KC Royals: Former Royal, David DeJesus hangs up cleats after 13 years

After 13 years of professional baseball, former outfielder for the KC Royals, David DeJesus, officially retired as a major leaguer.

Wednesday afternoon, DeJesus, formerly with the KC Royals, posted on Twitter that he was making it official and retiring from playing baseball.

DeJesus, who became a fan favorite in his short time in Chicago, will now be a studio analyst for the Cubs.

DeJesus played his first professional game for Kansas City in 2003. Playing just 12 games that season, he later became a staple in the Royals outfield. He finished sixth in American League Rookie of the Year voting in 2014.

He played in 157 games in 2007 and 144 games in 2009. After leaving Kansas City in 2011, DeJesus spent time in Oakland, Chicago, Washington, Tampa Bay, and Los Angeles.

The 37 year old played his best years in Kansas City, batting .289 in his eight years there. In 2008, he batted a team-high .307 for a Royals team that won just 75 games and finished fourth in the American League Central.

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In his final year in Kansas City, he batted .318 but played in just 91 games.

DeJesus picked a bad time to be a Royal. Kansas City never won more than 83 games in his tenure there. The team bottomed out with just 58 wins in his first full season in 2004.

Upon leaving Kansas City, DeJesus never again batted above .263. In that 2012 season, he won over the fans in Chicago as an every-day player with 148 games under his belt. In his final major league season in 2015, DeJesus played in 30 games for the Angels and batted just .125.

DeJesus finishes his playing career with 1,434 hits, including 99 home runs and 288 doubles. He ends his career with a .275 batting average and a .349 on-base percentage. He played 876 of his 1,472 career games in Kansas City and hit 61 home runs as a Royal.

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Continuing his career as a baseball analyst, DeJesus will replace Todd Hollandsworth for CSN’s pregame and post-game coverage of the Cubs.