Despite the shortened season, I think Kelvin Gutiérrez still has a role to play in 2020. As most people know, Gutiérrez is a call away from becoming the everyday third baseman for the Royals. If you don’t know why he is a call away from becoming the everyday third baseman, here are just a few reasons why. First, the Royals have no third baseman in the minors besides Gutiérrez that has major league experience. This is the most likely reason why the Royals signed Maikel Franco. I could be wrong about the Franco signing, but here are my thoughts about Franco and his future in KC: http://www.royalsblue.com/2020/05/most-likely-reason-dayton-moore-brought-maikel-franco-to-kc/. Now back to Kelvin Gutiérrez’s 2020 role, I believe Gutiérrez’s role with the Royals has two parts. The first role that Gutiérrez provides is a good bat and glove off the bench. A lot of Royals fans view Gutiérrez as a role player off the bench. I, on the other hand, view him as the future third baseman. I believe he has gold glove material, and the professionals say he has a great arm. From what I have seen from Gutiérrez’s short stint with the Royals, I believe he has a great arm, but not an Alex Gordon type arm. With Gutiérrez being 6’2″, he can cover a lot of ground at the hot corner. He also isn’t afraid to get dirty when playing the field. I believe he has pretty good power at the plate, but not Mike Moustakas power. But he still could grow offensively. Kelvin also has good speed that can help him defensively and on the bases. The final thing Gutiérrez provides for the Royals is years of contract control and would not be a financial burden to KC. The 2020 season could be the year for Gutiérrez to take the league by storm.
