Kansas City Royals: Ten Stats for Ten Days

The Kansas City Royals have started their 2016 campaign off with a bang. There appears to be no World Series hangover whatsoever with these boys in blue and they seem as hungry as ever for another World Series title.

Well folks, we’re 10 games into it, which means the Kansas City Royals have completed a full six percent of their 2016 season!

So, what better way to celebrate the Royals hot 8-2 start than to feature ten fun facts through ten games that will almost certainly be irrelevant in the months to come? I agree. Here we go:

Omar Infante

is tied for the

second-most hits

on the team (11), and is doing so with six less at-bats than

Eric Hosmer

, who leads the club with 13. Infante’s .324 average is also second to Hosmer’s team-leading percentage by just one point. Dare I say it? It’s

possible

we might be seeing a healthy Omar for the first time in his tenure as a Royal.

The Kansas City Royals pitching, known for throwing to contact and relying on the team’s sensational defense, is tied for second in the league in strikeouts. Last year they finished in the bottom third. The team with the most strikeouts this year, of course, is the Philadelphia Phillies.

Nine Royals pitchers have a K/9 of 9.00 and above. Chris Young’s 7.45 K/9 is last on the team, and is still better than the 7.2 K/9 team average from last year. The team average right now? 10.10, which ranks third.

No surprise here, but the KC Royals bullpen has the sixth best ERA in the league, and more strikeouts (43) than any other team, even though they’ve thrown fewer innings than 11 other teams. They also have more saves (six) than anyone else, but that’s to be expected when the team wins so many close games.

The surprise might be that the

overall

team ERA is actually

fourth in the league (2.70)

. Last year the team

finished tenth

, with a 3.73 ERA. If they remain healthy and consistent, the Royals starting pitching could end up being one of the most underrated rotations in the league.

More from KC Kingdom

What hasn’t changed? The Royals have nine home runs, which ranks 18^th. Last year they finished 24^th. The team also has a measly 25 walks through 10 games, which ranks 27^th, consistent with last year’s 28^th Same old, same old.

They’re 8-2 and the bats haven’t even woken up yet. They’re in the lower half of the league in runs, home runs, RBI, OPB, OPS, stolen bases, and even strikeouts! Side note: Minnesota has 19 runs in ten games. St. Louis has 73. Yikes.

The Royals are 4-0 in one-run games. Last year they finished 23-17 in such contests. Interestingly, the team with the least one-run wins last year was the Blue Jays, who the Royals battled for the best record in the American league. They were just 15-28 in one-run games last year.

Morales, Perez, Escobar, Infante, Fuentes, and Orlando have six walks between them. That means that over half of the team’s lineup draws one walk between them every other game. Oh well; whatever works.

The Royals are 8-2, tied with the White Sox for first place in the Central, and there are no teams with more wins than our ballclub. Complacent? Post-World Series hangover? I think not.

Next: Royals' All-Time Leaders in Home Runs

Take it all with a large grain of salt, but the KC Royals are picking things up right where they left off. A few surprises so far, but really, it’s clear that all these guys are thinking about is keeping that crown.

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