When the Royals tabbed Matt Quatraro last season to replace former manager Mike Matheny, it was expected that the Royals would do things similar to the Tampa Bay Rays, Quatraro’s previous organization. Even though the Rays continuously sport one of the lowest payrolls in baseball (they rank 25th this year, according to Cot’s Contracts), they continue to be competitive in the AL East, one of the toughest divisions in baseball.
Last season was a rough start for Quatraro in Kansas City, to say the least.
Even though Quatraro brought a fresh perspective and an “analytics-focused” approach to the bench, the wins didn’t follow him from Tampa Bay to Kansas City in 2023.
The Royals lost 106 games, tied for a franchise record, and finished last in a division with only one team with a record above .500 (the Minnesota Twins). While Quatraro certainly didn’t assemble the 2023 Royals roster (that obviously falls on JJ Picollo and the front office), he didn’t inspire confidence in frustrated Royals fans who want to see results after so many losing seasons since 2015.
After an active offseason by the Royals, the expectations are certainly higher for Quatraro and the Royals coaching staff in 2024, which remains pretty much intact from the previous season.
There’s no question that Quatraro has built a strong clubhouse culture where players feel heard and respected. He also brings a positive approach that has seemed to rub off positively, especially on the Royals’ young stars, such as Bobby Witt, Jr., Vinnie Pasquantino, and Cole Ragans, just to name a few.
Regarding building a culture, there’s no doubt Quatraro has checked off that box.
The fact that the Royals finished the year 15-12 after sitting at 41-94 at the end of August demonstrates the resilience Quatraro and the staff instilled in the young Royals players. It would’ve been easy for the Royals to pack it in and obliterate the old franchise record for losses set in 2005. However, they turned things around in the last month of the season and did so with a primarily core group of young players that the Royals will rely on in 2024.
On a “clubhouse-building” end, Quatraro is undoubtedly the right guy to manage the Royals. We have seen from other managers across the league that building that kind of relationship is easier said than done (Pedro Grifol in Chicago is a prime example).
That said, most Royals fans expressed frustration with Quatraro’s frequent use of lineups in his debut season as manager.
Which makes Royals fans this year wonder:
Will Quatraro continue to employ a “deep roster” strategy that will see the Royals putting out different lineups game after game? Or will he instead use a more conservative approach that is a little more predictable, especially in critical spots in the lineup?
Let’s examine what we saw last year and what we can learn from the first two lineups of the 2024 regular season.
Multiple Lineups in 2023: Choice or Necessity?
There’s no question that Quatraro was more liberal in his lineup decisions in 2023, especially at the beginning of the year. Max Rieper of Royals Review noted that Quatraro’s lineups changed daily, with different players and where players hit in the lineup.
This was especially true with Witt at the beginning of the year, as Quatraro initially had him in the leadoff spot but moved him around frequently due to his struggles initially as the Royals’ leadoff hitter.
Quatraro has employed a lot of different lineups – 50 in 51 games if you’re keeping track. They have used seven different hitters in the #2 hole and nine different hitters in the cleanup spot at #4. Using lots of different lineups isn’t inherently a bad thing, and in fact, for a young, unproven team, it makes a lot of sense to try different combinations to see what clicks.
What has been a bit curious is the use of Bobby Witt Jr. in the leadoff spot 41 times this year. He certainly has the speed of a prototypical leadoff hitter, but his .265 on-base percentage and 5 percent walk rate are atypical for what teams look for in a leadoff hitter in the analytical age. The Royals are dead last in baseball in on-base percentage from their leadoff hitters at .247, which may be partly why they are fifth-worst in baseball in runs scored per game.
Perhaps there is a longer view here however, in getting Witt as many plate appearances as they can to evaluate him and get him experience. Quatraro has also recently dropped Witt in the order in the last few games, putting him in the middle of the lineup where he can drive home runs…
“What do we think of Matt Quatraro so far?” by Max Rieper; Royals Review
To be fair, it wasn’t like Quatraro was handed a “veteran-laced” lineup in 2023.
The goal in 2023 was for the Royals to “evaluate” and see which players would be essential to Kansas City’s long-term future.
