Making the Grade: Ranking Right Fielders in the AL Central

No. 4: Jarrod Dyson, Kansas City Royals

Apr 27, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Kansas City Royals right fielder

(1) steals third base during the seventh inning against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

With veteran Alex Rios on the shelf with a broken left hand, Jarrod Dyson (along with rookie Paulo Orlando) has earned a handful of the opportunities in the vacant right field. 

Despite the Royals’ hot start, Dyson has really been the weak link on an otherwise effective offensive club. He’s hitting just .167/.211/.167 through nine games this season and has zero extra-base hits to his credit.

A career .255 hitter, Dyson is most effective as a fourth outfielder. He is a steady late-inning defensive replacement and a pinch-runner, having stolen 30 or more bases in each of the last three seasons.

But he is not an everyday outfielder. Nor had he ever played right field for any significant stretch during the early part of his big league career.

Over the last three seasons, Dyson ranks seventh in all of baseball with 100 swiped bags while earning an 82 percent success rate. Away from the base paths, Dyson is most valuable in the field, where he finished 22nd in the majors in dWAR last season despite playing roughly half as many innings as regular starting outfielders.

Dyson certainly has some value. His offensive deficiencies, though, make him an unreliable everyday player.

Next: No. 3