Young Royals Have a Memorable Week in Many Facets
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The Kansas City Royals started and ended the week on a positive note, logging wins over the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers. Kansas City played another week of .500 baseball but is looking to put together a winning streak heading into a new week. There were some very memorable performances and moments, so let’s dig into the past week of Royals baseball.
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Royals win opener vs. White Sox behind Pratto's power
Nick Pratto brought the power stick to Chicago. He hit solo home runs in the second and fourth innings, and those were the difference in the game. Salvador Perez and Michael A. Taylor also added home runs in the 9-7 win for the Royals.
Daniel Mengden makes first Royals start, Michael Massey goes 3-for-3
It wasn’t a good one, and he only lasted a couple of innings, but Daniel Mengden made his first start with the Royals in a loss to the White Sox. Despite the less-than-stellar pitching, there wasn’t much help from the offense either.
However, Michael Massey did go 3-3 during the game and brought his season batting average up to .281 at the time. Of course, Massey spent much of the season with the Omaha Storm Chasers, but he leads the Royals in batting average since his arrival with the big-league club. That's yet another good thing from one of the young rookies.
Offense goes wild in big victory
On Saturday, the young Royals did something that had not been done in MLB history. Four rookies hit home runs in the same game, an incredible feat that may never be seen again in our lifetime.
Nick Pratto hit a solo home run in the first inning, Bobby Witt Jr. hit a three-run blast in the third inning, Kyle Isbel hit a grand slam in the fifth inning and MJ Melendez put a bow on things with a solo home run in the sixth inning.
These rookies continue to impress and seem to be getting better with each passing week.
Bobby Witt Jr. becomes fifth rookie to join 20-20 club
Witt became just the fifth rookie in league history to hit 20 home runs and have 20 stolen bases in his first season. Seattle Mariners rookie Julio Rodriguez, who is the favorite to win American League Rookie of the Year award, hit the same mark earlier this season. Witt mentioned that he wants to be a 30-30 player at some point. After watching him all season, it seems like a reasonable expectation even as soon as next season.
Witt makes incredible defensive play, logs go-ahead RBI
Witt's high level of play continued into the series finale against the Tigers. A ball ricocheted off the pitcher into Witt’s general area, and he snagged it barehanded with a quick throw to first to get the runner out. It was a "webgem," no doubt, and it won’t be the last time we see a defensive highlight like that from the Royals’ star rookie.
Witt also had the go-ahead RBI in the eighth inning, the 24th time he hit a go-ahead RBI in a game this season. He is second among all players in MLB in go-ahead RBI, an impressive feat for a rookie.
The boys in blue will be back home for a three-game series against the Cleveland Guardians, a team that hasn’t won a game since August 30th, on Monday with a 7:10 first pitch scheduled. Tristan McKenzie and Brady Singer are the projected starters for game one.
The Royals have an off day on Thursday before hosting the Tigers for a three-game set to close out the week.
