The outfield quest continues
The Royals are still searching for some production from their outfield.
Baseball is a great game. Sometimes, it’s the greatest game. And other times, it’s what you get on a soggy Memorial Day afternoon against the Cincinnati Reds.
The Royals offense was lifeless against Reds starter Nick Martinez through six innings. In the seventh, they stirred, appearing to awaken once Salvador Perez bashed only his second home run since April 13, a two-run shot to left. They added another in that frame to cut the deficit to four.
Yes, four runs seems a monumental ask from this Royals team, but to their credit, they did make things uncomfortable for the Reds. Against closer Emilio Pagán, the Royals loaded the bases in the ninth, which brought the tying run to the plate with one out. Alas, the only way they could score was via a gift from Pagán, who balked in a run.
All that did was make the loss a bit more respectable at 7-4.
There’s really not much to discuss about Monday’s game. Starter Michael Lorenzen decidedly did not have it and that meant the Royals were behind from the jump. He put the leadoff hitter on base in each of his five innings with the Reds plating one in the first, three in the third and two in the fourth.
He wasn’t fooling anyone as both his sinker and his slider were roundly abused by Cincinnati hitters. The average exit velocity on those two offerings was around 95 mph, which means the average ball put in play was classified by Baseball Savant as being hard-hit. Combine that with three walks, two of which led off innings, and that’s what a long afternoon for a starting pitcher looks like.
I suppose Matt Quatraro could’ve gone with a speedy hook sometime in the third inning, but with a bullpen game looming on Tuesday, the Royals really needed some length from their starter. Credit to Lorenzen for hanging around for an uncomfortable five. That will leave Quatraro with a relatively fresh bullpen behind Daniel Lynch IV who will start against his former teammate Brady Singer in a matchup of 2018 Royals first round draft picks.
Since I took the holiday weekend off from the keyboard, let’s take a moment to discuss some moves that happened since we last convened in this space.
It’s probably not a good thing that my initial reaction upon learning that Hunter Renfroe had been designated for assignment was to ask a question: “Was this the worst free agent signing in franchise history?”
The good news (at least for General Manager JJ Picollo) is that the answer is most definitely not. It will take quite a bit to dislodge Jose Guillen from his personal ignominy. Just like it will take quite a bit for us to forget his ineptitude, watching him attempt to play baseball for the Royals from 2008 to the middle of 2010. Truly, the nadir of this franchise. And there are a few to choose from!
Those of us of /ahem/ a certain age, when asked the worst free agent signing question, will probably point to another open market bust: reliever Mark Davis. The Royals signed him to a four-year, $13 million deal coming off an NL Cy Young award-winning season in 1989. He took just a month and a half before he lost his role as the closer.
Renfroe finishes his Royals career with a -1.1 fWAR while hitting an abysmal .219/.286/.362 with an 82 OPS+, meaning over the last year-plus of action, he’s been roughly 18 percent worse than the league average bat. I commented the other day, not only has his offensive output sputtered, but his defensive range in right, never the greatest, has regressed. Same for his arm, which was actually decent a couple of seasons ago. And his baserunning—on those rare occasions he actually reached base—has been generally atrocious.
There’s simply no place to hide a player like that. When the Royals collective outfield performance has been a drag on this team—they rank 28 out of 30 teams with a 73 OPS+ in the outfield—something has to happen.
Let’s be clear. Subtracting an outfielder from this group doesn’t solve the problem. Renfroe wasn’t impeding anyone with his presence. Indeed, this move had been on the cards for weeks as his playing time diminished. Kyle Isbel is doing well enough, however Matt Quatraro is currently aligning the outfielders who flank him, it’s not going to be enough. Drew Waters, Mark Canha, Michael Massey and Monday’s starter in left, Nick Loftin, are not the answer to a sputtering offense.
In their continuing quest for competent outfield play, the Royals made an additional move on Sunday, optioning Cavan Biggio to Triple-A and calling up outfielder John Rave for his Major League debut. Rave, the eighth player from the draft class of 2019 to make The Show, has been tearing it up for the Storm Chasers, hitting .301/.382/.549, good for a 141 wRC+.
Rave started in right on Monday, hitting sixth. He struck out in his first at bat, but Martinez was carving everyone up. He collected what looked like to be his first major league hit on a bunt single, but that was overturned on replay. Come on Tito…Have a heart! Rave did draw a walk in the ninth inning to load the bases which was impressive, even if Pagán was spraying the ball all over Kauffman in his appearance.
Rave has spent parts of three seasons in Triple-A and has progressively shown improvement each season he’s spent at that level. It’s a nice profile and he’s definitely earned the shot, so it’s great to see the Royals are rewarding a guy like that. I’m just skeptical he’s going to be enough of an upgrade in the outfield to push the group to at least a level of mediocrity. It’s a big ask for anyone.
At least with Rave and Loftin up, the Royals are doing something. At the moment, at least until the trade market warms up, it feels like this is the only thing they can do.
Now, about the guy everyone wants to see in Kansas City…
Four games. That’s the current hitting streak for the Royals’ number one prospect, Jac Caglianone, since his promotion to Triple-A last week.
