3 reasons why the KC Royals don’t cut Ryan O’Hearn

The MLB Trade Deadline passed late Tuesday afternoon and, when the smoke cleared from the KC Royals’ under-the-wire deals that sent Whit Merrifield to Toronto and Cam Gallagher to San Diego, Ryan O’Hearn was left standing, still but mysteriously a member of the club.

Don’t be surprised. O’Hearn wasn’t going anywhere; no one was trading for a player who’s successfully battled big league pitching only once in a four-plus season career.

Feel free, though, to wonder why the Royals keep O’Hearn. The luster and promise of his 2018 rookie season, when he opened all eyes by clubbing 12 home runs and slashing .262/.353/.597 in 44 games, wore off after he hit .195 not once, but for two straight seasons before batting .225 last year, and .200 so far this season. His career WAR is -2.6.

Yet he plays, most often in right field or at first base, and is manager Mike Matheny’s primary lefthanded pinch hitter.

But why? How does O’Hearn keep his spot on the roster?

Besides the fact he has no trade value, which matters even less now that clubs can’t make any more major league-level deals this season, here are three obvious reasons.

Ryan O’Hearn is, at least for now, the best pinch hitter the KC Royals have.

How a hitter whose slump is now in its fourth season—at .205 since Opening Day 2019, he’s in constant peril of dipping below .200—pinch hits so well is puzzling. But batting for others is what O’Hearn now does best.

Twenty times this year Matheny has subbed him in for another hitter and, in 18 official at-bats, he’s hitting .389 (7-for-18) with a home run and four RBIs. He owns a respectable .250 career average and an even better .350 OBP in the role and his four pinch-hit homers are more than any other Royal ever.

And being a lefty batter increases O’Hearn’s utility … as long as he comes through when Matheny needs him to step up late in a game. Because he manages to succeed so often in such situations, Matheny won’t give him up without a fight.

The KC Royals need a placeholder, and Ryan O’Hearn currently fits the bill.

Kansas City is a team in transition. Few players other than catcher Salvador Perez, center fielder Michael A. Taylor, and the starting pitchers and relievers, know on any given day where they’ll play. So many Royals shift around—Bobby Witt Jr. between shortstop and second base, Nicky Lopez between second, short and third, Vinnie Pasquantino between first and DH, MJ Melendez between backing up Perez, DH and right field, and Nick Pratto between first and the outfield. And with Andrew Benintendi gone, Taylor can never be sure who his outfield wingmen might be.

The Royals are seeing what their youngsters can do. Promising infielder Maikel Garcia is up and down from the minors, Michael Massey may or may not settle into the second base job after Merrifield’s departure, but will get some looks at third. The club recalled outfielder Nate Eaton Thursday when it moved Edward Olivares from the 10-day to 60-day Injured List.

Simply put, the Royals are doing what so many cried out for—giving the potential-packed kids a chance to play and prove themselves. Not wanting to waste them on the bench forces Matheny to move them around constantly, leaving the bench to players on days off or who’ve been displaced temporarily by one of the rookies.

And to O’Hearn. Unlike his rookie season, O’Hearn doesn’t have the bona fides required of an everyday player. But he can occasionally spell others when they need a rest, and pinch hit better than any other Royal.

So, despite a weak bat, O’Hearn has a present role. It’s a job, though, that could be filled by a minor leaguer who isn’t quite good enough to play every day in the big leagues but might be more consistent at the plate.