Kansas City Royals: What needs to happen for Royals to make playoffs

TAKE CARE OF BUSINESS IN THE DIVISION

This might seem like a no brainer, but to this point in the season, the Kansas City Royals have really struggled against their divisional foes. The Royals are 13-21 against the AL Central and a lot of that damage came against the Twins early in the season.

Out of all of their divisional opponents, the Royals only have a winning record against Cleveland, going 5-4 against the Tribe this season. Their 4-8 record against Minnesota has been what’s hurt them this season, but the good news is that the Royals took three out of four from the Twinkies earlier this month.

[The Royals] have a good shot at taking the divisional crown, but they have to start proving it by BEATING their division.

The Indians were everyone’s pick to win the division and that wasn’t a shocker after they represented the American League in the World Series last year. Cleveland isn’t even close to how good they were in 2016 though and that’s made the AL Central one of the weakest divisions in all of baseball.

With the Tribe not dominating the way the national media thought they would, the Royals have managed to climb back into this thing and stick around. They have a good shot at taking the divisional crown, but they have to start proving it by BEATING their division.

The White Sox, currently sitting at 38-49, basically just gave up on the year when they traded Jose Quintana to the Cubs. The Tigers will likely be sellers as well, and nobody would be shocked to see the Twins falter significantly down the stretch.

The KC Royals will have their chance to beat up on the division early in this second half, with ten of their next 13 games coming against divisional rivals. Time to start pounding on the weaker teams.