Kansas City Royals Not Off to Great Start in 2017 Season

It’s still very early in the 2017 season, but the Kansas City Royals have not looked good at all in their first two games. They dropped to 0-2 after a 9-1 loss to Minnesota on Wednesday.

Oof.

Look… I’ll be the first to admit that it’s a tad bit silly to get worked up about two games in Major League Baseball, but after how poorly the KC Royals have played so far, it might be merited.

In just two games against this season, the Royals have been outscored 16-2 and their bullpen has given up 12 of those 16 runs. This is not the bullpen from the dominant era and fans are beginning to remember what it was like before the historically good bullpen became a thing in Kansas City.

Don’t let the offense off the hook though, fans. They’ve scored two runs in two games… Two runs total, not per game. Mike Moustakas hit a home run in the season opener and Paulo Orlando singled Lorenzo Cain home for their second run of 2017.

Both of these areas are very concerning right now. The offense can’t hit, the bullpen can’t get out of the seventh inning without getting lit up, and aside from Danny Duffy, every part of the Royals’ play so far this season has been downright gross.

I’m not going to panic though. We’re only two games into the 2017 season and we’ve seen what this Royals team can do. Eric Hosmer, Moustakas, and Cain are all going to be trying to prove themselves worthy of a major contract, and the bullpen can’t be this bad all season, right?

Matt Strahm had another rough game, giving up two more runs and now allowing six on the year. He allowed three total earned runs last year.

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We might have jumped the gun on how great Strahm could be, but there’s still hope. He’s a young pitcher and needs to work out those early season jitters, but yikes he’s been atrocious in these two games.

Nate Karns also saw some work out of the bullpen on Wednesday and did not do well. He allowed four runs and basically put the game out of reach for the Royals.

It’s easy to blame the bullpen for not locking things down, but the offense has been terrible too. Two runs in two games against a team like the Twins is embarrassing. Minnesota should not be whooping up on the Royals like they have been in these two games.

It’s still way too early to freak out, but at the same time, sports fans aren’t patient. If the Royals don’t get a win on Thursday, the fan base will be in total meltdown mode.

It is worth noting, by the way, that the Kansas City Royals started the 2014 season 0-2 and went on to lose in Game 7 of the World Series. I’m not saying the Royals are going to replicate that exact success this season, but it just shows that two games is a very small sample size.

What do you think, Royals fans? Are you freaking out after two games or are you still calm as a cucumber?

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