Kansas City Royals first baseman Ryan O'Hearn gained confidence in his swing last year with the help the teams coaches. This year he expects to build on that confidence along with the talent he sees in his teammates. By
The Royals certainly focused their offseason roster-building around versatility, speed and what the organization likes to refer to as “action players.” Those are the players capable of putting pressure on a defense through speed, taking the extra base and tactics like stealing bases and using the hit-and-run.
While the abilities of those players — guys like Whit Merrifield, Adalberto Mondesi, Billy Hamilton, Chris Owings and Terrance Gore — generated the lion’s share of the intrigue in spring training, the Royals’ lineup isn’t devoid of run producers — those players whose job it is to take the scoring opportunities created by those speedsters and turn them into runs.