Kansas City Royals Reveal Part of Their 2015 Lineup

Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Ned Yost has had some fun with the media this spring, particularly in regards to his plans for the Kansas City Royals lineup and the Opening Day starter. When asked about the latter earlier in camp, Yost replied with this:

Ned Yost: "We haven't played a game yet, and you guys want to know who the Opening Day starter is. Keep your pants on."
— Andy McCullough (@ByMcCullough) March 3, 2015

This is your regular reminder that NedYo is the best, and I won’t be convinced otherwise.

The Royals typically play things close to the vest, so it wasn’t much of a surprise they didn’t want to reveal their plans early on. But with just three weeks before the first game of the season, Yost’s puzzle is starting to come together.

He disclosed yesterday a couple of specific plans about the lineup, though neither one was terribly surprising. Yost confirmed that Alcides Escobar would bat leadoff, and that Lorenzo Cain would hit third in the order.

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Escobar isn’t a typical leadoff guy in that he doesn’t really get on base that often, so there will surely be wringing of hands and gnashing of teeth over this decision. I’m certainly no fan of it, although Escobar was very impressive when moving to the top of the order in the middle of September last season.

Basically no one was hitting at that point, and Yost had to do something to change things up. Moving Escobar and his career .299 on-base percentage to the leadoff spot was unconventional, but it worked. Whether it works again in 2015 is still very much in question. The Royals’ shortstop has said he knows he’ll need to take more pitches, so I guess you could say he’s working on having the mentality of a leadoff hitter.

Another change Yost made during that run to the playoffs was putting Cain in the three hole toward the end of his career-best season. He definitely doesn’t look like a normal three hitter, and it shouldn’t surprise anyone if Cain regresses some this season, but again, it’s worked before. And if Cain can still be a little better than a league average hitter, he’ll be perfectly fine in that spot.

The most fascinating part of the linked article above – to me, at least – is who Yost is considering for the second spot in the order. He said Alex Gordon, Eric Hosmer, and Alex Rios are the top candidates at the moment.

Rios bats right-handed, and with two more righties sandwiching the two spot, it seems unlikely that Yost would use that configuration. I would say he’s the least likely to take over the spot, and that’s probably for the best, considering the other two guys should be getting more plate appearances than him.

I’m not a huge fan of having Hosmer batting second, mostly because of how often he hits the ball on the ground. His ground ball rate has topped 51% in each of the last three seasons, so that could translate to lots of double play chances, particularly in the first inning. Hosmer hit fourth throughout the playoffs, and I think that’s probably the best spot for him next month, as well.

That brings us to Gordon. I’ll assume he will be fully healthy by the time the season starts, and he is absolutely the prime candidate. I’m a proponent of batting your best hitter second, and Gordon is the Royals’ best hitter. He gets on base. He hits for power. He’s a great baserunner. There’s nothing not to like about having Gordon hit second. I suppose, relative to the rest of the lineup, his strikeout rate is kind of high, but it’s still below 20% overall, so that’s not a problem.

Gordon is perfect for that spot. Yost said he likes the idea of having Gordon there, and that it was similar to something Tony La Russa did when he started hitting Larry Walker in the second spot. I know some would prefer having him hit leadoff, and I wouldn’t hate him there, either. But unless Hosmer takes a big step forward, I don’t see any great candidates to fill in for Gordon in the most important spot in the order.

If Yost doesn’t choose Gordon, Hosmer seems like the next guy up, but all of this could change as the season goes on. I believe Yost learned to be a bit more flexible last year, and while he won’t panic after a slow week or two, he might shake things up at the top if Cain struggles for a month, or if Escobar gets throat-punched by the BABIP Fairy over and over again.

The hope is that changes don’t have to be made, and if they are made, the hope is that they aren’t made too late. Or, the hope is that if changes at the top are made, they’re made because guys in other parts of the lineup are tearing the cover off the ball and just need to get more plate appearances. There are plenty of outcomes in this scenario.

The rest of the lineup is still up in the air, and there will be plenty of time to get worked up over those decisions in the coming weeks. But for now, we at least have a little bit of clarity about the top of the order, and as long as that top third contains the Royals’ best hitter, they have a better chance of achieving their goals this season.

Next: Morales' Shot at Breaking Camp with the Royals

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