At some point in the last few days, as the rancid numbers piled up, as the worst offense in baseball searched for … anything, Royals hitting coach Dale Sveum offered an unorthodox solution to manager Ned Yost.
“Dale suggested we just pull a lineup out of a hat,” Yost said Monday, in the hours before a series opener against the Tampa Bay Rays. “But I haven’t got that desperate yet.”
Yost was not ready to turn his batting order over to random chance, but he did the next closest thing, turning toward the comfort of the absurd.