For the organization to make a fair evaluation, Quatraro not only had to play a lot of different players but hit and play them in multiple spots as well. Even though players like Witt, Melendez, Pasquantino, Michael Massey, Edward Olivares, and Nick Pratto had successful spurts in 2022, they weren’t “fully proven” going into the 2023 season. By the end of the 2023 season, Quatraro and Picollo knew which of that group would be part of the Royals’ future and which ones wouldn’t be.
Unfortunately, growing pains in the present were to be expected with such a strategy, which is tough to stomach for an organization that hasn’t had a winning season since 2015. Still, we have seen organizations go through these “evaluation” seasons and use that knowledge to build a better foundation in the future (Baltimore and Houston are prime examples).
Conversely, it was easy for Mike Matheny to be a little more consistent with his lineup construction during his three-year tenure as manager. Dayton Moore and the Royals brought in Matheny to help the Royals “compete.” As a result, they employed a roster that required less “evaluation.” Matheny had a roster filled with more known veteran players like Whit Merrifield, Carlos Santana, Andrew Benintendi, Salvador Perez, and Michael A. Taylor, just to name a few.
However, even though that roster was more “proven” under Matheny, it didn’t produce more wins, as Matheny went 165-219 in his three years as the Royals manager.
Therefore, I am unsure if Quatraro’s decision to employ many different lineups was entirely his choice. Part of it was probably dictated to him by Picollo and the front office, and another part was probably due to the lack of proven talent.
Does Quatraro want to build depth to help create a competitive team in the long term? Absolutely, and Tampa Bay has been a model of how to do that (look how the Rays still made the playoffs despite losing Wander Franco at the end of the year).
On the other hand, I don’t think Quatraro would’ve used the same lineup strategy had he been given a roster similar to what Matheny had during his tenure as manager.
How This Year Is Already Different With Royals Lineups
The Royals, based on the “evaluation” season of 2023, made an intentional effort this offseason to address what ailed them in Quatraro’s first season as manager.
They added Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo to boost the starting pitching and Will Smith, Nick Anderson, John Schreiber, and Chris Stratton to strengthen the bullpen. They added veteran bats in Hunter Renfroe, Garrett Hampson, and Adam Frazier to build lineup depth, and they solidified their future by signing Witt to a massive extension.
The Royals’ pitching staff and lineup are more stable now than a season ago.
As a result, Quatraro’s lineup has been pretty predictable, even with Michael Massey starting the season on the 10-Day IL due to a lingering back issue he suffered at the end of Spring Training.
Here’s the Royals Opening Day lineup on Thursday.
Let’s look at the lineup for Saturday afternoon’s game against the Twins.
The lineup is the same in spots 1-7 and 9. The only difference is in the 8 spot, where Nick Loftin takes Nelson Velazquez’s designated hitter position. Considering Velazquez’s rough Opening Day and Cactus League campaign, it makes sense that Loftin would bat in Velazquez’s place in Saturday’s lineup.
To be frank, barring significant injury, I think we will see this kind of stability in year two of Quatraro’s campaign.
Garcia, Witt, Vinnie, Salvy, MJ, and Renfroe will be set in the 1-6 positions in the lineup, respectively (at least until Memorial Day). Frazier could move a bit, especially when Massey returns. However, I think Frazier’s veteran status wins for now unless Loftin can take advantage of some spot starts.
I would also expect Hampson and Dairon Blanco to be mixed and matched in the lineup the day before travel days to give guys a break or be a better matchup against left-handed starting pitchers. I could see them in Frazier and Isbel’s spots when the Royals play Baltimore and face Cole Irvin, a left-handed starting pitcher.
Granted, it’s only two games, and one has to wonder what lineup or roster changes could happen in May, especially if Velazquez continues to struggle at the plate. Pratto had a solid debut in Omaha’s Opening Day matchup against the Iowa Cubs on Friday.
While the roster could change, it seems likely that Quatraro will be a little more predictable with his lineup in 2024.
Hopefully, that could be a sign that Quatraro and the staff believe that the Royals’ young hitters are starting to hit their stride as productive hitters.
That could help them improve in the standings, especially in a division where there still are a lot of question marks, especially in the wake of the Royce Lewis injury news.
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