Royals Duo To Split Time At New Position In 2025
The Kansas City Royals were active in the offseason after losing the ALDS to the reigning American League champion New York Yankees. They kept pitchers Michael Lorenzen and Michael Wacha while also signing Carlos Estevez and trading for Jonathan India.
India should help them improve their offense, as they finally have a true leadoff hitter. He hit .248/.357/.392 with 15 home runs, 58 RBI, 13 stolen bases and a .750 OPS last year.
India and Michael Massey are expected to split time at second base, especially with India expected to play a little third base. However, Anne Rogers notes that the duo were also working on learning a new position in the spring.
"India will be the Royals’ leadoff hitter after leaving a great first impression this spring (1.067 OPS in 19 games). Now he’ll need to translate those on-base skills to the regular season. India will also see time at third base, and he and Massey both learned left field this spring," Rogers wrote. "The Royals continue to state their confidence in both being able to play out there, so moving them from second to left (and India to third) will be a way to get both in the lineup every day."
Having Massey and India split time in left field should make for an interesting storyline this season. The two players are both learning on the fly, and the Royals would certainly benefit from rotating the two in an out of left field, so as to keep them both in the lineup.
We'll see how the Royals decide to configure their lineup and defense in 2025.
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Curt Bishop is a freelance sports writer who graduated from Maryville University of St. Louis with a Bachelor of Arts degree in the field of Communication and currently writes as a contributor for various platforms covering Major League Baseball. Curt’s work includes covering trade and free agency predictions, as well as rumors and news.