Despite Royals' Roller Coaster Start, There's Still Plenty to be Excited For in Kansas City
It's been a roller-coaster start for the Kansas City Royals in 2. There was plenty of reason to be cautiously optimistic in advance, with the additions of first baseman Carlos Santana, left fielder Andrew Benintendi, center fielder Michael A. Taylor and starting pitcher Mike Minor.
I believed in them being around a .500 team prior to Opening Day, potentially also fighting for their first playoff bid in six years. This would be the precursor for what would be to come in 2022 or 2023, the years where the Royals look to contend with the additions of Bobby Witt Jr, Asa Lacy and others coming up.
However, in April, what was happening was beyond expectations and it was a blast to follow along with. The Royals started with two explosive performances against the Texas Rangers, winning games by the scores of 14-10 and 11-4. They were the second-to-last team to lose a series in the MLB, only falling short of the Los Angeles Dodgers, not losing any of their first five series. They had the best record in all of Major League Baseball for multiple consecutive days. It was a dream start to the season for Kansas City.
Once April transitioned into May, that’s where things really got rocky. Following a win against the Twins on May 1, the Royals went on to lose 11 consecutive games, plummeting their record from 16-9 to 16-20, a catastrophic dropoff. All 11 losses came to division rivals too, making the results sting more.
Since then, they have played a series with the new division leader, the Chicago White Sox, as they split a four-game series, which is quite respectable. The Royals followed that up with a two-game sweep against the Milwaukee Brewers, one of which I was able to go to with a few friends, two of whom are Brewers fans.
I know that that losing streak has made many Royals fans feel like the season is lost and the early success was all a false alarm, but there’s plenty of reason to believe that this team is going to get back into the race for a .500 record, a playoff spot and maybe even a division title.
There are players who we have gotten back from injury or will return soon from injury, including shortstop Adalberto Mondesi, who we have not seen yet this season. Mondesi started last season poorly, having an OPS of .500 or worse over 35 games during the months of July and August, but he finished playing like one of the better players in all of baseball, having an OPS over 1.000 over 24 games in September.
With Mondesi's addition, that helps add some flexibility for the Royals. Kansas City would be allowed to move Whit Merrifield back to the outfield, play Jorge Soler at designated hitter, and bench one of the worse bats they are forced to play in Cam Gallagher, who has an OPS+ of 18, but has still started in five straight games.
There is also reason to believe there will be some improvement to come for players like Merrifield, who has an OPS+ of just 100, Jorge Soler, who only has four home runs this season, and Brad Keller, who has an ERA+ of just 66. There is plenty of time left in the season for these players and more to get back on track and get the Royals into exciting baseball.
We could see the most anticipated, exciting prospect the Royals have had in ages in 2019 No. 2 overall pick Bobby Witt Jr. later on in the season. Witt hasn’t started out his Double-A career as well as most had hoped, but he has still flashed greatness in Northwest Arkansas and during his incredible Spring Training. Even if Witt doesn’t play this season, all is well and you should still give the Royals your attention for the next few months.
Keep the faith, Royals fans. This year should still go just fine, and even if it doesn’t, the future is still bright and October baseball is on the horizon. Kansas City has the pieces to make a run this year and it’s likely to only get better in the next few years. Come out and see a game at Kauffman. I saw my first one in five years on Tuesday and only then did I realize how much I missed it. There’s nothing quite like a day at the ballpark.
