At 12-20, the Kansas City Royals have gotten off to a slow start in the 2022 season.
Nobody expected them to lead the AL Central or anything close to that, but they were seen as capable of entering .500 territory and, why not, potential contention for a Wild Card berth in the expanded playoffs, in a best-case scenario.
That hasn’t happened, though, and they are fourth in their division, only besting the Detroit Tigers (12-23) so far.
Part of their issues have been offensive: they have struggled badly to score runs consistently.
As of Monday afternoon, they are 27th in MLB (among 30 teams) with 118 runs scored.
Royals batters have slashed .224/.289/.336, which is considerably below-average.
As a result of their hitting woes, the organization has made some changes.
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) May 16, 2022
Bradshaw Wasn’t Getting The Best From His Hitters
Terry Bradshaw, who had been the hitting coach since 2018, will no longer be a part of the team.
The Royals will use Senior Director for Player Development and Hitting Performance Alec Zumwait as the hitting coach/coordinator.
The rest of the staff remains the same.
The Royals were looking for a scapegoat and Bradshaw, unfortunately, lost his job.
Fans, and the front office especially, were hoping for a bit more spark from an offense that has the best prospect in baseball in Bobby Witt Jr., Hunter Dozier, Andrew Benintendi, and last year’s home run leader Salvador Perez, among others.
Nicky Lopez and Whit Merrifield are capable of hitting .300 and stealing a lot of bags, too.
In short, there is something to work with in the organization.
Everybody will need to do a better job if the Royals are to contend in 2022.
They need to hit a lot to overcome a mediocre pitching staff.
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