Baseball takes on different forms for different people, but for me, baseball isn’t the best player, or any nostalgia-tinged memory. Baseball is the player whose game embodied the sport more than anyone I can recall watching.

Baseball is Yordano Ventura.

Yordano Ventura was baseball. Everything about him personified the best – and at times, worst – of this game we love so dearly. From his childhood, to being discovered at a tryout and signing for a five-figure bonus, to developing into a top prospect and delivering a memorable performance under a national spotlight and doing it all with fire and joy and intensity and exuberance that made every moment so compelling.

He was immensely talented, with a right arm possessing one of the most valuable commodities in the sport – velocity. And that velocity seemed to materialize with relative ease, made even more surprising considering Ventura’s slight frame. The first time I saw Ventura pitch in person was at his AAA debut in Omaha. He was warming up prior to the first inning, and after what appeared to be a calm, typical warm-up toss, I peered over at a scout’s radar gun and saw the number “95” blink, which caused me to blink as well. He coined the hashtag “#LetsThrowFire,” and at times he even seemed to do so quite literally.

The smoothness of his delivery was counteracted by the sudden violence of his recoil, his right arm rifling back toward his body with such a whip, it was amazing to not see Ventura writhe in pain after every pitch.

Watching Ventura pitch was to watch baseball in all its basebally goodness. He was one of the most talented pitchers in the game, with a fastball few could match, and yet, he was unable to dominate hitters on a consistent basis. He’d struggle with control. He’d hang a breaking ball. He’d catch too much of the middle of the plate. Despite his breathtaking talent, Ventura battled the same issues nearly every major-league pitcher battles. He was one in a million while at the same time being just one of a million. He was baseball.

The joy with which Ventura pitched on his best days was a reminder of how fun this game should be. One of the most iconic plays of his career involved a harmless ground ball back to Ventura, because his normal leg kick on his follow through apparently just didn’t have enough swagger. He was, at heart, a kid playing the game he loved, and when things were going well for him, his smile on the mound could be seen from the 400-level of Kauffman Stadium. He had so much passion for the game, such an intense drive to win. He played with fire. Kids from around Kansas City will be wearing the number 30 because of that joy, and that fire, and that smile. And despite the advice of their coaches, there will be a few leg kicks, too.

But when things weren’t going well, Ventura could become his own worst enemy. He would do everything he could to prove himself, often at the expense of his results. He played with fire. Whether it was throwing intentionally at a batter or shouting at an opponent, Ventura would let his emotions get the best of him, because he hated losing and hated being shown up even more. As a fan, it was frustrating to watch him succumb to the worst parts of this game, the immaturity and borderline dangerous behavior. He had the natural ability to get back at his opponent with his pitching, but too frequently did so with his pitches, allowing pride to get in the way of performance. He was not alone in this behavior. He was baseball.

Every start Ventura made was must-watch television. It’s been said that “you can’t predict baseball,” and Ventura’s starts brought that phrase to life at 100 mph. While it was common to expect good things from him, you were never quite sure how the day would go. He could strike out a dozen hitters, give up a pair of dingers in the first two innings, or possibly get into a shouting match with someone on the field. It wasn’t always good, but it was always captivating. Seeing Ventura’s flame-emblazoned right forearm propel toward the plate caused you to hold your breath. It was like watching Ken Griffey, Jr start his swing, or Carlos Beltran take that first step toward a fly ball in center. You weren’t sure what was about to happen, but you were sure you needed to watch, because something was about to happen. And if something didn’t happen on that pitch, that just meant it would happen on the next one. That anticipation made tuning in to his games a necessity.

For those fortunate enough to watch Ventura pitch in person, the experience was similarly awe-inspiring. From the simple rock of his windup, to the explosion toward home, the pop of the catcher’s mitt, and the gust of wind as 30,000 fans simultaneously turned their heads to the scoreboard to see digital flames reveal what everyone already suspected. 99 mph. 100 mph. 101 mph. It didn’t take long for the ball to travel 60 feet, 6 inches, but it was enough time for the suspense to build, and for an entire stadium of spectators to widen their eyes while the hairs on the back of their collective necks stand on end. When Ventura was on the mound, each pitch felt like it could change the course of the game. Anything was possible when the ball was in his hand. He was baseball.

