What went wrong: Royals starters had a 5.01 ERA, fifth-worst in baseball. Alex Gordon was the best defensive left fielder in the game. Billy Butler had a career season with a high of 29 home runs. What went right: The Royals were quickly building one of the better bullpens in the league - Royals relievers had a 3.17 ERA, fourth in the AL. Say goodbye to: Melky Cabrera, Jeff Francis, Jason Kendall Say hello to: Yuniesky Betancourt, Jonathan Broxton, Jeremy Guthrie, Jose Mijares, Humberto Quintero, Jonathan Sanchez 314/.388/.600 with 37 home runs between Double-A and Triple-A, and was named Minor League Player of the Year by Baseball America and USA Today.Ģ012 draft: Kyle Zimmer (5th overall), Sam Selman, Daniel Stumpf, Andrew Triggs, Matt Strahm, Alec Mills, Ashton Goudeau, Jake Newberry, Evan Phillips (did not sign) Myers was dominating the upper minors, hitting. Top prospect: The Royals took a gamble on being able to sign high schooler Wil Myers in the third round of the 2009 draft, and by 2012 it was looking like a huge win. Rookies: Jarrod Dyson, Kelvin Herrera, Will Smith Runs scored: 676 (12th out of 14 American League teams)Īttendance: 1,739,859 (21,480 per game), 25th out of 30 MLB teams But it was still hard to imagine a championship club back in 2012. It wouldn’t be long before it would be time for Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Salvador Perez, Alcides Escobar, and Lorenzo Cain to shine in the biggest spotlight of all. The Royals marketing department jumped the gun in 2012 with the slogan “Our Time” that became widely mocked when the team stumbled out of the gate with the ups and downs that young players typically go through. The Royals ‘flipped the switch” in 2011, bringing up a number of exciting prospects from the best farm system in baseball, but that didn’t bring automatic success as it took awhile for the youngsters to get their feet wet in the big leagues.
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