Kansas City Royals Need to Get Off to Hot Start in 2017
The Kansas City Royals are heading into a telling 2017 season. If the season goes well, a World Series title could very much be in play. If it goes south, however, a lot of beloved Royals will likely be shipped off to other teams.
In order to prevent option B from happening, the KC Royals have to make sure they get off to a hot start right out of the gate in 2017. The Royals started the 2015 season with seven straight wins, not losing their first game of the season until their eighth game.
That hot start kept the Royals in the lead pretty much all season long, and they ended up not only winning the American League Central, but the entire conference as well. That gave them home field advantage all throughout the playoffs, which proved to be imperative for the boys in blue, as they marched to their second straight World Series appearance.
Even with a sloppy September that season, the Royals were able to clinch home field advantage with a few weeks left in the regular season due to their hot start earlier in the year. Early season games matter, even if they don’t seem all that important.
Early season games matter, even if they don’t seem all that important.
While looking back at 2015 is wonderful, the page has been turned and another champion has been crowned. The Royals aren’t the reigning champs anymore, but they still have a lot of pressure riding on them.
For one, this could be the last tour for the band. Guys like Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar, Eric Hosmer, and Mike Moustakas might be playing their last season as members of the Kansas City Royals.
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Hell, some of them might even be traded away if the Royals aren’t performing well by the trade deadline.
Second, the AL Central won’t be the cakewalk that it was in 2015. The Royals dominated their divisional foes that year, but 2016 was humbling.
It was especially humbling against the Cleveland Indians, whom the Royals struggled against big time (5-14, according to Baseball Reference).
The Indians are going to be motivated this year. The reason the Royals got off to that hot start in 2015 was because of their loss in Game 7 of the 2014 World Series to the San Francisco Giants. It’s practically the same story with Cleveland, as they lost in Game 7 of the 2016 World Series to the Chicago Cubs.
Cleveland’s loss in the World Series was even worse because they had a 3-1 series lead and blew it. They came back several times in that Game 7 match-up, but alas, it was the Cubbies’ year to hoist the trophy.
With the Indians being motivated and the possibility of their teammates being traded off, this year is critical for the Kansas City Royals. They have to get off to a fast start or else it could end up being a disappointing farewell tour for the band.