Take a look at the starting pitching options on the trade market.

Here are the position players I think they will be targeting in the next few weeks, listed alphabetically:

Matt Adams – Things haven’t exactly gone as planned for Adams, who burst onto the scene in 2013 with a solid .284/.335/.503 season with 17 homers, but he didn’t really build on it. Now in his age-28 season, he’s been given an opportunity with the Braves and has been outstanding, hitting .292/.338/.608 with a .305 TAv and 13 homers in 186 plate appearances with them. The Braves are trying to make it work with Freddie Freeman at third and Adams at first, but I can’t imagine they’d turn down the right offer for him. And he’s under team control for next season when the Royals might find themselves needing a stopgap first baseman.

Jay Bruce – I think the Royals have been rumored to be in on Bruce for the last 28 seasons, but I can’t confirm whether or not that’s true. He’s had a nice year for the Mets, hitting .266/.334/.538 with a .302 TAv and actually playing not horrible outfield. He has 23 homers and will strike out a bit but he has decent strike zone judgment and power that will play anywhere. He has about $6 million left on his deal, so he’s a little expensive, but I think this could be a decent fit.

Melky Cabrera – This one is kind of a longshot, but the Melkman has had a decent season, hitting .286/.332/.416. His RBI numbers are inflated by some crazy hitting with runners in scoring position, but he’d be an upgrade over what the Royals have gotten from the DH spot. He has about $7 million left on his deal this season, so the White Sox would need to eat some money and there’s the whole trading within the division thing, but he’s at least someone to think about for a minute before moving on.

Ezequiel Carrera – While this year is a bit of an aberration for Carrera in terms of overall numbers, he’s been a contributor the last two seasons from an OBP perspective. His .270 TAv would be a career high, but for a guy who can handle center at times and either corner, he’s a really nice fit for this team. Plus, he’s under team control through 2019, which is nice considering he’ll stay relatively cheap through arbitration. He’s not a perfect fit, but his rough defensive numbers aren’t in line with what he’s previously displayed, so he’d help on both sides of the ball.

Zack Cozart – This is the one that’ll make people happy. I really don’t see the Royals moving away from Alcides Escobar, but a guy can dream, right? He’ll likely cost way too much in terms of prospects, but he’s hitting .316/.394/.547 with pop and playing good shortstop. How great would this be?

Rajai Davis – Davis is having a terrible season, and I don’t think his acquisition would actually be as a starter, but it would be nice to have a guy who can handle center to back up Cain for when he gets ejected and/or injured. He’s coming off a decent enough year with Cleveland, and given how bad he’s been, the Royals may be able to get him for an old Aaron Brooks baseball card.

Jarrod Dyson – Here’s my favorite. He’s on his way to a career high in plate appearances and is hitting .258/.340/.391 with, yes, five home runs. The offense isn’t what you acquire him for, but he’s done a really nice job this season and is showing that his .340 OBP and .388 SLG last year is no fluke. He swings at strikes and he uses his speed quite well. Defensively, the Royals could put Dyson in right field, move Bonifacio to the DH spot and get back to having that amazing outfield defense. With just a few months left before reaching free agency, the cost to acquire Dyson likely wouldn’t be exorbitant. I think this is a move that could really help the team.

Carlos Gomez – If the Rangers sell, Gomez is an interesting name to keep an eye on. He’s hitting .248/.328/.477 with a .270 TAv, so he has some pop and can play solid defense. He hasn’t played much right field, which is where he’d need to be in Kansas City, but you’d think he’d be able to pick that up pretty well. He fits in pretty well with the Royals as he doesn’t have great strike zone judgment, but he makes it work when he’s going well. He’s owed about $5.5 million the rest of the season, so between that and his lack of control, I bet he wouldn’t be too terribly expensive.

Dee Gordon – I didn’t want to include him in this list, but since his name is in rumors connected to the Royals, I figured I better. He’s known as a very good defender at second and has put up a .295/.342/.358 line, so he’d fit well at the top of a lineup with that OBP and his blazing speed. He also doesn’t walk or strikeout much, so as a player, he’s kind of made for the Royals. That said, he’s owed more than $40 million through the 2020 season, which is a lot to pay for a player who has topped a .400 SLG just once in his career. He’s also coming off a year where he was suspended for PED use. I’m not saying he shouldn’t get to play anymore, but that has to factor into the analysis. Honestly, I just don’t see it because of the money, but I guess he would be an upgrade for the Royals right now if they acquired him.

Matt Joyce – Joyce is a perennial favorite of mine, even when struggling. It’s because he knows the strike zone. Last year, he posted a .403 OBP, and while he’s not near that this year, he’s showing off his ability to work a walk again with a .220/.330/.409 line. He has some pop, but he’s not very good defensively, so it becomes the same pick your poison the Royals currently have with their outfield and DH spots, but he’s also signed for next season, which is nice.

