Hunter William Dozier... Hunter resides in Argyle, Texas with his wife, Amanda, son, Bodhi, and daughters, Blake and Briar... Started ¡°Step Up Big¡± in 2020, which supports Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Kansas City¡he¡¯s also volunteered at Special Olympics Clinics, a PLAY Clinic for area youth and the Dream Factory through Royals Charities¡he previously participated in the Royals Charities Golf Tournament, Diamond of Dreams and a calendar shoot for Braden¡¯s Hope... Attended Stephen F. Austin State University, and left as the school¡¯s career leader in hits and doubles¡Named Southland Conference Player of the Year in 2013 and a finalist for the Brooks Wallace Award, which is given to the best shortstop in college baseball... Graduated from Denton HS (Texas), where he lettered in baseball and football, but missed his senior football season due to a broken collarbone... Enjoys golfing, hunting, and spending time with his family during the offseason... Originally signed by Royals scout Mitch Thompson.
2023
Made fifth career Opening Day roster with Royals... Played in 29 games (25 starts) for Royals, appearing at third base in the bulk of his games (17)... Posted a .916 OPS in 22 at-bats against LHP.
2022
Among players with at least 10 home runs in 2022, Dozier had the fifth-highest percentage of ¡°no doubters¡± (66.7%), which Statcast defines as an HR that would be out at all 30 stadiums¡he trailed Ronald Acu?a Jr. (80.0%), Bryce Harper (73.7%), Juan Yepez (69.2%) and Trayce Thompson (69.2%). + Made his first career pitching appearance in the ninth inning on Aug. 28 vs. San Diego.
2021
Appeared in a career-high 144 games, including starts at third base (52), in right field (50), left field (13), first base (12) and designated hitter (10), becoming just the second player ever to start at least 10 games at each of those five positions, joining Baltimore¡¯s Jeff Conine in 2001...Dozier¡¯s 63 starts in the outfield were more than he had in his first four seasons combined (44)...Suffered a hand injury on Opening Day vs. Texas and missed three games, and suffered a concussion in the first game of a doubleheader on May 14 in Chicago, after colliding with first baseman Jos¨¦ Abreu on a foul pop up, which forced him to miss two weeks on the Injured List from May 14-27...Tied for fourth in the American League with six triples, two behind league leader Shohei Ohtani (8)...since the start of the 2019 season, Dozier¡¯s 18 triples are tops in the American League and are tied with Milwaukee¡¯s Eduardo Escobar for the Major League lead...Set a career-high with six outfield assists, including his first game with multiple assists on Sept. 24 at Detroit, in which he threw out Eric Haase at second base and Niko Goodrum at third base in consecutive innings, becoming the first Royals right fielder with multiple assists in one game since Whit Merrifield on May 27, 2019 at the White Sox, and the second Royal at any outfield position to do so in 2021, joining Michael A. Taylor...Batted .160 (35-for-219) through his first 63 games from April 1-June 30, including a career-worst stretch of eight games without a hit from May 6-14 for an 0-for-32 skid from May 5-28, which he snapped in his first game back from the IL...also opened the season hitless in his first 16 at-bats...In his final 81 games from July 1 through season¡¯s end, slashed .261/.331/.448 (70-for-268) with 15 doubles, four triples, nine homers and 32 RBI...Hit safely in eight straight games from Aug. 6-14, which tied for the third-longest streak of his career, behind a pair of nine-game streaks in 2019...Despite hitting just .158 (25-for-158) through his first 45 games, 17 of his first 25 hits (68%) went for extra bases, including eight doubles, two triples and seven homers, and from April 28-May 5, he had eight straight hits that went for extra bases...Hit .304 (24-for-79) in July to mark his second-highest average in a full calendar month in his career, after hitting .375 (30-for-80) in April 2019...Had five home runs and 15 RBI in September, his highest totals in a month since setting career highs with eight homers and 18 RBI in August 2019...Had 10 games with multiple extra-base hits, matching Salvador