2B Frank White was known more for his glove than his bat, but he hit good enough to be an asset for the Royals. He turned in his best season with the Royals back in 1986 at the age of 35. White played in 151 games for the Royals in 1986 and he was 154 of 566 (.272 avg, .787 OPS) with 76 runs scored, 22 homers, 84 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. White was an A.L. All-Star in 1986 and he also won a Gold Glove and his only Silver Slugger Award that year. White played 18 years for the Royals appearing in 2,324 games in which he was 2,006 for 7,859 (.255 avg, .675 OPS) with 912 runs scored, 160 homers, 886 RBIs and 178 stolen bases. White was #2 in Royals’ history in games played with 2,324. He was also #2 in hits (2,006), #4 in runs scored (912), #3 in doubles (407), #5 in triples (58), #5 in homers (160), #4 in RBIs (886), #7 in walks (412) and #5 in stolen bases (178) in Royals’ history. White made 5 All-Star teams and he won 8 Gold Gloves in his 18 years with the Royals as he was one of the better infielders in team history.

I was not a big fan of the outfield the Royals put together for this year but so far they are proving me wrong by playing solid all-around baseball. 27-year old lefty swinging Alex Gordon is finally put it all together this year. He has played in 18 games for the Royals so far this year and he is 28 for 79 (.354 avg, .937 OPS) with 16 runs scored, 1 homer, 14 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Gordon has also adjusted to playing LF defensively as he came up initially to the Royals as a 3B. 26-year old switch-hitting Melky Cabrera is keeping CF warm for Lorenzo Cain, but it looks like he’s planning to hold him off for a while based on how well he has been playing so far this year. Cabrera has played in 18 games for the Royals so far this year and he is 24 of 85 (.282 avg, .739 OPS) with 13 runs scored, 1 homer, 12 RBIs and 1 stolen base. In right field is 27-year old righty swinging Jeff Francoeur. He is a very aggressive hitter who isn’t very patient at the plate but he’s hitting the heck out of the ball so far this year. Francoeur has played in 18 games for the Royals so far this year and he is 24 of 73 (.329 avg, .897 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 3 homers, 16 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Gordon, Cabrera & Francoeur are big reasons for the success of the Royals so far so they hope they can keep up the good work for a while.

Veteran lefty starting pitcher Jeff Francis is off to a solid start for the K.C. Royals in 2011. Francis has started 4 games for the Royals so far this year and he is 0-1 with a 3.00 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP. He has given up 27 hits in his first 27 innings this season but he’s making hitters earn everything they get as he has only walked 3 batters so far this year. Francis was once one of the up and coming lefty starting pitchers for the Rockies. From 2005-2007, he was 44-32 for the Rockies and it 2007 he was 17-9. But a shoulder injury really set him back in his last three years with the Rockies. He pitched in 44 games (43 starts) for the Rockies in his last three years with them and he was 8-16 with a 5.01 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP. The Royals are really happy with Francis so far this year as he’s working his way back.

With Chris Getz and Wilson Betemit getting hot at the plate, Mike Aviles has been the odd man out for P.T. lately. Aviles has played in 8 games for the Royals so far this year and he is 5 for 32 (.156 avg, .628 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 1 homer, 6 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Aviles is a much better hitter than he has shown so far this year but he can only really handle playing 2B or 3B, so if he doesn’t start hitting soon his P.T. could start to dry up.

The Royals have placed righty reliever Robinson Tejada on the 15-day disabled list due to right shoulder inflammation. Tejada has pitched in 7 games (0 starts) for the Royals so far this year and he is 0-1 with a 5.06 ERA and a 2.25 WHIP. Tejada was having a rough time so far as he gave up 10 hits in his first 5 1/3 innings of the year. The Royals have recalled 25-year old righty reliever Blake Wood to replace Tejada in the bullpen. Wood pitched in 51 games (0 starts) for the Royals as a rookie last year and he was 1-3 with a 5.07 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP. Wood pitched in 3 games (0 starts) in AAA-ball so far this year and he was 0-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 0.40 WHIP. The Royals hope that Wood improves with them this time around because he has a good arm.