Jed Lowrie – He’s had a really nice start to the season, hitting .279/.346/.458 with a .275 TAv and has been okay at second base. The thought here is to slot him at second, move Whit Merrifield to right field and Bonifacio to DH. I suppose you could just slot Lowrie at DH as well with his not being so great defensively, but either way would likely work. He has just about $3 million left on this year’s deal and has a really reasonable $6 million club option for next year, which could be quite useful given the uncertainty around third base in 2018. He knows the strike zone well and has some pop. He could also be a basically perfect number two hitter for this club. There will likely be a fair amount of demand for him, so he may fall outside the Royals prospect price range.

Nick Markakis – I don’t make the rules, and the rules state that Markakis has to be on any list where the Royals are searching for offensive help. While his lack of power is pretty alarming, he’s settled into a solid average/good OBP guy who I think would be a nice fit in the number two spot for the Royals. He’s hitting .284/.364/.393 this year with a .273 TAv. He’s expensive with $5 million owed this year and another $10.5 million next season, but that might keep his price down. He’s not nearly the defender he once was, so you don’t get an upgrade there, but this might not be the worst thing in the world, though he wouldn’t be my first or even second or third choice.

Seth Smith – If you showed me two sets of stats and one was Smith’s while the other was Joyce’s, I probably wouldn’t have been able to tell you which was which before Joyce’s big OBP year last year. I’m just being honest. They’re similar players, though Smith doesn’t have the same strike zone judgment that Joyce does. Still, he’s hitting .259/.329/.440 this year with a .262 TAv. He’s not a great piece, and won’t help the defense, but he’d be an improvement over what the Royals have gotten from the DH spot. He’s owed a bit more than $3 million the rest of the season, which is quite reasonable, so maybe he’d be a fit.

The list isn’t very deep, but that’s partly because they likely won’t be looking for anything other than a way to upgrade their DH role. My choice would definitely be Dyson, who we know would be a huge clubhouse boost and would turn the outfield defense into something very, very special.

• There has been a lot of talk about the unwritten rules of baseball this week. It stems mostly from Jarrod Dyson laying down a bunt in the sixth inning of a game where Justin Verlander was throwing a perfect game. You didn’t ask for my opinion, but that’s the great thing about Friday Notes. You’re going to get it anyway. I’ll quote Herm Edwards here. You play to win the game. Jarrod Dyson’s game is speed. He puts the ball on the ground, he runs real fast and sometimes he’s safe at first. The Mariners were down 4-0 in the sixth inning to a pitcher with an ERA in the mid-4s as a team scoring about 4.8 runs per game. Is a four-run deficit game over? Not in my eyes it isn’t. There is no time in which an opposing team should stop trying to do everything they can to create runs for their team. Okay, that’s not true. I did have that opinion until Hunter Samuels made a good point in the BP KC break room about it being like a 12-0 game or something. At that point, don’t bunt, there’s no need. But what Dyson did on Wednesday night is not only okay in my book, it’s encouraged.
• Travis Wood has an ERA of 6.51 this season, which is just terrible, but if you’ve been following this team for more than a couple weeks this season, you’ll know that it’s pretty impressive given where he was not too long ago. At the end of April, he had an ERA of 18.56. At the end of May, it was basically cut in half to 9.17. After allowing two runs in 1.2 innings on June 4, though, Wood has thrown 8.1 consecutive scoreless innings over six outings. And maybe more importantly, he’s walked just one while striking out six. So the question is what’s different. I don’t know if this is making a huge difference, but prior to his recent stretch, Wood had thrown four-seam fastballs more than half the time and very few two-seamers. He was throwing his cutter a little more than 20 percent of the time and throwing some changeups and breaking balls. Since, he’s reduced his four-seam fastball usage to about 33 percent and thrown two-seamers a bit more than 25 percent of the time. He’s also thrown his cutter a bit more while pulling back a lot on his changeup. Opponents haven’t gotten a hit on his cutter, slider or changeup and have hit just .167 against the two-seamer. Prior to that game on June 6, he’d allowed a .342 average and .463 slugging percentage on his fastball while his slider and curve were destroyed (in admittedly limited samples). Look, it’s just a few games, so we’ll see if he reverts, but he appears to have moved away from what wasn’t working in search of something else and he’s found a solution.
• On the flip side, Jorge Bonifacio has had some tough times since moving to the number two spot in the lineup. He’s still getting his home runs with three in 15 games, but he’s been striking out quite a bit. He’s been beaten with fastballs lately, but I had a hunch he was being pitched away with breaking stuff more. Strangely enough, that hunch was wrong. Pitchers have actually been more over the plate with the curves and sliders lately and stopped going to the spot low and away that they tried to attack in his first 40 or so games in the big leagues. I’m not entirely sure yet if that’s a good sign or bad, but I feel like part of why they stopped going to that well is because he just wasn’t swinging. My hunch is that he’s just going through a bit of a slump, but watching young players try to adjust is always really interesting because you can learn quite a bit from them. The guys who can’t adapt aren’t long for this league. The ones who can usually can find their way to a nice career. I think Bonifacio is a smart enough hitter with a good enough plan at the plate that he’ll adjust and get through this, but it’s worth watching, especially while Jorge Soler is raking in Omaha. Note: I am not suggesting they demote Bonifacio and bring up Soler right now. I’m just making the point there are alternatives if it should come to that.
• As Jeffrey Flannagan noted on Twitter the other day, a decision will have to be made on Brian Flynn by Sunday as that’s the end of his 30-day rehab assignment. That means he will need to be activated from the 60-day DL and placed back on the 40-man roster. Now, Flynn has had a rough go of it in Omaha with two especially bad outings, but he still needs a spot and the Royals currently don’t have one. I see a couple options. The first is that Hunter Dozier with a broken hamate bone could be transferred to the 60-day DL and Flynn can take his spot. The second is that Nate Karns could be transferred to the 60-day DL. At this point, he’s been out since May 20 anyway, so he likely won’t be back within 60 days. That would delay the decision. And the third is to just drop someone from the 40-man. Miguel Almonte having a nice season probably saves him, but the obvious choice is Chris Young, who does provide a valuable service of pitching innings so other people don’t have to, but let’s be real. You’d still rather have a better pitcher on the roster than that. I’m not sure Flynn will be in the big leagues since he has an option left, but he’ll definitely need to be added to the 40-man, so it’ll be interesting to see what the move is.

