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Who hits where if the KC Royals opened the season today?

It's not too early to think about how Kansas City will line up in 2024.

By Mike Gillespie |
/ Ben Ludeman/Texas Rangers/GettyImages
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Not until March 28, when they open the 2024 season at home against defending American League Central champion Minnesota, will the KC Royals begin the quest to redeem themselves from an embarrassing 106-loss, last-place 2023 finish.

Between now and then, we'll learn more about the club's 2024 makeup than we know now. They're not collectively an infallible predictor of Opening Day roster composition, but Kansas City's 31 Cactus League games will provide more than just guesses about which Royals will make the 26-man roster, which pitchers will start and which will relieve, and who'll play where defensively.

And what about second-year manager Matt Quatraro's batting order? Because he and his staff must check out so many players this spring, his lineup may not begin to take season shape until late in the exhibition schedule.

What, though, might it look like if the season started today?

The top third of the order probably won't surprise KC Royals fans

Expect Quatraro to give third baseman Maikel García, shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., and catcher Salvador Perez the first three spots in his Opening Day lineup. He hit them at the top much of last season.

García hitting first makes sense. He led off 72 of the 123 games he played last season, and only four times after June — a span during which he hit .272 — did he bat in any other spot. He posted an identical .272 season average, and .267 batting first, his best mark of any slot in which he spent significant time. Importantly for a leadoff hitter, García is a legitimate threat on the bases (23 steals last season), and he and Quatraro seem quite comfortable with him batting first.

Witt may be close to an ideal No. 3 hitter, but he'll bat second instead, which isn't surprising considering the 99 times he hit there last season and the 75 games he occupied the spot as a rookie the year before. He was especially good in the 2-hole in 2023, slashing .303/.345/.535 with 19 of his 30 home runs and 65 of his 96 RBI. And, as his 49 steals in 2023 and 30 in 2022 prove, he's even more of a force on the basepaths than García, which will serve KC well if its leadoff man fails to reach base or gets caught stealing.

Batting third, Perez will return to his familiar spot in the order, where he'll try to achieve some interesting career milestones. He may not hit for the kind of high average many managers prefer there, but he hit .271, homered 16 times, and drove in 46 runs across 76 games in that slot last season.

How about the next three spots?

It's Vinnie Pasquantino, Hunter Renfroe, and MJ Melendez in the middle

Some may believe Perez should hit cleanup, but first baseman Pasquantino is the batter choice, especially if he's fully recovered from the shoulder surgery that ruined his 2023 season. Batting fourth is something Pasquantino is accustomed to: it's where he's hit most often in his short, parts-of-two-seasons career, and where he's been quite successful with a .323/.404/.536 line, 10 of his 19 career home runs, and 25 RBI in 54 games.

Figure on newcomer Hunter Renfroe batting next. That he regularly manages at least 20 home runs proves he has the power to bat fifth. Nice, of course, would be the prospective right fielder improving on his career .239 average, but that won't stop Quatraro from using him in the fifth spot, and the roster doesn't boast many high-average hitters.

Left fielder MJ Melendez will close out the middle of the order. Although he led the minor leagues with 41 homers in his award-winning 2021 season, the 18 he clubbed as a rookie two seasons ago and 16 he hit in 2023 don't commend him to the fourth or fifth spots in the lineup; nor does his .227 two-year average. But behind Renfroe and ahead of the three Royals who'll hit seventh, eighth, and ninth is where he should be.

And speaking of those final three spots...

The Royals will have some power at the bottom of their lineup

Hitting seventh for Kansas City should be designated hitter Nelson Velázquez, who came to the organization last summer in the trade deadline deal that sent José Cuas to the Cubs. Playing in only his second big league season, Velázquez clubbed 14 homers in 40 games after the trade to finish the campaign with 17. His high strikeout rate (28.5 K% in 2023) will preclude him from batting higher in the lineup, but having his kind of power low in the order won't hurt.

Kyle Isbel will bat eighth. He's a superb defensive outfielder in whose hands center field is secure; his bat, though, has disappointed despite the promising 28-game .276 average he posted in 2021, his first big league season. Because he's slashed .226/.273/.361 since, fans won't see his name near the top of Quatraro's lineup cards.

Last in the order will be second baseman Michael Massey. Like Velázquez, he brings power to the bottom third of the lineup — he homered 15 times last season, a more than adequate total for a second-sacker. But as his .284 two-season OBP suggests, he doesn't get on base often enough to merit batting in the upper or middle thirds of the lineup.

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