KC Royals: Deeper look at the offense and pitching from Opening Day win
By Cody Rickman
Outlook from KC Royals Opening Day
The big thing to remember here is that this is only one game in a 162 game season. The Royals will have ups and downs during the grind of this marathon.
This offensive approach of patience, power, and speed could pay dividends early in the season. Based on the last two seasons, there is a concern the Royals have a lack of contact issue (strikeout problems against better pitching). The high strikeout rate will not be an issue if the Royals are capable of dragging out long at-bats and produce in runners in scoring position situations.
The pitching staff should settle down and begin commanding their stuff into the strike zone more consistently moving forward. The Royals have a ton of depth and the starting rotation is improved from last season.
The bullpen features high strikeout stuff, but they also tend to have a higher walk rate. Again, this is okay when a reliever comes in with cleared bases, so they can pitch around walks. At this time the only pitcher I trust out of the pen with runners on is Scott Barlow.
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Overall this team is capable of 82 or more wins, this should be an exciting season with the Kansas City Royals keeping themselves right in the thick of things in the AL Central.