So after a pretty quiet offseason, the Royals started to make a few moves. In the last week, the big move was trading longtime Royal Jarrod Dyson to Seattle for right-handed pitcher Nathan Karns.

As a fan, it’s a tough move because Dyson has been in the organization so long and has had so many big moments as a Royal, but deep down, it makes some sense, as the Royals trade from surplus to fill a need.

We looked at where the Royals are now with Karns in the fold, how Dyson’s production may be covered, and how the Royals may approach their pitching staff now with a (likely) set five-man rotation.

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to KansasCityBaseballVault@gmail.com. Email us a question and if we answer it on the air, we’ll send you a gift certificate to our friends at Kelly’s Westport Inn.

Subscribe to the podcast via iTunes and BlogTalkRadio. You can also download this episode here (mp3).

Karns now looks like he’ll slot in as the fifth starter for the Royals, at least to open the season, and he could have some success in that role. In 2015, he appeared in 27 games for the Rays with 26 coming as starts and went 7-5 with a 3.67 ERA and a 1.279 WHIP. He struck out roughly a batter per inning with 3.4 walks per nine. After being moved to Seattle last year, he struggled with an ERA over 5.00, but he did strike out more hitters. His walk rate rose, though, as did his hits per nine inning.

Karns throws a fastball in the 93-94 MPH range and mixes in a curve, sinker and changeup as well. In his career, he’s been better against lefties than righties, so he has a bit of a reverse split there. He hasn’t been given much opportunity to get deep into games, averaging just over 16 outs per start in his career, but some of that may be attributed to being with the Rays who are notorious for getting pitchers out of the game sooner rather than later.

He’s not an exceptional pitcher, but he’s certainly someone who can slot in a rotation and give the Royals some hopefully quality starts to help fill out a pitching staff. He doesn’t get a ton of ground balls, but he’s also not horrible in that regard. He doesn’t get hit all that hard, so some of the hits that fell in last season might be able to be reduced by pitching in front of the excellent Royals defense. One big thing about Karns is that he’s under team control through the 2020 season, which means he isn’t even arbitration eligible until the 2018 season, so he comes at a very reasonable cost.

He was drafted by the Washington Nationals in the 12th round of the 2009 draft and was actually very good in the minors for the most part until his stint in Triple-A Durham during the 2014 season. One constant for him has been strikeouts, so if the Royals can get him throwing a few more strikes, that may be something that could unlock a number three starter rather than four/five guy he currently is.

Of course, giving up Dyson is difficult as he’s been there for so many of the big moments in recent memory.

Maybe Dyson’s most famous moment came at a pivotal time during the Wild Card Game in 2014. With the Royals trailing 7-6 in the ninth inning, Dyson was on second base, having pinch ran for Josh Willingham. He took off for third with one out and was successful in stealing the base, which led him to doing the Yung Joc Dance to celebrate. That might be one of the most used gifs on the internet when it comes to Royals fans. He eventually scored the run to tie the game, and you know what happened next.

