Kansas City Royals: Top Twenty Hitters In Team History

Sep 8, 2015; Anaheim, CA, UCA; Los Angeles Angels left fielder David DeJesus before the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

16. David DeJesus

David DeJesus earned a full-time job with the Kansas City Royals when they dealt star center-fielder Carlos Beltran to the Houston Astros when KC fell out of contention in 2004 (recall that the team enjoyed an over-.500 miracle in 2003, and GM Allard Baird and manager Tony Pena deluded themselves that their team could build on this success in 2004).

Amid the 58-104 disaster, then 24-year-old David DeJesus was a lonely bright spot. DeJesus slashed a respectable .287/.360/.402 for an almost league average OPS+ of 98 (remember that was a much more prolific run scoring environment, so his .763 OPS was below average), and played good defense in center-field. He finished sixth in Rookie-Of-The-Year voting.

That start kicked off an 8-year KC Royals career that ended in 2010. The team traded him to Oakland the following winter after the 31-year-old DeJesus had compiled a solid  .289/.360/.427 triple slash with 61 home runs and 47 stolen bases, good for an OPS+ (adjusted On Base Plus Slugging) of 108 (8% better than a league-average hitter).

DeJesus might have been the most consistent player on the team during his time with the KC Royals. In the early 2000’s, that made David DeJesus an oasis of competence in a desert of terrible.

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