He showed so many flashes of brilliance intermixed with periods of disappointment. Ventura was not the first player to belie his ability with inconsistent performance, nor will he be the last. Baseball is a difficult game played by people who make it seem simple. It’s a game based on failure, and even though we can recognize that and internalize it as fact, it’s still so disheartening to see a player fail, particularly one as talented as Ventura. Failure is, of course, a relative term here. Simply reaching the big leagues at all must be considered a magnificent success, especially considering Ventura’s backstory. But there was always a feeling around him, and within him, that there was more success to find. That a better start was just four days away.

We were drawn to Ventura because the only inevitability with his starts was that fire would be thrown. That fire could erupt into an inferno in an instant, so we watched. We admired the wonder of his talent, and wondered when that talent would reach its zenith. We shook our heads in discouragement, and in disbelief.

We appreciated his game and his story, because his story made us feel like a part of the game.

Ventura’s story is one of what could have been and what was. It’s a story of what is, and what will be. It’s a story of baseball.

Ventura, Duffy, and Junis – For many years the mantra of the blogosphere and sports radio alike was that the GMDM front office and coaching staff couldn’t develop starting pitchers. The failures of Mike Montgomery, John Lamb, Chis Dwyer, Kyle Zimmer and others was the sign that these guys were failures at that part of the game. This was holding the team back as the best success that the group could claim from ’07 to ’13 were the 128 rough starts that Luke Hochevar had put up after his #1 overall selection. That was until 2014 when Danny Duffy and Yordano Ventura established themselves as competent starting pitchers. That season the Royals received 55 starts from players developed from their system with Danny Duffy finally starting to grab hold of his potential while Yordano Ventura helped pitch the squad deep into a playoff run.

Ups and downs would come the next two seasons from Duffy, but that didn’t stop the team from winning the World Series and the two Royals starters making 110 starts over the next two seasons. Heading into the ’17 season and further, the two would likely anchor the front of the rotation while under team control. That was until tragedy struck and took Yordano’s life, leaving a hole in the team’s heart and at the front of their rotation. Once again the team had to look outside the organization without a replacement ready from the minor league ranks. Injuries to the ’17 rotation forced the organization’s hand into giving an opportunity to a few young starting options with Jakob Junis and Eric Skoglund. Despite early success for Skoglund and struggles from Junis, it was the latter who had established himself as a fixture into the rotation by the end of the season.

This past season marked the fourth consecutive season that the Royals have received 40 or more of their starts from pitchers developed within their system. But now with rumors of a possible Danny Duffy trade, who will the Royals be able to turn to in their system for those starts to continue that streak?

The Experienced – Three pitchers within the system who are likely to start at Double-A or higher made their major league debuts last year in Eric Skoglund, Andres Machado, and Glenn Sparkman. All three pitchers struggled significantly in their short time in the bigs, but the Royals brass is quite confident in Skoglund, while Machado’s fastball velocity is better than major league average. In addition to those two making debuts with the Royals, current minor leaguer Glenn Sparkman made his debut with the Toronto Blue Jays prior to being returned to the organization as a Rule 5 returnee. None of the three achieved much in terms of success with the exception of Skoglund’s stellar debut, but Sparkman is now more than a year removed from Tommy John and the feel for the changeup is generally the last thing that returns for pitchers, meaning he should have his full arsenal ready to compete at the highest level. Don’t be shocked if he’s the guy who works his way from the minors into 10 or more starts this season. In addition to those three, the Royals have continued to protect Miguel Almonte with the hopes that he’s able to put his three-pitch mix into use as a starting pitcher despite his innings totals dropping since his season in Lexington.

