Kansas City Royals: The Royals Have a Logjam at First Base

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Every team likes options. The Kansas City Royals have options at a position they have not had to worry about for six years. Now it is just a matter of who wants it more.

The Kansas City Royals find themselves in an interesting situation. Eric Hosmer has held down the position for years, so it really did not matter who was in the minors. Now that Hosmer is in San Diego that mindset has changed.

As of right now, no player is definitely better than the next. Some have more MLB experience, but with the minor league guys, we still do not know how they will do against big league pitching. One situation the Royals have is that hardly any of the options at first base are being kept at first base. Two candidates have stayed at first during their career.

So let’s break down the options the Royals currently have. Maybe we can figure out the best option the Royals have for this year and beyond. Maybe the next Royals superstar is hidden in the mix.

Lucas Duda

The Royals signed Lucas Duda to a one-year, $3.5 million deal during the offseason. He had spent the last eight years playing first base for the New York Mets and Tampa Bay Rays. After being unsure of how first base would be filled, signing Duda gave the Royals a definite option at first.

Duda is not the greatest offensive player, posting a career .242/.340/.457 but does provide the team with some consistent power. Over the last four years, Duda has hit 94 home runs and 95 doubles. /

Unfortunately, he also strikes out. A lot. During the same four year span, he struck out a total of 444 times. With great power, typically great strikeout numbers follow.

He has had a solid Spring Training. It has been his best Spring Training of his career, seeing him slash a .387/.486/.645 with a 1.132 OPS. During those 12 games, he has struck out just four times compared to walking six times. Obviously, the likelihood of that continuing is highly unlikely, but it is nice to see still.

One thing all fans should brace themselves for is the fact that Duda most likely won’t finish the year with the Royals. Come July, the probability of the Royals trading Duda for a piece to help them rebuild is extremely high.

Duda is just a temporary fix. How long that temporary fix is will be determined come July. I would not recommend buying a Duda jersey though if you are looking to find a new one.

Hunter Dozier

Going into the offseason, the Royals had Hunter Dozier at the top of the depth chart for first base. The only problem with that is that Dozier has only played 12 games at first base over his five-year career.

When drafted in 2013, he was expected to potentially play third base. When Mike Moustakas started becoming more productive at third base, and Cheslor Cuthbert started making his rise to the majors, the search for a new position was on for Dozier.

Dozier only started playing first base the last two years, but even then he has played more games at the corner outfield positions and third base then he did at first base. Even during Spring Training, Dozier played eight games at first base and four games at right field. /

The other thing to keep in mind is the lack of offensive consistency with Dozier. He has not had a year yet where he was consistent at the plate, which could bring along some concerns. Even though he was rumored to be the Royals first baseman at one point in 2018, I wonder how committed they are to him playing there.

Cheslor Cuthbert

The Royals at one point had Cheslor Cuthbert as the positions backup behind Dozier. They started moving Cuthbert around to allow for his bat to be in the lineup, playing 74 games total at first base between the minors and majors.

Again though, that is someone who does not have a lot of experience at the position. Cuthbert is a third baseman that the Royals are trying to move to other infield positions, similar to Dozier. The only catch is the team seems a bit hesitant to use Cuthbert consistently.

As much as I want for 2016 to be the real Cuthbert, I do not know how other people feel about him within the organization. Him being at first base will most likely be the last resort, so maybe it will be a good thing if we do not see him playing at first consistently.

Frank Schwindel

Frank Schwindel is arguably one of the most exciting players to watch for me. The soon-to-be 26-year-old was drafted out of St. John’s in 2013 in the 18th Round. Typically, the later you get in the rounds the least likely you are to see that player mature into someone the organization can use effectively. Schwindel is trying to be the outlier here.

Throughout his career, Schwindel has been relatively consistent offensively. Schwindel pushed his name into the limelight in 2017 after putting up very productive numbers between Double-A and Triple-A. He hit a staggering 66 extra-base hits, 43 being doubles and 23 being home runs while slashing a monstrous .329/.349/.541 and a .890 OPS over 133 games.

He then played in the Dominican League for 30 games where his offensive tear continued. There he hit .317/.351/.463 with three home runs and nine doubles.

