It’s time for leadoff Bob

Let’s not overthink it!

There are a few baseball-related arguments that I do not usually participate in. One is Opening Day lineup talk, because most teams end up using 30 or more players within a few weeks anyways. Another is the nitty gritty details of lineup construction is. Look: most teams aren’t good enough or deep enough that moving batters around in the fifth through ninth spots in the lineup really does a whole lot, which is the majority of the lineup.

But there are aspects to both arguments that I think are really valid, and who hits leadoff and who hits second are two crucial decisions that can make a team better. This year, the Royals have continued their strategy from last year, which is to put Maikel Garcia in the leadoff spot and Bobby Witt Jr. in the second spot.

This has worked to an extent, but it’s time for a change: put Bob in the leadoff spot!

Yeah, yeah, I know that the reason it hasn’t happen probably has a lot to do with superstition and the fact that Witt hitting second overall is a really good spot for him. It’s still very high in the lineup but it gives him a chance to hit with the leadoff guy on base. Witt has done well there. Maybe it’s a comfort thing. Fine.

However, we’re at the point where the Royals shouldn’t be running Garcia out there in the first half of the lineup. I think Garcia is a fine player: he’s a good baserunner and a good defender and hits well enough to stick and he’s going to be playing Major League Baseball for a very long time.

Unfortunately, Garcia also has a .295 OBP. That is not something that is leadoff worthy. Does Garcia have untapped potential? Sure! Is that untapped potential better served elsewhere? Absolutely!

Witt is, like, the perfect vat-grown leadoff hitter. He hits for average, he gets on base a huge amount, he can hit for power and get himself into scoring position by himself, and he steals a bunch of bases. No one in a Royals uniform with more than 300 plate appearances in one year has posted a wRC+ over 150 since Mike Sweeney did it in 2002, and Witt is on pace to do so this year.

There’s also the fact that Witt gets more plate appearances for every additional spot up in the lineup he goes. That matters, not just to the Royals but to Witt himself, who is a legitimate MVP candidate. The additional plate appearances could make a difference. And maybe that’s a silly reason, but it’s an additional reason nonetheless.

Kansas City are losers of seven of their last nine games and 13 of their last 20. There isn’t a whole lot they can do right at the moment about the bullpen or about the starting pitching regressing or about the fact that they have no help in the minor leagues coming this year. But they could tweak the lineup a bit—just a bit. Bobby-Vinnie-Salvy would be a nice trio to open games. It sure couldn’t hurt.