Finding Playing Time for Christian Colon

When Danny Valencia was traded to the Toronto Blue Jays, it opened a spot on the Royals major league roster for Christian Colon. Throughout his time in the minors, Colon displayed that he could produce with the bat, putting together a career .280/.343/.384 batting line. He has also displayed a good eye at the plate and a solid ability to make contact, having struck out just 198 times in 1902 at bats.

In his limited time with the Royals, Colon has displayed some of the same characteristics. He has made contact, hitting line drives while looking for pitches that he can handle. Colon has not looked overmatched in the majors thus far, and would seemingly be someone that could get a look for additional playing time.

The problem is, Christian Colon has primarily been a second baseman or shortstop in the minors. With the Royals, both Omar Infante and Alcides Escobar are entrenched at second and short respectively. Escobar has played every game this season at short, coming out only if the game is out of hand. Likewise, Infante, when healthy, is in the starting lineup virtually every day.

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Right now, it would seem as though Colon’s best chance to get playing time would be to spell Mike Moustakas at third, a position that Colon had not played before appearing in 13 games there for Omaha this season. However, Moustakas is the Royals home run leader this season with 13 long balls. On a team that is in desperate need of power, Ned Yost may be loath to keep Moustakas out of the lineup in favor of Colon, who is more of a line drive doubles hitter.

Yet, if Christian Colon contiues to hit, he may force Yost’s hand. While he may not force his way into the starting lineup every day, he could find a way to get into the lineup a few times a week. While Moustakas’s struggles against left handed pitching have been well documented, Infante has also struggled against southpaws this season, hitting .200/.250/.278 in 90 at bats. If Colon can show that he can hit lefties at a reasonable rate, he may be able to get playing time at second as well.

There may be an opportunity for Christian Colon to find his way into the lineup a couple of times a week. All he needs to do is to continue to hit and make the Royals give him that opportunity.

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