The offensive numbers then rolled over into his production during Spring Training. During his 21 games, he hit .366/.381/.976 and logged a 1.357 OPS. He hit a team-leading seven home runs as well. From 2017 to the end of Spring Training, Schwindel hit .329/.350/.553 over 184 games.

Needless to say, the guy can be an offensive threat. Maybe more intriguing is during that time he only struck out 100 times over 184 games.

Something interesting to remember as well is the Royals have made zero indication that they are going to try him out at different positions. That leads me to believe that he might be a leading candidate to hold down the first base position in the near future. Dare I say as soon as July of 2018?

Ryan O’Hearn

Ryan O’Hearn is an interesting case. For a few years, he has been a name mentioned often. He was a guy that if he could figure out how to be consistent offensively he could make his jump. Unfortunately, consistency is hard at times.

Throughout his career, he has shown the ability to hit for power. Over his four year career, he has hit 96 doubles, five triples, and 84 home runs. In fact, last year in his first campaign in Triple-A he had 26 doubles and 18 home runs over 114 games.

Unfortunately, again with power comes strikeouts. He has struck out a cringe-worthy 497 times over 457 games.

Defensively, he is a solid fielder. At first base, he has a career fielding percentage of .990 and .995 while in Triple-A last year.

During Spring Training, O’Hearn has been showing off what he can do. Before being reassigned he was hitting .400/.447/1.000 with 10 extra-base hits, five being home runs. The 19 games he played showed a lot of maturity for a player who has been a consistent .250 hitter.

The story seems to be the same for O’Hearn as it is for Dozier and Cuthbert. For some reason, the organization does not seem to see O’Hearn as a future solution at first base.

With Frank Schwindel, Ryan O'Hearn and Hunter Dozier all expected at Triple-A Omaha this year, Ned Yost said O'Hearn likely will play some outfield as well to break up the 1B/DH logjam.
— Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) March 22, 2018

This is interesting because he looks to be far more comfortable at first base than in the outfield. His bat is also a bit too inconsistent to be considered an everyday designated hitter. So they obviously have someone in mind for the position, right?

Nick Pratto

Which leads us to our final option. The hopeful future of the position. Nick Pratto is expected to be the next franchise first baseman for the Royals. However, he may only be a few years away from making the jump.

According to MLB Prospect Watch, Pratto is estimated to make his MLB debut in 2021. That simply means that the Royals, in theory, have three years they need to fill before he makes the jump.

At 19-years-old, Pratto is making his presence felt within the Royals organization. After his first year with the organization, Pratto slashed a .247/.330/.414 with a .745 OPS. He logged 22 extra-base hits and 10 stolen bases on 14 attempts during those 52 games, too.

Pratto is currently ranked fourth among all first base prospects in baseball. In fact, he is the only teenager in the Top-10 of first base prospects as well.

Pratto is also getting some comparisons to a certain player that might have left a wound that is still too fresh for some. Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com wrote an article about how the young Nick Pratto reminds a lot of people within the organization of the team’s old first baseman, Eric Hosmer.

It is a lot of pressure for the Royals to make that type of comparison. Hopefully, Pratto can live up to the hype and be the future at first base.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, the Royals do have a situation that they need to figure out. They have plenty of options. Now they just need to figure out which one is the best option.

Unfortunately, the Royals do not have enough space to give these guys all a fair shot. From the sounds of it, some of them have potentially lost their shot.

To me, the solution to the question at first base is simple. Regardless of how Duda does in the first half, they need to trade him. Any type of prospect will be worth more to the Royals rebuild than having him play out his full contract. It does not matter how cheap it is, playing Dude 150+ games this year is not good for the Royals.

I also believe that the Royals should give Schwindel a chance. He has a strong chance of having success at the big league level and will provide the team with a nice bridge between now and when Pratto makes the jump. If Schwindel has success then it also helps alleviate the pressure of Pratto having to move quickly.

If Schwindel does not have success, Cuthbert, O’Hearn, and Dozier can figure out who gets pushed to the outfield or designated hitters spot, while the other takes over at first base.

So what do you think Royals fans? Do the Royals have a clear-cut favorite for first base? Is their current situation a good one? Who do you think should be at first base by the end of the season? Let us know below!

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