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When the Kansas City Royals traded for Houston Astros outfielder Justin Maxwell, I didn’t hear one guy mention how Maxwell was going to be one of the hottest hitters on his new team as they struggled to reach the playoffs. Most just said he was a decent fourth outfielder at best and while it was a good move, it wasn’t certainly a move that would make a huge difference. Well, I’m not saying the Royals are going to win the World Series or anything but Maxwell having little effect in Kansas City has turned out to be simply wrong.
Maxwell has hit .389 with a 1.228 OPS over the 15 games he has played for the Royals. That isn’t bad folks. It might in fact be the best he has played over the course of his entire professional baseball career. Someone once said that you never really know what a player is made of until they are asked to produce down the stretch in a playoff race. Maxwell has proven to be much more than most suggested he could be.
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His 3 homers, 7 RBI and 8 runs scored are more than respectable and he shows no real signs of slowing down. It appears that he really enjoys the idea that his team could really make the postseason if they all play well enough. There is no way to know how the season will turn out but any team with the pitchers that this Royals team has isn’t out of the race until they are mathematically out of it. Wherever they end up at the end of the season, they can walk into next season more capable with the addition of a great young outfielder in Maxwell.
David Miller is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @davidmillerrant, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