The Next Step – While those four pitchers have all faced big league hitters in major league games, hard-throwing Josh Staumont’s experience came only versus hitters in spring training, but he did perform fairly well. That, of course, was prior to a season that went off the rails for him. Still, his fastball-curveball combination at its best ranks right there with any two pitch combo in the organization. The changeup, while lagging, is enough of a third pitch to play with the other two offerings. All things considered, some major changes would have to take place in terms of command and control for him to move into a regular rotation spot. The real possible competitor here would be lefty Foster Griffin who made major strides last season in terms of his fastball velocity, curveball improvement and overall aggressiveness with his arsenal. The left-hander appeared to be a totally different pitcher last season than the pitcher who took the mound the previous two. If he’s able to take one more step forward in terms of repeating his mechanics and/or adding another tick of velocity then he should be ready for the major league level.

If the Royals are to put up 40+ major league starts in-house again, then the likelihood of them doing it without Danny Duffy isn’t great, but I could see a scenario where Jakob Junis stacks 30+ together with a pair of the pitchers above dividing up 10-15 starts. To me, the best case scenario is a return of Duffy and Junis with 30 apiece, a mark Danny has never hit, while the Royals mix in a third guy after a Jason Hammel or Ian Kennedy trade. Not likely but for a fan of Duffy like me, I wouldn’t mind him being buried in Royals blue.

This Royals team will almost certainly finish in third place in the AL Central. Just like last year, and just like in 2013. And just like 2012, the first full year Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, and Salvador Perez played in Kansas City together. We were told once that the Royals had “the best farm system in the history of whatever.” And yes, we got two World Series appearances and one World Series title from that. But is it fair to be disappointed that we didn’t get more?

I don’t think it’s greedy to have expected more. Certainly this year and last are disappointments, and I don’t think anyone would argue that. On the other hand, the 2012 season was a learning experience for that group, and expecting that many youngsters to win that soon is not realistic. It can happen, but usually it doesn’t. And 2013 was a different kind of learning experience for them—remember, they went 8-20 in May of that year, then 64-46 the rest of the season, and that bad month cost them a playoff spot.

Write off those two years, and then you get a magical postseason run in 2014, and arguably the best team in baseball for the whole 2015 season, capped with a title. So two learning years, two winning years we’ll remember fondly as fans, and two disappointments.

But then I remember that it is hard to win in baseball. Here is list of all the teams that have made consecutive World Series since the Yankees played in four straight from 1998-2001:

2008-2009 Philadelphia Phillies
2010-2011 Texas Rangers
2014-2015 Kansas City Royals

That’s it. Three teams, and the Rangers lost both of their appearances while the Phillies also split theirs. In that regard, the Royals did just fine. Did they do better than, say, the Los Angeles Dodgers, who have won their division now for a fifth straight year but not played in the World Series in those previous four appearances? I don’t think I’d make that trade.

Here is the list of American League teams who have made it past the wild-card game in consecutive seasons since 2011:

Detroit Tigers 2012-2014
Kansas City Royals 2014-2015
Texas Rangers 2015-2016
Toronto Blue Jays 2015-2016

Neither the Rangers or Blue Jays will be appearing in this postseason. Judging by their American League peers, the Royals have done just fine in this stretch. Another wild-card appearance (or two) would have been nice, yes, but for many reasons AL teams lately just don’t seem to have long strings of playoff success like they did just a few years ago.

The Royals, especially the last two years, had some bad injury luck and some self-inflicted wounds. Injuries to Cain, Moustakas and Alex Gordon hurt the cause last year. Yordano Ventura’s untimely passing last winter hurt this year’s team. Not finding a reliable second baseman until late May last year and dealing away Wade Davis for Jorge Soler, who contributed nothing this year, were big factors.

OK, one more list. Here are the Royals’ run differentials since 2011:

2012: -70
2013: +47
2014: +27
2015: +83
2016: -37
2017 (through Sunday): -72

Maybe this really hasn’t been that good of a team, especially the last two years. They’ve been in the hunt thanks to the relative lack of exceptional AL teams and the existence of the second wild-card spot.

That’s not a slam. For years, Royals fans suffered 90- or 100-loss seasons and dreamed of the day they would experience pennant races and important baseball in September. Regardless of the run differentials, the Royals have delivered that for five straight seasons. Sure, it would have been nice to experience even more postseason play. But we got two World Series and a plethora of memorable moments we’ll be telling our kids about. You could call it The Dynasty That Wasn’t, but I’m not going to complain.

