Ryan McBroom is off to a good start for the KC Royals

With a number of KC Royals positions still needing to be locked down, Ryan McBroom is working to get ahead early with a good start to his spring training.

With the KC Royals having started their games last Friday, the first week of spring training for the team has flown by. A majority of players have been shuffled through the lineup in one way or another, and fans have gotten to see who the team is working with this year, and who might make the opening day roster.

One player who has seen a good deal of time over the last week is Ryan McBroom. McBroom is of many Royals fighting for a spot at Kauffman in 2020 and is one of two front runners for the first base position, the other being Ryan O’Hearn.

So far, McBroom looks to be jumping out early in spring training to make his argument for an opening day spot. McBroom came to the Royals in a late-season acquisition in 2019 from the Yankees organization. While he had limited appearances, the time he did see in the majors was positive, showing both an ability to hit and be productive defensively.

Having experience with both first base and the outfield, the Royals moved him back and forth, but he quickly entered the chat for who would take over the first base spot. There has been a lot of talk of Mike Matheny wanting to give O’Hearn another go at the position, but if McBroom can continue to impress throughout the spring, it would be hard look past him.

Though it’s a very small sample size, so far in spring training, McBroom has (as of end of play Thursday, February 27th) slashed .286/.333/.583, with 14 ABs, 4 hits, 3 runs, 1 double, 1 homerun, 3 RBIs, 1 walk and 2 strikeouts.

Again, the sample size is small and of course, this is spring training where anything can happen and the stats only matter to a certain extent. But, that doesn’t excuse the fact that McBroom is looking good so far.

McBroom may not be the forethought for first base with Ryan O’Hearn still looking to keep his name in the picture, but McBroom offers some versatility between both first base and the outfield.

McBroom was also able to recently show a glimpse of the power he is said to have. In 2019, McBroom smashed 26 homers during his time in the minor leagues but was unable to carry that over into the majors in 75 plate appearances. Luckily for him, he got one out of the way early in spring training.

In Tuesday’s game against the Rangers, the wind was blowing full force and causing trouble for batters. McBroom didn’t take notice, though, as he sent a ball flying into the wind for a homerun. It will be interesting to see how much power he can translate to the majors from his minor league time.

As spring training moves on, the stats will start to round themselves out and fans will get to see if McBroom can continue his progress or if he will begin to decline. At the moment, though, McBroom looks poised for at least a bench spot to start the season to platoon first base or offer some relief in the outfield as needed.