Royals May Want To Look At Brett Eibner

Royals prospect Brett Eibner is hitting .315 at Triple-A Omaha, with seven home runs and a .942 OPS

In case you haven’t noticed, the Royals aren’t exactly lighting up the league right now.

The defensing champs rank 25th in the league in runs and have only two qualified hitters hitting about .260. That list included just Eric Hosmer until Lorenzo Cain got hot over the last week.

The starting pitching has been worse, but that’s not what I’m here to talk about.

Similar to last season, the Royals have a black hole offensively in right field.

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Jarrod Dyson and Paulo Orlando have combined for an OPS of just .586 over 108 plate appearances.

Dyson’s defense has been elite again, which before the season would have been enough to keep him in the lineup.

However, with the Royals not hitting this season, it might be time for them to look at some other options.

Coincidentally, Brett Eibner went on a home run rampage right as this right field discussion began gaining traction.

As he was hitting all the home runs, our mentions began filling up with Eibner fan mail.

So, let’s talk about it.

For starters, I’m an Eibner fan too. Who wouldn’t be a fan of a guy who hits dingers and has flow like this?

He also held the door open for this fan.

It seemed relevant.

I’m not going to give you a detailed scouting report on him (because I don’t have the word space, nor the expertise), but his M/O is pretty simple.

He has a really below average hit tool (has hit below .245 in four of his five full seasons, including .196 in his largest sample of games in 2012 and has struck out in 31% of his at-bats for his career), but hits for legitimate power (career .188 ISO).

He also walks at a decent rate (12.8%), is a very good athlete (which will translate into at least average defense), along with a cannon for an arm (originally thought of as a pitching prospect by many teams.).

He is 27 and has two options remaining, with the Royals not adding him to their 40-man roster until last winter.

They used his first option when he didn’t break camp with the big league club, meaning that the Royals have the freedom to call him up and send him down virtually without consequence in 2016.

They also have an incentive too, with the 27-year old due to be a minor league free agent this offseason if he doesn’t reach Kansas City in 2016.

With all that being said, Eibner is a guy that many Royals fans have been clamoring to see since his big 2015 spring.

We know he has the power. His obsolete hit tool, however, will likely be exposed at the major league level.

With Dyson’s defense as elite as it is, it’s hard to believe the Royals will trade that value for a wild card like Eibner.

At least for now.

If the Royals offense continues to trend down and Dyson continues to struggle offensively, however, they might just take a shot.

With his free agency looming, they have nothing to lose.

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Sure, they’d have to burn an option on Orlando (more than likely), but he has all three options remaining and is 30-years old and is bad.

As of right now, the Royals biggest need is in the starting rotation.

But talking about a guy that hits nukes is way more fun.