KC Royals: A shorter season may be good for some players

While there are still hurdles that must be jumped by the KC Royals and all the MLB, it looks as though a 2020 season may finally get on track.

For the KC Royals and the rest of baseball, things may be starting to move in the right direction. It’s a bit strange to hear some positive talk about the path of the 2020 season, but that’s what we have, at least for now.

On Monday evening, reports spread that a 60 game season would be played with a reporting date in July and needs to be voted on. While there are still many details that will have to be figured out, this is a positive step forward for the season and it seemed to be favored and has a good chance of being put into play. Mike Gillespie covered this update with more detail.

In looking towards this update, one has to wonder how different everything may be. If going on what has been talked about in the past months, there could be changes to extra innings, play locations, roster sizes, and of course, everything will seem different with a much smaller season.

While the small season might not be ideal in everyone’s mind, even a few games would be great to see live. For a few Royals, the chance at playing smaller season might be just what they need to get back into the flow of things, two, in particular, being Salvador Perez and Adalberto Mondesi.

Fans likely recall that both of these players fit into the same category in that 2020 would have been a return from and test after dealing with injuries for the 2019 season.

Perez, unfortunately, sat out the entire season recovering from Tommy John surgery, while Mondesi was able to see 102 games in 2019, but missed a good portion due to shoulder issues that resulted in surgery.

A delay for the first part of the season was easily seen as being in their favor. An upset for other players and fans, players like Salvy and Mondesi were given a few more weeks to recover and regain their full strength. Unfortunately, the wait became longer and longer.

Now that it look like play is going to resume, the shortened season could again be to the benefit of these two players.

A possible increase in roster size allows for more movement. While it’s nice to let the players like Salvy and Mondesi play every day, they need rest, especially Perez as a catcher. With more players around, they will have a chance to play fewer innings in some games, or sit out full games to recover.

Maybe most in their favor though is the shortened season altogether. By now, both players have had a decent amount of time to recover, get back into workouts, and will have some sort of “spring training” to prepare before the season starts, but it will take time for them to regain their previous form.

A shortened season is the perfect time for this. The Royals are still in a bit of a rebuild mode, though some players may say they aren’t. They are getting close to moving forward but still have a lot of young players developing. 2020 was not expected to be a season of contention.

Now with even fewer games, Mondesi and Perez can get in a decent amount of time, and still not have to deal with the pressure of playing an entire season. By the time the season is finished, they should be able to see enough innings to get back into playing mode, recover from their injuries, and be ready to go for full 2021 season.

Fewer games may not be exactly what fans want, but for some players, it could be a good reset and set them up better for years to come. For Salvy and Mondesi, a shortened 2020 season provides room to play, time to recover, and a chance to prepare for the future.