KANSAS CITY -- Royals slugger Jorge Soler already owns the franchise’s single-season home run record with 44, smashing Mike Moustakas’ mark of 38 from 2017.

Now, Soler can do something else that no one in Royals history has accomplished: Lead the American League in home runs.

Soler entered Friday's series opener against the Astros just one behind AL leader Mike Trout (45). Soler maintains he is not chasing individual goals, and he is just trying to become a better hitter.

But manager Ned Yost suggests those types of goals matter to him and the Royals’ staff.

“Of course it does,” Yost said. “Everyone comes into the season with team goals. They all want to win. But they also have individual goals, too.

“For him to come in here and go for the home run title, I mean, I don’t know if he ever thought he could go for the home run title. But it’s still a neat thing to be able to do. Soler, he obviously accomplished one, breaking the home run record for our franchise. Now he’s got a shot at leading the league.”

The Royals strongly encourage the pursuit of individual goals along with the team ones.

“[Hunter] Dozier getting to 30 homers, that’s a goal. That’d be really cool,” Yost said. “Whit [Merrifield] getting to 200 hits. Really something. Do we care about that stuff? The answer is not just yes, it’s ‘Hell, yes!’”

Gordon sticks to plan

Outfielder Alex Gordon, whose contract essentially ends after this season (there is a mutual option with a $4 million buyout for 2020), has maintained all season that he won’t make his decision about returning for another year until the offseason when he has time to discuss the decision with his family.

“Just want to get away from it all, and sit back and think,” he told MLB.com. “One day, I’m sure I’m coming back, the next day I’m not. We’ll see.”

Bigger mitt

Catcher Meibrys Viloria had a tough day catching on Thursday, letting several balls get away from him.

The Royals think they have a solution: a bigger mitt.

Viloria has been using a relatively smaller mitt his whole life -- smaller mitts tend to allow a catcher to use their hand and forearm muscles more, allowing for better framing.

But catching coach Pedro Grifol thinks a bigger mitt for Viloria will make it easier for him to catch certain pitches. The two will spend the offseason in Miami breaking in a bigger mitt for Viloria.