The Kansas City Royals lineup is ready for a breakout. They have power; they have speed, and you know they are going to run like crazy on the base paths. With Whit Merrifield, Adalberto Mondesi, Salvador Perez, Carlos Santana, and Jorge Soler, that is a dang good top five. Then you have the upside of Andrew Benintendi now that Hunter Dozier is strictly a platoon guy. We don’t need to get too crazy about him as Michael Taylor is a huge strike-out guy but a very good glove in the outfield. After a month of the season or so, they’re going to be playing Edward Olivares over him because why not? Well, what do they have to lose? They’re not going to win the division. They’re not going to win the American League, and they want to see what they have with Olivares.

Their pitching staff consists of a rotation of Danny Duffy, Brad Keller, Mike Minor, and maybe Brady Singer. They may not start him, but he has a higher ceiling than some of the others there, and he is the No. 4 prospect in the organization. Plus, being a left-handed starting pitcher always helps. We know the range of outcomes with lefties is they can go anywhere from untouchable, best guy in the league to just keeps getting paid money because he throws with his left hand instead of his right hand.

This team could surprise some people this year with an impressive offense. It’s unfortunate their pitching is so bad; otherwise, they might be able to compete in a pretty weak American League Central. Their staff will undoubtedly get roughed up by other AL teams, but the bats should have them scoring a lot more runs. They could very well be a top-six team in the AL in runs scored, and if nothing else, will be fun to watch.