9-2 74.1 IP 65 H 21 R 16 ER 6 BB 107 K

Yeah, a near 18/1 strikeout to walk ratio is tasty indeed. The lefty K’d 17 in his third start of the season and has hit double digits four times since with his latest magnificent 20 K outing versus Arizona State. So how does he miss all of these bats?

Let’s start with the 6’6 235 lbs frame that he tosses from a low 3/4 arm angle. The fastball touches the gun only in the 90-94 mph range, but it generates plenty of swing and miss. One of the reasons he can do this is from the arm side run he creates while also moving the ball up and down the zone. That fastball velocity isn’t quite the elite level velocity that you may want to see from a college pitcher considering he’s going to go from starting once every seven days to once ever five. That number doesn’t tell the entire story however as Frank Piliere noted over at d1baseball.com Peterson regularly uses his height to release at a 6.8 ft extension point. The major league average is 6′ meaning he’s getting the extra extension and the ball is flying at less distance to get on hitters quicker. That 94 mph fastball now appears closer to 96 or 97 mph to the hitters. When you’re looking at a starter starting every seven days to five days you’re wondering if they can carry that velocity. Given Peterson’s extension and body size, I’d be quite confident that he can not only hold velocity but that it will play up as long as he continues to extend in the way he does.

The fastball is just one part of Peterson’s arsenal though. It’s really the thoughts of him having not one but two plus offerings in his secondary pitches that would be the key in my mind. The best of his secondary pitches is his slider currently with a two-plane break with late movement in the low to mid-80s. The pitch has the shape and tilt of a truly above average major league pitch and should be a weapon that he’s able to use to both right-handed and left-handed hitters at the pro level.

Notched down a tick but not much is his curveball, which he works in the mid to upper 70s. The big lefty shows such an aptitude for spin that he’s able to vary between the slider and curveball in the same sequence to hitters. Working the slider on a back foot to a righty and then breaking off a downer curveball to get rid of them. The curve over time could register in as a second above average offering next to the slider in the 55/60 range.

Lastly is the change up which now is a tick below average pitch and could use some refinement. The arm speed is okay, but the control wavers and with two plus breaking balls, it is often an afterthought at the college ranks. As a freshman, he threw it more often trying to get weak contact as he used his two-seam fastball more, but as he’s switched to the four-seam it has been used less. It does feature some arm side fade in the low 80s.

At a slot or below slot deal Peterson is a pitcher with two and maybe three above average offerings depending on how much you like the curve. Add that with a durable body that can carry innings and the Royals could be getting a workhorse pitcher who, if he can refine the changeup, could develop into a solid mid-rotation starter who could move quickly through the minor leagues. This isn’t the sexy high ceiling pitcher that scouts typically draft but features a high floor with a higher ceiling than some see on paper based on those extension figures. On top of that, I believe what the Royals have done best in development is adjust a pitcher’s changeup and make it a better offering as they’ve done with Danny Duffy, Yordano Ventura, and a few others. That’s why this pitcher would be as good a fit to this organization as any that we will likely see on their board.

Featured Photo Dave Peaks FishDuck.com

In this episode, we simply reflect on the life and career of Yordano Ventura in light of his tragic death at the age of 25.

We’ll be back to business as usual next week, but for now, we wanted to share our thoughts about the tragedy in hopes that it helps others remember.

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to KansasCityBaseballVault@gmail.com. Email us a question and if we answer it on the air, we’ll send you a gift certificate to our friends at Kelly’s Westport Inn.

Subscribe to the podcast via iTunes and BlogTalkRadio. You can also download this episode here (mp3).

That excitement is not because I think the Royals have the best starting pitchers in the division; I don’t think the top of Kansas City’s rotation can match the top of Cleveland’s rotation. But I do think the Royals have very good depth in that rotation, and that can make a huge difference.

