Kansas City Royals will go into All Star break at .500 or better
By Ben Almquist
With a sweep of the Seattle Mariners, the Kansas City Royals are now guaranteed to go into the All Star break with no worse than a .500 record.
The Kansas City Royals were doomed to a losing season and a massive sell-off of many of their top players. Then, they weren’t. After a dreadful start to the season, the Royals have climbed their way out of the American League cellar and right into playoff contention. Now they can finish no worse than .500 at the All Star break next week.
The Royals are about to take on one of the best teams in baseball. However, they do so on the back of their own four-game winning streak after a sweep of the Seattle Mariners. In fact, going back to the start of June, Kansas City has won eight of their last ten series (plus a split series with the Astros).
The turnaround that we have seen from Kansas City certainly rivals that of anything that pops to mind. This was a team that was dead and buried, with every pundit in the baseball world ready to read the eulogy. Now they are only a half game out of first in the AL Central and currently hold the second Wild Card spot. That’s just impressive.
Royals beat the Mariners, 9-6. They sweep the M's and have won 18 of 24. They are all alone in the second wild card spot. Record is 44-40.
— Rustin Dodd (@rustindodd) July 6, 2017
The Momentum Must Continue
Of course, there is still a long ways to go in the 2017 season. As quickly as things came together for the Royals, they can fall apart. The schedule doesn’t work in KC’s favor right now. Facing a very tough team like the Dodgers right before the All Star break could derail things.
Since May 7, the Royals have a winning percentage of .630.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 6, 2017
Even if Kansas City is able to get the series victory over the Dodgers, there is a chance of losing momentum with the break coming at the wrong time. It is not a great setup for a team that has been riding their momentum week in and week out.
However, what the Royals have put together over the last month or so may be enough to keep them motivated. That’s what this team needs as the trade deadline approaches. Kansas City needs to jump out ahead in the AL Central before July 31st.
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As surprising as it is, we are actually beginning to hear grumblings of the Kansas City Royals being “buyers” at the trade deadline. Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe recently reported that a front office source told him the Royals were looking for front line pitching. That is usually a pretty popular trade target of teams that expect to be contenders.
On top of front line pitching, the Royals could also use some bullpen help and potentially an upgrade at the designated hitter spot. However, with the way the team is playing as of late, they may decide to forego trading at all and stick with the current roster.
The Kansas City Royals have done what nobody thought they could. This team will go into the All Star break at .500 or better. Currently, they hold second place in the AL Central and control the second Wild Card spot. It wasn’t supposed to be able to happen, but somehow the Royals have pulled off a huge turnaround.