Flip the calendar, head west, and the Royals turn in to some kind of offensive juggernaut. No hyperbole. Check the margins of victory since June 1: 6/2 vs Cleveland – 4 6/3 vs Cleveland – 7 6/6 vs Houston – 2 6/7 vs Houston – 2 6/10 vs San Diego – 6 6/11 vs San […]
Author: Craig Brown
The Reinvention (Again) Of Mike Moustakas
Mike Moustakas has stopped going the opposite way. This isn’t news to anyone who has watched Royals games this year. Moustakas started pulling the ball the opening series in Minnesota, and through the first two months, he hasn’t shown any signs of stopping. In fact, Moustakas is pulling the ball now at a rate higher […]
Welcome To The Show
Left-hander Erik Skoglund was making his major league debut. The Tigers stacked their lineup with right-handed thunder. It was, simply, a rookie making his debut against a veteran lineup. On paper, it was a mismatch. Conventional wisdom held the Tigers could rip this kid to shreds. Meow. Skoglund was brilliant in his major league debut, keeping […]
Feast Or Famine
One night after launching four home runs, the Royals bats fell silent on Wednesday. Such is life for the Royals offense on the current road trip. They were blanked in the Bronx, which was the fifth time the offense put up a goose egg this year. If you prefer to look on the bright side, […]
Lift Off
If you can squint, you can see the lone bright spot of the Royals season thus far. It’s the starting pitching. It’s what kept them in games (they eventually lost) in April. And while it’s regressed a bit in May, the rotation is still helping them out for the most part. Sure, there are clunkers […]
It’s Not Early Anymore
It’s a grim time to be a Royals fan. This weekend, we passed the quarter point in the season. You can strap the cliche of “it’s still early” to the bat rack and set it on fire. All these games to this point count. And the results are enough to send you into a spiral […]
Rebounding To Average
It was a dark and stormy April. That reads like the opening line of some poorly written fiction, doesn’t it? Except it wasn’t fiction. It was reality for the Royals in the season’s opening month. Blame it on the offense, of course. An average of 2.7 runs per game was a drag on some strong […]
The Return Of Esky Magic
The answer was right there all along. Alcides Escobar is here to save the day. You know the story. Escobar was inserted in the leadoff spot on September 13, 2014 with the Royals in a fight for the playoffs. And they started winning. And winning. And winning. Since that date, no Royal has hit at […]
Swingers
Wednesday saw the Royals win their second game in their last three, with the offense breaking out in a big way. Well, big for the Royals. Still, it felt cathartic. That’s what happens when the team carries the worst record in baseball – along with the lowest run total. According to Statcast, the Royals hit […]
Road Trip From Hell
Was it the worst week ever? Not in a traditional Monday to the weekend sort of week. (Or Sunday if you’re a monster who can’t properly read a calendar.) Seven days. Seven games. Seven losses. The Royals left Kansas City after a 5-3 home stand with an even-steven record of 7-7 on the young season. […]