Over the years, Dyson had developed into an important cog in the Royals machine. Whether it was taking over on defense for a lesser outfielder late in games, filling in for injured players or just pinch running at the most important times, Dyson always had a big role on this team. While Dyson isn’t an offensive juggernaut, everything else he brings to the table is what helped him fit in a reserve role on the Royals so well. Defensively, he’s one of the game’s best center fielders, and it seems that he’ll have the opportunity to play every day in Seattle and show off his defensive skills more than he could with the Royals with Lorenzo Cain in the way.

Personally, I’m not in love with this move, but I get it because four years of control of a starting pitcher is a big deal. The Royals do have Billy Burns, who is sort of similar to Dyson in that they both play outfield and they’re both fast. The problem is that Burns isn’t especially good at anything Dyson is. I think the bats might be somewhat comparable, but Burns doesn’t have the plate discipline Dyson does. He’s not a very good defender, and he isn’t a great base runner, in spite of his speed.

That doesn’t mean he can’t be valuable to the Royals in 2017 and beyond, but it’s to say that I believe the Royals got worse in their outfield situation. With the earlier acquisition of Jorge Soler, I believe Dyson was actually an even better fit as he could have played center field against righties with Soler DHing much of the time and only playing the outfield against lefties when Dyson sat.

It hasn’t been an eventful offseason for the Royals, though they’ve now sent two of their postseason heroes to different teams with an eye on the next great Royals team. With these moves, hopefully the Royals can continue to push for a playoff berth in 2017 and improve their fortunes in the years beyond.

It was hinted and suggested and assumed, and then it was finalized. Wade Davis was traded for Jorge Soler.

We discussed the way the market developed, the implications of the move, Soler’s potential, Davis’s history, and where it leaves the Royals.

Then we continued to talk about some Jarrod Dyson rumors and his sneaky value.

For more from BP KC, check out David Lesky’s thoughts. Craig Goldstein also has a deep look at the details on Baseball Prospectus.

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to KansasCityBaseballVault@gmail.com. Email us a question and if we answer it on the air, we’ll send you a gift certificate to our friends at Kelly’s Westport Inn.

Subscribe to the podcast via iTunes and BlogTalkRadio. You can also download this episode here (mp3).

This week’s edition of Notes will be a little shorter as we await all those fantastic rumors that we’ll see that will help to sustain us through the cold, dark winter.

• If the Royals are looking for a small move to make, I really believe signing Franklin Gutierrez makes a lot of sense for this team. It’s looking like Jarrod Dyson is going to play an important role in 2017, and while I think that’s great, he needs a legitimate platoon partner to play against lefties. Dyson just isn’t very good against them, his 2016 performance notwithstanding. Gutierrez, though, is fantastic against left-handers. In 2016, he hit .280/.373/.511 against lefties with 12 homers in 217 plate appearances. In his career, he’s hit .289/.351/.495 against southpaws. He can’t play every day anymore, but he can serve a right fielder against left-handed pitching. That will allow the Royals to have a bat to actually hit lefties, but also will be the perfect opportunity to get Lorenzo Cain starts in center field, but without him having to play center on an every day basis. That would hopefully keep his legs fresh and allow him to approach the 140 games he played in 2015. Not only will that help the Royals on the field, but a healthy Cain is likely to make more money as a free agent, which now benefits the Royals because if he gets a deal for over $50 million, the Royals get a better comp pick for him. So, you see, signing Gutierrez isn’t just important for 2017, it’s vital for the future.
• There’s a lot of hype about Ryan O’Hearn, and while I was impressed with what he was able to do in the Arizona Fall League, I feel like I’m one of the few who just isn’t able to get on the hype train for him. Yes, he hits the ball very hard. And yes, he has some excellent power that he’s shown in games in his minor league career. And that’s important. But he has so much swing and miss to his game that I wonder if he’ll be able to hack it at the big league level. He struck out 158 times in 564 plate appearances during the 2016 season and while he walked 56 times, I just haven’t been all that impressed with his plate discipline. If he can somehow turn into a 40-home run threat, nobody will care, but for a guy who might hit 35 doubles and 20-25 homers, I just don’t know that there’s enough else in the offensive profile for him to end up excelling as a big leaguer. The talent is definitely there, so maybe he can prove me wrong, but I’m not all that excited about O’Hearn.
• I really like the idea of the 10-day DL instead of the 15-day DL, and as I mentioned yesterday, I think it benefits the Royals more than it might some other teams. Think about last season in that game Salvador Perez and Cheslor Cuthbert collided before the crazy comeback against the White Sox. Perez missed the next few games with the thigh bruise he sustained in the collision. The Royals refused to put him on the disabled list because they were convinced he’d only be out about a week and didn’t want to lose him for the full 15 days. Now imagine that injury happens in 2017 and he’s expected to miss six to eight games. Are the Royals going to play with a short bench because they don’t want to wait for him to be eligible to return? Of course not. They’ll put him on the DL and call someone up from Omaha. The Royals are notoriously slow to deal with injuries. It seems like they always feel like a player is day-to-day only to find out that they need longer to heal than originally anticipated. And I get it. But because of that, the Royals play with a short bench and a short team way too often. Now, though, they can be a little more liberal with their DL usage. I do understand the concern about teams using it to game the system and put a starting pitcher on the disabled list when really they’re just skipping one of his starts, but I love the opportunity this provides.

