Royals Monday Mailbag – Tuesday Edition

The Royals miserable 2-8 road trip is over and they opened up a 7-game home stand with a 2-1 win against the Indians Monday.

Yes, it is Tuesday. And yes, we are still doing a mailbag. This is a blog, so nobody really cares.

And if you do care, you probably care more about the Royals, who are still recovering from the disaster that was last week.

After reaching a season-high 8-games above .500 on June 1, the Royals proceeded to lose eight straight games and drop back to .500.

However, the Royals won the last two games of that 10-game road trip and started this home stand off with a win, powered by Whit Merrifield and his first career major league home run and triple.

Now, let’s get to the mailbag.

I guess I’ll start with the tough hitters.

I’m going to be honest with you, Fake Ned. I don’t really know you very well.

With that being said, you did write a book about Sungwoo Lee.

So I’m inclined to say yes.

To be frank, yes.

For a few reasons.

First off, there just aren’t a lot of options. Yes, I am aware that Brett Eibner exists.

But you’re talking about the defending world champs who are trying to win another title.

The Royals are competing and keeping their heads above water, but it’s hard to envision this team making any noise in October without Kendrys Morales being at least functional. That also goes for Alex Gordon, Alcides Escobar, and Yordano Ventura.

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Secondly, not only are there not a whole lot of options, but Morales is still probably the best one.

Eibner is the only option that has any real shot, and he is a 27-year old rookie with a .438 career SLG% in 544 minor league games.

You are also talking about a guy that is a year removed from a Silver Slugger award at DH.

So yes, I expect him to finish the season as the Royals DH.

And there’s a good chance the Royals success beyond September will at least partially mirror Morales success.

For those that can’t see the original tweet, Aaron was referencing Yordano Ventura and Danny Duffy.

So let’s just start off by talking about how freaking good they both were this weekend, with back-to-back 10 strikeout performances from them on Saturday and Sunday.

I wouldn’t expect those performances regularly, but them being at least somewhat successful would be such a boost to the Royals rotation.

In regards to the question, I’ll refer you to this tweet.

Let’s just take note of a few things.

First, Yordano is still just 25-years old.

Secondly, four of those five 10 strikeout games have come in his last 21 starts.

I love Duffy. Left-handed power starters don’t just grow on trees. But Ventura’s upside is so much higher than Duffy’s.

So I will go with Ventura.

This is a really interesting question.

Obviously, we will need to see a little bit more from Eibner to give him the right field gig. We also know that Ned Yost is almost painfully loyal to his players.

The fact that Omar Infante is still on the active roster, as well as Alcides Escobar still hitting in the top two slots should prove that.

So, it would take some serious production from Eibner to push both Paulo Orlando and Jarrod Dyson out of playing time.

Ideally for the Royals, however, he would be at least good enough to push one* of them out.

*Hint hint, his last name Orlando.

I would be pretty surprised if he takes over in right field outright, however.

Dyson still provides crazy defensive value and hasn’t been a *complete liability at the plate.

*By the Royals standards, where they have a sub-.600 OPS hitter batting first or second in the lineup each night.

So to answer your question, no. But I think it’s reasonable to believe he could play his way into a platoon role, if not in right field, then at the DH position.

I anticipate an Omar DFA coming soon, with him having played in just three games this month.

We can certainly dream that it will happen soon.

Next: Four Things About Breaking The Losing Streak

And sure, it will probably be to make room for somebody, but I would DFA Omar for a vacant roster spot at this point.