KC Royals face at least 3 splitting winter headaches

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The World Series begins tonight and will, barring weather delays, command baseball’s attention through at least Saturday. But whether a new Series champion is crowned this weekend or next week, the end of this Fall Classic will usher out the 2021 season and mark the beginning of a winter of uncertainty. Even for the KC Royals.

The game’s Basic Agreement, better known as its collective bargaining deal, expires Dec. 1 and recent accounts offer a only a bleak forecast for negotiations. Hardball seems to be both sides’ early approach and a possible lockout, the owners’ most powerful economic weapon, looms.

But even if the players and clubs suddenly find common ground, or enough of it to permit offseason player transactions, the usual wintertime personnel headaches will hound each team. The Royals have at least three of their own.

What are they?

Can the KC Royals afford to have Brady Singer rely on 2 primary pitches?

Brady Singer’s questionable commitment to two primary pitches at the expense of what could be a career-changing three is a problem the Kansas City brain trust has, knows it has, and should now forcefully address. Singer is talented, but not so much so that he can get by on a fastball (sinker) and slider alone.

That’s not to say, or even suggest, those two pitches aren’t good for Singer. They are. But in 2021, his battles with command meant they weren’t good together, or even separately, often enough, which together with his glaring lack of a decent third pitch account in no small part for his 5-10, 4.91 ERA record. And that’s not to mention the benefit Singer could reap by adding another effective pitch to his repertoire.

According to Baseball Savant, Singer relied almost exclusively in 2021 on his sinker and slider, throwing the former 56.3% and the latter 38.2% of the time, while he chose his changeup 3.9% and his four-seamer just 1.6% of the time.

It’s time Singer developed and used a third pitch, whether it’s the change he rarely throws or the curve he doesn’t (but should) have. The Royals need to insist on such an addition, or Singer’s two-pitch approach will continue to be a headache. And a big one at that.

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The KC Royals have a player they have little choice but to play next season.

Hunter Dozier is a Kansas City problem without an easy solution, a Royal who hasn’t earned a present position but must be played.

Such is the unfortunate consequence of the $25 million contract the club gave him in February. The deal has the Royals in a corner—Dozier hit a respectable 16 home runs this season, but his .216/.285/.394 line and that four-year deal make justifying playing him every day difficult and moving him to another club hard.

Now, new General Manager J.J. Picollo must, at least in the short term, live with the problem his predecessor created and find Dozier a place to play.

Third base, where Dozier has passed considerable time, is out. Bobby Witt Jr. or Adalberto Mondesi will play there. Shortstop and second aren’t options because Nicky Lopez and Whit Merrifield shouldn’t be moving anywhere after their excellent 2021 campaigns.

Dozier isn’t versatile enough to be a super-utility infielder, or to supplant Mondesi should the KC Royals install him in that role if he doesn’t play third. And although Dozier is an adequate first baseman, the club signaled first wasn’t for him when they signed Carlos Santana, and Nick Pratto is on the verge of breaking down the door to that position.

That leaves right field (Andrew Benintendi’s claim to left is rock solid and Dozier simply isn’t a center fielder), which will be available only of KC keeps Merrifield at second. DH is a possibility, but Dozier’s .216 average doesn’t measure up.

And that’s why trying to fit Dozier in is, at least for now, one of the club’s major headaches.

(Mandatory Credit: David Berding-USA TODAY Sports) /

Can starter Brad Keller and the KC Royals solve the puzzle he has become?

Brad Keller can be excellent, and he can be bad. There isn’t much middle ground for the starting pitcher who, assuming he recovers completely from the lat strain that forced a premature end to his 2021 season, will be striving to bounce back from a terrible campaign when spring camp opens.

Keller went 8-12, 5.39 this season, a far cry from the 5-3, 2.47 he posted in 2020. But the downturn fit the puzzling pattern of Keller’s four-year Kansas City tenure—he was good in 2018 (9-6, 3.08), not so good in 2019 (7-14, 4.19), then put in another excellent effort in 2020 only to follow it with an inferior season this year.

He won the club’s Pitcher of the Year award for both his better seasons.

It is inconsistency that creates the odd-year headache that is Keller. Knowing which Keller will show up for any given start is a mystery, one which he and the KC Royals need to solve. The righthander at his best can be the ace of a promising Kansas City starting rotation; at his worst, he won’t measure up to a starting role as the club’s hot pitching prospects progress and mature.

And, just as he shouldn’t receive a contract extension now, he won’t until he finds more consistency.

Next. Grading the Royals' 2021 catchers. dark

The Royals have at least three offseason headaches to cure themselves of this winter.

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Can the KC Royals afford to have Brady Singer rely on 2 primary pitches?

The KC Royals have a player they have little choice but to play next season.

Can starter Brad Keller and the KC Royals solve the puzzle he has become?

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