Think back to the 2014 and 2015 seasons. In the first one, the Royals enjoyed good health for their starters. James Shields made 34 starts. Jeremy Guthrie made 32. Yordano Ventura and Jason Vargas made 30 each. Danny Duffy made 25. The other 11 were divided between Bruce Chen (seven), Liam Hendriks (three), and Aaron Brooks (one). Of course, those weren’t good starts; the trio combined for a 7.08 ERA in 61 innings in those 11 games. Kansas City lost the division by one game and finished just one game ahead of Oakland for home-field advantage in the wild-card game. Yes, it worked out, but had the Royals had just a little bit better rotation depth, they could have added an AL Central title to their honors.

Dayton Moore learned his lesson, though. Before the 2015 season, he added several pitchers in minor transactions, such as Chris Young, Kris Medlen, Yohan Pino, and Joe Blanton. His big move was to sign Edinson Volquez to replace Shields’ innings, but those four signings turned out to be important, too—they combined for 31 starts, second only to Volquez’s 33. Vargas only made nine starts before a UCL injury ended his year. Guthrie was mostly ineffective before being banished to the bullpen in August. Duffy missed more than a month with shoulder stiffness. The Royals went out and acquired Johnny Cueto at the trade deadline, which helped the rotation for the last couple of months but was obviously aimed at postseason success. Before Cueto came on board, those four unheralded pitchers stabilized the rotation while the AL Central was still a close race. Without Young especially (a 3.18 ERA in 18 starts), Kansas City might not have captured home-field advantage in the ALCS, and who knows how that would have turned out?

The Royals tried to keep this going last season, but it just didn’t work out. Medlen was by turns injured and ineffective. Young couldn’t keep the ball in the ballpark. Mike Minor couldn’t even stay healthy enough to finish his minor league rehab assignments. Dillon Gee had a few nice moments but really wasn’t good enough to make up for the others.

But as the Royals head into 2017, the rotation looks solid enough. And there seem to be plenty of potential replacements in-house for whenever they’re needed. In fact, the Royals probably don’t need to worry about finding some cheap potential starter replacements as much they need to worry about shoring up the bullpen.

The top of the rotation, with Duffy, Ian Kennedy, and Ventura, is decent, especially if Ventura ever reaches the potential he has shown. Vargas should be fully recovered from his Tommy John surgery; he makes a nice fourth starter. The newly-acquired Nate Karns will probably round out the rotation; he has certainly shown ability but not consistency as a big-leaguer. I think Karns is better than most fifth starters out there, though; if he were to repeat his 2015 season, the Royals would be thrilled.

That’s not a bad group. Every one of those guys has the potential to be an above-average starter. It’s a good bet Duffy and Kennedy will be, and likely that Vargas and Ventura will be around league average (Ventura was still worth 2.0 WARP last year, even in the worst season of his career).

But what about the depth that the Royals will inevitably need?

To me, the leading contender to step into the rotation at some point is Matt Strahm. That would be a little unfortunate, because right now it looks like he’ll be a key piece of the bullpen. But this could be an ideal situation for Strahm, as it will keep him in the majors, limit his innings, and still set the stage for him to join the rotation in 2018. Ideally, Strahm would join the rotation midway through the season, and the least effective of Ventura/Vargas/Karns can be sent to the bullpen. Or, with Vargas being a free agent after the year, perhaps he could be dealt for something, depending on where the Royals are in the race. Remember, Strahm was a starter until he was called up last season and put in the bullpen, so that’s what he is used to.

Admittedly, it might be folly to even mention his name, but another candidate to join the rotation is Kyle Zimmer.

OK, if you’re done laughing, I’ll state my case. The oft-injured Zimmer underwent thoracic outlet surgery last summer and should be ready to go for spring training. But in the little bit he has pitched, his stuff and command have appeared to be major-league ready. If that surgery has finally fixed him—and remember that the doctors who examined him were somewhat baffled by his problems before the diagnosis, as he did not seem to have arm or shoulder soreness—he could be ready to contribute. He will almost certainly start the year in the minors, but once he gets used to being on the mound again, he ought to be ready if and when he’s needed. It’s a giant question mark, but the possibility is there.

You may remember Alec Mills, who was called up as the 26th man for a May doubleheader last year and made his major league debut that night, then got called up again for a couple of appearances in September. Mills went 5-5 with a 3.44 ERA in 23 starts last year, 12 at Double-A Northwest Arkansas and 11 more at Triple-A Omaha. He had a pretty good season and, if he can repeat it while beginning the year at Omaha, he could be in the mix for a callup.

