Royals: Anyone besides Whit Merrifield to bat .300 in 2020?

Though he didn’t hit the .300 mark in 2019, the Kansas City Royals third baseman might find himself in the .300 club if he continues his offensive progress.

Hunter Dozier starts off the Kansas City Royals players that “might, might not” hit .300 next year. Dozier showed a lot of progress during the 2019 season and put in enough work to at least be mentioned in this list.

Dozier saw a breakout year in 2019 and really started to prove that he deserved to be in the lineup every day. For 2019, Dozier slashed .279/.348/.522 over 139 games, with 29 doubles, 10 triples, 26 home runs, and 84 RBIs. Those 10 triples he smashed tied for the lead in the majors, along with Merrifield as mentioned above.

Dozier’s downfall in 2019 was an injury that came in the middle of the season. He didn’t record a hit in March, but in April, Dozier hit for a .375 average and followed up in May with a .283. Then the injury-hit. Dozier wasn’t out for long, but it took a noticeable toll on him once he returned.

Dozier held his batting average above a .300 until June 26th when he saw it drop to .297. This was only a few games after returning from the injured list. Dozier saw his monthly ERAs continue to improve, hitting .284 in September, but it was too little too late, and the .300 had slipped out of reach.

While Dozier didn’t hit .300 in 2019, and he doesn’t have a lot in his history to say he has the ability, his performance in 2019 did show that if he continues to progress and work, he could eventually reach the marks that Merrifield is putting up, just with a bit more power.