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Royals Defensive Usage Patterns: Escobar & Francoeur Are Playing Time Locks

Last year, when I was tracking Kendall's playing time, I developed a bizarre joy in looking at innings played breakdowns by position. It can be a nice proxy for seeing what the manager is trying to do with playing time, although there's certainly an element of randomness and forgetfulness in there as well. 

The Royals have played 354.1 innings in the field this season, which for math purposes is 354.3. The playing time leader is Alcides Escobar at shortstop. Escobar has played 352.1 innings at short this season, which comes out to 99.4% of all innings played. We'll always remember those two innings Aviles played, however. Any guesses on when Escobar is benched/rested for the first time?

Despite some lingering fascination with Jarrod Dyson, the outfield has been remarkably stable. To varying degrees, Gordon, Cabrera, and Francoeur all got off to good starts, both offensively and defensively. Francoeur has been especially favored, appearing in 342.1 innings in right, 96.6% of all innings played. Gordon has played 87.8% of the available innings in left, while Melky has logged 81.3% of the innings in center.