Trouble at the Top
I love the way Maikel Garcia scowls at the pitcher when he is waiting in the batter’s box. He waves his bat like a boxer taking practice jabs as he stands in his corner waiting for the bell. And Garcia landed solid jabs the first few weeks of the season, but since then, he's been taking some body blows.
Quatraro probably thought the leadoff hitter was settled heading into the 2024 season. Last season, Maikel Garcia had a decent .321 OBP as the leadoff hitter over 322 plate appearances. This season Garcia got off to a hot start and helped the team reach 15 games above .500 on May 25, 2024. Since then, however, Garcia’s offensive production has cratered. As the Royal’s leadoff hitter this season he has a .281 on base percentage. It has prompted Matt Quatraro to search for other options. He gave Nick Loftin a shot, but that didn’t work out. Quatraro has used Adam Frazier, an experienced leadoff hitter, at the top of the Royals’ lineup for the last seven games heading into the All Star break, but he has just a .296 OBP in the leadoff spot.
The Royals have been scoring runs this season even with subpar offensive performances from their leadoff hitters. The Royals have been averaging 4.56 runs per game, good for 12th in the major leagues. Surprisingly, they’ve been able to score runs above the league average despite their leadoff hitters getting on base only more often than the lowly A’s. But the Royals need a stopgap leadoff hitter until either they trade for one before the July 30 Trade Deadline or Maikel Garcia rediscovers his early-season swing and success.
Stopgap solution A that I propose is Freddy Fermin. His ability to get on base is legit as he has a career .326 OBP in over 400 plate appearances. He has a respectable .344 OBP (career .326 OBP) and would help set the table for BWJ and the other middle of the order run producers. Fermin has never stolen a base in his MLB career. But he doesn’t need to steal bases – just get on base and don’t get picked off!
Stopgap solution B would be to promote John Rave from Omaha after the all star break. Rave has decent speed and a .371 OBP in AAA this season. Perhaps his minor on-base skills could translate at the major league level to a league average on base percentage, which would be better than the .277 OBP that the Royals leadoff hitters have combined to produce so far in 2024. Again, neither of these guys are the long-term solution, but simply a bridge until Picollo can acquire a true leadoff hitter who has decent speed and can take a walk.