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KC Royals Will Play Kendrys Morales At RF In St. Louis

By John Viril

Jun 14, 2016; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals designated hitter Kendrys Morales (25) celebrates after hitting a single early in the game against the Cleveland Indians at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals won 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 14, 2016; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals designated hitter Kendrys Morales (25) celebrates after hitting a single early in the game against the Cleveland Indians at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals won 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports /
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KC Royals designated hitter Kendrys Morales will move to right field for Wednesday night’s game at St. Louis, according to MLB.com’s Jeffrey Flanagan.

Flanagan tweeted the Kansas City Royals lineup before Wednesday’s game in St. Louis, which includes Kendrys Morales batting third and listed at right field:

The Kansas City Royals official web site suggested the team might make this move Tuesday night, anticipating that Kendrys Morales could play in the field in National League parks from now on. Flanagan spoke to KC Royals first base Rusty Kuntz about Morales shagging flies in the outfield last season:

"“I’m hitting balls and he’s zipping toward everything — balls in the gap, balls in the corner, over his head,” Kuntz said. “I couldn’t believe it. He’s not Lorenzo Cain, but he’s better than decent.”"

Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost made this move due to Morales’ recent hot streak. Kendrys Morales has two hits in each of his last four games, slashing a ridiculous .625/.625/1.063. For the month of June, Morales is hitting an outstanding .367/.425/.582.

At this point, Ned is bending over backwards to keep Morales’ bat in the KC Royals lineup. If you’re ever going to play Morales in the outfield, the time in now. With center fielder Lorenzo Cain going on the disabled list after last night’s hamstring injury, the KC Royals offense can’t afford to lose a hot bat.

Though Wednesday will be the first time Morales will play in the outfield since joining the Kansas City Royals before the 2015 season, he has logged 18 games at the position in his major league career. However, all of those games came relatively early in his career, when Morales was 24 and 25 years old with the California Angels.

Next: Royals Move Lorenzo Cain To 15-Day Disabled List

I’m hardly surprised by the move give how Kendrys Morales has been hitting of late, but the experiment could come to an abrupt end if he struggles in the field in St. Louis. It’ll be something to watch on Wednesday night.

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