The Royals Had a Bad but Hopeful Week of Baseball
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It’s been a couple of weeks since we’ve had a Mondays with Mark weekly recap, but the results have largely been the same — and disappointing at that. The Kansas City Royals went 1-5 against the Cleveland Guardians and Houston Astros this week. What are the takeaways from this past week of baseball? Let’s dive into it.
Kris Bubic returns
Jun 4, 2022; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Kris Bubic (50) pitching against the Houston Astros during the first inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Purnell-USA TODAY Sports
Let’s start out with one of the few positives. The return of Kris Bubic brought a positive result to the Royals. Bubic went five innings, giving up five hits and three walks while striking out three batters in a 6-0 shutout victory over the Astros. That was about as good as it got for the Royals this week.
Jonathan Heasley looks decent
Jonathan Heasley had two quality starts this week, despite going 0-1 himself and the Royals being 0-2 in those games he started. Giving up three earned runs in both starts, he also went six innings in both outings. That should've been enough to get the Royals at least one win, but it wasn’t meant to be this past week.
Royals relievers haven't been good
Outside of the impressive outing on Saturday, the Royals' pitching staff was largely ineffective (to put it nicely). Collin Snider melted down multiple times. Ronald Bolaños got blown up after a terrible start from Brady Singer. Arodys Vizcaíno, who was just called up this week, could have been the exception because he had a couple of good outings, but he blew it on Sunday afternoon. It just wasn’t a good week for the Royals' pitching staff, which has become a trend over time.
Salvador Perez bounces back
After a rough start to the season, and a stint on the Injured List, Salvador Perez started to heat up at the end of the week. He hit home runs in back-to-back games and is looking more comfortable at the plate after starting the season swinging away at virtually everything like he used to prior to finding some remnants of plate discipline in 2021. Let’s hope that this is the start of Perez getting back to being the patient power hitter we saw blossom last season.
Rookie hitters continue to provide hope
May 17, 2022; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Royals catcher MJ Melendez (1) celebrates with manager Mike Matheny (22) after the win over the Chicago White Sox at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
Despite the terrible record and lack of consistency across the board this season, Bobby Witt Jr. and MJ Melendez continue to show promise. That is going to be needed going forward, as they will be the cornerstones of the next wave of talent coming up from the minor leagues. The disappointment surrounding the team can’t be placed on these two, and the future does have a somewhat positive outlook with those two guys in the lineup every day.
The Royals will look to get back on track this week as they host a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays and four-game series against the Baltimore Orioles. The next game is at 7:10 p.m. (CST) on Monday night against the Blue Jays on ESPN+ for those outside the Kansas City area. Those in the viewing area are blacked out and will have to tune into the radio if they want to follow along.
