You Can Only Have So Many First Basemen…Unfortunately

Ugh, Kyle Davies….Ughhhh.

I, as all Royals fans do, pride myself on having the heart and time-tested stamina/patience to weather all horrible baseball that is played by the Boys in Blue at different points throughout the season. The key is to try and find the small things that can keep you positive even as your team nestles down into the familiar comfort of last in the A.L. Central, happily mutters “I’m home,” all while planning its eventual takeover of last place in all of baseball.*

*Yes…that was a little dark and hopeless, but I feel like I’m entitled to an outburst now and then because I try to stay positive for the most part. We all know how hard that can be around this time of the season.

Unfortunately, there are always players that can make watching a Royals game difficult for even the most devoted fan to suffer through. Such is the effect of Kyle Davies. In a manner eerily reminscent of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named,* Kyle Davies takes the mound and promptly gives me an ulcer.

*Jimmy Gobble (Just think his name…..don’t say it out loud)

At least with the unnamed gentleman not mentioned above, I typically only had to watch an awful attempt at relief(?). Davies’ starter status means that I get to be sick for multiple innings. Tonight I got to enjoy his triumphant(?) return which entailed of a delightful 3 inning outing in which he gave up 4 runs and continued to be the same ‘ole, same ‘ole.

Sigh….maybe I’m being too hard on Kyle* but it just gets hard to watch your boys when they play as bad as we’ve played in the last couple of series.

Although he hasn’t exactly made a case for a “Get Out of Jail Free” card in any of his outings this season.

Anyways, as is my custom when the Royals are struggling, I….well….focus on something else. We have a lot of depth at the first base position as the trade deadline approaches. Is it possible we have too much depth? They say too much depth is never a problem, but I’m struggling to see a solution that’s going to make me happy regarding these 4 players:

Kila Kai’aihue: (AAA…since he got sent down) .312/.423/.487/.910

Clint Robinson: (AAA) .331/.404/.570/.980

Billy Butler: (MLB) .297/.396/.428/.823

Eric Hosmer: (MLB) .267/.315/.401/.716

I’m not even trying to suggest that Eric Hosmer is anywhere near the trade block. It’s clear and obvious to me and anyone who watches/read/knows anything about the Royals that he is hoped to be a central cornerstone of our franchise for years to come. He’s had some struggles at the plate as of late, but then again, just about everyone in the lineup has. He’s shown flashes of his hitting capabilities and is easily the best defensive 1st basemen out of these four by leaps and bounds.

Kila Kai’aihue is somebody that I think we’ll see shipped at the deadline. He was given a very short chance to show what he was made of at the beginning of the season before being passed along for the up and coming Hosmer. He’s trying to change his approach at the plate and get a shot playing for somebody this season, even if it’s not the Royals. I’m not very good at trying to come up with potential trade packages for players so I’m not going to even try to attempt to tell you what team might need the big lefty or what we could get out of him, but I just think that he’ll be on the way out. He’s proven himself in AAA ball currently and in the past and it’s clear that he won’t be a threat to take Hosmer’s spot at first or Butler’s as the DH. I think the Royals will have to ship him somewhere.

Billy Butler is Billy Butler. He is steady and dependable with his average consistently hovering around .300 and a great OBP. He is adjusting to the role as a full time DH while still being a leader on the ball team, but his name has come up a lot in possible trade talks. Many people find his lack of power annoying. I’m not one of them as I love how much he gets on base, but to some people it makes him a waste of space in the position he currently plays. As I just said, I’d be sad to see anything happen to him because I think it’s impossible to overvalue a player who has that capability to get on base as frequently as he does. I suppose we’ll just have to see what happens.

Clint Robinson is really interesting to me. I mean, the guy just keeps mashing away down in the minors awaiting his shot at the big time. His age, position, and the people in front of him (Hosmer/Butler) are what keep him down in AAA, and with the hope of current and future success that those two currently have or have the potential for, I suppose I should be content with Clint being a trade chip at the break, but like a greedy kid who keeps looking for another present under the tree at Christmas time despite all of his great gifts, I find myself wanting to see what he can do in the big leagues on OUR ball club. I don’t want him to go have his success somewhere else. I want to see him excel in blue.

In my mind, once the deadline hits us it’s likely that we’ll at least see Kai’aihue gone, if not Robinson. However, I don’t want to give Robinson away without seeing what he’s got and I (as others among my fellow writers here on Kings of Kauffman) never felt like Kila got a fair amount of time to show his stuff.

Maybe we could convert Kai’aihue to another position to solve his hitting woes in the big leagues…….outfielder? Can Clint Robinson become a second baseman? Catcher? Let’s just have those guys learn new positions.

Didn’t we do that with someone else?

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