Of course a lineup that included Whit Merrifield, Brett Eibner, Cheslor Cuthbert and Paulo Orlando would come back from a 5-1 deficit one night and 7-1 the next afternoon. I mean, who didn’t expect that?
While I tire of the bitter fans of teams who have been felled by the Royals in seasons past lamenting the Royals being lucky, I am not going to attach some higher significance to these two wins. There might be some, mind you. There might be something to this ‘next wave’ of players and their ability to help this team through injuries and lethargy. Might be.
Crazy wins with unexpected heroes always have a tendency to make my mind hearken back to long forgotten discussion board debate (I think maybe back in the days with the KC Star message board was a somewhat lively place). A horrible 2006 Royals team had scored 10 runs in back to back comeback wins over Cleveland and done so with Kerry Robinson in center and Aaron Guiel in right. The debate with a long forgotten anonymous adversary centered around the fact that he was certain the energy of Robinson and Guiel was the key to success. Look at what they did against Cleveland!’
In a game where one of the worn out mantras is ‘momentum is only as good as tomorrow’s starting pitcher,’ we should not leap headlong into conclusions that all is well.
That said, folks, enjoy it.
The Royals have now won five straight series. They have won improbable games with a lineup you would have labeled ridiculous even a few weeks ago. This could be something special or just a couple of nice weeks strung together under adversity. This team might soon leak oil and flounder, but don’t be the guy so hell-bent on being cool that you don’t derive some enjoyment out of this.
Okay, sunshine aside, we currently await word over the coffee and bagel as to what exactly is wrong with Salvador Perez. Here is a unique perspective: this is a really serious situation. For all his faults – pitch framing, free swinging – any period of time with Salvy in the lineup is not going to go smoothly for the Royals. Coupled with the absence of Moustakas and Gordon, not to mention the short term injury and long term ineffectiveness of Kendrys Morales, a Perez injury anywhere beyond 15 days could be anchor that actually does sink this ship.
Now, you can quote me Perez’ on-base percentage and remind me how poorly Alex Gordon was playing before he was hurt, but the Royals are perilously close to having Paulo Orlando batting fifth every day. That is not exactly a line-up that screams playoffs (and I say that as a guy who likes and has always liked Paulo Orlando).
Let’s take a journey outside the Royals’ sphere of influence and make fun of an old ‘friend’. Remember when Marc Carig wrote about the Royals ‘planning something for the Mets and Noah Syndergaard’? You might also remember that this writer also disparaged the organization’s denial of such a plan with the cavalier ‘what else are they going to say?’ line. Well, here we are with Noah Syndergaard and the pitch that ‘slipped’ to go behind Chase Utley and Marc Carig is regurgitating the Mets’ company line last night and today. Funny how your perspective changes when the controversy is focused on your own team, isn’t it?
By the way, weren’t the Royals on their way to ruining baseball with their brash attitude and fighting everyone? Interesting that now that Kansas City has played the first two months of the season with zero incidents (I’m not sure the Royals have even exchanged harsh words with anyone) that no one is condemning the Blue Jays, Rangers, Mets or any of the other teams who have had ungentlemanly incidents this season. Oh yeah, I forgot, Bryce Harper is responsible for ruining the game this year, silly me.