2019 Preview; Top Royals Hitters of 2018

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Kansas City Royals 58-104 .358 33 GB AL Central)

The Kansas City Royals finished the 2018 season with the second-worst record in Major League Baseball.

Here are the 2019 player previews for the top batting average players on the Royals in 2018:

Jon Jay (Traded to Arizona Diamondbacks on June 6, 2018)

59 Games, 28 Runs, 73 Hits, 1 Home Run, 18 RBI’s, 19 BB, 39 SO, 3 SB/2 CS

BA .307/OBP .363./SLG .374/OPS .737

Current Status: Free Agent

Jay walked less than 2017 and had more strikeouts. He had fewer stolen bases and more caught stealing. Jay had more of the important offensive statistics because he got 148 more at-bats than in 2017. He had one of his best seasons in 2018 but it was a down year with his season totals as they were .268/.330/.347/.678 with the Royals and Diamondbacks. Since Jay is a free agent, maybe the Miami, Florida, native will sign with his hometown team in 2019.

Whit Merrifield 158 Games, 88 Runs, 192 Hits, 12 HR, 60 RBI’s, 61 BB’s, 114 SO, 45 SB/10 CS

BA .304/OBP .367/SLG .438/OPS .806

Merrifield had a better year with the run scoring, hits, doubles, walks and the 45 stolen bases than in 2017. Although his 2018 season was virtually the same as 2017 it was maybe even worse in some categories. Why is that? He had 587 at-bats in 2017 in 145 games and 632 AB’s in 158 games in 2018. Merrifield had 19 homers, 78 RBI’s and his slugging was .460 in 2017. Expect Merrifield to improve in the run production categories in 2019, continue what he has done the past 2 years and cut down on the 114 strikeouts in 2018. The Royals and the mood in Kansas City should be better in 2019. His AVG, OBP, SLG and OPS will likely be down in 2019.

Aldaberto Mondesi 75 Games, 47 Runs, 76 Hits, 14 HR, 37 RBI, 11 BB, 77 SO, 32 SB/7 CS

BA .276/OBP .306/SLG .498/OPS .804

2018 Minors and Majors: BA .268/OBP .302/SLG .496/OPS .798, 66 Runs, 58 RBI’s, 19 HR

2017 Minors and Majors: BA .286/OBP .323/SLG .497/OPS .820, 56 Runs, 55 RBI’s, 14 HR

Mondesi had his best season of his career in 2018 in his brief official MLB 3-year career. He stole 32 bags in just 75 games. When we look at what he has done in both the minors and the majors, 2018 was a down year as far as AVG, OBP, SLG and OPS. It was just a little bit lower than 2017 and I expect Mondesi to have very similar numbers in 2019. He might have a great season in 2020 if 2019 is like 2018. Remember, he made his big league debut in the 2015 World Series.

Brian Goodwin (Traded from Washington Nationals on July 22, 2018)

27 Games, 11 Runs, 25 Hits, 3 HR, 13 RBI, 6 BB, 31 SO, 1 SB/1 CS

BA .266/OBP .317/SLG .415/OPS .732

Goodwin had a down year in 2018. His OBP was slightly higher in 2018 than 2017 and he needs to cut down on in strikeouts in 2019. He had 57 strikeouts in 159 AB’s in 2018 compared to 69 SO’s in 251 at-bats in 2017. If Goodwin’s numbers don’t improve in Spring Training, he could be headed to Miami, Florida, sooner rather than later where he went to community college.

Jorge Soler 61 Games, 27 Runs, 59 Hits, 9 HR, 28 RBI, 28 BB, 69 SO, 3 SB/1 CS

BA .265/OBP .354/SLG .466/OPS .820

Soler had a much better season in 2018 despite only playing in 61 games. It was his third-best season for runs, home runs and RBI’s. He had 69 strikeouts compared to 66 strikeouts in 86 games in 2016, virtually the same season, with 223 AB’s in 2018 and 227 AB’s in 2016. So his strikeouts have been cut down since 2015 where he had 121 in 101 games. Soler had his second-best season through five seasons in batting average, slugging and OPS. On-base percentage was his career-best in 2018.

Ryan O’Hearn 44 Games, 23 Runs, 39 Hits, 12 HR, 30 RBI’s, 20 BB’s, 45 SO, 0 SB/0 CS

BA .262/OBP .353/SLG .597/OPS .950

He hit more home runs and RBI’s than his teammate Jorge Soler in just 44 games. O’Hearn had 69 runs, 23 home runs and 82 RBI’s in 2018 between the majors and the minors. He had his worst season of his career for AVG (.242), OBP (tied in 2018 with 2017 at .330), SLG (.454) and OPS (.784) in 2018 compared to 2017 which were slightly better numbers. O’Hearn needs to cut down on his strikeouts in 2019, in which he had 142 strikeouts in 2018, the second worst of his career. After a little more than half a season in Kansas City, O’Hearn can only expect to get better.