Hey gang, I am on board with the anti-bunt crowd and, truthfully, most of baseball is headed that way as well.

Billy Hamilton currently leads baseball with 28 bunt attempts this season, three ahead of Danny Espinosa. Short of going on a season ending bunt spree, the 2016 league leader in bunt attempts will have one of the lowest total attempts in recent history. Leonys Martin led the league in attempts with 30 in 2013, which was the lowest since 1984. There exists a significant amount of statistical data these days that suggests giving up an out to advance a runner 90 feet is not the best use of a plate appearance in most situations and baseball is more and more taking lessons from advanced statistics. Besides, who wants to bunt when chicks dig the long ball?

In 1995, Brett Butler bunted 95 times. The year after that, he bunted 80 times. In 2003, Juan Pierre attempted 92 bunts and Alex Sanchez 76 (he would go on to bunt another 72 times the next year). In 2008, Carlos Gomez bunted 73 times and collected 30 bunt hits in the process. Going back to Butler’s 1995 campaign, he reaped the benefits of 42 bunt hits that year, managing to bunt for a hit 44 percent of the time he laid one down. In fact, Butler collected 19 or more bunt hits in every season between 1988 and 1995 and in his worst year, converted 32.5 percent of his bunt attempts into hits.

Butler was, of course, an extreme case in his ability to bunt. He bunted a ton, but also had some occasional thump in his bat (Alcides Escobar-ish type slugging) and could also work a walk at a decent rate. From 1985 to 1997, Butler had a BABIP of .300 or better every year despite a line drive percentage that exceeded 20% just once. Over his career, Brett bunted in 7.7 percent of his plate appearances and legged out a hit in 40.8 percent of those bunts.

A player with a similar penchant for bunting over a similarly long period of time was Juan Pierre. Between 2001 and 2012, Pierre bunted at least 31 times each season, and eight different times bunted 50 or more times. Over that time frame, Pierre bunted 637 times and collected 194 bunt hits; a 30.5 percent successful hit percentage. He attempted a bunt in 8.7 percent of his plate appearances. During that time, Juan never had a line drive percentage above 20 percent, but had a BABIP over .300 seven times and never was lower than .294. Juan Pierre did not strike out, he did not walk much, he had zero power. Pierre finished his career with an on-base percentage of .343.

Let’s throw another player into the mix: Otis Nixon. He bunted in 8.6 percent of his plate appearances and converted bunts into hits 39.7 percent of the time.  He had similar walk and strikeout rates to Butler, less power and completed his long career with the same on-base percentage as Juan Pierre. In 1991 with the Braves, Nixon bunted 53 times (11.5 percent of his PA’s), got 23 bunt hits (43.4 percent) and was on-base at a .371 clip.

We should make an obligatory nod at this point to Willy Taveras, who had 37 bunt hits in 2007 (an amazing 62.7 percent rate of converting bunts into hits) and Alex Sanchez (who collected 61 bunt hits during the 2003 and 2004 seasons and attempted a bunt in 20.5 percent of his total plate appearances in 2004). Those two guys, in addition to Butler, Nixon and Pierre collectively hold 13 of the 18 seasons since 1950 where a player has been credited with 22 or more bunt hits. The other five you ask? Kenny Lofton, Carlos Gomez (and young and so annoying Carlos), Nellie Fox (1954) and Del Unser (23 bunt hits in just 37 bunts in 1971).

Fun fact:  Del Unser’s dad was named Al Unser, but is, obviously, not THAT Al Unser.  

Now, if you are still paying attention, that super-fast Billy Hamilton is not among the most prolific collectors of bunt hits. Hamilton’s 15 bunt hits in 2014 is just 115th best since 1950. There is more to bunting for a hit than turning the bat sideways and running fast. Dee Gordon is pretty good at it, collecting 20 bunt hits (51 total bunts) in 2014 and 16 more last season (38 bunts). Jarrod Dyson was seemingly good at it once, but has not been recently.

And THERE AT LAST, is the point of these words!

I look at Jarrod Dyson this season, who has played almost exclusively against right handed pitching and hit .262/.329/.360.  He has bunted 18 times and managed just 3 bunt hits (7 sacrifices) after going just 2 for 16 in 2015. We could write that off as Jarrod is not a good bunter, but between the 2013 and 2014 seasons, Dyson bunted 41 times and got 20 bunt hits along with being credited with 9 sacrifice bunts. What’s changed?

