The Kansas City Royals broadcasts, both on the television and radio sides, love to tout defensive statistics like Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating if they paint a player in a positive light. Likewise, those statistics, which are two of the best overall defensive statistics publicly available, are often used to point out poor defensive play on other teams.
But you won’t hear Ryan Lefebvre, Rex Hudler, or Denny Matthews often talk about when defensive statistics grade Royals players poorly. So it might come as a shock to many of you when it’s pointed out that some Royals do not quite have the stellar defensive output that seems to be the case.