KC Royals: 2 biggest surprises, 2 biggest busts of 2021

The KC Royals, a club searching for relevance ever since their ill-fated 2017 attempt to squeeze one more season of good out of a disintegrating championship team fizzled and failed, retooled themselves over the winter. They brought in Carlos Santana, Andrew Benintendi, Michal A. Taylor, and Mike Minor to plug holes in a shaky lineup and rotation.

Although they’ve made their marks, these additions haven’t, of course, transformed the Royals into something they haven’t been since 2015. Familiar inconsistencies in the rotation and at the plate, flaws that must be fixed before the club can seriously contend, continue to plague the Royals.

Simply put, this is a club firing well on some cylinders, but not at all on others. And although some players have pleasantly surprised, others have been utter disappointments.

A veteran designated hitter-outfielder is the KC Royals’ biggest bust.

The biggest bust of the season is clear—look no further than Jorge Soler, the (sometimes) power hitting designated hitter-outfielder whose 48-homer 2019 campaign is a fading memory rapidly being swallowed up by a miserable season-long battle with his own bat.

The Royals pay Soler to hit home runs. He’s hit five through the club’s 59 games, and that’s not enough for what KC pays him to do, especially when he’s on pace to homer about 14 times this year.

But that power failure is merely one symptom of the offensive liability Soler is. Entering tonight’s game with the Angels, he’s slashing .174/.265/.315. It’s an awful line produced by a long, long slump that shows no signs of ending.

Who is the club’s second biggest bust, and its two biggest surprises? Let’s find out.

An outfielder new to Kansas City is one of the KC Royals’ 2021 surprises.

The Royals aren’t without performances some might find surprising. Edward Olivares is hitting .278, but in only five games; time will tell if he maintains that clip. Kyle Zimmer has established himself as a bullpen key, but that’s really a continuation of the status he achieved with his 3-0, 2.11 ERA record last season.

One of the club’s biggest surprises, though, is Michael A. Taylor, not because he wasn’t a decent player when the Royals unexpectedly signed him last November, but because he’s probably been better than many anticipated.

The surprise that is Taylor has its genesis in his signing, which was itself curious. His reputation as a speedster with a good glove but typically soft bat preceded him—although he hit 19 homers for Washington in 2017 and 14 in 2015, he’d hit better than .231 only twice in seven seasons and .196 last year. He brought a career .237 average and .291 OBP to Kansas City.

But Taylor’s 2021 performance exceeds those numbers. He’s hitting .250 through KC’s 59 games with a .304 OBP (it can still stand improvement), his five homers equal 2020’s output, and his 22 RBIs are six more than he had last season.

Taylor also brings stability to center field, where he’s played 52 times this season with only one error. The Royals and their fans no longer wonder every day who might be in center that night.

A little-known reliever is making a name for himself with the KC Royals.

That a Cactus League record of 1-0 to go with a 2.89 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 9.1 innings earns its owner a major league roster spot isn’t shocking. But it was at least surprising in the case of Jake Brentz, a lefthanded reliever who’d never been in the big leagues before and whose record wasn’t bursting with great numbers.

But on Opening Day in Kansas City, Brentz became a major leaguer. The Royals added him to the roster after his stellar spring performance.

Brentz came to the Royals in late August 2019 with a sizzling fastball and a penchant for strikeouts (9.74 minor league SO9 through 2019), but also a propensity to walk too many batters and give up too many hits.

Kansas City, a club always on the lookout for hidden pitching gems, took a chance on Brentz and even named him to their 60-man Player Pool last summer. Whatever the Royals saw at the Alternate Training site must have impressed them, and his spring training efforts clearly did.

Now, Brentz is repaying the club for its confidence in him.

Emblematic of just how good he’s been this season is Brentz’s performance over his last 10 games. He’s held opponents scoreless, given up only two hits, and struck out 12 in 11.1 innings.

Brentz’s 30 appearances this season leads the team. He’s 1-0 and his 1.88 trails only Scott Barlow’s 1.80 through Tuesday, and he has 32 strikeouts in 28.2 innings for an even 10.0 SO9.

That Manager Mike Matheny calls on Brentz so often, and he delivers so well, proves how valuable he’s been to the KC Royals. That makes the rookie Kansas City’s biggest surprise of the season.

The KC Royals’ season deserves mixed reviews. But it’s easy to tell who the biggest surprises, and biggest busts, have been so far.