In my mind, it felt like Dyson was bunting less, but the percentages of bunts to plate appearances is not dramatically different over the past five seasons. He has been bunting less effectively the past two years. Is it the defense? Is it the mindset of bunting to move the runner versus bunting to get on base? Is it the pitches being thrown? All of it? None of it? Do you know?  If you know, tell me…and please tell Jarrod Dyson.

What if Jarrod Dyson bunted the ball in play at a Juan Pierre-like rate of 8.7 percent of his plate appearances this year instead of 5.9 percent and what if  he converted those bunts into hits at a Nixon-ish 43.4 percent.  That success rate, by the way would be lower than he posted back to back in 2013 and 2014.  Such percentages would yield 11 bunt hits this season for Dyson, 8 more than he has recorded in 2016.  Add 8 more hits to Jarrod Dyson’s average and he is hitting .292 and his on-base percentage is .357. How would those numbers look combined with Dyson’s ability to disrupt on the bases and his ability to play defense?

Of course, that is a whole lot of what if. We are asking Dyson to return to a bunt hit efficiency he has not enjoyed for two seasons and to sustain that efficiency while bunting more often. We have used the assumption that the additional bunt hits were all taken from plate appearances where Dyson made an out and that those additional bunt attempts did not negate any of his productive at-bats, which is certainly not entirely correct.

Even ignoring that, this 1,000 words in search eight stinking hits. How much would you have given for one of those eight to have been with Cheslor Cuthbert and Dyson’s spot in the order up last night?

It wasn’t just that the Royals stole bases. They stole them at an 80 percent success rate, which was, once again, the best in baseball. And because the Royals were so effective at stealing bases, they were quite aggressive when given opportunities to steal. Over the previous three seasons, the Royals attempted to steal in roughly 7.7 percent of their stolen base opportunities. Only the Rangers, Astros, and Billy Hamilton-led Reds are in that stratosphere. But when you combine the Royals’ aggressiveness with their effectiveness, they were without equal.

That is, until this season.

Now, don’t get me wrong. The Royals have still stolen a lot of bases this season. Entering Wednesday’s game, they were at 99 total, with just under a month to go. However, their success rate is down to 77 percent, and they’ve only attempted to steal in 6.7 percent of their stolen base opportunities. That’s not bad, but we can also look at things in more detail to see how things have changed as the season has progressed.

In the first half, the Royals stole 50 bases. That total was good for 12th in baseball, and sixth in the league. Their successes also came in 68 attempts, so that’s a rate of less than 74 percent. To make matters worse, they were far less aggressive, taking off in only 5.7 percent of their opportunities. A lower success rate should justify a slightly lower takeoff rate, but that’s a significant nosedive.

Since the break, though, something has changed. They’ve already stolen 49 bases in 51 games this half, which leads the league. Their success rate is pushing 80 percent, and that has emboldened them to be more aggressive, attempting to steal in 9.6 percent of their opportunities.

That mark is up even more in the last two weeks, as they’ve stolen 23 bases in their last 13 games, and they’ve been caught five times. Those 28 stolen base attempts have come in 166 opportunities, for a takeoff rate of 16.9 percent.

The Royals have returned to running like the Royals, and it’s resulted in more runs.

Despite posting an on-base percentage of just .305 in the second half, the Royals have scored 4.4 runs per game. In the first half, they scored four runs per game, with an on-base percentage of .320. They’re now making the most of their opportunities, due in large part to their rediscovered aggressiveness on the base paths. Because they still aren’t an overly powerful team (games in Minnesota notwithstanding), they’ve had to rely on their speed to generate offense, and it’s working.

The drastic increase in takeoff rate could be easily explained if the roster looked vastly different in each part of the season, but that’s not really the case. A few players have gotten more time lately – namely, Jarrod Dyson and Raul Mondesi – but even the players who’ve remained in the regular lineup have added some aggressiveness.

Paulo Orlando has been on-base far less frequently in the second half, but he’s stolen seven bases since the break, after stealing five prior to it. Same goes for Lorenzo Cain, though his opportunities have been lower due to his time on the disabled list. Still, he’s swiped seven bags in 29 games, while only stealing six in his first 73 games. Alex Gordon has four steals in the second half, after collecting three in 57 first-half games.

Oddly enough, the biggest outlier is Alcides Escobar, who has just two stolen bases since the break, despite a .320 on-base percentage. In the first half, he stole 12 bases, which was impressive considering he only reached base eight times. Approximately.

Actually, Escobar’s lower stolen base total makes sense when you remember he’s been hitting behind Gordon for a few weeks now. His takeoff rate may not actually be that much lower, simply because he hasn’t always had an open base in front of him.

Getting back to the rest of the team, we can expect this trend to continue, now that rosters have expanded. The Royals can deploy their most aggressive base stealers in ideal stolen base opportunities. For instance, Terrance Gore now has seven steals in seven stolen base opportunities this year. Outside of Gore, the Royals also have Billy Burns, Mondesi, and Justin Gatlin all set for pinch running appearances, which should bode well for their late inning scoring chances.

