Kansas City Royals momentum falls off ahead of All Star break
By Ben Almquist
The Kansas City Royals had been one of the hottest teams in baseball over the past month. However, their momentum couldn’t carry them past the Dodgers.
To the surprise of just about everyone except the players themselves, the Kansas City Royals have turned around their fortunes in the 2017 season. The Royals went from AL bottom feeders in the first two months, to being in the thick of things in the past few weeks. However, that turnaround hit a big bump in the road in Los Angeles.
To be realistic, we knew that something like this would have to happen at some point. The Royals have had just about everything going their way for the past couple of months, so there had to be a hiccup somewhere. The Dodgers are one of the best teams in baseball, so it’s no surprise that they were the team to slow KC’s momentum.
Kansas City will now head into the All Star break at 44-43. That puts the Royals in third place in the AL Central, 3.5 games out of first place. It also leaves them 1.5 games out of the Wild Card. All in all, that isn’t terrible, especially considering where KC was just over a month ago.
Here's Mike Moustakas on what it means to him to make another All-Star Game with the @Royals #Royals #ASG2017 pic.twitter.com/IPEI3QoKIF
— Chris Lilly (@ChrisLilly_) July 6, 2017
No Cause For Alarm
As for being swept by the Dodgers, don’t read too much into it. LA is also a very hot team right now, and it was a home game for them while the Royals were on an extended west coast road trip. That is a significant advantage for the home team.
Another thing to consider is that the Royals have been fairing pretty well against top teams this year. They’ve held their own against the likes of the Astros and Red Sox, which is a good sign. Those are the teams they will need to beat in the postseason.
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Kansas City also seems to have tuned things around in the division. While they still post just a 13-21 record against the AL Central, 10 of those wins have come since May 15 (with seven losses in the same time). That is a big shift in momentum.
What Lies Ahead?
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It will be an exciting All Star Game week for Kansas City Royals fans. Mike Moustakas will be making a rare appearance for a Royals player as he takes a spot in the Home Run Derby. Salvador Perez will be the starting catcher, and Jason Vargas may end up getting the nod as the starting pitcher for the American League.
After the All Star Game, the Royals will be in a sprint towards the MLB trade deadline. The Royals have declared themselves to be buyers at the deadline, and are looking for some pitching help. What ends up happening will depend a lot on the stretch of games from the end of the All Star Game until July 31st.
The upcoming stretch of games should be good news for the Royals. Kansas City will face off against teams with losing records in 13 of their 16 games before the deadline on the 31st. That is an excellent chance for this team to build up some more momentum and make a move in the standings.
The turnaround for the Kansas City Royals has been absolutely huge this year. While the definitely suffered a hiccup against the Dodgers, there are a lot of things still working in their favor. The Royals are looking to be buyers at the trade deadline, and that is fast approaching. This season certainly doesn’t lack for any drama.