New KC Royals earn good grades, bad grades at one-third mark

Bottom of the class: 2 players who've struggled with the Royals

Hunter Renfroe. Kansas City signed Renfroe in mid-December to do three things — play right field, hit homers, and drive in runs. He's been manager Matt Quatraro's right field choice 46 times this season, but failed at the plate. His .161/.248/.285 line is abysmal and his four homers have him on pace to finish the season with 12, a disappointing total considering he's missed hitting at least 20 only in 2016, when he played just 11 times, and in the pandemic-truncated 2020 season.

Yes, Renfroe is historically a slow starter. But not hitting a lick with a third of the season gone is worse than slow. We'll give him an F.

Adam Frazier. Frazier's rather curious late-January signing is perhaps best explained by offseason questions surrounding Michael Massey's bat and the Royals' seemingly insatiable desire for defensively-versatile players. The club may have been concerned about the former and focused on getting more of the latter.

Although Massey's excellent hitting since escaping from the Injured List last month cut into Frazier's playing time, the club didn't miss him at the plate. But with Massey back on the IL as of Sunday, he'll probably share time at second with Nick Loftin, which means he must improve his .210 average.

Frazier gets a D.

Moving to the middle of the pack...