Perez for the team lead...he had three straight games from May 2-4 in which he had multiple extra-base hits, which matched the club record at the time, but was later topped by Adalberto Mondesi from Sept. 25, 2020-May 25, 2021...Recorded his first opposite-field hit of the season on June 7 in his 42nd game, with a fifth-inning single at the Angels...collected three hits that night, his first of four games with three hits or more in the season, including June 20 vs. Boston, July 18 vs. Baltimore and Sept. 1 vs. Minnesota...Matched a career-high with four hits on July 18 vs. Baltimore, which included three to the opposite field for his fourth career four-hit game...Had a go-ahead, two-run homer in the seventh on Aug. 18 vs. Houston, marking his seventh career go-ahead blast in the seventh inning or later...Had two hits and two RBI on his 30th birthday, Aug.22, at Wrigley Field for his second multi-RBI birthday, following 2018 (two-run HR at the Rays)...Drove in four runs in a traditional doubleheader on Sept. 20 at Cleveland, which included a two-run HR and an RBI single in the first game and a sac. fly in the nightcap...Had a go-ahead two-run triple in the seventh vs. Cleveland on Sept. 29, marking his 12th career go-ahead RBI in the seventh or later...Over his last 23 games from Sept. 9 through season¡¯s end, he batted .293/.337/.667 (22-for-75) with six doubles, two triples, six homers and 15 RBI...during that stretch, he ranked third in the American League in extra-base hits and slugging percentage (min. 60 PA).
2020
Opened the season on the Injured List and was limited to 44 games after making his season debut on Aug. 9...Hit .252 (29-for-115) over his first 32 games through Sept. 13, but hit just .163 (7-for-43) over his last 12 games with no RBI...Started in each of the last 44 games of the season and did not commit an error while playing at first base (24 games), in right field (18) and left field (2)...Despite dropping 51 points from his 2019 batting average, his on-base percentage was just four points lower thanks to a 6.89 walk rate (27 BB in 186 PA)...His 27 walks from the time he came off the IL (Aug. 9) to the end of the season, ranked tied for fifth in the American League, and included an American Leaguemost 17 walks from Aug. 9-31¡also ranked tied for 12th in runs scored (29) from Aug. 9-31...Ranked second in the American League with a .565 on-base percentage in close and late situations, while his .412 average (7-for-17) ranked third¡close and late situations are defined as a plate appearance in the seventh inning or later in which the hitter¡¯s team is ahead by one, tied or a save situation...In eight games vs. American League Central champion Minnesota, hit .345/.424/.724 (10-for-29) with five extra-base hits and seven RBI¡he recorded a two-run single in the first inning of his season debut (Aug. 9) off Jos¨¦ Berr¨ªos, and had a season-high three RBI vs. the Twins on Aug. 21...Hit solo homers in consecutive games at Target Field, Aug. 16-17, marking the fourth time he¡¯s gone deep in back-to-back games (thrice in 2019) ...Matched a career-high with four hits on Aug. 23 vs. the Twins, going 4-for-4 with two doubles, a walk and three runs scored¡it marked his third career four-hit game (also: April 27, 2019 vs. the Angels and May 26, 2019 vs. the Yankees), while his five times reaching base were a career high...Tied a career high with three runs on Aug. 23 vs. Minnesota and Sept. 13 vs. Pittsburgh, after doing so just once in 249 games from 2016-19...Had a pair of three-walk games: Aug. 12 at Cincinnati and Aug. 31 vs. Cleveland, establishing a career high... also drew walks in a career-high seven-straight games from Aug. 22-29, which was the longest streak by a Royal since Jorge Soler also walked in seven-straight games from July 19-26, 2019...Collected his 250th career hit on Sept. 2 vs. Cleveland, with an infield single in the fourth inning and finished the season with 269 career hits...Hit a solo shot off Dovydas Neverauskas on Sept. 13 vs. Pittsburgh that traveled 442 feet, which marked the third longest home run of his career, trailing only a 453-foot blast on April 10, 2019 vs. Seattle and a 447-foot homer on July 16, 2019 vs. the White Sox.
