Kansas City Royals: 3 players who won’t make the 2020 roster

Though he has been with the Royals for a few years, Cheslor Cuthbert has been unable to make his claim for a full-time spot on the field.

Cheslor Cuthbert is a name that many Kansas City Royals fans will recognize. While he is not known for being one of the top Royals players, he has been able to eat some innings when the Royals needed someone to fill in at first or third base.

Making his major league appearance in 2015, Cuthbert has seen up and down years, his best coming in 2016 where he saw 128 games and held a batting average of .274 with 46 RBI’s. While that doesn’t scream all-star, for the Royals team that was quickly declining, players showing promise were something they wanted to keep around.

Cuthbert continued to see some innings though the 2019 season, but the number greatly declined from that of 2016 as he spent time in the minors every season as well. While Cuthbert was able to produce decent numbers in the minors, he was never fully able to translate those numbers to the major leagues ending 2019 with a .246 batting average and a .294 on-base percentage.

Another area of trouble for Cuthbert comes in his defense. Cuthbert can play both first and third base, but his first base 2019 fielding percentage is a .983, while his first base is an even worse .916. On a Royals team that holds players to a high defensive standard, Cuthbert finds himself in the back of the line.

If Cuthbert could figure out his position and put up even slightly better offensive numbers, he may worth keeping around. In a club with options like Ryan McBroom, Ryan O’Hearn, and Hunter Dozier, plus the many other first and third basemen in the minors, though, Cuthbert looks like a clear candidate to move on from and make some room on the roster.