Kelvin Gutiérrez will miss the entire 2020 season due to an injury. Even with the injury, Gutiérrez endured the beginning of spring training. The Royals placed Gutiérrez on the 45-day injured list with a grade two UCL sprain. With the 2020 season being shortened to 60 games due to the coronavirus, he is technically out for the season. If this were a normal 162-game season, he wouldn’t have been out for the entire season. Despite his injury history, Gutiérrez looked good in his rookie campaign in 2019. In 20 games, he posted a .260 batting average with one home run and 11 runs batted in. Due to his injury history, the Royals brought in Miakel Franco on a one-year deal. Franco has had a decent season offensively and his typical average defensive season. Franco’s last year of arbitration is 2021. Here is why I believe 2021 is Gutiérrez’s year to shine. To start off, it is very likely that the Royals will let Franco walk. Second, Gutiérrez plays great defense. He possibly has gold glove defense if you ask me, but that’s probably just me. I think we can all agree that Gutiérrez has a better arm than Franco. If you watched Gutierrez play in 2019, you could see why I’m so high on him defensively. Now offensively, Gutiérrez needs to grow. But for that to happen, he needs more playing time in big league games to face big league pitching. I believe Gutiérrez can also bring a smile to Royals players and fans. Gutiérrez is the Royals top third basemen prospect. Overall, he ranks 28th out of 30 in the Royals top 30 prospects lists, but he is the Royals top third base prospect. I think there is a good chance that the Royals hand Gutiérrez the third basemen job in 2021. I know if I were the Royals manager, I would give Gutiérrez the third basemen job in a heartbeat. If Gutiérrez can stay healthy and improve offensively, I can almost guarantee he will take the third basemen job by the horns. Time will only tell what Gutierrez’s role will be in 2021 and beyond.
