I was sitting at Homer’s Coffee House tonight with the knowledge that my team, the Kansas City Royals, were down 11-2 against the White Soxs of Chicago. Being the die-hard fan that I am (I knew that Emil Brown, who was traded from the San Diego Padres to the New York Mets today, was once a middle of the order hitter for the Royals) I get text updates on the happenings of the game. I must admit, when the final score hit my phone, I nearly chucked it across the coffee shop. Granted, if you are going to lose, today was the day. Both the Minnesota Twins and the Detroit Tigers lost as well, so no ground lost in the central. However, it would have been a great day to win, because then you move a full game ahead of Minnesota and within 2 1/2 games of Detroit. But that is not why my phone nearly took flight. It is how they lost and how they have been losing lately that almost punched a sure to be one-way ticket on the Right-Hand Jet-line for my phone. Where to begin…
The Offense-
11th in the American League in runs scored is not good enough. Especially when you lead the league in triples. You have to be able to score and this team is not scoring right now. Case in point – Zack Greinke’s start out in Oakland. Your ace goes out and give up one run in 8 innings. Automatic win. Wrong! Grienke loses 1-freaking 0. Coco Crisp and David DeJesus need to get on base. They cannot continue to hit under .250 when both are better than that. They have to be on base so that Billy Butler, Jose Guillen, Mike Jacobs, and Mark Teahen can hit them in. Because the middle of the lineup is hitting. Jacobs is the only one hitting under .280 and he has 9 home runs. Put guys on base in front of them, runs scored.
The Defense-
31 Errors is way to many. At time it seems as if this team does not know what to do when a ball is hit at them. Wild throws from the outfield. Mis-communication. Has to be fixed. These are things that are worked out in spring training. There is nothing in baseball that is more frustrating than a misplayed ball. It is one thing for a guy not to be able to get to a ball, that is forgivable. But to bobble, drop, lob, generally look like a little leaguer is unacceptable.
Pitching-
This is the Royals strength. However, lately it has been a weakness. The only constant is that Zack will be Zack. Well, Zack only pitches every fourth game (and that is only until June – then its back to every fifth game). Obviously, the other members of the staff have to show up. Gil Meche, Kyle Davies, and Brian Bannister have all shown the ablity to win a game between Zack’s starts, but lately cannot buy a win. Bannister, who could arguably be called the most consistent of the three, bombed tonight. Meche cannot go deep into games and is hampered by his back. And Davies always has one bad inning. If they can get it together, it goes a long way in covering the glaring weaknesses of the offense and defense. I will give the bullpen a break. Until Joakim Soria returns guys are out of their roles and that can be challanging. Plus, when most of your starters average 5+, you tend to be overexposed. But they still need to be ready to answer the call. They have lost games for us. Overall, this pitching staff has shown great upside. But lately, the ERA has rocketed from well under 4 to 4.08. They need to reverse that dangerous trend quickly.
The Royals are sputtering in all facates of the game at the moment – evidenced by the blowout losses they have been taking. And this, more than any loss, is what gets me. Because they are better than this. In the past one would say, “Well, it was fun while it lasted.” But this year is different. We can see the possiblity with this team. They just have to start playing the way they are capable of playing.