Excuse me. I’m being told that I am not being entirely accurate in describing Caglianone’s streak. It’s not just a four-game hitting streak. It’s a four-game HOME RUN streak.
Mercy.
Caglianone clobbered two home runs on Sunday. His first one travelled 459 feet.
Normally, I’ll keep the home run GIF rolling until the ball lands. In this case, Caglianone hit the ball so damn high, had I included where it landed, it would’ve taken too long. Trust me when I say that was an absolute bomb.
It’s super easy to become giddy over sights like that. Especially after the Royals DFA’d one outfielder and given that, as noted above, the entire group of outfielders on the current major league roster is on the offensive struggle bus. Caglianone played two games in right and one in left against Salt Lake.
Yet this is just six games at the Triple-A level. Yes, it was an astoundingly good (and powerful) opening series, but this is something the Royals will want to see on a consistent basis. That’s kind of the key. He’s off to a good start. Here’s the video portion of the Storm Chasers site on Sunday night:
All Cags, all the time.
Again, it’s about things like pitch recognition, in-game adjustments, and making contact. It’s also about putting the work into becoming a compented outfielder. These are decidedly unsexy baseball things—at least compared to launching baseballs into the thermosphere—but it’s the smaller things that have to be addressed to ensure future success. While I have no doubt that Caglianone will be successful at the major league level, it’s important that the Royals get the timeline right. The Storm Chasers are at home the next two weeks. I’ll be interested to see how he does on this upcoming homestand.
Central Issues
White Sox 1, Mets 2
Adrian Houser shut down his former teammates for six innings and Andrew Benintendi staked the Sox to a lead with a sacrifice fly. But Chicago couldn’t hold on for the full nine as the Mets tied it in the eighth on a Juan Soto sacrifice fly and then walked it off on a—you guessed it—Francisco Lindor sacrifice fly. A ballgame Vinnie Pasquantino would love. It was the third time this season that Lindor drove home a walkoff run.
Giants 1, Tigers 3
Keider Montero twirled five shutout innings against the Giants. Dillon Dingler hit a run-scoring single in the fourth to open the scoring and Riley Greene plated two more in the fifth with a bases-loaded knock.
Dodgers 7, Guardians 2
Shohei Ohtani hit the first pitch of the game out of the park, and the Dodger offense proceeded to do Dodger offense things. Ohtani reached base two other times—both via the walk—and scored three runs total. Each of the first seven Dodgers had exactly one RBI, so you could say this was a total team effort. Yosinobu Yamamoto went six, striking out seven while allowing two runs.
Twins 2, Rays 7
Tampa’s Jonathan Aranda broke open a scoreless game with a three-run jack in the sixth against reliever Brock Stewart. They tacked on four more in the eighth on a José Caballero two-run double and a Danny Jansen two-run home run. After a hot May, this was the Twins reverting to their April form. Maybe it will stick?
The Royals, despite their offensive challenges, have hovered between that 25 to 50 percent range for most of the season. They’re hanging in there, which remains a credit to their pitching.
On Saturday, I made my way out to Kauffman to watch the Savannah Bananas do their thing. While I was certainly aware of the Bananas and had seen a few clips here or there, I was not adequately prepared for what I saw.
It was three-plus hours of fun. I mean, that’s about the only way I can describe it…Joyful. We took our seats about an hour and 15 minutes before the scheduled seven o’clock first pitch, and the entertainment did not let up until they bade the crowd farewell after the final out. It was just an absolute blast. If you have the opportunity to attend a Bananas game, do it.
Plus, bunting is illegal!
I think Mark Davis wins the crown (so to speak) for worst FA signing. His not-brother Storm would not be far behind, because in hindsight that was obviously not going to work like the Royals hoped. Guillen was bad but not even the first JG that came to mind on the topic. Looking at you, Juan Gonzalez (who probably just pulled a hammy again). Edit: misspelled Guillen. I tipe gud.
At the 2024 Royals Rally I sat and listened to Hunter Renfroe speak. He was an easy guy to pull for. I really wanted him to succeed. I'm disappointed his time in KC didn't go better. His time in KC has officially come to an end.
In Spring Training 2025, I thought Nick Loftin did enough to win the back up infielder job. Alas, he bats right handed and the Royals wanted a guy that could replicate the Adam Frazier role of left handed utility infielder. So Biggio was awarded the job.
When Renfroe was DFA'd and they brought up Loftin, I said to myself that I thought the Royals would also DFA Biggio (weird options rule so he can be optioned to AAA) and call up both Loftin and Rave. That would allow them to flip flop from Renfroe OF bats right and Biggio utility bats left to left handed OF Rave and right handed utility Loftin. It took a few days but that finally happened.
Rave and Loftin have been excellent at AAA and deserve their shot at playing time on the major league roster. Rave is in his age 27 season and that is a baseball position player's prime. I'm glad he is getting his shot. I hope he does what Drew Water has done and makes the most of the opportunity. We all know Jac Caglione is lurking in the wings. My guess is he gets a similar amount of time in AAA as he did in AA before being promoted to the big league club.