Royals Predictions From The Kings Of Kauffman Staff

With the 2016 season just hours away, some of the Kings of Kauffman staff came together to predict who will lead the Royals in a few major categories, as well as giving our take on specific players to watch.

Each of us has our own individual thought process on our selection, which lead to a pretty decent diversity of answers.

The writers contributing today include:

• Co-Editor John Viril
• Co-Editor Ryan Heffernon
• Call to the Pen Editor David Hill
• Kings of Kauffman staff writer Mike Vamosi

The categories we will be covering include:

• Batting average
• Home runs
• Runs batted in
• Stolen bases
• Wins
• Earned run average
• Strikeouts

Finally, we will look at these individual players to watch for:

• Royals Player of the Year
• Royals Pitcher of the Year
• A Royals breakout candidate
• A Royal who could surprise

Keep up with the Kings of Kauffman twitter account (@KingsOfKauffman) to give us your take. After this post is released, we will open up twitter polls to see who you think will lead each category and reveal the results on Tuesday.

Next: Which hitter will win the 2016 Royals batting title?

Home Runs

Mike – Kendrys Morales

Should be fully healthy from his injury of a couple of years ago.

Not that he wasn’t last season but I think he can lead in home runs.

David – Salvador Perez

His power has increased each year, and this might be the season he chases 30 homers.

John – Mike Moustakas

Moose slammed 15 home runs in August and September after pitchers figured out they could no longer pound the outside edge against him. Moose reverted to the pull hitter that led all of minor league baseball with 36 home runs in 2010.

Ryan – Kendrys Morales

This was by far the toughest category for me, because the Royals have so many potential 15-25 homer guys on their roster.

I ended up going with Morales because he was the safest pick. He has that grown man strength and hits the ball harder than any Royal. I could have easily went with a number of other guys, but Mike Moustakas still doesn’t have a very good sample size of success, Alex Gordon is coming off of an injury, and Salvador Perez is still a complete wild card.

Fans – Kendrys Morales

Hosmer and Gordon also received votes

Next: Which Royal will drive in the most runs in 2016?

Runs Batted In

Mike – Eric Hosmer

Batting in the middle of the lineup he’ll have plenty of chances to drive in runs.

He also just seems to come up big when needed.

David – Eric Hosmer

It’s time to take that step to being a star, and if it’s going to happen, it will be here.

Hitting behind Cain will help with the RBI.

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John – Eric Hosmer

Hoz is the most successful situational hitter in baseball since his rookie season of 2011, according to Fangraphs’ clutch metric.

This is the year he gets bushels of RBI with a strong bat behind him (Kendrys Morales).

Ryan – Eric Hosmer

I’m going to come out and be honest again, which seems to be a trend when I talk about Hosmer. I am not a fan of the RBI stat. It is a stat that is heavily dependent on the guys around you and has made some really bad players not look half bad (hint: his name starts with a Y, not a B).

With that being said, Hosmer does have a knack for driving in runners, similar to the knack Billy Butler has had during his career.  He hit .293 with RISP in 2015, while hitting .305 with men on base.

However, if 2016 is anything like 2015, Alcides Escobar won’t get on base and Kendrys Morales will steal all of Hosmer’s RBI, driving in guys like Mike Moustakas, Alex Gordon, Lorenzo Cain, and Hosmer himself. Three guys who should get on base.

Fans – Eric Hosmer

This was one of the closest races, with Hosmer narrowly beating Morales.

No player not named in the poll received a vote.

Next: What Royal will steal the most bases in 2016?

Stolen Bases

Mike – Jarrod Dyson

When KC needs a stolen base, he seems to know how to take it.

Granted, starting on the DL will have him playing catch up but there’s no one other than Gore who can swipe a bag.

David – Jarrod Dyson

All he needs is 300 plate appearances, and I think he’ll lead the team.

Give him 450, he might lead the AL.

John – Jarrod Dyson

Dyson has 126 stolen bases the last four seasons as a part-time player.

He can easily hit the 50 or 60 stolen base mark this season in which he figures to get regular playing time in right.

Ryan – Jarrod Dyson

This all depends on whether Reymond Fuentes gets legitimate playing time.

Because if he doesn’t, and Jarrod Dyson gets 350-400 plate appearances (which is a bit of a stretch), this might not be close.

It’s easy to forget that he swiped 34 bags in 2013 despite only  having 239 plate appearances.

Fans – Jarrod Dyson

Lorenzo jumped out to a quick start in this poll, but Dyson ultimately ran away with it.

Next: Which Royals pitcher will win the most games in 2016?

Wins

Mike – Ian Kennedy

I feel that this free agent signing will be helped out pitching at Kauffman Stadium.

Sure he pitched at Petco but he’ll be backed by a great defense.

David – Yordano Ventura

You’ll see him in a lot of these. I think this is the year he harnesses his stuff and become the Royals ace.

John – Yordano Ventura

Ventura is poised for a breakout year this season after his strong performance down the stretch.

He finished August and September with an 8-1 record and 3.26 ERA.

Ryan – Yordano Ventura

I wanted to put Wade Davis here for fun, because he’s nearly won double-digit games in back-to-back seasons as a reliever. However, I went with Ventura, staying with my predictability.

Based on what we saw from Ventura in the last third of 2015, he seems poised for a breakout. With stuff as good as his, consistency and health are going to be huge. If he pitches anything like he did during his last 11 starts last season, he’ll win more than a few games.

Fans – Yordano Ventura

Chien-Ming Wang made an appearance.

Next: What Royals pitcher will have the lowest ERA?

Earned Run Average

John – Yordano Ventura 

As you can see, I’m expecting a big step forward from Ventura in his age 25 season. This is the year he becomes an ace.

