Observations from your local Royals Review reporter
On Monday, I packed my bag, went to the Royals’ credentials window by Gate D, picked up my lanyard and credentials, and walked into Kauffman Stadium as a member of the media. I’ve only done this before a handful of times and at other events like Royals Rally, but thanks to a change in my day job, I’ve got some additional flexibility to cover games more often. Monday was the first of, hopefully, six to eight games I’ll cover over the course of the season.
Sometimes, I’ll have stories from players. Other times, like on Monday, I’ll be writing about information gleaned from Matt Quatraro’s pregame press conference, my own observations, and conversations with the coaching staff and other employees.
Let’s get going.
Lucas Erceg, fireman
Coming into the season, Lucas Erceg’s role was a little in the air. Erceg said a few months ago that JJ Picollo and Matt Quatraro called him to discuss bringing in Carlos Estevez, and Erceg maintained that he didn’t care where he pitched as long as he could help the team.
A few weeks in, Erceg hasn’t had a save opportunity. That’s by design. Matt Quatraro talked about how Erceg’s main role is to “face the heart of the order every night.”
Honestly, that’s probably the best way to use Erceg. Estevez is a good pitcher, don’t get me wrong, but Erceg is the guy with the pure strikeout stuff. In that way, it reminds me a little of Wade Davis’ usage in the middle of H-D-H.
Rotating designated hitter
On Monday, Maikel Garcia was the designated hitter. That seemed like a bit of an odd choice. After all, Garcia’s biggest value add has been as a defender (and runner). Quatraro was asked about this and part of answer was simple: to “keep guys fresh.” It’s a long season, and players inevitably break down to a certain extent.
In Garcia’s case, his bat has allowed the Royals to put him as a DH and feel good about it. From a broader roster construction point of view, though, this makes sense because the Royals don’t have the depth to purposefully give one player a bunch of DH plate appearances. As long as Jonathan India, Bobby Witt Jr., Vinnie Pasquantino, and Salvador Perez are in the lineup everyday, they’re set. Might as well use the DH to keep guys healthy.
Now, if Jac Caglianone makes the team at some point…that’s a different story.
Hunter Renfroe destroying batting practice pitches
Fans only see game results. While those results matter—frankly, the only thing that really matters—they’re only a part of why teams make the decisions they do. Teams have access to reams of objective data and even more observational data. They know what a player is working on and have reasons why a player might break out (or why a player might not break out).
During batting practice, one player stood out among all the others. That player was crushing the ball all over the field, hitting with authority. It was an easy swing. I didn’t recognize the player, and stepped onto the dirt from the dugout to get a closer look. Turns out that it was Hunter Renfroe, who has received warranted criticism of his performance at the plate.
Now, I’m not defending Renfroe’s performance, which has been bad, and clearly batting practice is a different beast than real games (otherwise, Seuly Matias might be a Royals legend). But there’s a lesson to be learned here, I think, which is that the teams have way more data about players than we do, and we have a lot. It’s part of why some players get more run than others.
MJ’s batting practice stance
Speaking of batting practice: MJ Melendez’s batting stance has been a hot topic for, well, years at this point. It’s a big deal because MJ needs to hit to succeed in the bigs: he’s a defensively serviceable corner outfielder, but that won’t cut it.
The good news is that MJ has a new batting stance. The bad news is that he seems to be slipping back into his old stance in games. In batting practice, MJ’s leg kick was minimal, almost a leg pivot. It was working well, and he was hitting the ball with authority.
In back-to-back pitches in the second inning, we saw the difference. MJ hit a double to right field with his new stance, but in the previous pitch, he had a much bigger leg kick. Maybe that was purposeful, but the leg kick has to be consistent for MJ to see sustained success.