichuk as a DH could mean one of them gets first crack at the spot in a pinch-hitting capacity when a right-hander takes the mound out of the bullpen.

That being said, it’s hard to get much worse than Yastrzemski against lefties and Loftin in general, so with Kansas City facing a pitcher with no major league experience in front of them, perhaps this would have been a somewhat ideal opportunity to insert this promising duo into the lineup. After all, with the pedigree they both hold, they’ll eventually need to be able to hit major league southpaws consistently at some point.

Whether it’s a pinch hit opportunity tonight or sometime Wednesday and beyond, the fact that fans have to wait to see Caglianone and Jensen certainly stunts some of the hype September brought.