Meibrys Viloria 10 Games, 4 Runs, 7 Hits, 0 HR, 4 RBI’s, 1 BB, 9 SO, 0 SB/0 CS

BA .259/OBP .286/SLG .333/OPS .619

Minors: 100 Games, 34 Runs, 93 Hits, 6 HR, 44 RBI, 40 BB, 75 SO, 2 SB/1 CS, .260/.342/.360/.702

Season: 110 Games, 38 Runs, 100 Hits, 6 HR, 48 RBI, 41 BB, 84 SO, 2 SB/1 CS, .260/.338./.358/.696

Viloria had a worse season than 2017 for run production but he improved his OBP a little bit and walked 41 times. He had 84 strikeouts in 2018. That is virtually the same season for strikeouts compared to 2017 (79) and he may not be able to improve in that category. Overall, it was a down year for Viloria and he has shown in the past that he is a better player. The only question is what will translate more into the major leagues? His slash line for the entire 2018 (includes minor leagues) was .260/.338/.358/.696.

Mike “Moose” Moustakas (Traded to Milwaukee Brewers on July 27, 2018)

98 Games, 46 Runs, 94 Hits, 20 HR, 62 RBI’s, 30 BB, 63 SO, 3 SB/0 CS

BA .249/OBP .309/SLG .468/OPS .778

Current Status: Free Agent

Perhaps Moustakas will sign with the Dodgers (his birth city in Los Angeles). Moose has something left in the tank for the next 4-5 years but how much is it? It cannot be much, otherwise the Royals maybe wouldn’t have traded him to the Brewers in the middle of the season. The Royals probably felt he wasn’t worth overpaying and are thinking about the long-term future considering they are a small-market team.

He had career highs in RBI’s (95) and walks (49). Moose had his third-best season for hits and fourth-best for runs scored. Moustakas embraced speed in 2018 with his 33 doubles and 4 stolen bases, both one short of tying his career-highs. The fact that he held out for a contract until March 10th with the Royals caused him to hit 10 fewer home runs and probably hurt his chances of staying in the Majors for much longer. Overall, it was a down year for Moose and he has every reason to improve in 2019.

Alex “Gordo” Gordon 141 Games, 56 Runs, 124 Hits, 13 HR, 54 RBI’s, 50 BB, 124 SO, 12 SB/2 CS

BA .245/OBP .324/SLG .370/OPS .694

Overall, let’s just say it was a better year than 2017 for Gordo. Alex had his best year in slugging percentage and OPS since 2016. He needs to cut down more on the strikeouts in 2019 if he wants to be around until he is 40.

Gordon made significant progress in hits (124) and total bases (187) compared to 2017 (99 hits, 150 total bases). He also stole 12 bags for the first time since 2014. Gordon improved by four in runs, doubles and home runs and by five in walks and stolen bases compared to 2017.

He is an unrestricted free agent in 2020 and might decide to retire then. Although it likely is going to be a difficult decision to retire as the last time he played in fewer than 100 games was in 2010. Gordon likely is going to sign with a competitor if he plays 2020 and beyond. The Rockies might be a good fit and it would be somewhat close to Alex’s birth city of Lincoln, Nebraska, but that would mean adjusting to a new league and the Mile High City’s altitude.

Lucas Duda (Traded to Atlanta Braves on August 29, 2018)

87 Games, 34 Runs, 75 Hits, 13 HR’s, 48 RBI’s, 24 BB, 95 SO, 1 SB/0 CS

BA .242/OBP .310/SLG .413/OPS .723

Current Status: Free Agent

Duda had a down year and he only played in 107 games. He had one triple, one stolen base and improved his batting average by 24 points. Duda’s 95 strikeouts in 310 at-bats in 87 games with the Royals looked really bad when he had 135 strikeouts in 423 AB’s in 2017.

He had 22 plate apperances in 20 games with the Atlanta Braves after being traded from the Royals.

Duda, a free agent, could re-sign with the Royals but he likely would have to take less money than he probably wants as they are in rebuilding mode for likely 4-7 years from now. It also doesn’t help he had a stress fracture of the lower back in 2016 and hyperextended his left elbow in 2017.

He has shown to be a better OBP, SLG, and OPS guy than he did in 2018. Historically and fortunately, Duda’s terrible seasons of batting average and slugging percentage are in the range which he showed in 2018. He wants to play and not sit on the bench and probably deserves another chance. The Riverside, California, native maybe should sign with the Angels who could use a proven player for the short-term.