Former Royals utility man fails to impress in debut with new team

Some people are great at first impressions, while others just aren't. Unfortunately, it appears former Kansas City Royals utility man Garrett Hampson falls squarely into that second camp.

On March 29, Hampson made his first appearance for the Arizona Diamondbacks, with whom he signed a minor league deal in late January and subsequently earned a spot on the Opening Day roster. Entering in the bottom of the ninth inning as a pinch runner, Hampson made an embarrassing baserunning error that resulted in the final out of the game, seeing the Chicago Cubs defeat the Diamondbacks, 4-3.

Considering the underwhelming nature of Hampson's 2024 campaign in Kansas City, Royals fans are unlikely to be surprised that the 30-year-old is failing to impress elsewhere. Still, it's a stark reminder that not every player from the Royals' comeback team last season will be missed.

Former Royals utility man Garrett Hampson makes embarrassing debut with Diamondbacks

When Hampson signed a one-year, $2 million contract with the Royals before the 2024 season, he was coming off the best offensive campaign of his career. In 2023 with the Miami Marlins, Hampson slashed .276/.349/.380 in 252 plate appearances, but unfortunately, those weren't numbers he even came close to replicating in Kansas City.

Last season, Hampson posted a disappointing .230/.275/.300 line with no home runs and 16 RBI across 231 plate appearances, marking career-worst numbers in both on-base percentage and slugging. He was a lot stronger on defense, recording 8 Outs Above Average (OAA) and a Fielding Run Value (FRV) of 8 to rank in the 93rd and 87th percentiles of all qualified fielders, respectively, and he offered a lot of versatility, playing in every position but catcher during the 2024 regular season.

Hampson is also one of fastest players in MLB, with his top sprint speed in 2024 coming in at 29.8 feet per second, according Baseball Savant — which makes his error on March 30 all the more embarrassing.

After becoming a free agent at the end of last season, Hampson signed a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks on January 31. On March 21, the utility man triggered the opt-out in his contract, giving the Diamondbacks 48 hours to either add him to their active roster or grant him his release. Two days later, Arizona officially selected his contract, putting Hampson on the team's Opening Day roster.

With the Diamondbacks trailing the Cubs, 4-3, on March 30, Hampson entered in the bottom of the ninth inning as a pinch runner. Arizona had runners on first and second, and looked set to have loaded bases when Corbin Carroll hit a slow chopper to short at just 46 mph — but that's not what happened.

When the Cubs' Dansby Swanson fielded the ball at short, he knew he couldn't reasonably catch the speedy Carroll, so faked a throw to first base before turning to Hampson. Having seen Swanson gesture to first, Hampson attempted to round third and continue running, but his aggressive turn meant he was too far off the bag to get back when he realized he'd been tricked.

Swanson tagged Hampson out as he rushed back to third base, securing the win for the Cubs. Hampson simply laid on the ground in disbelief as Swanson pumped his first in celebration.

“Corbin hit it softly, so just trying to be aggressive,” Hampson told Arizona Sports' Alex Weiner after the game. “Maybe if they throw it to first, try to score the run. But understanding one of the fastest guys in the league who hit it, there’s probably no play at first. So, yeah, bad play, cost us a chance to tie it there.”

As debuts with a team go, Hampson's certainly wasn't ideal. Maybe he'll be able to win back Diamondbacks fans as the season goes on, but to do it, he'll definitely need better offensive production than he was able to give the Royals.