Then there’s Josh Staumont. You may not have heard of him yet, as he just made it to Northwest Arkansas midway through last year. But in 123 1/3 innings between there and Class A Wilmington, he struck out 167 hitters. That’s fantastic! However, he also walked 104, and hit 11 for good measure. Obviously, Staumont has a great fastball, but he’s not always certain where it’s going. Should he discover a way to consistently throw strikes, though, he should move up quickly and be in the mix as well. Perhaps it’s worth noting that his K/BB ratio improved from 1.40 at Wilmington to 1.97 for the Naturals.

And let’s not forget Jake Junis. The 24-year-old righty was somewhat overlooked last year, then made the Double-A All-Star Game and went 9-7 with a 3.25 ERA for the Naturals. He was promoted to Omaha and didn’t fare as well there (1-3, 7.20 ERA). But I’m sure he will be given a chance to start the season at Omaha, and if he impresses there, he’d certainly be an option.

And if all else fails, there’s still Chris Young.

OK, that was mean. Young did have a very fine season in 2015, after all. He didn’t seem to lose fastball velocity last year, but he got hit really hard anyway. It was a weird year for the tall veteran. If he can regain his 2015 form, that would be a big deal. It could keep Strahm as a dominant bullpen piece, while allowing the others on this list to keep learning in the minors. But if Young is still struggling, someone on this list might get his roster spot sooner rather than later.

All told, this group may not have the star power of Cleveland’s rotation, but I think this group is an improvement over what the Royals took into the 2016 season. There are certainly question marks but I’d rather take my chances with young reinforcements than with veterans trying to come back from injuries.

After the Royals finished 81-81, Jeff and Mike reflected on the season and its frustrations, its high points, and what we take away from 2016.

In the second segment, we reviewed our preseason predictions and held ourselves accountable for our bad calls and celebrated the correct ones.

Follow the Vault at @KCBaseballVault. Follow host Jeff Herr at @TheJeffReport, co-host Michael Engel at @michaelengel. You can also email feedback to KansasCityBaseballVault@gmail.com. Email us a question and if we answer it on the air, we’ll send you a gift certificate to our friends at Kelly’s Westport Inn.

Subscribe to the podcast via iTunes and BlogTalkRadio. You can also download this episode here (mp3).

I think back to the 2014 Wild Card game. You may remember it vaguely. It was the bottom of the eighth inning and the Royals were trailing 7-3. I had been basically silent for two full innings as the end of the season seemed to be fast approaching. It was at that point that I thought to myself that I might as well cheer. This is my last chance to see the best Royals team of a generation. So I cheered. And then they scored a run and another run and eventually won the greatest game I’ve ever seen and likely will ever see in person.

I’m not sitting here telling you that a grand comeback like that is happening and that the Royals will make the playoffs, but the message is the same. Why not cheer? The Royals are in the midst of one of the greatest stretches of season in franchise history. Sure this season hasn’t gone as we had all hoped, but why not enjoy the last week of it? It’s supposed to be beautiful this week in Kansas City and the team has a chance to finish over .500 for the fourth consecutive season. The last time that happened was 1977-1980. That was the final four years of a stretch of six years above .500. They reached the playoffs four times in those six seasons. I’m not sure I’d agree with it, but you could make an argument these four years have been better than those six given the two trips to the World Series and the championship. It’s a special time to be a Royals fan. Don’t let a mediocre encore to a champion wipe that from your memory.

So what is there exactly to cheer for in this final week of the season? The games against the Twins coming up certainly don’t mean anything to anyone. The Twins aren’t even jockeying for draft position. They’ve locked up the top pick. I guess the Royals could still finish in either fourth or second, but neither one is likely. They’re 4.5 games ahead of Chicago and 4.5 games behind Detroit with a week to go.

