Kansas City Royals: Alex Gordon to Return Saturday
Kansas City Royals outfielder Alex Gordon is expected to return to the starting lineup on Saturday night against the Houston Astros – will his return push the Royals back to first place?
On Saturday, All-Star outfielder Alex Gordon is slated to return for the Kansas City Royals, after missing the last month with a broken bone in his right wrist. Gordon is expected to slot back into the starting lineup immediately, and should be a boost for the defending World Champions both defensively and offensively.
While Gordon will be a more seasoned outfielder than players like Paulo Orlando or Brett Eibner, he will not fix all of the Royals’ woes. Although Kansas City has a formidable team, they’re in a tough division. The AL Central pennant race is not going to be easy, especially with four teams within six and a half games of first place. Excluding the Twins, every team in the division has a shot at making the playoffs, and the Royals are going to need more than just Alex Gordon in order to compete.
On Friday night, Cleveland handed Detroit a 7-4 defeat, demolishing Tigers’ starter Jordan Zimmermann. The front-running Indians are three and a half games ahead of the Royals, and they have won seven in a row. Meanwhile, Kansas City was rocked 13-4 by the Houston Astros, dropping their third straight game.
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The key to winning the Central, as it always has been, is quality pitching. Cleveland’s rotation has thrown two complete games in the last week, and all five of their starters have ERAs below 3.60. Meanwhile, the Royals’ rotation includes a pair of starters with ERAs over 5.00, and two more with ERAs above 4.00. They will need to improve their pitching at the deadline if they hope to repeat as World Series Champs. Getting Gordon back will not fix that glaring need.
It also wouldn’t be wrong for fans to worry about Gordon’s start to the 2016 season. Prior to hurting his wrist in late May, Gordon was batting just .211/.319/.331. Through 42 games, he had managed just 30 hits, despite walking 16 times and hitting four homers. Of course, that small sample stands in contrast to five straight seasons in which he posted a .749 OPS or higher, so it could be that he just got off to a slow start.
Still, with Cleveland putting some distance between themselves and the second-place Royals, Kansas City must hope that whatever issues Gordon had earlier this season are resolved.
To make room for Gordon on the roster, the Royals will most likely option rookie Brett Eibner, who has amassed ten hits in 34 at-bats, including a home run and seven RBIs. In the absence of Gordon and other key position players like Mike Moustakas, rookies such as Eibner and Whit Merrifield have really stepped up and kept the team afloat, making the impact of the veterans’ absences much less severe.
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Kansas City fans have every right to be excited about Gordon’s return from the disabled list, but they should also keep their expectations low in terms of what this will do for the team as a whole. The Royals will be further buoyed when pitchers Kris Medlen and Mike Minor to return from their DL stints, but for now, Gordon’s return is a step in the right direction for Kansas City.