The losses continue to pile up, but things maybe don’t look quite as bad for the Royals as they did a week or so ago. The offense may be starting to click a little bit, and they got a decent outing from Yordano Ventura, which was much needed, given the trouble getting innings from at least 40 percent of their rotation.
There have been times over the last couple weeks I’ve wondered if maybe the Royals are just not so good this year, but then I get sucked back in by a good game here or there and go back to believing that they’re just in a rough stretch. I think it’s fair to say that they won’t have the division wrapped up in mid-June this year, though, so hopefully there’ll be a lot of fun (and tense) baseball this summer at The K.
- Lorenzo Cain hasn’t looked right for most of this season, but he has quietly started to heat up over the last few games before he not-so-quietly hit three home runs on Tuesday night. The numbers aren’t all the way back to last season’s greatness yet, but since April 29 (following two days off), he’s been really good. He’s still not walking much and he’s still striking out too often, but the line drives are there again. He’s also going up the middle way more, which is something he wasn’t doing very much during his rough stretch. If you recall, I hypothesized that timing might be an issue because of that. He does look a lot better at the plate with much improved timing, so maybe, just maybe, I was right about this one. No matter how he got there, it’s good to see Lorenzo doing better. He needs to keep it up, though.
- There’s been a lot of talk that this team isn’t performing as well defensively as they have in past seasons. That statement really makes me think because watching the team, I haven’t really seen that very often (with a couple exceptions). Then when I look back on games, I do start to think that way. The metrics still place the Royals as one of the best teams in baseball defensively, but we all know how finicky those can be, especially this early in the season. A big part of the disconnect is because of three players. One is Omar Infante, and he lost his every day job because of it. He can’t make a play on the backhand anymore and his arm is pretty clearly shot. Another is Alcides Escobar, who has made way too many errors on routine plays to start the season. I know Ned Yost said it was a human thing and not a focus thing, but you don’t make this many errors early when you’re as good as Escobar and have them all just be random errors. And the third is Cain, who doesn’t seem to be tracking down as many balls as he has in the past, and at times, he looks like he’s not going full speed. I don’t know if he’s injured or if he’s not getting a good read off the bat, but he doesn’t seem like the same elite defender we’ve come to love. The numbers do show a dropoff with him too, but what’s interesting is that he’s still above average. It’s just that he set a really high bar. I will say that it’s a bit alarming that the up the middle defense is what has seemed to “fail” this season. But still, this is an elite defensive club.
- Sometimes injuries are the most predictable things in the world. For some players, you can just tell they’re playing hurt, but that’s not what I’m talking about here. The Royals placed Kris Medlen and Chris Young both on the disabled list yesterday. Medlen has a shoulder issue while Young has a forearm issue. Both injuries may be not only real, but serious. Though it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if both injuries are out of convenience. I’m not saying Medlen’s shoulder wasn’t barking a little bit or that Young’s forearm isn’t a little sore, but I am saying that I think there’s a good chance those guys would have stayed off the disabled list if they were giving the Royals a chance to win games. They simply weren’t, so they’re off the team for now. I’m curious to see if the Royals stretch Danny Duffy back out to start every fifth day until Mike Minor is ready or if they try to get him back in the rotation for good. Again. Duffy has been so good in the bullpen this season, but if he can start, the Royals have a bigger need there than in the bullpen. That wasn’t the case leading into the season. But things change and you adapt. The Royals have gotten much better about that.
- If the Yankees remain out of the race as we approach mid-summer, one name you’ll hear a lot connected to the Royals is Carlos Beltran. On the surface, it makes a lot of sense. He plays right field and the Royals aren’t getting much production from right field. He’s in the last year of a contract, so he probably won’t cost much in terms of prospects. He’s obviously a former Royals player, so the nostalgia angle even makes some sense. But I’m just not sure that’s the best idea. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a productive enough player that I’d be fine with it, but I think people have an image of the guy who used to play center field in Kansas City, and that’s not him anymore. This season, he’s stopped walking and his average isn’t high enough to support that new approach. I think he’s benefited greatly by Yankee Stadium and some of that power wouldn’t translate to Kauffman Stadium. I don’t think he’s done by any stretch, but I wouldn’t give up much to get him if the opportunity arises.
- This weekend is huge for the Royals. I know it’s only mid-May, but the Braves are really, really bad. The Royals simply have to win the series and they probably should sweep. If they get outplayed by the lowly Braves this weekend at home, I’m going to be in full on worry mode and wonder if this is a season that can be saved. That doesn’t mean I’ll be right to worry that much, but it would be hard to see this team lose to the Braves at home and think much else. Hopefully we don’t have to find that out and the Royals can bank a few wins this weekend before they have the tough task of trying to shut down the Red Sox smoking hot offense with their starting pitchers.