ItC Mailbag: Lots of Offense Questions, Moves to be Made and So Much More

Let's answer some questions about the Royals, shall we?

I do love a mailbag. It’s an opportunity for people to ask me questions and for me to not have to come up with a topic for a day after an off day. With the Royals about to start a series against the Rays and us about a month into the season, this felt like the perfect time to take some of those questions and answer them to the best of my abilities. And remember, I’m really trying to do one of these a month, so if your question didn’t get answered today, there’s always May. With an off day on May 29, expect another one of these on May 30, but that’s subject to change.

Let’s get to the great questions.

The easy answer is just wait. This offense runs on Bobby Witt Jr., Vinnie Pasquantino and Salvador Perez. The latter two have combined to hit .203/.260/.340. A large chunk of that is in the last five games from Perez getting a bunch of doubles, though Pasquantino is still pacing the offense in RBIs with 16 because of a big home run on Opening Day and some solid situational hitting. Perez, as mentioned, seems to be starting to get going some, but Pasquantino starts and stops and just hasn’t really shown signs that he’s about to go on a hot streak.

Add in Michael Massey and his struggles after being above average offensively last season and Jonathan India, who hasn’t really gotten going at any point and it’s easy to see how the Royals are banking on track records to come to the forefront. Massey has the smallest track record of that bunch, and I’ll get back to him in a second, but both Pasquantino and India have multiple years of being above average hitters as big leaguers. Do I believe in this tactic? I think I’d say that my answer is somewhat.

They’ve already made a move with MJ Melendez getting sent to AAA and keeping Drew Waters on the active roster. They've been rewarded for that so far. I would personally give Mark Canha more playing time, though I don’t want anyone to expect his current numbers to continue, but he does give a great plate appearance. To your point, the group in AAA isn’t exactly lighting the world on fire. Nick Loftin is walking at a ridiculous rate (and he’s up right now in Tyler Tolbert’s place while Tolbert is on the bereavement list), but he still isn’t hitting the ball hard. Cam Devanney was probably on track to get a shot, but then he got hurt, so he’ll need to prove he’s healthy, but he’s an option.

Internally, I’m very curious to see what Peyton Wilson and Javier Vaz can do. Wilson is hitting .392/.506/.689 in AA. He’s played mostly second, but can handle outfield as well. He was just called up to AAA, so we’ll get to see soon if he’s just mastered AA or if he’s actually shown marked improvement. Vaz missed time with an injury from spring training, but he’s been back for four games and has hit well in the limited time. Both of those guys, in my opinion, should be in AAA to see if they can be knocking on the door, but I’ll accept Wilson for now. Nick Gordon and Harold Castro are getting plenty of playing time. They shouldn’t be stopping either Vaz or Wilson from playing in Omaha.