This, and it's not even close

Yep. When righties are pitching, Dyson in RF and Zobrist at 2B. When lefties are pitching, Zobrist in RF and Infante at 2B. Do that, and there isn't a weak spot in our lineup 1-9.

Except, Sal. You know, he really needs to go back to Omaha for a while in order to get his swing back..............

Nothing THAT extreme. A good ass chewing from Ned should do the trick.

ONLY, only if Ned does this during the game. It's not nearly as effective otherwise. Sal needs to learn that there is no I in T-E-A-M......also, he needs to be learnt to speak betterer English.

Rios posted a higher OPS in July than Infante has in a full month since becoming a Royal, and it was 100 points higher than infante's ops in any month this season.

Now, it's possible Rios just had a few hot weeks and is being buoyed by that, but if he turns in a similar performance over the rest of the time Gordon is out, the value he offers with the bat outweighs the slight defensive upgrade Infante offers over Zobrist at 2B.

If he continues to slump like he has for the past week, Rios can sit, with Zobrist playing RF. This is the beauty of the zobrist acquisition.

Stop with the facts!! Didn't you see that flip from Infante to Escobar to Hosmer? Moar Omar!!

And still has half the home runs and 1 less RBI than a 10 year minor leaguer that has played in 14 less games. He's also below average defensively. The hold out hope for 2013 Rios is laughable. The guy is done. Rios and Infante both blow, but I'll take Infante all day long based upon what I've seen this year. If Rios is injured and snaps out of it I could very easily change, but based on what I've seen its a no brainer. There maybe some platoon situations where you put Zobrist at 2nd but not to leave Rios in the lineup IMO

If he continues to hit in August at the level at which he hit in July, you could make a case that 2013 Rios has returned. A .740-.750 OPS is pretty comparable to a .770 OPS while playing at The Ballpark.

It's possible he has already "snapped out of it," if he backs up the solid performance in July with an equally solid performance in the month of August.

It's not about hope. It's about recent, observable performance.

Like I said, this is the great thing about Zobrist. If Rios continues to put up solid offensive numbers in August, when Gordon returns, you can flex Zobrist and keep Rios in the lineup, if his hitting deserves it.

If Rios falls off again, Zobrist can play RF.

I think the mood here about Infante is kind of skewed, at least in regards to his defense. He's been good at 2B and above-average defensively this season, but it hasn't been elite or anything. He's still not Addison Russell (a good SS masquerading as a 2B) or Ian Kinsler or DJ LeMahieu or Dee Gordon with the glove.

The Royals have just been a shit sandwich at 2B for so long (and tried so hard to sell Chris Getz as a good defense guy over there, even though he was barely average), Infante's good-but-not-great defense looks much better than it is. It's not unlike the Alex Smith effect.

This isn't to run down Infante. They don't make the playoffs, and therefore the run, without him last year. He has made good contributions with the glove this season. His hitting has just fallen off a cliff.

The dude got his hand crushed a month into the season. He was off to a hot start, broke his hand, came back and sucked because he was still trying to recover physically and mentally (trusting a hand to be healthy takes time). Now, he's showing signs of getting back to where he was before. If he can start driving the ball a little, he will be a very productive player for us, especially if he only plays against lefties.

Orlando has been a great backup, but the book is out on him. He would be completely exposed as an everyday player. At worst, the difference between Orlando and Rios is negligible. At best, Rios is a much, much better player.

FTFY. It was the 7th game of the season on 4/13.

Against very tough lefties I wouldn't mind having Rios in RF, Infante at 2B, and Zobrist at 3rd.

It's amazing people will call back a 6 game sample on Rios like it means something and discount since then and his previous garbage season. If the injury is still bothering him he should take more time off perhaps. That supposed great month he had still didn't include any hitting with runners on because he has 17 ****ing RBI in 60 games. He has blown period. Dyson should at least be playing against righties. It's a wonder how Rios gets such a defense. Why aren't we still holding on to Omar getting hit in the face last year? They both had good 2013s and they both are terrible now at the plate. I'm not going to lose sleep with either getting replaced, but Rios has been the worst all around player on the team to this point. If that changes then good.

That could be justified.

He had a hot start and a hot month sandwiching a broken hand, and you're amazed that people are more interested in his production when he's been healthy than his lack of production while recovering from a major injury?