2019
Made the Opening Day roster for the first time and set career highs across the board, batting .279/.348/.522 (146-for-523)…also had career highs in runs (75), doubles (29), triples (10), home runs (26) and RBI (84), despite missing 16 games on the Injured List from June 4-20 with right side thorax tightness ... A finalist in the 2019 Google MLB All-Star Starters Election among third baseman ... Hit his 10th triple of the season in Game 162, matching Arizona's Eduardo Escobar and teammates Whit Merrifield and Adalberto Mondesi for the Majors lead in triples…this made the 2019 Royals the first team to have three players record at least 10 triples in a season since the 1984 Houston Astros…the last AL team to do it was the 1979 Royals ... Became the second Royals third baseman to record 10 triples in a season, joining George Brett, who did it four times (1975-77, 1979) ... Became the first Royal to record at least 25 doubles, 10 triples and 25 home runs in a season, and just the fifth player in the Majors to do it in the last 30 seasons (since 1990), joining Nicholas Castellanos (2017), Curtis Granderson (2011), Grady Sizemore (2006) and Nomar Garciaparra (1997, 2003) ... Had 27 go-ahead RBI, fourth most in the American League… it was the third most go-ahead RBI by a Royal since 2009, trailing only Eric Hosmer, who had 34 in 2016 and 28 in 2015 ... Recorded 13 game-tying or go-ahead RBI in the sixth inning or later, most in the American League and one behind Washington's Anthony Rendon for most in the Majors ... His eight go-ahead RBI in the seventh inning or later were tied for the Majors lead with Max Muncy, Pete Alonso and Kevin Newman, and were the most by a Royal since Ken Harvey (also 8) in 2003 ... Hit .494 (43-for-87) when putting the first pitch in play, best in the Majors (min. 75 at-bats), including 10 first-pitch homers, which trailed only Jeff McNeil (14) and teammate Jorge Soler (13) ... Made starts at third base (99), right field (17), designated hitter (15) and first base (7) ... Had a career-high four hits on April 27 vs. the Angels and May 26 vs. the Yankees…recorded a career-high four RBI on April 27 vs. the Angels and June 25 at Cleveland ... Had two triples as the designated hitter on April 27 vs. the Angels, becoming the ninth DH (10th time) since 1973 to record a multi-triple game (1st Royal), and the first since Boston's David Ortiz on July 22, 2004 ... Started the season 3-for-27 (.111) through April 9, but hit .458 (27-for-59) over his next 17 games through the end of April with 12 extra-base hits and 14 RBI, earning his first Royals Player of the Month Award…led the team with seven homers and 17 RBI during the month and ranked second in the American League in slugging percentage (.738) and OPS (1.201) ... Recorded his second career walk-off hit on April 14 vs. Cleveland's Brad Hand, an RBI single to score Terrance Gore in the ninth inning ... Had a Majors-best 10 go-ahead RBI in April, tied for third most by a Royal in any calendar month since at least 1974 (when data is available), trailing George Brett (12 in August 1980 and 11 in September 1975) and Raúl Ibañez (11 in July 2002) ... Hit his first career grand slam on June 25 in Cleveland off Brad Hand to turn a 6-4 deficit into an 8-6 lead, becoming the first Royal to hit a grand slam in the ninth inning or later that turned a deficit into a lead ... During a 10-game road trip from Aug. 2-11 to Minnesota, Boston and Detroit, he hit .310 (13-for-42) with six home runs and nine RBI, including three multi-home run games-the first three of his career: Aug. 2 at Minnesota, Aug. 8 at Detroit and Aug. 11 at Detroit, becoming the first Royal to record three multi-homer games on the same road trip.
