FanPost

Solving the Royals Positional Problems

Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

As of now the Kansas City Royals will have three everyday Shortstops, an All-Star Second Baseman, two (or three) potential First Basemen, and a Third Basemen (who was at the bottom of the league in defense), all looking for a full time position next year. I haven’t even begun to dive into the crowded Right Field or the two Catchers that led the Major and Minor Leagues in Homeruns. There are many positional problems that need to be solved next season.

Let’s begin with the positions that are already locked up…

Left Field is occupied by Andrew Benintendi who just had the comeback year we had all hoped for. He has one year remaining on his contract and should be on the radar for an extension.

Center Field belongs to the man who just inked a 2 year/$9 million extension, Michael A Taylor. He has proved his worth through his gold glove caliber defense and will be the anchor of this outfield.

This concludes the locked positions.

Now let’s start from the beginning at Catcher. I can almost guarantee that Salvador Perez will be the opening day starter at Catcher, but this may not be the case all year long. If the Royals are serious about competing and bringing up their young talent, then there needs to be somewhere for MJ Melendez to play. I think when MJ gets called up (if he is not up on opening day), he and Salvy will at the very least be splitting reps between Catcher and Designated Hitter. I am not sure if the Royals will be able to persuade (or even be willing to persuade) Salvy to become an everyday Designated Hitter yet, as he loves and takes a lot of pride in being behind the plate every single game. If they do decide to keep Salvy at his natural position full time, then it could be possible we see MJ get some opportunities at Third (where he has nine minor league appearances) or in Right Field (where he has never played).

Over to First Base, two options have emerged with another possibility lingering. I would imagine that Carlos Santana starts the year at First Base and Nick Pratto eventually takes him over to claim his spot in the lineup. However, the Royals do have another First Base prospect who could get his shot in The Show. Across 116 games in A+ and AA, Vinnie Pasquantino posted a .300/.394/.563 slash line while having the exact same amount of Extra Base Hits (64) as Strikeouts on the year. Some believe Vinnie could be more big-league ready than Nick and he has even drawn comparisons to Billy Butler for his high contact and low strikeout rates.

Now I will cover Second Base, Shortstop, and Third Base all together, as these positions have the most options for change. The candidates for these three positions are as follows: Whit Merrifield, Nicky Lopez, Bobby Witt Jr, Adalberto Mondesi, Hunter Dozier, Emmanuel Rivera, and MJ Melendez. Whit will need to occupy either Second Base or Right Field every game of next season. Nicky has done more than enough to earn himself a spot at either Second Base or Shortstop full time. Bobby and Mondesi are interchangeable between Shortstop, Third Base, and even Second Base if Whit resides in Right Field. However, if the Royals decide to keep Whit at Second Base, then Mondesi will need to either become a utility player or learn how to play in Right Field. Being used as a utility player could be beneficial for him as his availability has been his biggest issue over his career, where he has only played over 100 games in one season. Even if Mondesi stays healthy throughout all of next year, it seems that the Royals will give him plenty of rest days and plenty of reps at DH to keep him playing consistently. Now to Hunter Dozier, who can technically play Third base, but not nearly at the quality of any of these other guys, so look for him to either be in Right Field, at Designated Hitter, or also used as a utility option. Emmanuel Rivera has played at all of the infield positions throughout his minor league career, so if he makes the team, it will likely be as a bench infielder. Lastly there is MJ Melendez, who would be a long shot candidate at either Third Base or Right Field. He would only end up at either position if the Royals want to keep Salvy behind the plate full time or if they want to give MJ playing time on days where Dozier or Mondesi are at DH.

In Right Field the options are essentially endless. Whoever gets forced out of their original position will likely end up here. The possibilities are as follows: Whit Merrifield, Hunter Dozier, Kyle Isbel, Edward Olivares, Nick Pratto, MJ Melendez, and Adalberto Mondesi.

I believe on Opening Day the lineup will look something like this:

1 - RF - Whit Merrifield

2 - 2B - Nicky Lopez

3 - C - Salvador Perez

4 - LF - Andrew Benintendi

5 - SS - Bobby Witt Jr

6 - 3B - Adalberto Mondesi

7 - DH - Hunter Dozier

8 - 1B - Carlos Santana

9 - CF - Michael A Taylor

Bench:

OF - Kyle Isbel

OF - Edward Olivares

INF - Emmanuel Rivera

Then later in the season…

This could be the lineup

(With Mondesi in)

1 - 2B - Nicky Lopez

2 - RF - Whit Merrifield

3 - LF - Andrew Benintendi

4 - DH - Salvador Perez

5 - SS - Bobby Witt Jr

6 - 3B - Adalberto Mondesi

7 - C - MJ Melendez

8 - 1B - Nick Pratto or Vinnie Pasquantino

9 - CF - Michael A Taylor

Bench:

INF/OF Hunter Dozier

1B Carlos Santana

OF Kyle Isbel

Or this could be the lineup

(With Mondesi out):

1 - SS - Nicky Lopez

2 - 2B - Whit Merrifield

3 - LF - Andrew Benintendi

4 - DH - Salvador Perez

5 - 3B - Bobby Witt Jr

6 - RF - Nick Pratto

7 - C - MJ Melendez

8 - 1B - Vinnie Pasquantino

9 - CF - Michael A Taylor

Bench:

INF/OF Adalberto Mondesi

INF/OF Hunter Dozier

1B Carlos Santana

OF Kyle Isbel

The Royals can make an infinite amount of lineups with the current depth that they have on this roster. It is highly unlikely that any of the lineups above will be the exact one that they roll with going forward, but that is not what's important. What is important, is that the 2022 Kansas City Royals put out the most competitive team possible through all 162 games.

This FanPost was written by a member of the Royals Review community. It does not necessarily reflect the views of the editors and writers of this site.