Royals manager Ned Yost: ‘Some of this stuff you do on feel’
Back in Arizona during the early days of Cactus League play, Royals manager Ned Yost flip-flopped Whit Merrifield and Adalberto Mondesi in the first two spots in the club’s spring training lineup. Ultimately, he left Merrifield as the leadoff man and Mondesi in the two hole. So far, it looks like inspired thinking.
Merrifield enters Saturday riding a 26-game hitting streak dating back to last season, the longest active streak in the majors, and he’s scored seven runs in six games. Mondesi has batted .346 with six extra-base hits and has scored five runs.
“It didn’t take long to realize I didn’t like it that way,” Yost said of having Mondesi leading off and Merrifield batting second. “I don’t know, it was a feel.”
Batting behind that duo, Alex Gordon has arguably gotten off to a more productive start than either of them. He entered Saturday with a .481 on-base percentage with nine runs scored and a team-high seven RBI.
“Some of this stuff you do on feel,” Yost said. “Going into it you can look at Gordie over the years past — people especially in the last couple years want to know why is he hitting third if you look at his numbers — but it’s a feel that he fits good in that spot with Whit and Mondi and him and now (Jorge) Soler. They’re not going to really want to walk Gordon to face Soler.”
Merrifield, who led the majors in hits and stolen bases last season, said he really doesn’t change his approach at the plate at all in regard to where he bats in the lineup.
Merrifield formulates his approach to each at-bat based upon the situation and the pitcher.
“If I’ve got Billy (Hamilton) or Mondi or (Terrance) Gore or somebody on first, I’m probably going to be a little more patient and let them steal some bases,” Merrifield said. “Runner on second and nobody out, my job is to move them over so I’ve got to hit the ball to right field. Runner on third and less than two outs, I’ve got to drive the ball. If I’m leading off, I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do to get on base.
“That also changes with the pitcher. If the pitcher has got a wipe-out slider, I’m probably not going to try to wait around for that slider. I’m probably going to try to get something early. It’s a constant approach change based on the situation, based on the pitcher, based on how I’m feeling. It doesn’t matter where I am in the lineup.”
Boxed up: Yost was encouraged by what he saw from relief pitcher Brad Boxberger late in Thursday’s game against the Tigers. Boxberger retired the side in order and struck out two in a scoreless eighth inning.
“For me, I think it’s just a matter of time until he gets settled in,” Yost said. “He just needs consistency to find his release point. (Thursday), that’s what I expect out of him. I thought that was a really good outing. Boom-boom-boom, he was efficient. Even though it was 22 pitches, I thought he came in and did a great job. I was pleased. I wanted to see that. I knew it was going to get there sooner or later. I was glad that we saw it now.”
Exorcising demons? In his lone previous start at Comerica Park, Saturday’s KC starter, Jorge Lopez, allowed a career-high seven runs on eight hits in a little more than an inning of work in an 11-8 loss on September 20, 2018.
Saturday’s lineup
1. Whit Merrifield, rf
2. Adalberto Mondesi, ss
3. Alex Gordon, lf
4. Jorge Soler, dh
5. Frank Schwindel, 1b
6. Chris Owings, 2b
7. Hunter Dozier, 3b
8. Martin Maldonado, c
9. Billy Hamilton, cf
Starting pitcher: Jorge Lopez (rh, 0-1, 7.20)
This story was originally published April 6, 2019 at 11:10 AM with the headline "Royals manager Ned Yost: ‘Some of this stuff you do on feel’."
