Teahen More Comfortable at Third

Look at those skinny legs.

While Alex Gordon has been dealing with a right-hip flexor tear, Mark Teahen has moved to third base, and he has responded by going 25 for 63 with six doubles, three homers, and 10 RBI's in 16 games. He says that being in the infield helps him keep his legs. In 2006 at third base, he hit .290/.357/.517 with 18 HR, 21 2B, and 69 RBI in 109 games, and he seemed poised for a real breakout last season. However, the Royals moved him to the outfield to make room for Alex Gordon, whose lack of athleticism (or at least less than Teahen) prohibited him from making the move. He responded by hitting .285/.353/.410 with only 7 HR in 144 games. If you think this is ludicrous, think about Chipper Jones. The season before he moved to left field to make room for Vinny Castilla, he hit .330/.427/.605 with 38 HR and 33 2B. The next two seasons in left, he hit .327/.435/.536 and .305/.402/.517 with 26 and 27 HR and 35 and 33 2B. While those stats aren't quite the precipitous drop of Teahen, Chipper was in his prime and is a Hall of Fame caliber player. Still, during your prime, your power numbers shouldn't drop 11 to 12 HR and almost 100 SLG points. Therefore, I think Teahen has a point, and maybe they should move Gordon to first. Billy Butler can just DH like most want him to anyway. The thing becomes what to do with Kila Ka'aihue (the brother of Atlanta prospect Kala). He did very well in AA and AAA hitting .314/.463/.624 with 37 HR, 100 RBI, and 15 2B (? can that be right?). In the majors, he's 5/15 with a HR. Small sample size yes, but with everything else, it indicates he can play. Also of note, he only struck out 67 times against 104 BB. Who else thinks the Royals could use more walks?