2018
Started in 95 of the Royals' 122 games following his May 14 recall, including starts at: first base (50), third base (35), designated hitter (8) and right field (2)…after starting at first base, designated hitter or right field in each of his first 39 games, 35 of his last 56 were at third base...Hit .295/.336/.543 (31-for-105) with 14 extra-base hits (5 HR) and 13 RBI during a 29-game stretch from July 23-Sept. 4...During a three-week stretch from Aug. 16-Sept. 4, his average exit velocity of 93.6 mph ranked eighth in the Majors, according to Statcast...He and fellow rookie Ryan O'Hearn homered in the same game four times, including: Aug. 24, Aug. 31, Sept. 3 and Sept. 25…they were the first set of Royals rookies to each hit double-digit home runs in the same season since Angel Berroa (17) and Ken Harvey (13) in 2003...Five of his 11 homers gave the Royals a lead, including a solo HR in the ninth inning on Sept. 25 in Cincinnati that broke a 3-3 tie...Hit his first career home run on May 30 vs. Minnesota off Aaron Slegers, a solo shot in the seventh inning of an 11-8 win...Hit his first career walk-off homer on Aug. 24 vs. Cleveland…it was the second of back-to-back homers with O'Hearn, making them the first duo of rookies in Major League history to hit back-to-back game-tying and game-ending HR in the ninth inning or later, according to Elias Sports Bureau...Six of his 11 homers and 19 of his 34 RBI came in his last 32 games from Aug. 22 through season's end…he had just five roundtrippers and 15 RBI through his first 70 games... Reached safely in five of his six plate appearances as a pinch-hitter, including three hits, most by a Royal since Billy Butler (4) in 2014…had a game-tying pinch-hit double in the ninth inning on Sept. 18 at Pittsburgh.
2017
Limited to a career-low 33 games due to a strained left oblique and a left hand injury ... Started the season on the 60-day DL with a strained left oblique…made three rehab appearances in Wilmington (A) and two in Omaha (AAA) before being reinstated on June 1 ... Placed on the 7-day DL on June 9 with a left hand injury…returned on Aug. 2 for a six-game rehab stint with Northwest Arkansas (AA), before being reinstated with Omaha on Aug. 15 ... All four of his home runs came in 17 games following his second DL stint, including a two-homer game on Aug. 19 at Round Rock ... Played in 19 games with Naranjeros de Hermosillo of the Mexican Winter League and hit .211 (16-for-76) with four homers and 12 RBI.
2016
Hit .296/.366/.533 between Omaha (AAA) and Northwest Arkansas (AA), setting career highs in runs (79), hits (144), doubles (44), homers (23) and RBI (75)...Selected from Omaha on Sept. 2 and made his Major League debut on Sept. 12…recorded his first hit on Sept. 15 and first RBI - a go-ahead single in a 3-2 win over Chicago - Sept. 17...Played in eight games with Kansas City and made five starts, all in right field...Named Omaha Player of the Year, batting .294/.357/.506 (115-for-391) with 15 homers and 54 RBI in 103 games…finished second in the PCL with 36 doubles despite not making his debut until May 7...Recorded three multi-home run games, including two with Omaha on May 19 and July 25...Batted .305/.400/.642 (29-for-95) with eight home runs and 21 RBI in 26 games with the Naturals before his promotion to Triple-A.
2015
Entered 2015 rated as the No. 5 prospect in the Royals' minor league system by Baseball America ... Spent the entire year with Northwest Arkansas (AA), playing in 128 games…tied for ninth in the Texas League in games played, 10th in runs scored and tied for 11th in doubles.
2014
Tabbed Wilmington Player of the Year in 2014, leading the club in on-base (.397) and slugging (.429) ... Rated by Baseball America as the seventh-best prospect in the Royals' organization before the 2014 season…also named "Best Hitter for Average" and hitter with the "Best Strike-Zone Discipline." ... Played for the Peoria Javelinas in the Arizona Fall League in 2014…hit .256 (22-for-86) with six doubles, a homer and a .390 on-base percentage…named to the AFL's All-Prospect Team.
2013
Rated as the Pioneer League's top prospect by Baseball America in 2013 ... Led the Pioneer League in doubles…also finished fifth in walks and on-base percentage (.403), sixth in OPS (.912) and ninth in slugging (.509).