We get to root for fast finishes. What a guy does in the final week doesn’t mean anything for him statistically heading into 2017, but some confidence is always a good thing. Sure it’s been a lost year for Alex Gordon, but he’s hitting .251/.330/.451 with 10 homers over his last 55 games. Is that great? No. It’s still underperforming to his contract, but a huge final week and maybe he gets that up to .270/.351/.491 over his final 61 games. That’d be a nice boost heading into the off-season. We can hopefully see Eric Hosmer finish strong and maybe even Salvador Perez.

On the subject of those two, there’s a little housekeeping left for each of them. Hosmer already reached the 100-RBI plateau, but he’s sitting at 24 homers. A nice, round 25 would look awfully good on the back of his baseball card. Perez has more work to do to get there, but he’s at 22 homers. A big week (and facing the Twins, anything can happen) and maybe he can get to 25, too. That’d be noteworthy because the Royals have never in their history had three players with 25 or more home runs. And hey, maybe Morales can continue his insanely hot hitting and get eight more RBIs this week to get himself to 100 for the second straight year. I’m not exactly expecting seven more homers to break the Royals dainty record, though. But you know, he’s been on fire for awhile. It’d be fun to see him deposit a couple more balls into the fountains for old time’s sake.

I want to see Duffy have a good final start. I’d like to see Ventura end the season on a high note. I’d even like to see Joakim Soria escape and keep a lead in tact without giving anything up. Okay, maybe some dreams are too difficult to ask for.

And finally, let’s take a look at Hunter Dozier and Whit Merrifield and Raul Mondesi. With the Royals budget, one or all of them is going to have to play a big role on this team next season in their attempt to make it back to the postseason. I’ve been encouraged by what I’ve seen from Dozier in limited action. He’s clearly a work in progress in right field, but one stupid play made me a believer the other day. There was a base hit to right center field and the way he attacked the ball and got it back into the infield was something you see from veteran outfielders. It was nice to see. Maybe there’s your right fielder in 2017. The numbers haven’t been great in very limited plate appearances offensively, but I’ve enjoyed his approach and I like his swing a lot.

So no, you likely won’t see a Wild Card game preview or an ALDS preview or anything else on this site this fall like I had hoped when the season began. And it’ll be awhile before this season is classified as anything but a disappointment considering the expectations and the hopes, but when it’s over, that’s the last we’ll have of Royals baseball for five long months before games start up in Surprise. It gets cold without baseball, you know. Let’s enjoy this last week and continue to celebrate one of the greatest eras of Royals baseball this city has seen.

Now? Maybe we’ll settle for a gentle pat on the shoulder.

With seven games remaining in this 14 game frame of good fortune, the Royals have won four and lost three. That’s not a bad record. Against those teams and in this situation, it’s not good enough.

We do this exercise once or twice a week, a check-in on the Royals status in the Wild Card race. At this point, it feels as though this team has firmly decided to tread water. Since their August charge, the Royals have played .500 baseball in September. This is not helpful to the cause.

The playoff odds remain grim. Anything under 10 percent with less than three weeks to play is a cold splash of reality. This is where the Royals have been for weeks. It’s like watching college basketball where one team falls behind 20, makes an amazing push to cut the lead to a basket, whipping the fans into a frenzy and injecting belief into the crowd. Except they can never quite find that go-ahead basket. This is where the Royals find themselves. It was a helluva run to get back into the conversation for the Wild Card, but it was too much to ask that they pull themselves up to even the first team on the outside. There are simply too many teams ahead of them.

Having dampened your expectations, I will say at this point I’m not giving up hope. It’s slim, but there’s still a chance. If you handed me $100 and forced me to place a bet for or against the Royals playoffs, I’d be betting against it happening, but as long as they remain mathematically alive, I’ll stay on board. This isn’t about how the Royals have been left for roadkill only to rise from the pavement to surprise everyone. This is just about what I view as a basic tenet of fandom: hope.

You buy a ticket to go to a game. You hope they win. You follow a team for an entire season. You hope they get to the playoffs.

I’ve written quite a bit about hope these last several weeks, because that’s really what we have at this point. Last year, the team stumbled a bit in September, but the reality was they had played such exceptional baseball up to that point they could afford to lose a couple more games than most would have liked. This year, the script has been flipped.

