(Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports)
Sunday’s change to the KC Royals’ batting order was impossible to miss. To call the alteration conspicuous may not do it justice.
Jorge Soler, the part-time designated hitter, part-time outfielder whose 48 home runs smashed the team’s long-standing single-season record just two years ago, found his name in the seventh slot for the club’s game against Detroit. Manager Mike Matheny even penciled Ryan O’Hearn, dragging a .188 average into the game, above him.
As improbable as Soler’s tumble down the order might be in a vacuum, the reality of his performance explains it.