Reviewing The Royals Year In Home Runs

The Royals and home runs aren't exactly synonymous. Thanks to the magic of Baseball Reference Play Index and Greg Rybarczyk's Home Run Tracker there are plenty of ways to dissect the 131 home runs the Royals clubbed in 2012. Maybe this will jog your memory to an individual game or performance you enjoyed last summer. Or maybe it will scratch your baseball itch in the dead weeks prior to spring training.

First Home Run of 2012
Eric Hosmer vs Dan Haren on April 7 at Angels Stadium.

We thought there would be so many more. How wrong we were.

Last Home Run of 2012
Jeff Francoeur vs Brayan Villarreal on October 2 at Kauffman Stadium.

At this point, he was just mocking us. Or angling for a five year contract extension.

Opposite Field Home Runs
Salvador Perez - 4
Billy Butler - 3
Alex Gordon - 3
Eric Hosmer - 2
Jeff Francoeur - 1

Among players 25 and younger in 2012, only Andrew McCutchen (8) and Dayan Viciedo (6) had more opposite field home runs than Perez. That is crazy impressive.

Grand Slam
Mike Moustakas on July 2 at Toronto off David Pauley.

The Royals went almost a full calendar year between grand slams.

Bonus
Most Grand Slams hit as a Royal
Frank White - 6
Danny Tartabull - 5
Carlos Beltran - 4
Yuniesky Betancourt - 3
Johnny Damon - 3
Jermaine Dye - 3
Mike Macfarlane - 3
Mike Sweeney - 3

I was kind of hoping Dayton would bring back Betancourt to see if he could move up this list. Not really.

Leadoff Home Runs
Alex Gordon - 2

Both of Gordon's leadoff home runs came in Baltimore. His first was on August 9 against Wei-Yin Chen and he did it two games later on August 11 against Chris Tillman.

High Leverage Home Runs
Billy Butler - 6
Yuniesky Betancourt - 4
Salvador Perez - 2
Lorenzo Cain - 2
Brayan Pena - 1
Jeff Francoeur - 1
Eric Hosmer - 1

Or "clutch" if you prefer. This list is amazing to me. First, you have Butler, who is great, even if his own General Manager can't see that. Fourteen of his 29 home runs either tied the game or gave the Royals the lead. The fact that The Yunigma makes this list amuses me. Then, there is the absence of Moustakas who finished second on the team with 20 home runs. Only six Moustakas home runs gave the Royals the lead in the game. All six came in the first or second inning in scoreless ballgames.

Four Home Runs in a Game
April 25 at Cleveland (Butler 2, Hosmer, Gordon)
June 24 vs St. Louis (Moustakas 2, Francoeur, Butler) - The Royals lost that game 11-8.
August 11 at Baltimore (Gordon 2, Butler, Perez)

Most Frequent Road Park
Camden Yards - 12
Jacobs Field - 10
US Cellular - 9
Target Field - 7
Angel Stadium - 7

The Royals had seven road games in Baltimore. They had nine each in Cleveland, Chicago and Minnesota.

Most Frequent Victim
Jose Quintana - 4
Chris Sale - 4
Jake Peavy - 3
Rick Porcello - 3
Chris Tillman - 3
Lance Lynn - 3
Wei-Yin Chen - 3
Dan Haren - 3

Hopefully next year we manage to catch Quintana and Sale each time we play the Sox.

Chris Getz Home Run Tracker
1,025 - The number of plate appearances for Chris Getz since his last home run. It was hit on July 19, 2009 against Jeremy Guthrie.