Jonathan India Is Exactly What the Royals Needed

The Kansas City Royals were one of the great stories to come out of 2024. After winning only 56 games in 2023, the Royals miraculously won 86 games last season, finishing second in the AL Central and earning a playoff berth.

The additions of Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha turned out to be fantastic, under-the-radar adds, while Bobby Witt Jr. exploded and turned in a 10.4 fWAR season. Salvador Perez continued to add power to the lineup, and Cole Ragans blossomed into one of the best lefties in all of baseball.

While 86 wins was a remarkable step in the right direction, the Royals still had plenty of questions to answer. Their pitching staff was a clear strength, but the offense was underwhelming. Only four Royals posted an OPS over .700, even when factoring in players with the smallest sample sizes.

Kansas City needed another bat and acquired one by trading away a strength. The Royals traded pitcher Brady Singer to the Reds for Jonathan India in order to help strengthen their lineup. While India comes with his flaws as a player, he’s exactly what the Royals needed.

The Royals Needed Help in the Leadoff Spot

Your “traditional” leadoff hitter has changed over the years. The fastest players or highest batting average guys have taken a back seat (rightfully so) to players who just get on base. That’s a simple standard, but one that the Royals struggled to find last season.

Kansas City got 740 plate appearances out of their leadoff hitters in 2024, amounting to a putrid .228/.270/.334 slash and .604 OPS, the lowest of any of the Royals’ nine spots. Not only is that unacceptably bad, but it stings even more when you realize the two-hole hitters posted a .967 OPS, but too often did not have a runner on base in front of them.

Insert Jonathan India and his career 1,519 plate appearances from the leadoff spot – experience that India was not just given, but rather earned.

In his career as a leadoff hitter, India has slashed .257/.360/.416 with a .776 OPS. His career leadoff OPS would have ranked second on the Royals from any position in the batting order last season.

Last season, during a year where everything went wrong for the Reds, India’s leadoff OPS dropped to .737, which would still be a massive upgrade for the Royals. He has always displayed an elite eye for the zone, ranking in the 98th percentile in chase rate and 97th percentile in walk rate last season. Those skills translate no matter which ballpark you play in.

Maikel Garcia and his .624 OPS out of the leadoff spot was a detriment to the Royals last season. Now, swap him with India. You are looking at a much better table setter and someone who not only gets on base at a better clip but makes the pitcher throw more pitches. Wearing down a starter is an underappreciated aspect India adds.

The Royals Needed Help Against Lefties

Despite having Bobby Witt Jr. and Salvador Perez to boost their stats, the Royals slashed .243/.293/.379 with a .672 OPS against southpaws in 2024. Their righty bats only amounted to a .715 OPS against lefties, while left on left? Well, .562.

Jonathan India, once again, is a solution to that problem. In his career, India has slashed .263/.365/.391 with an OPS of .756 against lefties, but he posted an .815 OPS off of southpaws last season. Some of those numbers have been inflated by playing in Great American Ball Park, but I still think his talent against lefties will translate even if his power numbers take a slight step back.

If the Royals want to front load a lineup with righty bats when a lefty is on the mound, they could go India, Witt, and Perez one-two-three, making for a strong first third of the order. India could DH or replace Michael Massey, a lefty, in a platoon situation.

Massey is a player I like and one I think could have the talent to be playable against lefties, but I need to see it first. If he can’t, India will play second. If he can, India will simply stay at DH, which is probably the best-case scenario, considering his poor defense.

Areas of Concern for Jonathan India

I know what you are saying: If Jonathan India is this good, then why did the Reds trade him? Well, that answer is a bit layered.

The Reds have trouble signing pitchers due to their ballpark and money restrictions, so trading for arms has been their best route in the past. Getting a player of Singer’s caliber is hard for the Reds through free agency, and you have to give value to get value.

The fact that Matt McLain is coming back from injury and will take over second base plays into the equation as well. McLain is cheaper, younger, has more offensive upside, and is a plus defender. That brings me to the first concern about India: defense.

India was drafted as a third baseman but moved to second before his debut. A lack of arm strength and mostly clunky defense has made him a liability in the field. The Reds toyed with moving him to more of a utility role last spring before injuries forced him to stay at second.

His defense improved in 2024 to a 1 OAA, which is just above league average. If OAA isn’t your thing, I can say he passed the eye test for noticeable improvement. Although, I still am wary about expecting a new standard going forward.

As I mentioned before, India’s power played up significantly in Cincinnati. A career .444 slug at home compared to .381 on the road. But hey, he does have a career .778 slug across five games in Kansas City!

Seriously, I do have my concerns about how much power he will bring. Sure, he’s not there to provide power, but what type of player does he look like without it?

If his defense reverts back to his career norm, and his power takes a hit, you are relying heavily on his ability to draw walks and get on base. Like I said, I think that will transfer, and the Royals will be fine living with less pop.

Final Thoughts

Yeah, getting Alex Bregman or Juan Soto would have been a more perfect match. Of course it would be. However, when you survey what is realistic and what the Royals did, I think they found a win-win scenario with Cincinnati.

Each team added a proven player in their prime years with some upside without having to trade away key prospects or shift team expectations. Kansas City identified a few areas of concern and attacked those concerns in a unique, and frankly smart, way.

India’s time in Cincinnati was trending in the wrong direction. The fanbase was split on him and although he always gave 110%, he did not always say the most responsible things to the media. I’m not saying he was wrong in what he said, but it felt like time to part ways.

Now with a fresh start and feeling like a highly-valued player by his new organization, I expect Jonathan India to prove he was exactly what the Royals needed.