Lorenzo Cain’s legacy with the Kansas City Royals might best be remembered by the phrase “scored from first.”
His mad dash from first base to score the go-ahead run on Eric Hosmer’s single to right field in the eighth inning of Game 6 of the 2015 ALCS will remain etched in the memories of Kansas City sports fans. That run ultimately sent the Royals back to their second consecutive World Series.
It’s the perfect combination of a big moment — explosive speed and athleticism, daring, smarts and flair — to encapsulate one of the most crucial players to the club’s World Series runs in 2014 and 2015.
Cain, who last played for the Royals in 2017, appears set to wrap up his career after having been designated for assignment by the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday. The announcement came from the Brewers on the day Cain officially reached 10 years of major league service time.
“To say I’ve played 10-plus years in the show, I mean, I couldn’t ask for anything more,” Cain told reporters in Cincinnati. “It’s been a great ride for me, a fun ride. I put a lot of work in, put this body through a lot over the years. At the same time, I think the body is definitely ready to rest a little bit for sure.”
Cain, 36, spoke with The Athletic recently for a story published earlier in the week about the likelihood of retiring after this season.
Cain played 713 of his 1,171 games in the majors with the Royals from 2011-17. He also played in 31 of his 46 postseason games with the Royals, helping win AL pennants in 2014 and 2015 as well as a World Series championship in 2015. He earned MVP of the 2014 ALCS.
Prior to Saturday’s Royals game in Oakland, general manager J.J. Picollo was asked if a play came to mind from Cain’s tenure with the Royals.
“Scoring from first,” Picollo said. “That’s sort of the signature moment, but there were plays in the outfield he made in the playoffs that were tremendous.
“But I think that one play was so well executed and is still something to this day we show our minor league players on a regular basis, the importance of thinking about scoring when the ball is put in play.”
The Royals’ acquisition of Cain served as a foundational moment in their build toward a championship.
Cain came to the Royals from the Brewers in the trade that sent Yuniesky Betancourt, Zack Greinke and cash to the Brewers in exchange for Alcides Escobar, Jeremy Jeffress, Jake Odorizzi and Cain. Odorizzi was later part of the trade that brought pitchers Wade Davis and James Shields to the Royals.
“When we made that trade, we always tried to acquire players up the middle,” Picollo said. “We were good behind the plate with Salvy (Perez). We needed a shortstop. We needed a center fielder. To get two key pieces like that, to put in the middle of guys on the corners and in outfield and the infield and at catcher, was just a nice way to finish it off.
“But it was a really impactful trade, maybe the most impactful in our history.”
During his time with the Royals, Cain slashed .289/.342/.421 with 56 home runs, 120 stolen bases, 140 doubles and 21 triples and scored 383 runs in 713 games. He was an All-Star in 2015, and he won Wilson Defensive Player of the Year honors as an outfielder in 2012-2014.
“There was never a moment that was too big for him,” Picollo said. “He loved the big stage. He performed. He learned to manage his body really well, because he played hard and that was a key part. Our medical staff along with Lorenzo did a tremendous job in figuring that out. But he loved the stage and he loved to perform in the big games.”
One of the last remaining links to the Royals’ championship season, Perez was caught off-guard by the news regarding Cain on Saturday when informed by The Kansas City Star.
“He was a big difference for us,” Perez said of Cain’s impact on their team. “He helped a lot. He made a lot of good plays in the field. I’m surprised he got DFA’d.”
Perez broke into the majors in 2011, the same year Cain first played for the Royals (six games). They were the respective anchors defensively up the middle for the club until Cain’s departure via free agency after the 2017 season.
“He was one of the big parts,” Perez said of Cain’s contribution to the playoff runs in 2014 and 2015. “He made great plays in center field, the way he ran the bases, the way he was hitting. He played hard.”
Cain signed a five-year $80 million free-agent contract with the Brewers following the 2017 season.
The compensation draft picks the Royals received for losing Cain and Hosmer were used to select pitchers Jackson Kowar and Daniel Lynch.
