KC Royals: Lorenzo Cain Is ‘Progressing Nicely’

KC Royals center fielder Lorenzo Cain is “progressing nicely” according to manager Ned Yost. You can see his comments to the media on Friday afternoon by clicking the video below:

Yost admitted that Lorenzo Cain overdid it on Wednesday, but said he felt better by the next day and participated in workouts on Friday. Yost insisted that Cain’s “fatigue and soreness” fell short of a “setback”.

Unfortunately, Yost did not give the media any timetable for Cain’s return.

The Kansas City Royals badly need Cain’s bat back in the lineup. The team is wallowing through a tough 5-11 July, and need all of the production they can get. The KC Royals can only improve with the return of their no. 3 hitter.

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Cain isn’t playing quite up the 7.2 bWAR standard he set last season in which he finished third in the AL MVP vote, but he’s still hitting a solid .290/.336/.416 in 2016 with 12 doubles and 8 home runs. According to Baseball-Reference, Cain has been worth 2.1 WAR (Wins Above Replacements) in about half a season. That projects out to a 3.5 to 4.2 WAR player, which still puts him into solid star category.

That’s a guy that he KC Royals can afford to do without for much longer, especially with the team sliding to a 47-47 record and nine games behind the AL Central leading Cleveland Indians.

For the Kansas City Royals to finish off the 2016 season with a strong kick like they did in 2014, they will need to at least get healthy. Lorenzo Cain is a big part of that equation.

Next: KC Royals Rumors: Evaluating Pitching Trade Targets

Even with Lorenzo Cain’s return, the KC Royals will probably need some additions at the trade deadline if general manager Dayton Moore expects his team to make a second half run. Moore needs to do something, because the Royals just don’t have the bodies right now.