Kansas City Royals are Wasting Great Starts from Rotation

The Kansas City Royals have seen a tremendous stretch from their starting rotation (give or take a few games) yet their offense can’t get anything going. As a result, the starters haven’t been rewarded for their performances.

It’s been a rough start for the KC Royals offense. Actually, rough might be too polite when describing just how bad this Royals offense has been through 17 games this season. As soon as the opposition gets ahead, even by one run, I find myself thinking that the game is over because the offense just isn’t hitting.

What’s worse is that the starters have been putting on an absolute show on the mound over the last week and a half. Now there have been a few not so great performances (Jason Hammel against Oakland and Nate Karns against Texas), but for the most part, this Royals rotation has been amazing.

The incredible stretch of starts began in the series versus Oakland when Jason Vargas went 7.2 innings without allowing a run while striking out eight batters. He was insanely good on the mound that night yet the Royals were only able to spot him three runs in that game. That’d be a breath of fresh air after the past few games though.

Danny Duffy then twirled a gem in the first game against the Los Angeles Angels, only giving up one run. The Royals, in a strange turn of events, were able to put up seven runs. That seems unheard of now.

With all of these great starts the Royals pitchers were providing, this team should have been winning games easily.

Nate Karns had the win in his back pocket after going six innings against the Angels, but the bullpen blew the hold. It was hard to blame the bullpen in that one, considering the offense only scored two runs.

One of the most frustrating games yet was when Ian Kennedy provided the Royals with eight scoreless innings and still wasn’t rewarded with the win. His offense failed to plate a run until the ninth inning and by that point, Kelvin Herrera received the win.

These great starts continued on with Hammel and Vargas dealing in both games against the Giants. The Royals offense scored three total runs in that series.

Danny Duffy continued to play the role of the ace in game one against the Rangers, throwing 7.1 scoreless innings. His offense didn’t have his back, failing to score a run in 13 freaking innings.

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With all of these great starts the Royals pitchers were providing, this team should have been winning games easily. Instead, they’ve gone 5-4 in that stretch, with losses coming in four of their last five games. It hasn’t been fun to watch.

I know it’s still very early into the season, but this Royals offense isn’t hitting anything. They made Nick Martinez of the Rangers look like an ace on Saturday, allowing him to throw a no hitter through five innings. That shouldn’t happen.

So far, the KC Royals have only scored more than five runs in three games this entire season. I bring up five runs because that’s the amount the Royals have to score in order to get discounted pizza from Papa John’s after the boys in blue win a game. You’ve only been able to get that discount three times this season. Yeah, not good.

If the Royals starting pitching hadn’t been so lights out, this team would be getting blown out badly every game.

A baseball team can’t win games if they’re not scoring runs and the Kansas City Royals aren’t scoring runs. At this rate, they could be trading some big names at the trade deadline if this lackluster offense continues in the coming weeks.

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