Hunter Dozier

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Royals third baseman Hunter Dozier got off to a hot start at Kauffman Stadium with a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning to give the Royals a two-run lead over the Chicago White Sox. With the series tied 2-2 over...

Dozier went 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBI on Thursday against the White Sox. Dozier did the majority of his damage on a two-run homer in the first inning. It was his fourth long ball of the season and first since April 24. Despite the lack of power, Dozier has a .352 wOBA and 134 wRC+ across 133 plate appearances to begin the campaign.

Dozier is out of the lineup for Game 2 of Tuesday's doubleheader against the White Sox, Anne Rogers of MLB.com reports. Dozier went 1-for-4 with a strikeout in Game 1 and will shift to the bench for the nightcap. Kyle Isbel will start in right field and bat fifth in his place .

Dozier went 5-for-5 with a double, an RBI and four runs scored in Friday's 14-10 win over the Rockies. Dozier enjoyed the series opener in Colorado, turning in his best game of the year at the dish. The impressive showing at the plate lifted his batting average 37 points from .240 to .277, and it was a good bounce-back effort after going 0-for-7 in his last two contests. The 30-year-old has added a .789 OPS with three home runs, eight RBI, 14 runs scored, six doubles, two triples and a stolen base through 28 games overall.

Dozier went 0-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base in Thursday's 3-1 loss to the Rangers. The Royals' offense struggled to get much going with no extra-base hits in the contest. The steal was Dozier's first of the season in his second attempt. He's never stolen more than five bases or made nine attempts in a campaign. The utility man is hitting .233 with one RBI, four runs scored, two doubles and a triple through 10 games in May.

Dozier is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Cardinals, Alec Lewis of The Athletic reports. He'll sit for the second time in three games as the Royals clear a spot in the lineup at designated hitter for recent call-up MJ Melendez, who will make his MLB debut Tuesday. Dozier still looks to be fairly secure in a regular role, but his underwhelming .680 OPS on the season may put him at risk of losing out on at-bats if he's unable to show dramatic improvement in his subsequent starts.

Dozier will sit Thursday against the White Sox, Alec Lewis of The Athletic reports. Dozier has crushed the ball to the tune of a 19.0 percent barrel rate this season, though a lack of walks and a few too many whiffs have limited him to a merely good .241/.279/.466 slash line (117 wRC+). He'll get a rest Thursday, with Salvador Perez serving as the designated hitter.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Today, Hunter Dozier of the Kansas City Royals and Zarda Bar-B-Q announced the return of “The Big Dozier” sandwich. The sandwich is made with Zarda’s limited reserve burnt ends, pulled pork, melted provolone, crispy onion straws, and Dozier’s favorite Bar-B-Q sauce. Holding it all together are toasted Roma buns.

The Kansas City Royals hit five home runs through the first eight games of the season, and their offense had scuffled enough to necessitate a slight lineup reconfiguration. So of course, the Royals responded with three home runs and rallied to beat the Minnesota Twins 4-3 in the first game of a three-game series in front of an announced crowd of 10,003 humans and 257 dogs on Bark at the Park night at Kauffman Stadium.

A rainout followed by an off-day. It’s been a while since the Royals have taken the field. But that hasn’t halted the conversation. KC Star beat writer Lynn Worthy and columnists Vahe Gregorian and Sam McDowell join us on Tuesday’s edition of Royals SportsBeat Live today at 10 a.m.

Dozier went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Tuesday's 4-3 win over the Twins. Dozier put the Royals ahead for the first time in the bottom of the sixth inning. The 30-year-old slugger made the start at first base with Carlos Santana (undisclosed) out, and he'll likely continue to fill in there as long as the latter is sidelined. For the season, Dozier has two homers, one triple, four RBI, four runs scored and a .290/.313/.548 slash line in 32 plate appearances.