With Recent Success, the Royals Appear To Be Having Fun Again
Despite a record still well below .500, the Royals are still having fun. It’s even been showing in the win column of late, which certainly helps. The team has one of the best records in the American League since the All-Star break. Maybe the big second-half run is still in the cards.
Unfortunately, there is too much ground to be made up and not enough time to turn things around. It would require a miracle for the Royals to get their record back to .500 or above. However, that won’t stop them from having fun.
The Royals' young pitching staff has looked very good over the past few weeks. Carlos Hernandez continues to improve and show that he has a spot on this roster moving forward. Kris Bubic has turned a corner. Daniel Lynch is showing why he was one of the organization's top prospects heading into this season. Brady Singer is now bouncing back from an IL stint.
From Aug. 16th-24th, the Royals' starting pitching has a combined 2.23 ERA. If the rotation can keep this up, that’ll certainly play. With just over a month left in the season, again, the team is starting to have some fun.
More often than not in this past two-week stretch (save for a couple of shutouts), the Royals offense has been connecting. Salvador Perez continues to dominate and increases his career-high in home runs with each one he hits. Hitting 40-plus home runs on the season is not out of the question. Keep an eye on setting the record for single-season jacks by a catcher, which is currently held by Johnny Bench (45). Perez should also easily jump into the top-20 all-time home run list for catchers before the season ends.
The rest of the offense has stepped up when needed. Whit Merrifield continues to be consistent. Nicky Lopez has shocked the world with his very solid play this season. Andrew Benintendi has bounced back nicely after an early-season injury. Hunter Dozier has been one of the hottest hitters on the team since the All-Star break. Emmanuel Rivera has been hitting very well since coming back from an injury. All of those guys are having fun.
With this season’s playoff hopes rendered near-impossible, the focus is on the future and how there is a light at the end of the tunnel with more help on the way.
Bobby Witt Jr. continues to tear the cover off the ball in Triple-A. Nick Pratto and MJ Melendez are doing well in Omaha as well. Young power hitter Seuly Matias was called up to Double-A Northwest Arkansas and hit a monster home run in his first game with the club. The Quad City Bandits are the best team, record-wise, in any minor league division. The future for the organization is looking bright, and everyone is having fun.
If you can do so in the month of September, go out to The K and support your boys in blue. It’s been a wild past couple of years and no one should take for granted the ability to go see live sports in person, let alone your favorite baseball team. Though the record isn’t exactly what many hoped it would be after a strong start to the season, this team is showing why we should continue to invest in it. They are having fun, and we can have fun too.
