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KC Royals: Still Biggest Threat In American League

By Leigh Oleszczak

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Despite losing the series up in Toronto this past weekend, the KC Royals are still the team to beat in the American League.

The Kansas City Royals have gone through a lot this season and continue to prevail under difficult circumstances. Even when their starting rotation was less than stellar, the boys in blue managed to get up to a season-high 23 games over .500. Of course, Johnny Cueto now helps that rotation out drastically.

When Alex Gordon went down with an injury that was reportedly going to sideline him for eight weeks, Jarrod Dyson and Paulo Orlando stepped in admirably and showed that this team is a true threat to make it back to the World Series in 2015.

Oh yeah, and then Dayton Moore went out and got Ben Zobrist, who has hit three home runs since his first start as a Royal on Thursday.

The Royals have been slumping as of lately, but all sports teams go through slumps, especially baseball teams. It’s a long season and it’s incredibly difficult to have good momentum all season long. Teams are bound to slump, but the Royals have proved they’re a good team by breaking those slumps and going on long stretches of dominance again.

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The trade deadline proved to be huge for the Royals because they went out and addressed the weaknesses on their team even when they didn’t necessarily need to. This Kansas City Royals team is good and they’ve proven so time and time again.

They’ve only been swept three times and all by good teams (Yankees, Astros, and Cardinals), but won the home series against these teams. Unlike last year’s team, fans don’t panic when these Royals get down a few runs because this offense is capable of coming back and winning.

Just the other day, the Royals trailed 5-1 to the Blue Jays and went on to win by a score of 7-6. Last year’s offense, minus that crazy Wildcard game and a few other instances, didn’t have the firepower to come back in regular season games like this season’s crew does.

Another interesting stat, according to Baseball Reference, is that the KC Royals have posted a winning record every month this season:

  • April: 15-7
  • May: 14-12
  • June: 15-11
  • July: 17-11

In seasons past, there have been months where the Royals struggled mightily, but they’ve continued to step up and show that they’re the team to beat in the American League.

Despite the recent struggles of the Royals, they still hold an eight game lead in the American League Central. They are definitely the contenders to win the division, considering the Tigers have sorely disappointed and we’re not sure who the Twins are just yet.

Sure, the Astros went out and added some pieces as did the Blue Jays, but the Royals are still the team to beat in the American League until proven otherwise. That’s the perk of being the reigning American League champion.

Next: Should Royals Continue to Add Pitching?

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