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Royals 2019 Season Preview

Martin City Telegraph
The Royals won their first March series in franchise history.

Royals 2019 Season Preview

By Sam Kombrink

What a busy time in Kansas City! The 2019 Baseball season has begun, and the royals currently have a record of 2-5. The Royals won their first March series in franchise history and it had Royals fans feeling optimistic for winning Baseball, but changes need to be made in the bullpen.

We will take a look at the positive strides the Royals made at the end of the 2018 season, and their progress in building up a new core of Royal talent. We will also look at the offseason moves the Royals front office has made. One of those position battles we will take a significant look at is the Catcher position, with Salvador Perez headed for right elbow surgery, with UCL damage. Last, but not least, I will give my 2019 season prediction for The Kansas City Royals.

In 2018 the Royals never had a shot at first place. They ended the season in dead last, with a record of 58-104. Not one single time in the 2018 season did the Royals find themselves in first place of the AL Central Division. The Royals spent 0 games over .500, and 52 under .500. On a positive note, Whit Merrifield went back to back leading the American League in stolen bases with (45) in 2018. New Centerfield Billy Hamilton finished 5th, recording (34), and Royals Shortstop Adalberto Mondesi finished 8th, with (32) stolen bases. Long story short, speed will be the name of the game in 2019. There are 162 games in a MLB season, and the Royals had a record of 31-36 the second half of the 2018 season, after going 27-68 during the first half. This Royals team showed improvement, and now it’s time to build off of it.

Free Agency has come and gone, and The Kansas City Royals had a Kansas City Royal type of free agency. They did not go out and offer a ship load of money, to free agents like Josh Harrison. Instead, they went the affordable route, going after relief pitching, utility players, and a new Centerfielder. The current average salary of every MLB position is indicated below.

The Royals kicked off Free Agency by letting go of (Starting pitchers) Jason Hammel, and Nate Karns, (Relief Pitcher) Brandon Maurer, (Outfielder) Paulo Orlando, and fan favorite, (Shortstop) Alcides Escobar. I will never forget the time Escobar hit the inside the park homerun on the first at bat of the 2015 World Series. We hope the best for them going forward.

As for additions, the Royals started off by signing a utility player from the Arizona Diamondbacks, (Infielder) Chris Owings, to a $3 Million deal. The Royals then addressed the hole in Centerfield, by signing Billy Hamilton, from the Cincinnati Reds, for $5.3 Million. February was a busy month as the Royals seemed like they had sat back to observe the market, and then from February 6th to February 13th, they signed not one, but three key relief pitchers in hopes to strike gold. Those players are (Relief Pitcher) Brad Boxberger, (Relief Pitcher) Jake Diekman, and Veteran (Relief Pitcher) Homer Bailey.

New Royals:

The season has gotten off to a fast start, and that just the way the Royals are going to play this season. Defense & Speed will be the name of the game for the Royals, as they look to have a versatile approach on the MLB. By versatile, I mean that you will see a lot of moving parts, like Whit being asked to play Right Field, as well as second, and other rotations at positions like Right Field, First Base, Second Base, Third Base, and Designated Hitter. This Royals team will do a lot of shifting, hitting to get on base, and stealing a lot of bases in 2019.

As for the youth, there is quite a bit of talent to be found in the next few seasons in Kansas City. Starting with Frank “the tank” Schwindel, who showed a lot of promise in spring training by showing off his versatility at First Base, Designated Hitter, and Catcher. Other players the Royals could bring up include, P Heath Filimyer, and 2B Nicky Lopez.

When Salvador Perez went down with his injury people thought the season was shot, due to the fact that he is the best defensive catcher in the American League. The Royals have depth with Maldonado starting the season, then I expect the Royals to bring up prospects.

The good news is that it’s only April and the Royals have already showed us that they want to compete, despite having their leader Salvador Perez go down with a right elbow injury. I think without the Salvy injury, the Royals could be in the wildcard hunt, but the fact is we have to work with what we have in house before we can make any moves regarding the future. When the times comes I believe the Royals will move a piece for Pitching Prospects, Draft Picks, and Cash.

The Royals have won their first Opening Day Series in March, a (2-1) 3 game series win over division rival, Chicago White Sox. Since then the Royals have ran into trouble with the bullpen.

With the current team, I predict we can still be competitive. Right now, the Royals are being led by Jorge Soler, Whit Merrifield, and Adalberto Mondesi, keeping the line moving, and a dominant young ace in Brad Keller.  

I predict that this year’s team will finish 2nd or 3rd in the AL Central, with a record of around 79-83 at best. The reason for the most part is due to Pitching. The Royals will be young and mistakes will catch up with them, because young teams make mistakes. The Royals have time to tinker with the roster and find a winning formula in the bullpen, but don’t expect a winning season.

If I were to put myself in the General Manager’s Position I’m feeling good about my offense going forward, but I would be working with Ned Yost to make some changes to the pitching staff. One idea I have is to switch Jorge Lopez to the bullpen, and let the Rookie Kyle Zimmer Start, because it’s early in the season and the Royals have more leverage right now. Another move the Roylas could make is to go after former Royal pitchers, Brandon Finnegan, and Ryan Madson to add to the Bullpen. I would also move 2B Chris Owings down to AAA Omaha for 2B Nicky Lopez at some point. The Royals need to get healthy pitching wise, they have 4 pitchers on the DL, (Danny Duffy, Brian Flynn, Jesse Hahn, Trevor Oaks) and Eric Skoglund serving an 80-game suspension for testing positive for selective androgen receptor modulators s-22 (Ostarine) and LGD-4033 (Ligandrol). By the time the Royals get Danny Duffy back from Left Shoulder Impingement, and Skoglund back from serving his 80 games, I think it will be too late for the Royals to compete for the postseason, but it looks a lot more likely in 2020. I have talked with Royals fans who are worried, and some who are optimistic. A majority do not expect a winning season in 2019, but this year’s team has already made History.

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