By Jeff Parker
Alberto Callaspo is a hit machine. His bat has been key in the resurgence of the Kansas City Royals–they are currently 18-16 and tied for first place in the AL Central. Callaspo is batting .324/.377/.514 and is second in the league with 13 doubles. But it almost didn’t happen this way because Royals GM Dayton Moore spent all winter trying to sign a middle infielder to displace Callaspo and when that failed they moved Mark Teahen to second.
Callaspo ended 2008 as the starter and ended up with a .305/.361/.371 line covering 234 plate appearances. He came into spring training as the favorite to win the job but lost out to Teahen. Teahen to his credit has hit this year too (.290/.371/.452) but when Alex Gordon went down he moved to third and Callaspo broke into the starting lineup. He hasn’t disappointed, he is currently third in OPS+ among qualifying second baseman.
Moore and Hillman had their reasons in looking for a replacement–they weren’t sold on Callaspo’s defense and for a middle infielder he’s not particularly fast. They also feared that his career .328 slugging percentage entering 2009 was legit despite minor league numbers to the contrary (.436 slg pct). Callaspo also had a well-known off field issue last season that may have raised the character flag but when he came back he was the starter in September when KC went 18-8. He has hit ever since.
In fact, one need only to compare him to Gordon and Billy Butler, KC’s highly regarded prospects, to see how productive he’s been.
2008/2009 Stats:
| Callaspo | .313/.368/.422 | 111 OPS+ |
| Gordon | .253/.347/.424 | 107 OPS+ |
| Butler | .276/.333/.403 | 97 OPS+ |
The Royals will have a decision to make when Gordon comes back. He OPS’ed .888 in the second half of 2008 so he’s not likely to lose playing time. Callaspo will need to go into a prolonged slump to lose his job to Teahen again but given his high contact rate (only 10 strikeouts in 111 at-bats) that doesn’t seem likely. Teahen right now appears to be the odd man out, thought he can play five positions so Trey Hillman should have no problem getting his bat in the lineup four or five times a week.
Jeff Parker blogs regularly about the Royals at Royally Speaking and is an occasional contributor to Dugout Central.
