Is The Corner Too Hot For Moose?

This is all very early, but down in Omaha, you’ve got Robinson and Hosmer tearing the cover off the ball.  Good for them!  No surprises there.  The bad news, though, is not just that Moose is off to a very slow start at the plate (he does that sometimes), but that he’s been booting the ball around the field at an EXTREMELY alarming rate.  He’s on pace for 60 to 70 errors at this point—OUCH!

When the Royals drafted Moose as a shortstop, there was a not-uncommon thought that his defense was always going to be a question mark, and that he’d eventually become a first baseman.  The Royals are giving him every chance to make it at 3^rd, because there’s no disputing the arm is a cannon.  And if there’s one position where we don’t need ANYBODY, it’s at 1B/DH.

But if he’s not going to be able to handle the hot spot, the time to get him to start working in the outfield has to be SOON.  He clearly has a “right fielder” type of arm, although the speed is obviously going to be a concern out there.

The bottom line is that he’s gonna need to figure out what’s going on at the plate if he still hopes to make any kind of contribution to the major league ball club this season.  With the way Betemit is hitting so far, there really is no need to shove a guy into 3^rd any time soon.  It’s basically all on Moose—the Royals want him up here this year, but I’m sure they’ll be perfectly fine with leaving him down until he proves he’s ready. 

Very interesting.  If I had to guess, with the way that Kila is generally floundering away his last chance to be a major leaguer so far this year, I’d say the likelihood that Hosmer laps Moose to make it to the big leagues first is about 75% at this point.  Good for Hosmer—he deserves it.  But that would have to be a little disappointing for Moose, I would think.

Hopefully it will all work itself out.  Meanwhile, we’ve got ourselves an interesting little series starting today with the OTHER quick-starting American League team that nobody expected anything out of.  I like the idea that the Indians are the only team ahead of us in the Central.  It goes to show (at least in a small sample) that “being competitive in the division with inferior competition” isn’t necessarily a fluke.  Perhaps one of the two of us can remain competitive, and if so, why not us?

I have a feeling that this series will serve as a bit of a reality check for where the Royals are going to go this season.