Posted in Analysis

Royals All-Star Power Rankings: The Keystone and A Special Guest

Posted on
by Trey Donovan

Welcome back to this series power ranking all the Royals All-Stars. Last time we covered first base and a couple of the fan favorites at that spot. This time we cover the keystone which is dominated by a few players in Royals history. As like last time the rankings will be based on a player’s first-half stats and ranked based on overall impact. Let’s begin the ranking.

1. 2019 Whit Merrifield

“Two-hit Whit” was one of the better bat-to-ball specialists in the league not too long ago. He was also one of the only bright spots on the Royals on multiple 100-loss teams. In 2019, he dominated the first half slashing .306/.355./495 for an OPS of .850. He tallied 117 hits in the first half on route to lead the league in hits with 209. Whit also tallied 25 2B’s, 7 3B’s, and added 11 HRs in the first half of 2019, which includes a grand slam off Framber Valdez.

Always known as a slap hitting second baseman, Rojas showed some power in 1971 to spark a late career renaissance with the Royals. He slashed .315/.368/.446 for an OPS of .814. This season would give Cookie a career high in slugging at .406. The counting stats show Rojas getting 91 hits, 18 2Bs, 6 HRs, and drive in 39 runs. 1971 proved to be a career year for Rojas earning MVP votes and finishing 14th, which was his highest placing.

3. 1982 Frank White

One of the only numbers retired by the Royals, Frank White established himself as the Royals second baseman after Cookie Rojas retired in 1977. After the switch, White would appear in five All-Star games as a second baseman. Never known as a top tier hitter, White got it done with the glove, but 1982 saw a career year offensively. He would slash .307/.321/.463 for an OPS of .784 in the first half. He would tally up 83 hits, 25 2Bs, 4 3Bs, 3 HRs, and drive in 25 runs. Also of note, he had six walks in the first half in 284 plate appearances.

4. 1986 Frank White

In the later years of his career, White also had some solid offensive years while playing Gold Glove defense. 1986 was his second best season behind 1982. In the first half of 1986, White slashed .279/.315/.446 for an OPS of .761. He would rack up 10 HRs, 20 2Bs, 51 RBIs, and upped his walks to 19 in that first half. While his first half was good, he turned it up in the second half of 1986 slashing .263/.331/.490 for an OPS of .821.

5. 2021 Whit Merrifield

In probably Whit’s worst full season as a Royal, 2021 saw him lead the league in stolen bases and doubles. He would slash .270/.321/.407 for an OPS of .728 tallying 95 hits, 20 2Bs, 8 HRs, and driving in 47 runs. Whit would also swipe 24 bags while only getting caught once in the first half of 2021. The second half had similar counting stats with 20 2Bs and 89 hits, but his walk rate dipped a ton and he didn’t hit many other extra base hits.

6. 1978 Frank White

This is where the entries get a little more stale number wise. White slashed .286/.335/.395 for an OPS of .729. The counting numbers are bare bones as White had 76 hits, 16 2Bs, 3 HRs, and had 40 runs. He was a league average bat, but was still flashing the leather at an elite rate. May of 1978 would be his best month slashing .365/.400/.541 for an OPS of .941. He would rack up 27 hits, 18 runs, and 10 RBIs in 86 plate appearances.

Similar to the first base rankings there will be a lot of Cookie and White in this list. 1972 was another solid season for Rojas as he slashed .298/.343/.373 for an OPS of .716 in the first half. He would drive in 39 runs, have 88 hits, 16 2Bs, and have 33 runs. Nothing special, but he was doing what Cookie always did be a slap hitter and get on-base at a good rate. He would also have 5 intentional walks in the first half of 1972.

For the first time in this series, we have a tie in the rankings. The reason for this is because these two first halves are very similar. Rojas would slash .290/.331/.377 for an OPS of .708 and White would slash .265/.299/.416 for an OPS of .715. Both got to the All-Star games in different ways, but with similar results. Rojas would have 99 hits and 20 BBs, but hit for less power with 17 extra base hits in the first half. White would have 22 extra base hits with 14 swiped bags while missing some games. The biggest difference in the two’s season was availability as Rojas would play in 89 games compared to White’s 57.

In what is probably his worst first half on this list Rojas didn’t have an OPS above .700 while hitting .263. He would rack up 93 hits still and have 16 2Bs, but his slugging was .359 in the first half. This isn’t a knock on Rojas, he just didn’t hit for power and not enough into the gaps. He did, however, steal 12 bags and had more walks than strikeouts at a 27:24 ratio. He started the year strong with an OPS of .814, but would struggle in May and June to lower his numbers.

10. 1981 Frank White

Now, people might question why I have this season here since he had an OPS above .700. Well, he only played in 41 games in the first half of 1981. To add to this, White was only good in June with an OPS of 1.284 in seven games. In 153 plate appearances, he would tally 38 hits, 8 2Bs, and 3 HRs while adding 16 runs. It wasn’t the best year for White as he would miss time that season and only finish with 94 games played. Now we head into the special guest and many Royals fans will remember this player.

Honorable Mention: #VoteOmar 2015 Omar Infante

In one of the most highly contested elections of the last decade, Omar Infante almost beat Jose Altuve for an All-Star nod. If not for the MLB stepping in and interfering with the voting, the #VoteOmar campaign trail would have probably won. At a point in time, Infante held the lead over Altuve while slashing .206/.232/.276 for an OPS of .555.

2015 was a special season for the Royals and that season’s All-Star game as the Royals sent five players to the Midsummer Classic. None of which were Infante, Kendrys Morales, Alex Gordon, or Eric Hosmer. Although all of them were “deserving” of a spot. We might not have gotten the Royals All-Star team in 2015, but we did get one of the best images in baseball that season.

Anyway, that does it for the keystone. The Royals don’t have a ton of history at the spot since the Frank White era and it doesn’t seem to be continuing this year. Second base has been somewhat of a black sheep in Royals history from Frank White to Chris Getz to Jose Offerman to even Nicky Lopez. Outside of the top three or so the Royals have had really inconsistent production at second and it shows in these rankings. See you next time when we cover the shortstop All-Stars.

(Photo by: John Vawter Collection/Diamond Images/Getty Images)

Trey Donovan

Trey is a Senior at Baker University majoring in Mass Media (Sports media track) and has written for multiple sites in his time as a writer. He is also the current Managing editor at The Baker Orange and has written for Kings of Kauffman, Inside the Royals, and now Farm to Fountain. In his free time, if he isn't writing, he is either playing video games or watching anime.