“The Max Power Way” – A Kansas City Royals preview

7:00 AM CDT on March 28, 2019

Homer Simpson (as Max Power): "Kids, there's three ways to do things: the right way, the wrong way, and the Max Power way!
Bart Simpson: "Isn't that the wrong way?
Homer: "Yeah, but faster!

The 2018 Kansas City Royals broke camp with a team that was obviously decrepit, at least to everyone not named Dayton Moore. The lineup was basically Whit Merrifield, a few veteran journeymen (Lucas Duda, Jon Jay, Jorge Soler), and reduced versions of key players from the Royals' better years, ranging from the still-useful (Mike Moustakas) to the severely-declined (Alex Gordon, Salvador Perez, Paulo Orlando, Alcides Escobar). The rotation was Danny Duffy and some homer-prone guys. The formerly elite bullpen monster was reduced to simply "Kelvin".

That cesspool of ugliness went on to lose 104 games. All of that failure happened despite the Royals boasting three players with a higher fWAR than anyone on the 2018 White Sox roster. Heck, Adalberto Mondesi pulled off that feat in only 291 plate appearances. The 22-year-old shortstop blasted 14 homers in less than half a season while playing good defense and looks like a potential star. Merrifield had a breakout season, as he not only led the American League in stolen bases, but base hits as well. Wormkiller Brad Keller forced his way into a regular rotation job by keeping the ball in the park and providing the Royals with at least mid-rotation starter production.

Keller's relative stability will be welcome given the state of the rest of the Royals' rotation. Danny Duffy lost a good deal of command in 2018, as his walk rate suddenly soared. That might have just been a one-season blip, but there's some chance that his past elbow problems will shorten his stint as an above-average starting pitcher. For the time being, he's shelved with a shoulder issue. Jakob Junis had a promising first couple of months last season, but issues with the longball ultimately held him back; the White Sox took him deep five times in one start.

Beyond that trio, the Royals don't have much else to run out there. Jorge Lopez is a journeyman with a punishable fourseam that has low spin rate. He can tread water in the majors, but that's about it. Also hanging around is Homer Bailey (yeah, that Homer Bailey), who has posted ERAs above 6.00 each of the past three seasons, in various sample sizes. This is a whole lot of "yuck", and starting pitching projects to be a consistent weak spot for the Royals this year.

The rotation issues aren't balanced out by significant strengths elsewhere on the roster, either. The Kansas City lineup still figures to be problematic, though it looks a little better now than it did coming into 2018. In addition to 2018 breakout stars Merrifield and Mondesi, first baseman Ryan O'Hearn slugged the ball like crazy once he got his first taste of the big leagues. The Royals will be very interested in figuring out whether his 12 homers in just 170 plate appearance were a sign of things to come. Less encouraging was the play of Hunter Dozier, whose strikeout problems and lack of clear strengths are threatening to cut his career short. O'Hearn's emergence and the Moustakas trade bumped him back to third base, where he's not an asset defensively.

The outfield picture isn't particularly promising. Gordon experienced something of a dead-cat bounce last season but he still doesn't get on base like he used to. Despite good defense, a lack of thump caps his upside. The Royals are trying out Billy Hamilton and his career 70 OPS+ in center field. Hamilton is the best baserunner you'll find in the major leagues (with the possible exception of new teammate Terrance Gore) and his wheels translate to a plus glove, but it's tough to be much more than a gadget player when you can't hit at a respectable level. Right field remains something of an open question, with Soler and Gore figuring to both be in the mix. Soler's bat showed some signs of life last year before breaking his foot; we'll see whether he'll be able to get back to that level.

Behind the plate, Salvador Perez is out for the season with an ACL tear. This development stands a good chance of keeping him from appearing in his seventh consecutive All-Star game, but I'm half-convinced he's going to be penciled in anyway. The Royals admirably plugged the hole with Martin Maldonado, an excellent defensive catcher who signed for the same amount of money as James McCann I'm not mad I'm not mad I'm not mad I'm not mad I'm not...

***

The Royals will likely improve quite a bit on last year's 58-win performance, and with their farm system making gains over the course of the past year, things are not looking quite as dreary as they were last March. Still, with Major League Baseball becoming increasingly polarized, the road back will likely be a long one, and the near-term outlook is pretty rough outside of the stolen base category. This is a team that really has been built the Max Power way. Take a generic poorly-constructed roster, make it a lot faster, and voila! You've got the 2019 Kansas City Royals.

Probable Starting Pitchers