It didn't take Billy Butler too long to show he's ready to hit at this level. Yes, he's had limited time here - he's appeared in 25 games and has 84 at bats so far - but he's producing. Butler is batting .286 with five doubles, three homers and 14 RBI. Not too shabby for what playing time he's had. He's striking out too much and not walking enough - but he's only 21 years old...so let's give the kid a break.
With the injuries to Mike Sweeney (nothing shocking about that), Butler's been called on to fill in, and I couldn't be happier. Mike Sweeney hasn't had a solid injury-free season in quite a while now, and I'm tired of watching him be a part-time DH. Sure, I'd love to see him go out and play 140 games and bat .330 with 25 homers - but those days are long gone. It was obvious the Royals weren't going to give Butler the call unless Sweeney was out of the way - and with his recent knee injury - it appears he'll be out of the way for a while now. I don't wish bad things or injury upon players, but in this case, I have to say I'm glad Sweeney is out of the way - one way or another. He obviously has no future here in KC after this season, and I'd much rather watch part of the future than part of the past.
The Royals will tell you this situation isn't what they'd want for Butler. They want him to be at Omaha, working at first base. Butler has proven to be a defensive liability at third base and in the outfield - so first base seems the logical place to stick him. Well....I don't know about anyone else, but I see Butler for what he is - a big league DH. If we can get some games out of him at first, fine. But the kid was born to mash the ball - so right now, how about we just let him do that?
With Gordon coming around over the last month, we now have what looks to be the core of our lineup at the big league level. Let's stick Butler in the cleanup spot and let Gordon bat right behind him and see what happens. With DeJesus, Grudz and Teahen batting in front of them, they should be able to pick up plenty of RBI along the way and build their confidence going into the future. I'm excited to see what happens over the next couple of months, should be a lot of fun to watch a kid with the potential to bat .320 with 40 homers, rather than watching someone with the potential to hurt himself while tying his shoes.
