Even though the Royals did not have a game on Thursday, they made some serious news as they announced their first roster Major League roster move of the year.
Even though a corresponding move hasn’t been announced, Michael Massey will likely be called up from his rehab assignment in Omaha. Massey is mashing in Omaha, hitting .433 with a wRC+ of 220 in seven games and 32 plate appearances with the Storm Chasers.
Massey would have likely been the Opening Day second baseman had he not hurt his back during the tail end of Spring Training.
With the Loftiin news, reactions were a bit mixed in the Royals’ social media circles. While many are excited that Massey will be returning, which could jolt the lineup after a lackluster offensive road trip, some Royals fans questioned if sending down Loftin was the right move.
I get what Alex and other Royals fans are saying. Why choose Loftin instead of Garrett Hampson or Adam Frazier, who posted lower wRC+ marks (37 and 72, respectively) than Loftin (95)?
Here are three quick reasons why the Royals opted to send Loftin down this Thursday after Massey’s return.
It Was An Option Game
Usually, when it comes to why a player gets demoted it typically can be credited to one thing: do they still have Minor League options?
Esteury Ruiz of the A’s was mashing earlier in the season and was surprisingly demoted to Triple-A after Oakland picked up Tyler Nevin. Why did Ruiz get sent down? The main reason was that he still had options remaining, and it made sense to send him down rather than to DFA someone on the current roster.
Since being called back up, Ruiz has looked better than ever for Oakland.
The Royals were pretty much facing the same dilemma with Loftin.
Hampson is out of Minor League options, meaning they would have to DFA him and put him on waivers if they wanted Massey to replace him on the roster. The same goes with Frazier. Even though Loftin has a much more positive outlook statistically than either Hampson or Frazier, I am not sure Hampson or Frazier have been bad enough to be DFA’d less than 20 games into the season.
Thus, because Loftin had options, and Frazier and Hampson didn’t, Loftin drew the short stick and got demoted to Omaha. That doesn’t mean Loftin won’t be back in Kansas City at some point this season.
Loftin Can Work on Things Offensively and Defensively
While Loftin is posting an impressive BB/K ratio and hitting decently for average, many of his other metrics have been underwhelming. This is especially true in his batted ball and Statcast numbers, as seen in the table below.
As Royals fans can see, Loftin’s average EV, barrel rate, max EV, and hard-hit rate are all significantly down from a season ago. Granted, it’s a small sample, but Loftin already has nearly half the number of batted balls this year compared to a season ago. So, while it’s still tiny, I don’t think it’s an egregious comparison.
Furthermore, in addition to Loftin not producing with his power, he’s also not offering much on the basepaths. He has zero stolen bases and has a zero-runner runs mark, according to Savant. With Dairon Blanco and Hampson on the bench, it’s hard to see Loftin staying on when he pales in baserunning ability compared to those two.
Lastly, Loftin’s defense has been underwhelming since the beginning of the year.
Loftin’s main trait was that he could play multiple positions in the infield and outfield, much like Whit Merrifield. However, Loftin has been zero outs above average this year and hasn’t played any position out of the infield thus far. According to Savant, he has made some small gains at second base defensively, but he hasn’t been good at first or anything special at third either.
If Loftin wants to stay on this Royals roster long term, I believe that he has to show some capacity to play the corner outfield positions at the very least in the future. I think playing every day in Omaha and getting to move around the field every day will help him do that and also help him look a little more polished defensively, which was something we just didn’t see in the first 19 games of the year from him.
Loftin Needs More Innings and Plate Appearances
The bottom line is also this: Loftin just wasn’t getting enough playing time with the Royals, and at his stage in his career, he’s better off playing every day in Omaha than only playing every 2-3 days in Kansas City (and that’s at best).
Loftin only received 35 plate appearances before being optioned to Omaha. That’s the fourth-fewest plate appearances of any Royals hitter with 10 or more plate appearances this year. The only Royals players with fewer are Freddy Fermin (who’s the backup catcher and has only one fewer PA), Hampson (25 PA), and Blanco (10 PA). That isn’t enough for a player with still some upside and potential, and it wouldn’t get better with Massey’s return.
The Royals need Loftin to improve more at the plate to be a long-term option in Kansas City. While Loftin is posting a better wRC+ than Frazier, Loftin’s xwOBA (.307) is actually 11 points lower than Frazier’s (.318), according to Fangraphs. Frazier has had much worse batted-ball luck this year (.219 BABIP), and Frazier seems to be making an adjustment in that end, which makes Loftin a little more expendable at this time.
Thus, the Royals won’t be getting anything from Loftin now that they wouldn’t get from Frazier. If Loftin can tap into his power more and improve his defensive versatility by playing more positions in Omaha? Then Frazier becomes much more expendable in June or July, especially if Massey continues to hit.
I like Loftin a lot, and in terms of plate discipline and ability to make contact, he still has a solid profile and outlook.
The Royals made the right move with Loftin by optioning him to Omaha. For Loftin and the Royals’ sake, he needs more plate appearances to improve and work on specific aspects of his game.
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