KANSAS CITY -- The Royals took an 8-3 loss to the Indians on Friday night at Kauffman Stadium.
But Royals fans might want to bookmark this one as the night that evidence began mounting that the club may have found its center fielder of the near future, something the Royals have been searching for since Lorenzo Cain left via free agency after 2017.
Rookie Bubba Starling, just called up for the first time right after the All-Star break, put on a defensive show against the Indians.
Sure, Starling drilled a single to left in the second inning, and that extended his hitting streak to an impressive 10 games.
“He’s done a really nice job,” manager Ned Yost said. “He’s putting the ball in play, not striking out. I’m really pleased with Bubba’s start up here.”
But the buzz about Starling on this night was all about his defense.
Starling made two four-star catches, per Statcast.
“I wouldn’t have even thought they were four-star catches,” Yost said, “because he made them look so easy.”
And to top it off, Starling threw out speedy Francisco Lindor, who was trying to score on a flyout, in the seventh for a double play. That throw home was clocked at 100.7 mph, making it the hardest-thrown outfield assist in MLB this season.
Is that maximum velocity for Starling, a former first-round pick in the 2011 Draft, whom scouts said could throw in the low 90s off the mound in high school?
“I have no idea,” Starling said, smiling, “just try to catch it and put a good throw, and let everything else take care of itself.”
That laser home also was the hardest-thrown outfield assist from a Royals player since Statcast was introduced in 2015.
Starling’s teammates were mostly in awe of his night.
“That’s the Bubba I remember coming up through the Minor Leagues with,” said starter Jakob Junis, who gave up six runs in six-plus innings. “One of the best center fielders I ever played with.”
Starling’s first defensive gem came in the third inning with two out and a runner on third. Starling raced toward the right-center gap on Jason Kipnis’ deep drive. Starling caught up with it just in front of the wall as he called off converging right fielder Jorge Soler.
“For me, he gets up here in the big leagues and he’s been playing with a couple of guys who have been in the big leagues for awhile,” Yost said, “so he’s been a little tentative in terms of taking control in center field. He has to call off the left fielder and call off the right fielder. He’s the priority out there, and he needs to take charge out there. Tonight, I thought he did a phenomenal job calling off Soler and making a great play.”
Starling, too, believes he is getting more comfortable playing quarterback in the outfield.
"I need to start taking more charge out there, getting to balls that I can get to,” Starling said, “and calling guys off, etc, so I'm going to continue to do that and everyday continue working with [outfield coach] Mitch [Maier] because I can keep getting better.”
Statcast indicated there was just a 35 percent catch probability on the play. Starling covered 108 feet in 5.8 seconds.
Starling was at it again in the sixth, taking away a hit from Mike Freeman on a head-first diving play. The catch probability on that was 45 percent -- another four-star grab. Starling needed to cover 48 feet in 3.4 seconds.
"I think [they were] stealing on that, so I just got sideways, got a good jump to it,” Starling said. “Fortunately, I caught it. Thought about throwing it back, but he was already heading back to first base. Just had a good read on it and that was it.”
Starling’s read and jump were superb: His jump was 2.5 feet above the MLB average.
“Just a really great night for Bubba,” Yost said.