Nobody said it would ever be easy.

Meanwhile…

— Did you notice after waiting most of June… and July… and August for Eric Hosmer to rediscover his swing, it seems he’s gotten back on track. Through his first 10 games of September, he’s hitting .343/.429/.714 with four home runs. Meanwhile, Salvador Perez, who missed the game Monday after the birth of his son, has continued his pattern of second half breakdowns, batting .200/.253/.359 since the All-Star break.

— Kendrys Morales was named AL Player of the Week for the second time this season. Morales clubbed five home runs and drove in 14 for the Royals while hitting .409/.500/1.091. With the middle of the order swinging the lumber, it would be nice if the pitching could match the offensive production. Except save for Ian Kennedy’s start in Chicago over the weekend, it seems like the rotation has struggled to keep runners off the bases and runs off the board.

— Yordano Ventura has a 3.46 SO/9 in his last two starts. That’s the same number as his ERA over that time. His walk rate is 5.54 BB/9.

— I’m starting to wonder if Cheslor Cuthbert is nursing an injury or is just fatigued from the grind of his first major league season. He’s hitting .171/.256/.200 this month, .214/.267/.304 over the last 30 days and has seen his defensive performance drop. Specifically, he looks to be short-arming too many throws across the diamond. Hosmer has saved some errors, but he can’t get to them all. His emergence as a viable backup to Mike Moustakas has been one of the better storylines of this season, but his performance has left a lot to be desired of late. Slumps happen and maybe this is what is going on with Cuthbert at the moment. Hopefully, he can get back on track down the stretch.

Now with a nine game winning streak.

It was kind of the typical Yordano Ventura tightrope start. Through the first four innings, he retired the side in order only once. Dee Gordon touched him for a couple of hits, including a single with two outs in the third when Ventura ultimately loaded the bases. In the fourth, everything was hit back up the middle, but the fielder’s choices wiped out the singles.

Ventura got three consecutive outs in the fifth, but required 81 pitches to navigate the 15 outs. The Marlins had the best chances through the first five, though those were limited, but left six on base. That’s kind of been the pitching theme this last month with the Royals. They’re opening the door ever so slightly, before laughing and slamming it shut.

What was different for Ventura on Monday was the velocity. The unofficial data from Brooks Baseball has Ventura uncorking several pitches that touched triple digits on the gun, topping out at 101 mph. His average fastball was clocked at 99 mph. And he maintained his veto throughout his six innings.

Six hits with six strikeouts on the night for Ventura. His second-half emergence is yet another storyline in this remarkable run.

Sixteen August wins. It’s on.

WPA Play Of The Game

If the Royals starting pitcher was doing the usual, so too was the offense. Dormant through five, they scratched out a run in the sixth. Paulo Orlando led off with a walk, stole second, and scored on a one-out Lorenzo Cain single. The only thing missing from this sequence was a productive out.

Cain picked up a pair of base knocks to continue his hot hitting. He owns a nine-game hitting streak and has 18 hits in his last 34 at bats.

The run-scoring single from Cain was worth 14 percent to the Royals Win Expectancy. In a game with so few key moments, it was the clear WPA Play of the Game.

And Now Let Us Give Thanks To The Arm Of Salvador Perez

From Statcast:

Salvador Perez had a pop time of 1.7 seconds in throwing out Dee Gordon trying to steal in the sixth. The throw came out at 81 mph with an exchange time of 0.7 seconds.

Perez’s defense has been outstanding all year.

Bully

After Ventura exited following the sixth, the Royals bullpen did their thing. Matt Strahm picked up a pair of strikeouts. Joakim Soria worked around a leadoff walk. And Kelvin Herrera slammed the door to secure the shutout and the victory.

That’s now 32 consecutive scoreless innings for the Royals bullpen. In that stretch, they’ve allowed seven hits and seven walks. The last time they allowed a run was August 10.

It’s unreal. And it’s spectacular.

Up Next

Dillon Gee squares off against Jose Fernandez. Sure, that has the vibe of a mismatch, but why the hell would you bet against the Royals? Get your preview here. First pitch is at 6:10.