3 reasons why the KC Royals keep playing Jorge Soler

Sunday’s change to the KC Royals’ batting order was impossible to miss. To call the alteration conspicuous may not do it justice.

Jorge Soler, the part-time designated hitter, part-time outfielder whose 48 home runs smashed the team’s long-standing single-season record just two years ago, found his name in the seventh slot for the club’s game against Detroit. Manager Mike Matheny even penciled Ryan O’Hearn, dragging a .188 average into the game, above him.

As improbable as Soler’s tumble down the order might be in a vacuum, the reality of his performance explains it. Soler just can’t hit this season. Sunday’s 0-for-3 effort dropped his average to .182, and his .263 OBP proves the depth of his struggle to reach base, much less hit the home runs he’s paid to hit.

Although he’d occupied only the prime fourth and fifth lineup spots before Sunday, dropping him to seventh made even more sense considering his 1-for-18 slump entering the day. Add the facts he has only four homers so far, exactly 25 percent of his RBIs came in one game, and his 31 percent strikeout rate, and hitting him seventh in the lineup makes perfect sense.

If Jorge Soler is hitting so badly, why do the KC Royals continue to play him?

So, why have the Royals, struggling and scuffling to work themselves back into American League Central Division relevance, tolerated his quiet bat all season?

Power is the main reason. The notion of coveting that commodity always seems a bit strange for a franchise that usually ranks speed, the ability to get on base, and hitting the spacious Kauffman Stadium gaps above power. Having a big bopper is nice (think John Mayberry, Steve Balboni, and even Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew for his final big league season), but has never been truly essential in Kansas City.

Soler’s brand of power, though, is hard to resist, and those 48 homers he hit in 2019 seem to have hooked the Royals. But the truth is this: 2019 remains the only season Soler has hit more than 12 homers, and the only campaign he’s managed more than nine since KC traded away Wade Davis to get him.

Are there other reasons Kansas City sticks with Soler?

Hope probably helps drive the KC Royals’ decisions about Jorge Soler.

If Kansas City fans have learned anything from General Manager Dayton Moore’s employment practices and preferences, it’s that he rarely shuts the door. Moore seems more willing than most to stick by struggling players and to hand out second chances (see Greg Holland, Wade Davis, Alcides Escobar, Terrance Gore, Jarrod Dyson, and the plethora of pitchers in disrepair he signs).

Moore, whose primary responsibility is to assemble teams and talent Mike Matheny can manage to success, isn’t about to give up on Jorge Soler. Soler worked hard, at times through injuries, to vindicate the club when his first two seasons in Kansas City didn’t quite justify trading Wade Davis to the Cubs for him; hard work and perseverance are commodities Moore clearly holds dear.

For his team’s sake and Soler’s, Moore undoubtedly hopes Soler soon breaks out of this season’s horrendous slump, one that’s permitted him to rarely push his average above the dreaded Mendoza Line—he’s finished only 13 of his 45 games at .200 or better. A sustained burst of production could help the KC Royals close back in on the division lead they occupied before their recent 11-game losing streak.

And there is some reason for hope. Soler provided much of it May 11 when he went 2-for-5 with a homer, double and six RBIs against Detroit. His 24 RBIs, a surprising total considering his other numbers, tie him for third best on the club with Whit Merrifield (Carlos Santana leads with 31 and Salvador Perez has 27). His 11 doubles lead the Royals and half of his 28 hits have been for extra bases.

Expect the Royals’ hopes for Soler to sustain his playing time.

Jorge Soler is mired in a season-long slump. But don’t expect the KC Royals to give up on him just yet.