Ned Yost is the new King Midas -- and his latest (wacky) Royals lineup was pure gold
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- King Midas wears blue, plays in NASCAR fantasy leagues and likes to hunt with Jeff Foxworthy. Esky leading off? BOOM! Three runs scored. Moose hitting second? KAPOW! Oppo dong!
Kendrys Morales fifth? ZOWIE! Three walks, two runs scored. Gordo sixth? Alex Rios seventh? WHAM! A total of 10 runs, the most scored by the Kansas City Royals in a home opener since 1979.
"When we did this with Alex Gordon four or five years ago, it really gave him a boost of confidence," Yost said after the Royals tied the team record for their largest Opening Day margin of victory -- nine runs -- in a 10-1 demolition of the Chicago White Sox. "He was a kid that had been sent to Triple A the year before. (Gordon) came to spring training and I put him in the 3-spot and he took off. Ended up hitting (.303) and, you know, 45 doubles.
"You look at (third baseman Mike Moustakas) at this point in his career ... having Moose in the 2-spot right now just shows how much confidence we have in his ability. Which, in turn, gives him confidence to play his game."
The line: 2 for 3, two runs scored, a homer and a sac bunt.
Counting postseason tilts, in the 31 Royals games since Sept. 13 -- with the core Yost lineup framework of Alcides Escobar leading off, center fielder Lorenzo Cain hitting third and first baseman Eric Hosmer cleaning up -- The Local Nine are 21-10.
Our 401(k)s are yours, Ned.
Seriously. Have at it, champ. Stocks? Bonds? Don't hold back. When you're hot, you're hot. Guide us.
"It's all about having confidence," outfielder Jarrod Dyson explained. "I think Moose is in the 2-hole to get going and see some better pitches to hit. And with Esky getting on, he might be getting better pitches to hit. And Moose is one of the guys that can drive the ball out of the ballpark at any time, so we're going to take advantage of that 2-hole."
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And advantage of Moustakas, finally channeling his mojo, the production matching that sky-high ceiling.
"Different situations call for different things," the third baseman said. "Just trying to do what I can to help this team win."
In the third inning, the powerful lefty came up with the hosts leading 1-0 and Escobar at second following an inning-opening double. Moustakas elected to bunt to first, moving the runner to third with one out, a run that wound up getting plated on Cain's single to right.
The California native took White Sox starter Jeff Samardzija deep to left-center in the fifth (his first opposite-field homer in the Show), then drew a walk from lefty Dan Jennings in the seventh to extend what would become a game-breaking five-run inning. The capper: Moose legged out a single in the eighth on a dribbler that beat the shift on the left side of the infield.
"The situation where he bunted (Escobar) to (third), that was him, we didn't put the bunt sign on," Yost explained. "He goes up there and (thinks to himself), 'I'm going to play this game. Right now, I'm going to get that runner over and trust that my teammates (are) going to get him in."
That trust goes both ways now -- and, perhaps, a corner has been turned for good. Moustakas hit .273 and slugged .818 in the stunning American League Division Series sweep of the Angels last October. For the postseason, he hit .231 and slugged .558, belting five home runs and knocking in seven across 52 at-bats.
"You know, what I think clicked, honestly, I think the playoffs last year was a huge influence on him," Yost said. "Because as soon as we started the playoffs last year, he had fought his average (.212), he had fought his homers (15), he had fought his RBI (54), and just felt all year long that he was underperforming and underachieving to his standards.
"Once the playoffs started, he forgot all about it. His only intent was to do whatever it takes, each at-bat, to help your team be successful. And he saw how much success he could have doing it. ... It was a mindset that said, 'You know what? I'm not fighting myself anymore. I'm just going to play the game, I'm going play the game to win for my teammates. I don't care what the stats say. I don't care what happens. I'm just going to take every situation and try to achieve it.'
"And I think that was a great experience for him. And you know, we talked about it early in spring training with experience those guys gained last year, it's going to be real interesting to see if they take it (into) the regular season. And all spring (training), and even to this point -- it's only one game, but they've done a real good job with that."
"Moose is a great player," Hosmer said. "We know that, and last year in the postseason, he put that on for the whole world to see. So we know coming out of (last October for) a lot of guys, everything would slow down for us. And that experience really helped us out. And (Monday was) a prime example of that right there."
Method over madness.
Or maybe it's something else.
"It's Ned Magic, man," Dyson chuckled. Then he corrected himself. "It's 'Genius Magic' right there."
You can follow Sean Keeler on Twitter at @SeanKeeler or email him at seanmkeeler@gmail.com.
