Kansas City Royals Series Grades: Home Opener A Disappointment
By Ben Almquist
Kansas City Royals Series Grades
Player Spotlights
It wouldn’t be fair to let the performance of the Kansas City Royals as a whole overshadow individual efforts. Unfortunately, most of the individual performances in this series are reflective of the team performance. However, there were a couple of players who managed to stand out.
F. 1/10 (.100), 1 RBI, 2 BB, 3 SO. 1B. Kansas City Royals. ERIC HOSMER
If Eric Hosmer is playing for a new contract, he may be very disappointed with what teams will offer. The Royals star first baseman is hitting just .179 on the year. It is widely expected that KC will trade Hosmer if the season isn’t going well. Unfortunately, there won’t be much demand for a guy who isn’t even hitting .200.
F. 1/12 (.083), 1 R, 1 BB, 4 SO. LF. Kansas City Royals. ALEX GORDON
He may be one of the most popular Royals in a long time, but Alex Gordon is going to have to start doing something at the plate soon. Like Hosmer, Gordon is also hitting under .200 on the year. As the KC lead off man, he has to get on base…and it just isn’t happening.
A. 7.2 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 8 SO. SP. Kansas City Royals. JASON VARGAS
To have two wins on a three win team is actually pretty impressive. That’s what Jason Vargas has achieved with Royals so far this year. He threw 7 2/3 strong innings in his outing and kept the A’s off the board. That is how you overcome a lackluster offense.
IAN KENNEDY. B. 6 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 4 SO. SP. Kansas City Royals
It’s not like Ian Kennedy pitched bad. In fact, if the Royals had been able to score any runs, he could have easily gotten a win. However, it goes down as a loss for Kennedy…deserved or not. That said, there is no reason for us to hold one player accountable for what the rest of the roster failed to do.
Next: Kansas City Royals: Ten Bold Predictions For 2017
The Kansas City Royals are continuing to struggle as a team. Dropping their home opening series is never a good thing. Losing the Yordano Ventura tribute game is even worse. This team is going to have to put things together quickly and get back on track. It’s a long season, but that means there is time for things to get either better or worse.