KC Royals Not Convinced Whit Merrifield Is Solution At Second Base
The KC Royals still haven’t settled on a second baseman for 2017. With the team sending Cheslor Cuthbert to the Arizona Instructional League to play second base, general manager Dayton Moore is still looking at options to fill the keystone.
According to Kansas City Star writer Rustin Dodd , the Kansas City Royals just sent 23-year-old Cheslor Cuthbert to Phoenix, Arizona to play second base for the next 10 days. The team will evaluate his skills to play second to see if he can hold down a full-time job at the position in 2017.
Kansas City Royals general manager Dayton Moore told Dodd:
“He’s going to work at second base for about 10 days or so,” Royals general manager Dayton Moore said Monday. “And (it will) just give us a better idea if he can play there.”
KC Royals manager Ned Yost also told Dodd that the second base job in 2017 was “wide open” going into this winter.
Presumably, that means the Kansas City Royals will consider Cuthbert (if his skills check out in Arizona), Whit Merrifield, Raul Mondesi, and former no. 4 overall draft pick Christian Colon. At this point, I can’t imagine Colon seizing the job after strong opportunities to win the role the role the last two seasons due to Omar Infante’s ineffective performance. Raul Mondesi looks like his bat needs more seasoning at AAA before it can play at the major-league level.
Whit Merrifield And Cuthbert Are The Prime Candidates At 2B
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That leaves Cheslor Cuthbert and Whit Merrifield as the prime candidates to open 2017 at second base.
In a way, I can understand why the KC Royals want to try Cuthbert as second base. He’s got more pop than Merrifield at the plate. Further, Merrifield’s ability to play seven positions makes him an almost perfect bench player.
However, how is a player that’s below league average at third going to succeed at a more difficult defensive position? I suppose Cuthbert won’t have to contend with long throws at second. But, he also has had problems coming in on the ball and with consistency.
In the end, Dayton Moore could simply be exploring all the possibilities for a young player. But, it seems to me that the Royals wonder if Merrifield’s bat has been a mirage in 2016. His .283 batting average and .328 OBP were inflated by a high .361 Batting Average Balls In Play (BABIP). The speedy Merrifield can expect to post a consistently high BABIP. But, only a few players can expect to maintain a .361 BABIP.
Apparently, Dayton Moore doubts that a 27-year-old rookie drafted in the 9th round is going to be one of them.
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