Kansas City Royals Offense Driving the Bus

It is easy to say that the Kansas City Royals offense has been carrying the team for much of the 2015 season. While the defense and the bullpen have been as excellent as usual, the Royals starting rotation has scuffled through the early going. While Chris Young and Edinson Volquez have been revelations thus far, and Yordano Ventura appears as though he may be righting the ship, the Royals offense is a major part of why they are currently leading the American League Central.

More from KC Royals News

• KC Royals Rumors: Is a monster move in the cards?
• KC Royals Free Agent Hunt: 3 Tampa Bay pitchers
• Grading the 2022 KC Royals: The $25 million man
• KC Royals Winter Meetings Tracker: Expectations met
• KC Royals Winter Meetings Tracker: Day 3 update

Even though we know the offense is greatly improved, the level of improvement may be a bit understated. Last year, we all know that the Royals were last in baseball with 95 home runs. They ranked second in the American League with a .263 batting average, yet were ninth with a .314 on base percentage and eleventh with a .376 slugging percentage. The fact that the Royals went as far as they did in the postseason confounded quite a few experts.

This season has been a much different story. While Kendrys Morales and Alex Rios were less than enthusiastically received by the pundits, both have made an impact upon the lineup when healthy. Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer have suddenly turned into the players the Royals were expecting. That improvement is certainly showing, as the Kansas City Royals have an overall .287/.338/.434 batting line. While their 29 home runs is still on the lower end, ranked 13th in the American League, the Royals are first in batting average and, somewhat astonishingly, slugging percentage. That .338 on base percentage is the second best mark in the American League.

Even if it seems unlikely that the Royals offense will continue to preform at this level all season, the fact remains that they are certainly not the same team that had to rely almost exclusively upon speed and stringing hits together to score. The Royals have a bit of power now, and while they may not walk much, are still finding ways to get on base. They have been more selective, working the count and looking for pitches to drive. And while the Royals are not running as they had been, with their 24 stolen bases ranking fifth in the AL, they are second with 195 runs scored.

Eventually, the Kansas City Royals starting rotation will get back to what we expect them to be. In fact, we may have already seen the beginning of such a transformation. When it happens, they will have something backing them up they may not have expected – a truly solid offense capable of driving Rex Hudler‘s bus.

Next: Rafael Furcal Retires Due to Hamstring Injury