KANSAS CITY, Mo. — With left fielder Alex Gordon set to return from his rehab assignment in the next couple of weeks, the question becomes how to adjust the Kansas City Royals’ roster.
Ben Zobrist, acquired via trade with Oakland July 30, has filled Gordon’s spot in left field and his place in the batting order. Zobrist can also play second base or right field, or occasionally third base, but those three spots are currently manned by the hottest hitters in the Royals’ lineup.
And who would lose his major league spot if Gordon returns before rosters expand on Sept. 1? Outfielders Paulo Orlando and Jarrod Dyson and catcher Drew Butera are all playing a key role off the bench.
With the Royals cruising in the American League Central, owning a 13-game lead — the largest advantage in club history outside of the 1980 season — how to manage roster without losing an edge is the question manager Ned Yost faces as August comes to a close.
“(Team chemistry) factors into it,” Yost said. “It does have an impact, but again, the bottom line is that we’ve got to go with the best 25 guys. But again, a lot of things can happen between now and then, and we don’t make decisions until we get to the point where we need to make those decisions.”
Second baseman Omar Infante and right fielder Alex Rios, each of whom figured to lose playing time to Zobrist, are enjoying offensive resurgences of late, and Infante is a strong contributor to the Royals’ defensive cohesion. Their improved performance is making playing-time decisions more difficult.
“Yeah, and that’s what you want,” Yost said before the Royals’ 3-2 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday. “You want everybody firing on all cylinders and playing well. It’s important that that happens. These guys compete every day. It’s not just Omar and Alex. It’s the whole group. They were focused from the first day of spring training, they were focused on winning this division. They’re focused on home-field advantage.
“Every day they bring that intensity and trying to keep it going. Not one time, I don’t think I can recall one time where they ever lost focus or energy. We’re almost at the end of August now, and to be able to say that is quite amazing to me.”
For Yost, the most important thing is the desire to win, a desire infused with the recognition that this team can accomplish great things.
“You never know until you know,” he said. “You can always hope, you always think, you always wish that you can accomplish great things, but until you know you can accomplish great things, you never know. Now they know, even in the most stressful situations with the brightest lights shining on them, they know what they can accomplish. That’s a great bit of experience to have.”
