Kansas City Royals: Ranking every season from 2010s

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Kansas City Royals’ Eric Hosmer (35) celebrates his three-run homer with Melky Cabrera (53) in the fourth inning during Tuesday’s baseball game against the Detroit Tigers at Kauffman Stadium on September 20, 2011, in Kansas City, Missouri. (John Sleezer/Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) /

RANKING EVERY ROYALS SEASON FROM 2010-2019

NUMBER 7: 2011

Record: 71-91

In Ned Yost’s first full season as the Royals manager, the team won four more games than they did in 2010. Notable things to happen in 2011 was the call-up of Eric Hosmer, who went on to have one of the best rookie seasons for a Royal, with a .293 batting average and 19 home runs. It was also the first year where we saw Salvador Perez at catcher.

Alex Gordon had a wonderful comeback season too after not panning out for early on in his career, hitting .303 as a left fielder. It was a move that changed the direction of the Kansas City Royals, as Gordon went on to become one of the best players on the team over the next decade.

Even with Hosmer and Gordon doing well, Aaron Crow was the team’s lone All-Star representative. It wasn’t that Crow had a bad season, but it wasn’t necessarily “All-Star” worthy (2.76 ERA in 62 innings).

Bruce Chen probably would have been the better option, but an injury early in the season prevented that from coming to fruition. Chen ended the year with a 3.77 ERA in 155 innings thrown.

The 2011 season provided us with Eric Hosmer’s call-up, Alex Gordon’s comeback season, and while they still finished 20 games under .500, fans could slowly see the wheels starting to turn within the organization toward a brighter future.

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