Left to wonder: What's been up with Royals' bats against southpaws?
With its loss Sunday to Wade Miley and the Red Sox, Kansas City dropped its sixth straight game against a left-handed starting pitcher. The Royals have not beaten a southpaw since topping New York's Chris Capuano on May 17.
Kansas City will face two more lefties in Seattle, with Mike Montgomery taking the hill Tuesday and Roenis Elias going Wednesday.
Since May 17, the Royals have slashed .207/.268/.281 against left-handers in 217 at-bats. Their batting average and slugging percentage are the worst in the majors over the time frame. The on-base percentage leads only the White Sox.
Part of that can be attributed to a general downswing in the Royals' offensive numbers, but their numbers against right-handers are not as unsightly. They are a modest 16th in the majors since May 17 with a .719 OPS against righties. Their .272 batting average actually ranks seventh in baseball, while the on-base percentage and slugging percentage hover around league averages.
So which Royals have been struggling against the lefties? Not the ones you'd think.
Left-handed-hitting Alex Gordon leads the team since May 17 with a .476/.577/.714 slash line against lefties. Excluding Jarrod Dyson and his 2 for 4 numbers over the span, left-handed-hitting Eric Hosmer is next. He owns an unremarkable .259/.286/.370 line, but still leads the rest of the team.
Leadoff man Alcides Escobar (.083/.154/.125), second baseman Omar Infante (.118/.118/.176) and catcher Salvador Perez (.105/.105/.263) each has just two hits off lefties in the last five-plus weeks. All three are right-handed.
In the last month, manager Ned Yost has sat his left-handed bats against southpaws occasionally, resting Hosmer and Mike Moustakas against the Cubs' Tsuyoshi Wada and the Cardinals' Tyler Lyons.
The Royals have never faced Montgomery, who was traded from Kansas City to Tampa Bay as part of the James Shields and Wade Davis deal. Against Elias, current Royals are 12 for 37. Escobar has homered off Elias and has four RBIs.
You can follow Matthew DeFranks on Twitter at @MDeFranks or email him at matthew.defranks@gmail.com.
