August started with a bang and ended with a thud. The month began with Danny Duffy striking out 16 Rays on his way to what was arguably the best start in Royals history. Things were looking great after Monday’s 8-5 victory, but dropping two heartbreaking games made the month look a lot bleaker than it was. It’s easy to be down, but in the span of one month, the Royals went from 12 out in the division and 8.5 out of the second Wild Card to 6.5 out in the division and just three out of the second Wild Card. Even with two straight losses to end the month, the Royals are in this race. They just can’t be dropping any more series.
- I’m not so sure the Royals can afford to continue to run Edinson Volquez out there every fifth day if they want to stay in the Wild Card mix. That might be a little melodramatic considering they went 3-3 in his starts in August, but he just hasn’t been good for awhile. Since his showcase against the Rangers on July 24th, he’s made seven starts and has a 6.56 ERA, and it’s only that low because six of the runs he’s allowed have been unearned. He’s given up 53 hits in 35.2 innings. He’s not fooling anyone. Honestly, I don’t know what’s wrong with him. I did mention in the off-season many times that the only starter I’m worried about in terms of being worn down from the playoff run is Volquez, but I didn’t expect him to be this bad. Since starting the year with four great games, he’s gone 7-10 with a 5.72 ERA and is averaging just 5.2 innings per start. That’s 24 starts. By comparison, Jeremy Guthrie made 23 starts last year before being jettisoned to the bullpen, and he went 8-7 with a 5.65 ERA and averaged 5.2 innings per start. That’s basically what Volquez has become, and it’s even complete with the one inning disaster that so many people want to discount when looking at the numbers. The issue is that I’m not sure who replaces him, but that’s an interesting comparison.
- I’m very excited for Wade Davis to return and to see what the extra arms in the Royals bullpen can mean for some matchups down the stretch. I would imagine Davis getting activated from the DL will simply shift everyone down an inning, which, in itself, is a victory. But I also think that we’ll see the use of Chris Young reduced greatly (though he really hasn’t been bad, considering his role in the bullpen). With Davis back, the Royals have him, Kelvin Herrera, Matt Strahm, Joakim Soria and Brian Flynn who I think can be considered part of the “A” bullpen who can be deployed in any number of ways. You might want to include Peter Moylan in there because he’s good against the right-handed bats. With that, there’s plenty you can do. Now with the September callups, being able to utilize Brooks Pounders and Scott Alexander (both guys who are good “B” bullpen pitchers) along with maybe Alec Mills if he’s called up, can really allow Yost a lot of flexibility. This bullpen was ridiculous in August, and they might be even better in September, even if the numbers don’t quite show it.
- Here’s your weekly “what do they have to do to stay in it” look. The task is simple. Win games. This weekend against Detroit is huge. In my gut, I think without a sweep, they’re not making the playoffs. That doesn’t mean they can’t and it doesn’t mean I can’t be wrong about that. I’m wrong about plenty. I called Eric Hosmer a superstar earlier this year. Woof. Basically, they need to take full advantage of the next 17 games. Win three against Detroit and then just demolish lesser competition to the tune of like 12-2. Yes, that’s right. I’m asking for a 15-2 stretch. That would put them at 84-66 heading into the final 12 games of the season and they’d likely be in the lead of the Wild Card race. No, that’s not realistic probably, but hey, you go 7-19 in a month and you have to do unrealistic things. More likely, if they take two of three from Detroit and go 10-4 over the 14 games against bad teams, that makes it far tougher. That means they’d be 81-69 and probably still looking up at someone with work to do. If you think 88 wins makes the playoffs, they have to finish 7-5 against the Indians, Tigers and Twins. To me, 12-5 over the next 17 games is the minimum for them to really be in the race at the end of this stretch. It’s a tall task, but it’s a situation they put themselves in.
- I was asked an interesting question on Twitter the other day about the Royals bringing back Kendrys Morales. I really don’t see a way that they do considering the logjam they have with Mike Moustakas returning and Cheslor Cuthbert hitting as well as he has at the big league level. But at the same time, I started thinking about how the Royals just don’t have that much power (duh) and that Morales is one of the few guys who can hit a home run at any time for you. Of course, Moose’s return will add some pop to the lineup, but he’s still no guarantee. I still don’t believe there’s going to be a match. Even with the up and down year Morales has had, he’s still at 22 homers now after hitting 22 a year ago. And since sitting a few days for his banged up finger, he’s hit .286/.356/.512 in 80 games. I mean, that’s some pretty quality production. I think he’s likely to seek one final big deal, maybe a three-year pact like Carlos Beltran got from the Yankees (though probably for less total money), so the Royals will be out, but they’ll definitely miss the power in his bat next season if this all does play out as expected.