Kansas City Royals: How the Royals can utilize Brett Phillips

After acquiring Brett Phillips from the Milwaukee Brewers, the Kansas City Royals are going to have to figure out how to use him. After giving it some thoughts, this might be the best way to utilize the new outfielder.

After the Kansas City Royals acquired Brett Phillips, they called him up to the big leagues. Therefore, the Royals are going to run into a bit of a big league log-jam in the outfield. As it stands, the Royals have Alex Gordon, Jorge Bonifacio, Jorge Soler, Rosell Herrera, Brian Goodwin, and now Phillips as outfielders the Royals can use.

While Soler is on the DL still and may not make it back this year, I still put him on the list because we still have two months of baseball left. Anything can happen.

But right now, the Royals have five outfielders on the team they can use, six if you count Whit Merrifield. So, how do the Royals make this work? Who is “in” and who is “out”? Or are any “out”?

A look at who they have currently

Right now, Gordon is the teams left fielder, Goodwin is in centerfield, Herrera and Bonifacio split time between designated hitter and right field, and Merrifield usually plays in the outfield if someone needs a day off. Phillips is predominately a center fielder but can play right field as well.

In my opinion, Gordon is really the only one that is sitting comfortably in the lineup regularly. Even though Gordon is hitting .236/.309/.336 on the season, he is arguably the best defensive left fielder in the American Leauge, if not baseball. His UZR is 11.2 in left field this year. According to UZR rankings, 10.0 equates to “Great” and 15.0 equates to “Gold Glove Caliber”.

Bonifacio is currently hitting .224/.313/.376 since coming off suspension but has been doing pretty well defensively in right field. He currently has a 1.6 UZR in right field. He is the wild card in this situation in my opinion.

For me, I have a hard time saying that Herrera and Goodwin should be benched or platooning. Since joining the Royals, Herrera is hitting .281/.322/.382 over 28 games and Goodwin is hitting .471/.471/.709 over five games.

Which leave Merrifield. While Merrifield has played in the outfield this year, he is most likely going to stay as the team’s second baseman.

A possible solution

This is where it is going to get a bit interesting. I’ve mentioned part of this past when the Royals traded for Goodwin.

Part of this article has already been confirmed in a press conference today with manager Ned Yost. I suggested moving Herrera to third base to open the outfield up to allow for Goodwin to spend more time in centerfield and get consistent at-bats, something he wasn’t getting in Washington.

By doing this, Gordon, Bonifacio, Goodwin, and Phillips are the teams four outfielders. Phillips can be the team’s fourth outfielder this year if this is where the moves stop.

However, the Royals do have the ability to make Phillips an everyday player this year if they really want.

The way this is possible is to trade Lucas Duda. Over the last eight games, Duda has hit .276/.353/.483 with two home runs. The only way he will be traded is if a contending team wants him as a bench player and the Royals are content with a lower level prospect that is a low-risk/high-reward type player.

By trading Duda, they can leave Hunter Dozier at first base and move one of the four outfielders to the designated hitter spot. That means the possible lineup for the Royals would be:

• Catcher: Salvador Perez
• First base: Dozier
• Second base: Merrifield
• Third base: Herrera
• Shortstop: Adalberto Mondesi
• Left field: Gordon
• Center field: Goodwin
• Right field: Phillips
• Designated hitter: Bonifacio
• Bench: Alcides Escobar, Drew Butera, (insert someone from Omaha)

Final Thoughts

As mentioned in my Goodwin article, I am aware that Dozier’s natural position is third base. However, depending on the amount of playing time the Royals want to give to Phillips, they can’t move him to third base. And if they want to give Goodwin and Herrera consistent at-bats, they have to leave Dozier at first base.

The only way this can happen though is if they move Duda before the trade deadline is finished. If they keep Duda, then this layout can’t work. However, I believe the Royals will have the ability to move Duda. He has been playing better as of late, and he provides a left-hand bat off the bench a contending team could use.

I don’t believe this lineup is as far off as it sounds. Herrera and Goodwin have been playing well enough that it doesn’t make sense to bench one. But for all we know, the Royals don’t intend to play Phillips much this year. However, I find that hard to believe because they put him on the big league roster, rather than have him play in Omaha.

So what do you think Royals fans? Does this make sense? Do you think the Royals intend to play Phillips more often than just as a fourth outfielder? Would you change anything? Let us know below!