Kansas City Royals Should Start to Worry About Omar Infante

It is fairly obvious when watching Omar Infante that he just is not right. Whether in the batter’s box on on the field and throwing the baseball, Infante just is not the same type of player he had been. Even in his injury plagued and disappointing 2014 season, Infante was at least able to put something on his throws from second.

That has not been the case thus far in 2015. Infante, who has admitted that he is likely to be having offseason surgery due to a bone spur in his elbow, just has not looked right in any fashion on the field. Yes, it is early in the 2015 season, but has not been driving the ball, nor has he really had much on his throws to first.

Given the nature of Omar Infante’s injury, it may be fair to wonder exactly how much longer he can remain in the lineup. Watching Infante flip the ball over to first or make weak contact does not exactly inspire confidence that he will improve throughout the season.

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It may be a matter of time before the Kansas City Royals have no other option but to put Christian Colon at second. While Colon is hardly a given, he did perform well in his 49 plate appearances last season, posting a .333/.375/.489 batting line while playing a respectable defensive second base. That solid effort continued over into Spring Training, as Colon posted a .304/.418/.413 batting line with seven walks.

Of course, if one is to put stock in Spring Training numbers, it is fair to mention that Infante produced a .326/.333/.435 batting line, with one more extra base hit than Colon. Yet, when watching Infante in the field each game, it is apparent that there is something wrong. Even though players do go through slumps, and plenty of players are starting off slowly, Infante seems to be dealing with something more than just the normal struggles that can occur throughout the season.

At some point, a decision will need to be made about Omar Infante’s health, and whether or not he can truly play through the bone spur in his elbow. Fortunately, the Royals have a player like Colon waiting in the wings.

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