Ryan – Yordano Ventura

This may very well be my version of reverse psychology, trying to will Ventura into a breakout season. I question his consistency, but he is still just a season removed from 183 innings of 3.20 ERA ball.

If I was confident that Chris Young would give the Royals at least 120-130 innings, I would have went with him. He has been as unhittable as any pitcher in baseball since 2007.

However, like the pitching staff itself, Young is a huge question mark.

Fans – Yordano Ventura/Edinson Volquez

We have a tie! We also got a ton of Kris Medlen love.

Next: Which Royals pitcher will strike out the most batter?

Strikeouts

Mike – Yordano Ventura

There’s no one on the starting staff who possess strikeout stuff like him.

Consistency is the big question for him.

David – Yordano Ventura

His pure stuff is electric, and his secondary pitches are improving.

It’s time.

John – Yordano Ventura

One big reason for his improvement in the final two months is that he lost his reluctance to throw inside after inciting multiple brawls early last season.

The result was the best K rate of his career. His off speed pitches have steadily improved.

Ryan – Ian Kennedy

Easy one here. Kennedy would have led the Royals in K/9 and SO% in 2015 and has struck out at least 180 in three seasons. Edinson Volquez is the only other Royals pitcher who has done that once, back in 2008.

Ian Kennedy has some upside, but we all know that he’s going to do two things: eat innings and strike people out. He might conform to the Royals contact philosophy a little bit in 2016, but I wouldn’t expect any drastic changes.

Fans – Yordano Ventura

This was one of our bigger blowouts, which was pretty surprising, considering his competition.

Next: Which Royal will win the 2016 Royals Player of the Year?

Royals Player of the Year

David – Eric Hosmer

Mike – Lorenzo Cain 

Lorenzo is my choice for player of the year.

How he continues to improve makes me feel like he can be the Royals best player this season.

John – Mike Moustakas

Moose put up a 4.4 WAR season last year, despite tanking in the plate in July when his mother passed away.

He posted an OPS over .900 the last two months of the season.

Now that he can take the ball the opposite way, he’s become a complete hitter at the plate. I expect big things from him this season.

Ryan – Alex Gordon

I anticipate Alex Gordon to age gracefully. I also anticipate him having at least one or two 4-6 fWAR seasons left in him.

Before his July 8 groin injury, Gordon was on pace to have his best offensive season since 2011, slashing at a .279/.394/.457 clip with a 134 wRC+. However, he missed a month to injury, and proceeded to limp (no pun intended) to the finish.

If he stays healthy, I would expect Gordon to be the same old Gordon. He may even have one more six fWAR season in him.

Fans – Eric Hosmer

Another blowout. We also got some Fuentes love.

Next: Who will win the 2016 Royals Pitcher of the Year?

Royals Pitcher of the Year

David – Yordano Ventura

Mike – Ian Kennedy

I really like this signing and feel he can/will lead the staff.

Dave Eiland is a master of helping guys get better when he gets them.

John – Yordano Ventura

Hey, if I think Ventura is going to lead the team in Wins, ERA and Strikeouts, he pretty much has to be pitcher of the year, right?

Ryan – Wade Davis

With the rotational questions, and Wade Davis being Wade Davis, this was an easy one.

Fans – Wade Davis

Another blowout. This one was surprising, with Ventura sweeping the pitchers triple crown.

Next: Which Royals player is the biggest breakout candidate?

Royals Breakout Candidate

Mike – Reymond Fuentes

Having watched him in person in Omaha I’m excited about his chances this season.

Who knows if there will be a right field platoon but I feel he can take the job at some point in 2016.

David – Christian Colon

I think he takes second from Infante by May, and hits at a .290/.350/.420 clip with a bit of pop.

John – Eric Hosmer

Hosmer is poised to take his game to the next level and become a legit superstar in the league.

With home runs up in the second half last season, and continuing in spring training, Hoz could ride the trend to a high 20’s HR total. Adding more power to his game would make him a complete player.

Ryan – Eric Hosmer

This pains me as I type this because I have seen Eric Hosmer included in breakout player list, seemingly every season for eternity.

However, 2015 was the first season in which Hosmer was productive from start to finish, without a crippling slump or injury. He’s also coming off of a season in which he posted his best SLG% and ISO since his rookie season and a career high 125 wRC+.

If Hosmer is going to be a next-level player, he’ll never be more ripe for that jump than he is now.

Fans – Eric Hosmer

Paulo Orlando’s name came up as well.

Next: Which Royals player could surprise some people?

Royals Player That Could Surprise

Mike – Chien-Ming Wang

Another guy that was a Dayton Moore bargain bin pickup this winter who made the team.

He should be a versatile arm in the bullpen which can’t hurt.

John – Chien-Ming Wang

Wang has been lighting up radar guns at 94-95 after throwing in the 88-89 mph range the last five years.

Pitching guru Ron Wolforth has helped Wang turned back the clock 10 years on his stuff. Back then, Wang was a top of the rotation pitcher for the Yankees who won 19 games in back to back seasons.

Ryan – Reymond Fuentes

I have been on the Reymond Fuentes bandwagon since Jarrod Dyson went down. I want to see Dyson get legitimate playing time, for the sake of seeing how freaking historically good that outfield defense would be.

However, Fuentes offers a commodity that Royals right fielders aren’t exactly abundant in: upside. He’s a former first-round draft pick with some wicked bat speed and 65-grade speed.

It doesn’t hurt him that Paulo Orlando is not good.

Fans – Omar Infante

I’m pretty surprised by this one. He’s off to a good start, with two hits on Sunday night.

Here’s one guy who didn’t agree.

We’ll end with this, my favorite tweet from the night.