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KC Royals: Oops Ned Did It Again In Cleveland Loss

By Mike Courson |
May 18, 2016; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost (3) signals to the bullpen while walking to the mound to relieve a pitcher in the eighth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Kauffman Stadium. Boston won 5-2. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
May 18, 2016; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost (3) signals to the bullpen while walking to the mound to relieve a pitcher in the eighth inning against the Boston Red Sox at Kauffman Stadium. Boston won 5-2. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
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May 13, 2016; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost (3) signals to the fans before the game against the Atlanta Braves at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals won 5-1. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
May 13, 2016; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost (3) signals to the fans before the game against the Atlanta Braves at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals won 5-1. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports /

Oops I did it again. Words made famous by Britney Spears some 16 years ago. Thursday night, KC Royals manager Ned Yost could have made them the theme of his press conference after Kansas City’s 5-4 walk-off loss to Cleveland.

Instead, we heard, “We basically gave a game away today.” No, Ned. That was all you.

The Kansas City Royals have obviously been the hottest team in baseball. Thursday night, the boys in blue banged out 12 hits, making it 10-straight games with 10 or more hits – the first time in club history to accomplish that feat. The KC Royals were headed for a seventh-straight win until a series of unfortunate events – sorry, Lemony Snicket – resulted in a 5-4 walk-off win for Cleveland.

It was easy to criticize Yost before the game even began. Whit Merrifield has hit a blistering .360 in his 12 games since joining the KC Royals. After a slow 2-for-8 start, Merrifield has proven himself as a reliable infielder with multi-hit games in seven of his last nine contests.

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He had two hits against Tampa Bay on May 31, and two hits against the Rays again on June 1. Both nights he had a double, and one of those nights he missed his first home run by about a foot. But Yost decided he needed a rest just 12 games into his major league career.

Merrifield’s replacement Thursday night? Omar Infante. By now we all know of Infante’s struggles on both sides of the ball, and frankly, I do not want to bag on him. After all, Infante does not have the ability to put himself in the lineup on any given night.

Next: Omar Infante's Struggles

Jun 2, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Kansas City Royals second baseman Omar Infante (14) forces out Cleveland Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis (22) on a fielder
Jun 2, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Kansas City Royals second baseman Omar Infante (14) forces out Cleveland Indians second baseman Jason Kipnis (22) on a fielder /

Omar Infante Has Been A Disaster For 2 1/3 Years

Last season with the Kansas City Royals, many lists put Infante at or near the bottom of all position players. With 440 at bats, he hit a paltry .220. His on-base percentage (OBP) climbed just 14 points to .234. To put that into perspective, there are 26 pages baseball players on the MLB statistics website.

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By OBP, one has to go to page 13 to find Infante, surrounded mostly by guys with fewer than 100 at bats in 2015. Seattle’s Mike Zunino is a rare outlier with 350 at-bats and a .230 OBP, but his numbers were held down by a .174 average. He had 21 walks compare to Infante’s nine with 90 fewer at bats last year. Infante’s OBP ranks last among all MLB players with at least 400 plate appearances in 2015.

But that was last year, right? Sort of. Infante has climbed all the way to a .239 average and .279 OBP this season in 134 at bats with the KC Royals. In just 50 at bats, Merrifield’s 18 hits were already more than half of Infante’s total. The one strike against Merrifield in this argument: his .360 average is the same as his OBP.

While last night’s loss is not squarely on the shoulders on Infante, he tops the list of reasons why the Kansas City Royals lost Thursday night. Infante went 0-for-4 at the plate leaving two men on base. The real mistake came in the eighth inning when Infante booted a throw during a routine double play. The Indians turned that mistake into a run before walking off in the ninth.

Next: More Bad Decisions By Yost

Jun 2, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost (3) stands in the dugout in the second inning against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 2, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost (3) stands in the dugout in the second inning against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports /

More Bad Decisions By Ned Yost

There’s where more of Yost’s decisions come into play. To be fair, Paulo Orlando may have been due a night off. His 14-game hit streak ended Wednesday night, and Yost made comments that he had wanted to give Orlando a break  but not during his streak.

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That’s probably good management. But why bring him into a game in the ninth inning? Orlando’s mistake in right field proved to be crucial in Cleveland’s win.

Finally, there is the matter of Wade Davis. This subject is a little touchier and Yost said after the loss if there is any hesitation in a reliever, he will not use him. Fine. Davis had thrown in the previous two games and three of the past four games. Then again, that’s his job with the KC Royals and he does it as well as anyone in the game.

Instead, Yost went with Joakim Soria. A guy we cringed at after a rough April, Soria settled in with a 1.35 ERA in the month of May and a shutout inning to open April Wednesday night. Unfortunately, his streak of nine-straight shutout innings came to an end with not one but two runs against Cleveland to pick up the loss.

Perhaps Soria should get some of the blame because he did not exactly do his job. But neither did Infante, and neither did Yost. And when you boil that down, it’s all on Ned. Yost took one of the hottest players out of his lineup and inserted one of the least reliable. Yost chose to keep his super-reliever parked in the garage. Yost inserted a cold Paulo Orlando in right field as a defensive replacement for a player (Reymond Fuentes) who is by not stretch of imagination  a bad fielder.

I hate to bring up bad memories, but Thursday night’s game is the reason why KC Royals fans created the #Yosted! hashtag. Though Yost is a big part of the reason why the team has enjoyed two and 1/3 years of fabulous success, he can still make some rather puzzling decisions for the Kansas City Royals. Thursday night, those decision cost the KC Royals a winnable game.

Next: Royals Report: Three Things About The Crash In Cleveland

“We basically gave a game away today,” is a proper sentiment. Unless giving games away is part of the job description, perhaps that’s something Yost should strive to cut back on.

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