The Kansas City Royals are having problems scoring runs which means that they can’t afford to have a no-hit, all field shortstop as their starter. Tony Pena is off to a terrible start to the 2008 season and the Royals need to only only bench him but also send him to the minors to rebuild his confidence. Pena has played in 45 games this season for the Royals and he is 23 for 142 (.162 avg, .388 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 7 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. The problem for the Royals is that Alberto Callaspo doesn’t appear ready to replace him. Callaspo has played in 27 games this season for the Royals and he is 17 for 64 (.266 avg, .660 OPS)with 2 runs scored and 3 RBIs. With that in mind, it makes perfect sense for the Royals to recall 30-year old righty swinging Angel Berroa from the minors and give him another chance. Berroa has played in 44 games in AAA ball this season and he is 50 for 166 (.301 avg, .834 OPS) with 29 runs scored, 8 homers, 21 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. He has played in 627 games in his major league career and he is 606 for 2,300 (.263 avg, .689 OPS) with 293 runs scored, 45 homers, 245 RBIs and 50 stolen bases. The Royals just can’t go on getting absolutely nothing from the shortstop position offensively so they need to make this change for the betterment of the team.

At some point you have to wonder when the Royals will replace Tony Pena at shortstop. He has played in 27 games for the Royals this season and he is 14 for 89 (.157 avg, .376 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 5 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. Pena is a good defensive player but you have to draw the line at some point. Alberto Callaspo is off to a hot start with the bat and he might get an opportunity to show what he can do with more playing time. Callaspo has played in 14 games this season for the Royals and he is 14 for 38 (.368 avg, .876 OPS) with 1 run scored and 3 RBIs.

In the off-season the Royals traded for veteran Jason LaRue to push John Buck for the starting job.  It appeared to spur Buck in the first half of the season but he has been downright awful in the 2nd half.  Buck has played in 37 games since the All-Star Break and he is 25 for 116 (.216 avg, .647 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 3 homers and 18 RBIs.  For the season, Buck has played in 99 games and he is hitting .234 (.787 OPS) with 39 runs scored, 18 homers and 47 RBIs.  LaRue has been even worse than Buck.  In 20 games since the All-Star Break, LaRue is 4 for 57 (.070 avg, .320 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 1 homer and 3 RBIs.  LaRue has now played in 60 games this season and he is hitting .146 (.511 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 4 homers and 13 RBIs.  The Royals should do themselves a huge favor and get two new catchers for the 2008 season.

Alex Gordon, Emil Brown, Ryan Shealy and Jason LaRue have all been pretty bad this season for the Royals.  In Gordon’s defense…he has played better as of late.  Gordon is hitting .232 with 34 runs scored, 6 homers, 28 RBIs and 9 stolen bases so far this season.  The Royals need him to start hitting like he was projected by scouts to do in the 2nd half of the season.  Emil Brown has lost his starting job that he has held the last two years because he’s only hitting .227 with 24 runs scored, 3 homers, 35 RBIs and 8 stolen bases.  Don’t look for Brown to regain his job unless Gathright goes into a deep slump.  Ryan Shealy has been awful this season as he’s only hitting .221 with 18 runs scored, 3 homers and 21 RBIs.  Shealy has also whiffed 53 times in 172 atbats and it’s likely that he will lose his starting job to Ross Gload.  Jason LaRue was brought in to push John Buck for his starting catcher job but it hasn’t worked out that way.  LaRue is only hitting .188 with 12 runs scored, 3 homers and 10 RBIs this season.  He also has whiffed an amazing 38 times in only 101 atbats this season.

The Royals need to admit they made a mistake and send Alex Gordon to the minors before they completely ruin him.  In 52 games this season, Gordon is 31 for 180 (.172 avg, .565 OPS) with 15 runs scored, 3 homers and 8 RBIs.  Those numbers are horrible for a third baseman and he’s whiffed an amazing 54 times as if often seems as if major league pitchers are toying with him.  The Royals could choose to move Mark Teahan back to third base where he has played his whole career until this season and replace him in the outfield with Joey Gathright who’s tearing the ball up in AAA right now.  Or they could let Esteban German/Angel Berroa start at third base.  Either way they need to get Gordon some confidence in the minors because what they’re doing to him is awful.