stuff happens

Things have not gone according to plan for Jarrod Dyson. He was supposed to play every day in 2016 as Kansas City’s right fielder. The former Southwest Mississippi Community College star, entering his seventh MLB season, deserved that shot. Everybody said so. Then Dyson got hurt (strained oblique), on his first at-bat of spring training. The Royals’ season was well underway when he returned. He got his start the latter part of April and hit .303 for the month. But then he began to slump. By mid-May he was at .215, and Paulo Orlando was hitting. Even when left fielder Alex Gordon went down with injuries, Dyson’s playing time wasn’t regular as rookie Brett Eibner stepped in. Now center fielder Lorenzo Cain is hurt. Dyson started in center on Wednesday – his 38th start — and went 2-for-4 with two walks in the 3-2, 12-inning win over St. Louis. He still sees a fair amount of playing time in his old role: pinch runner/defensive replacement/pinch hitter. And maybe that suits both him and the defending world champion Royals (41-36), who have rebounded from their sluggish start. Dyson, in 127 at-bats, is hitting .260 with 16 runs, 12 steals and seven assists in 51 games. P.S. Billy Hamilton’s season has run a little off-kilter, as well. On Wednesday, the former Taylorsville High standout was struck in the face by a deflected ball in the outfield and had to leave Cincinnati’s game. Reports seemed to indicate he is fine, though it would not be a surprise if he missed today’s game. Hamilton, batting .255, was on the concussion disabled list from June 10-16 and also missed three days while on the bereavement list. He had a shoulder injury at the end of 2015 that impacted his spring training work.