Royals Look Like an Average Team During an Average Week
Nothing says "middle of the pack" like taking two of three from the Minnesota Twins after losing two of three to the Tampa Bay Rays. And that's exactly how last week went down for a Kansas City Royals team that has looked consistently inconsistent, decidedly average.
Entering last week, my co-host on the Royals Weekly podcast and I said we would be happy with three wins from the week because the Boys in Blue were headed to Tampa to take on a scorching hot Rays team that had won 11 straight. To get even a win from that series seemed like a feat, and as expected, the Rays looked championship-caliber, holding the Royals offense to five runs in three games by playing phenomenal defense and putting together three stellar starting pitching performances.
Despite the two losses, the Rays series provided the Royals with a boost in the form of a returning Adalberto Mondesi. In his first week back from an oblique injury, he hit the ground running, or maybe it's more accurate to say he ran the ground hitting? He went 7-for-18 with three doubles, one home run, and three RBIs and pulled the team back into Saturday's game with a ninth-inning two-run homer. In classic Mondesi style, he also had zero walks and eight strikeouts.
Last week saw a return of another sort on the pitching side—a return to form for Brad Keller. It's been slow going for the Royals' nominal number one starter, but in the last few weeks, he has started to return to the formula that made him successful in previous seasons—sinking fastballs in the bottom third and backfoot sliders. It all came together for Keller in his first start this week when he threw seven innings of one-run baseball to win a pitcher's duel with Tampa Bay's Rich Hill. He was shakier in his start against the Twins, but overall, he put together a solid week that led the Royals to two wins.
On the Farm
It was more of the same in the Royals farm system last week. Jackson Kowar continued to show off at Triple-A Omaha, stirring more talk of a promotion among fans and Royals media.
Nick Pratto and M.J. Melendez continued to mash the ball at Double-A Northwest Arkansas. Pratto has pushed his season slash line to .308/.446/.731 while Melendez sits at .324/.422/.662.
But it wasn't all good news for the Naturals this week. It was reported that No. 8 prospect Jonathan Bowlan will require Tommy John surgery, ending what was a very promising campaign. Bowlan looked on track to make a late-season debut after starting the season with a 1.59 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 17 innings.
