Kansas City Royals Biggest Surprises in 2015

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Here we are on September 4th, and the Kansas City Royals sit 31 games over .500. They have an incredible 13 game lead in the American League Central, and have the best record in the American League by six games over the Toronto Blue Jays. Yes, life with the Royals is good.

Naturally, with a season like this, there have been plenty of surprises for the Royals. Not only has the team outperformed virtually all of the ‘experts’ predictions, but they have had quite a few things go well for them this year. As John said, the Royals have been both lucky and good this year.

Yet, luck only goes so far. In order to get to the lofty perch where the Royals currently sit atop the American League, there have to be a few pleasant surprises over the course of the season. Of course, it helps that the rest of the Central has struggled for the most part this year, but that does not take away from the overall success that the Royals have had in 2015.

So, with a month left to go in the regular season before the postseason begins, and the Kansas City Royals look to bring a World Series title back after a thirty year absence, let us look at those surprises for the Royals thus far this season.

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Mike Moustakas has finally broken out.

For years, the Kansas City Royals have been waiting for the Mike Moustakas breakout season. Just a year ago, it appeared as though that year would never occur, as Moustakas had struggled to the point of being sent to Omaha. Even when he returned, the results were not exactly stellar, leading one to wonder if Moustakas would ever reach his potential.

During the Royals postseason run, we saw a glimmer of hope that this breakthrough could actually happen. While his batting average was not the greatest at .231, Moustakas did hit five home runs to help spur the Royals unexpected postseason power surge. The hope was that this performance would serve as a springboard for the 2015 season.

Well, it certainly did so. Moustakas has been a completely different batter this season, driving the ball to all fields while producing a career best .282/.348/.447 batting line. He has hit fifteen home runs and 27 doubles on the season, while posting the lowest strikeout rate and highest walk rates of his career. He may not be the thirty home run hitter the Royals had hoped for as he came up through the minors, but this is close to the Moustakas they had hoped for.

At 26 years old, Mike Moustakas may be about to enter his prime years. If this season is any indication, the Kansas City Royals may be getting something close to what they had hoped for all this time.

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Lorenzo Cain – dark horse MVP candidate.

Just as Mike Moustakas is having a breakout season this year, the same could have been said for Lorenzo Cain last year. He posted an excellent .301/.339/.412 batting line, stealing 28 bases while playing stellar defense in right and center. Cain continued that breakthrough throughout the postseason, winning the American League Championship Series MVP award as he helped lead the Royals to within a game of the title.

As such, it was expected that Cain would inevitably regress this season. Instead, the has taken that next step in his development, blossoming into a true star. He has produced a stellar .313/.369/.490 batting line, hitting a career best 13 home runs while stealing 26 bases thus far. His 6.6 WAR is third among position players in the American League, trailing only Josh Donaldson and Mike Trout.

While it is exceedingly unlikely that Cain wrests the award away from Donaldson, especially with the run that the Blue Jays have been on as of late, that does not mean that he will not have a strong showing. In fact, Cain could be the first Royals player to make the top ten in the MVP ballot since Carlos Beltran in 2003. With a bit of luck, and given the Royals strong showing this season, he could even be the first player to crack the top five for Kansas City since George Brett all the way back in 1985.

Lorenzo Cain is emerging not just as a potential extension candidate for the Kansas City Royals, but as a possible star. For a player that many thought would regress this season, Cain has been quite the pleasant surprise.

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Dayton Moore – genius.

Part of the reason as to why the Kansas City Royals were expected to regress this season involves the moves they made this past offseason. They lost Nori Aoki, James Shields and Billy Butler, replacing them with Alex Rios, Edinson Volquez and Kendrys Morales. Rios and Morales were coming off down years, leading experts to feel they were downgrades over what the Royals had. Volquez, meanwhile, was considered a one year fluke after his strong 2014 season, and could not possibly replicate Shields production.

While Rios has been a disappointment since being injured, Volquez and Morales have been far more than even the Royals likely would have expected. Volquez has been an admirable replacement for Shields, posting a 12-7 record with a 3.27 ERA and a 1.258 WHiP. While Volquez does not have Shields reputation as an innings eater, he has pitched just six fewer innings in one fewer start.

Morales, meanwhile, has been that middle of the order power bat the Royals had been searching for. He has slugged 17 home runs and a team leading 36 doubles this season, while producing an excellent .293/.358/.476 batting line. He has been more than a replacement for Butler in the lineup, as Cuban Breakfast quickly won over the Royals fanbase.

Add in his stellar trade deadline acquisitions of Ben Zobrist and Johnny Cueto without ravaging the farm system, and Dayton Moore has been on fire this year. Given how the experts panned the Kansas City Royals moves at the start of the season, the fact that he has had this level of success may be the biggest surprise of all.

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