As for the earlier innings, the additional aggressiveness, combined with more men on the bases, should continue to lead to more runs. Since August 6 (the beginning of their climb back into the playoff hunt), the Royals have a .323 on-base percentage, and have stolen 34 bases in 43 attempts, with a takeoff rate of 10.8 percent. In that time, they’ve scored 5.4 runs per game.

Last night’s loss made the postseason dream appear a bit blurrier, but the fact that the dream is still alive can be credited to the Royals getting back to their running roots, and being more aggressive on the base paths.

Monday’s game against the Cleveland Indians, for seven and a half innings, was brutal. The storyline was set to be good starting pitching spoiled by a tepid offense. Again.

Then, magic happened.

Alcides Escobar

It started innocently enough.

Escobar, who came to the plate with a runner on third and one out in the third and struck out, started the eighth with a squibber that deflected off the glove of Bryan Shaw. Shaw was in the game because starter Corey Kluber, who dominated through seven, left the game with a cramp after coming out to warm up in the eighth.

Royals Win Expectancy: 23.7 percent

Eric Hosmer

Hosmer squared up a cut fastball on the inner half and lined it to center. Escobar moves to second.

Royals Win Expectancy: 35.9 percent

Christian Colon

Colon was hitting for Kendrys Morales, who fouled a pitch off his foot in the fifth. At the time, he looked to be in quite a bit of pain. He also was hit in the lower leg or the foot in the first. (I was at the game, so I haven’t seen a replay. Plus, I’m rushing to get this RECAP posted.) It was not a good evening for the legs and feet of the Royals designated hitter. So Colon steps to the plate.

You’re probably aware of this, but Colon has a knack of coming through in late-inning, high-pressure situations. This time, he squared to bunt. Twice taking for a ball.

You’ll have to take my word on this (and what I’m about to write is totally believable if you’ve been a reader for any length of time), but I hated the bunt in that situation. Absolutely, show it. Bring the corners in. Plus, Lindor was shading to second to keep Escobar close to the bag. There was acres of space between third and short. I know there’s always talk about how the Royals do the “little things” and “manufacture runs.” Blah, blah, blah. Go back and read my lede. Outs are precious, especially when the offense has been scuffling. The idea of trading an out for 90 feet doesn’t seem like a good one to me.

Anyway, the whole point is moot. With the count 2-0, the bunt sign was removed. Colon squared, pulled back, and blistered one to center, over the head of Tyler Naquin, who was playing too shallow.

Tie game.

It just can’t be a Royals rally without something boneheaded happening. In this case, it was Colon, rounding second and going for third. The aggression on the bases is fine. It’s in the Royal DNA. Except in this case with no outs, the smart play is to hold at second. Colon hit the bag, made the turn, and suddenly realized he was carrying a couple of 50 pound sandbags around his waist. Easy out.

Royals Win Expectancy: 56 percent

Salvador Perez

I’m certain the turn of events sufficiently jacked Perez so much, he had to swing at the first pitch he saw or he was going to explode. Can of corn to shortstop for out number two.

Royals Win Expectancy: 52.6 percent

Alex Gordon

I miss Gordon. He just hasn’t been the same this year. That sucks. Fortunately, he can still work a walk. It’s easy when Shaw spins four consecutive cutters and misses the plate by a wide margin on all four.

Fire up another rally.

Royals Win Expectancy: 55 percent

And then he swipes second.

Royals Win Expectancy: 58 percent

Cheslor Cuthbert

There will be plenty of kudos handed out for this inning, and Cuthbert’s plate appearance will probably be overlooked. Except it was probably the best one of the inning. He fell behind 1-2, then took the next two out of the zone to push the count full. Cuthbert then fights off two cutters in the zone. He’s tardy on those pitches, fouling them off to the right. Shaw then breaks off a slider. I couldn’t tell you how Cuthbert laid off that pitch.

Royals Win Expectancy: 58.8 percent

Paulo Orlando

To this point, Orlando had had a miserable evening at the plate. He grounded into a double play in the second, struck out looking on three pitches in the fourth, and struck out swinging on a pitch way out of the zone in the seventh. Honestly, he’s probably just happy Kluber is out of the game.

So is Shaw. Terry Francona summons Jeff Manship to attempt to close out the inning after the back to back walks.

Manship threw three sliders. The first one, was perfectly located, just off the edge of the plate. Orlando swung and missed. The second, spun low and away. And easy take. The third one, was just right for Orlando.

He got out in front and yanked it into left. Gordon sprint around third and executes a beautiful slide, avoiding the tag and the hammer drop of a knee Roberto Perez tried to use to block the plate to break the tie.

