Royals drop 11th in a row and finish 0-10 on homestand
Wow…just wow.
Remember when the Royals took 2 out of 3 in Anaheim to begin the season? Seems like so long ago. Just 16 games into the most anticipated Royals season in a long, long time, the Boys in Blue are now 3-13 and have lost 11 games in a row after a 4-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays Monday night. This team just went 0-10 on the opening home stand…the first time since the 1913 New York Yankees a team lost their first 10 games at home. The Royals will be winless at home in the month of April.
Whoever came up with the “Our Time” slogan needs to be fired. Way to put the pressure on the youngest team in baseball. It’s no excuse, but still. “Our Time” is laughable at the moment. This team just doesn’t know how to win a baseball game right now. Everyone is pressing, it’s all mental. When the Royals pitch well, they can’t hit. When they can’t pitch, they suddenly can hit, but not enough. It’s all mental.
This was supposed to be the season where the Royals, with all of the young talent from their top rated (ever) farm system, put it all together and played close to .500 baseball or better and possibly contend for the AL Central. It couldn’t have started off any worse. But is this team really this bad? With all this talent?
No.
Take a look at SI.com’s Power Rankings powered by FanGraphs. These rankings are based off statistical efficiency using the WAR metric (Wins Above Replacement) and future performance. The Royals are currently 7th in the rankings. This is what was said about KC:
"“Here’s a case where a team’s WAR winning percentage can be more telling than its current record. Judging by wins and losses alone, the Royals have been atrocious. But their offensive line of .254/.316/.408 is pretty close to league average and their pitching hasn’t been disastrous. The problem has been when the hits have come: Kansas City has hit just .198 in high-leverage situations. The Royals don’t have to play much better in order to start winning games — they just need to start coming through in the clutch.”"
This team is clearly pressing and running into a little bad luck with runners in scoring position, but this can’t last forever. However, have the Royals dug themselves in too big of a hole to climb out of? Already 10 games under .500 before the 24th of April, it doesn’t seem likely that this team will be contending for their first playoff appearance in 27 years, again.
Oh the pain of being a Royals fan. This fan base was so jacked up for this season, and to come out like this?
Depressing.
Some are already calling for Ned Yost and Dayton Moore to be canned. But it’s just too soon. If the Royals still have the worst record in baseball come June, then I can see Yost being let go, but only 16 games into the season? Yost isn’t the one going 0-10 with runners in scoring position.
Hosmer, Moose, Gordon, Butler, Cain, Perez, Escobar, Duffy, Crow, Holland, Coleman, Herrera, Collins, Teaford, Jeffress…this team has so much young talent. Key word there is young. This is the youngest team in the majors and with that will be inconsistency and plenty of ups and downs throughout the season. Not many were expecting an AL Central crown or even playoffs, but most were expecting an exciting, competitive team continuing to grow and come together and play meaningful baseball throughout the season. While the meaningful baseball part might not happen this season because of this atrocious start, the Royals are too talented and they will eventually start playing closer to expectations.
When though?
NEXT: Game 1 of series @ Cleveland Indians (8-6)
FIRST PITCH: 6:05PM CT
WHERE: Progressive Field, Cleveland, OH
TV/RADIO: Fox Sports Kansas City/KSCP 610AM
PROJECTED STARTERS: KC – Jonathan Sanchez (1-0, 6.39 ERA, 1.89 WHIP) CLE – Derek Lowe (2-1, 3.50 ERA, 1.72 WHIP)