Picollo talks Witt Jr., position battles and extensions at Royals Rally

KANSAS CITY — A serious query the Royals will attempt to reply in 2023 is whether or not Bobby Witt Jr. shall be their on a regular basis shortstop of the long run, and so they’ve dedicated to giving the 22-year-old as many innings on the place as potential this season.

Witt, the centerpiece of the Royals’ younger core, opened his rookie season final yr as Kansas City’s third baseman however pivoted again to shortstop — the place he performed within the Minors — throughout the first few months of the season. He performed 98 video games at shortstop and 55 on the scorching nook.

“We want to see him settle in at shortstop,” basic supervisor J.J. Picollo mentioned on Saturday at Royals Rally, the staff’s fan fest at Kauffman Stadium. “We never had any doubt that he would be able to play shortstop in the big leagues. Last year, because of the situation where he was playing third and short, we didn’t think it was beneficial for him. We saw an uptick in his defensive play the last six weeks of the season when we kept him at short.”

With Witt at shortstop, the remainder of the Royals’ infield is coming into focus.

“We want Hunter Dozier to get at-bats,” Picollo mentioned. “That’s the best place for him to play every day.”

The Royals are attempting to solidify a place that noticed a rotating forged of characters final yr, together with Witt (55 video games), Dozier (27), Emmanuel Rivera (57), Nicky Lopez (30) and Nate Eaton (15). They’ll hope to take action with Dozier, the versatile utilityman who’s making an attempt to bounce again after two dismal seasons.

Since signing his four-year extension firstly of 2021, Dozier has slashed .226/.289/.391 with an 87 OPS+ and -3.9 WAR, per Baseball Reference. The 31-year-old is owed $17.25 million over the following two seasons and is making an attempt to get again to his type of 2019, when he hit a career-high 26 homers — and when he performed 100 video games at third base.

The Royals imagine giving Dozier a set place firstly of spring will assist his offense, regardless of him having -36 defensive runs saved in his profession enjoying third base, per Fangraphs.

“Looking back on Hunter’s career, he started changing positions quite a bit,” Picollo mentioned. “You do have to wonder, from our perspective, if that had an effect on his offense. He’s a tremendous worker, so if he’s told to play outfield or first base or third base, he’s going to get as much work in all three of those spots as possible. And he does take a lot of swings in his pregame prep. You wonder physically and mentally if it took a toll. Maybe this will settle him a little bit, and if he gets back on track, we know what he’s capable of. We’re optimistic that he’ll be our third baseman.”

Second base shall be a contest this spring between Lopez and Michael Massey, though the Royals might transfer Lopez throughout the infield relying on the day. Vinnie Pasquantino might man first base, whereas Nick Pratto will get the chance to earn the beginning job there this spring, with Pasquantino transferring to designated hitter.

“Any competition is good,” Lopez mentioned. “Being able to play Gold Glove-caliber defense at second, short, third is always good. I pride myself on defense. Whether they ask me to play second base or wherever, I’m going to do what they ask me to do.”

Is extension season coming?

The Royals are exploring what contract extensions might appear to be with a couple of of their younger gamers, and though nothing is imminent, the will to lock up a core of gamers long-term is there.

“We think that’s a really important thing for a small-market thing to do,” proprietor John Sherman mentioned. “I’d like to know we’ll have a few of these guys past their arbitration years. It turns into very priceless, as a result of you will have value certainty. Plus, if you happen to’re going to lose them in 5 years, you’ve received to consider, how do you get a return on a very gifted man of their fourth or fifth yr?

“I’m going to be down in Surprise with the front-office group, and we’re going to spend a lot of time on that, talking about key guys.”

Witt, Pasquantino and Brady Singer — who will quickly be going to an arbitration listening to with the Royals  — are all on the staff’s radar for multiyear extensions. The membership ought to have a greater thought of what these provides will appear to be over the following yr as every participant will get one other yr within the massive leagues.

“It is something that we’ve discussed. We’ve studied other extensions signed, and when they get to certain years of service, now you get better comps of, this is what it should look like,” Picollo mentioned. “Hopefully, the partner on the other end feels the same way.”

“It’s cool with the Chiefs in the Super Bowl, people still care about the Royals right now. That’s awesome. They’ve got other things they can be worried about, but they’re coming to see us. Any time that happens is super special.” ­– Pasquantino, on Saturday’s Royals Rally