Sometimes, redemption is found in one swing.

Royals Win Expectancy: 87.4 percent

Whit Merrifield

On the throw home, Cuthbert moves up to third and Orlando advances to second. For whatever reason, Manship decides to pitch Merrifield very carefully with first base open. He falls behind 3-0 and ultimately walks him.

The bases are loaded.

Royals Win Expectancy: 87.9 percent

Jarrod Dyson

Earlier in the game, Dyson lashed a triple over the head of Lonnie Chisenhall in right field. Dyson doesn’t drive the ball that hard that often, so it was the kind of hit that makes you take notice.

Against Manship, Dyson gets a low, middle-cut fastball. With the bases loaded and the Indians clinging to a one run deficit, he must be looking dead red. He got what he was looking for.

Prior to Monday, Dyson had hit six home runs in his major league career. Five of them had left the park. As you can probably imagine, he had never hit a grand slam.

In the span of 30 minutes, the Royals got off the floor and kicked the division leaders in the teeth. This season may be a grind, but they’re not going down without a little bit of fight. The offense had flatlined for seven innings, scraping together a handful of hits, but never doing enough to push a single run across the plate. Suddenly, in the eighth, the floodgates opened, capped off by a moonshot of a grand slam by the unlikeliest of home run heroes.

That was exactly why we sit through seven innings of uninspiring baseball. That was why we still love these players and this team. That was why we will be back for more, screaming at the top of our lungs, hopeful that this run can last another couple of months, or even longer.

Three singles. Three walks. One double. And one grand slam.

Seven runs.

Wonderful. Delightful. Amazing. Ballgame.

Royals Win Expectancy: 99.4 percent

What else is there to say? Let’s end this RECAP the proper way. Salvy Splash.

Ace In The Hole

Ian Kennedy is not really an ace; I doubt anyone outside his immediate family would argue that. Of course, he’s been pretty good so far as a Royal. But his last start (a 6 1/3-inning, 7-run nightmare) was not encouraging. Up against perhaps the best lineup in the American League, Kennedy was terrific. He set down nine of the first 10 Red Sox hitters. After a double and two singles gave Boston a run to start the fourth, Kennedy recovered to strike out the next two batters, then ended the inning with a groundout. Chris Young (Boston version) led off the fifth with a home run to tie the game, but Kennedy got out of the inning (with a hat tip to Alcides Escobar, who made a diving stop to save a run for the final out). All told, Kennedy pitched 5 2/3 innings, struck out nine, and allowed the two runs on six hits and a walk. He threw a lot of pitches, but it’s hard to ask for more than what he did.

I’ve Come To Expect It From You

Eric Hosmer has been the Royals’ offensive rock all season long. Everyone around him has struggled, but Hosmer has been putting up an MVP-type line. The good times continued in the very first inning, as Escobar led off with a single and stole second base. Boston starter Steven Wright threw one of his knuckleballs to Hosmer about knee-high, and 74 mph. Hosmer destroyed it, launching it 439 feet to center field for a 2-0 lead. Behold:

That was the WPA play of the game. Unfortunately, that was all the offense the Royals could muster until late in the game.

It Ain’t Cool To Be Crazy About You

Jarrod Dyson has been something of a whipping boy for Royals fans this year. When he returned from his oblique injury, he started off hot but had cooled off considerably. His competition for playing time in right field, Paulo Orlando, had a tremendous game last night and manager Ned Yost indicated he would play Orlando more going forward. Yet Yost gave Dyson the start in this game, and is glad he did. Dyson had just one hit, but he made it count. He led off the sixth with a triple, his first of the year. One out later, Lorenzo Cain hit a fly ball deep enough to bring Dyson in with the go-ahead run. Then, in the top of the eighth, Dyson gave the Royals a lift on defense. With one out and Xander Boegarts on first, David Ortiz singled. Boegarts tried for third, but Dyson charged the ball and made a strong one-hop throw to third to cut down the speedy shortstop. That turned the inning around; Kelvin Herrera allowed two singles in the eighth but only threw seven pitches despite three hard-hit balls.

The Fireman

A tip of the Stetson to Brian Flynn, who relieved Kennedy in the sixth with a man on and ended the inning by striking out Royal-killer Jackie Bradley, Jr. And a tip of the Stetson to Luke Hochevar for striking out the side in the seventh. And a tip of the Stetson to Herrera (yes, and Dyson). And a tip of the Stetson to Wade Davis, who recovered from a shaky outing last time out to slam the door on Boston in the ninth, picking up his ninth save of the year.

Living For Tonight

We don’t have to wait long for the Royals’ next game. Game two of today’s doubleheader starts at 7:15 pm. Boston will go with David Price on the mound, while Kansas City counters with Edinson Volquez. KC will look to move two games above .500 for the first time since May 3.

Photo credit: Peter Aiken, USA Today Sports