Only two teams in the MLB have a worse record than our 3-10 Kansas City Royals. That's quite the change from entering last season with that "one last ride" mentality - the heartfelt notion that the core could claw its way back to postseason play and make something memorable happen one more time. Fans knew the 2018 season would be different, and somewhat dismal in comparison. The start we're seeing has been disheartening, if not completely shocking.
The Royals began their season with a streak of awful weather and similarly awful on-the-field performance. A planned exhibition game on March 26 with our Triple-A affiliate Omaha Stormchasers never happened thanks to nasty weather. On the 29th, the Chicago White Sox tied an MLB record with six Opening Day home runs against KC at the Kauffman Stadium home opener. Our Royals then lost Game 2 of the season 4-3, despite entering the 8th inning with a two-run lead. Then, the final game of that series with Chicago was postponed due to cold weather. After heading to Michigan and losing the first two games with Detroit, the last game of that series was also postponed. So, because of cold weather and superfluous off-days, the Royals began their season playing two games in seven days, and only four games in 11 days. That is not baseball. That is basically the schedule of an NCAA basketball team during March Madness.
The Royals were surely thankful to play nine games straight, before yesterday's frigid weather in KC and today's damaged dome in Toronto led to two more postponed games. Did the Royals' get into a rhythm and begin playing good ball once they got to play a more baseball-like schedule? Nope! Their 1-3 record has now plummeted to 3-10, and they've lost five straight. Thanks to all the losing and missed games, KC fans will go more than a full week without seeing a win. It's still very early, and the reasons/excuses for KC's struggles are numerous, but hope for this team already seems hard to find.
The starting rotation stands out so far as the most surprising and uplifting element of the club. KC's combined ERA for starters ranks 6th in baseball, behind the St. Louis Cardinals and four 2017 playoff teams. Finding many other statistical bright spots isn't easy. Moose has been solid enough to perhaps gift KC with a worthwhile prospect via trade before the All Star Break. Uhh, what else? Alcides Escobar and Jorge Soler are tied for second on the team with five walks each. That's something, right?
The obvious silver lining here is that each loss makes the next Royals draft pick higher, so for fans of tanking, this bad start is actually good...if we can forget about the millions of dollars KC spent to not tank this season. If nothing else, take pleasure in the novelty of the differing fan philosophies in Kansas City right now. It sure does alter the fan-base when some fans now have opposed goals for their club. I already miss the times when consistently winning was realistic enough to keep all Royals fans hoping for the same outcome. It seems the new, darker era of baseball in KC will resist such simplicity.
Doug LaCerte writes about the Royals and the Chiefs while neglecting his Facebook page and Twitter feed @DLaC67 in similar fashion.
Showing posts with label opening day 2018. Show all posts
Showing posts with label opening day 2018. Show all posts
Monday, April 16, 2018
Thursday, March 29, 2018
Can KC Keep Up Offensively In 2018?
Team OPS is, for me, the most telling statistic of the 2017 season. Judging by the numbers, it is apparently crucial to have a team OPS in the top ten if you want to dream of reaching the postseason. Seemingly every legit team in 2017 had a huge team OPS, which shows us how the league average jumped .011 points last year to .750 - the highest mark since 2009.
The #1-ranked Houston Astros are currently the champs. The #2 Cleveland Indians won 102 games in record-breaking fashion. Aaron Judge anchors the lineup of the #3 New York Yankees - a team that has the next-best odds in the AL of winning the World Series this year, behind only Houston. The trend goes on and on. The nine highest team OPS totals from last year belonged to postseason teams. The only team who made the playoffs without a top-ten OPS was the Boston Red Sox, and they only won a single postseason game.
You can look back through the years and see this trend continue even further. 6 of the 10 highest team OPS totals from 2016 belonged to playoff squads. The 7th-highest team OPS belonged to Cleveland, who lost in the Fall Classic to the 3rd-ranked Chicago Cubs. Even your 2015 World Series champion Kansas City Royals barely avoided being an outlier by ranking 10th in this stat during that sweet, sweet season. KC had to fight through the two best lineups in the world that year just to pass the first two playoff rounds; Toronto and Houston ranked first and second respectively in 2015 team OPS.
This means nothing good for your 2018 Royals, unless you ascribe to the philosophy that losing is winning this year because it means acquiring higher draft picks. Alcides Escobar and Alex Gordon both had an OPS below .630 last season, and they'll presumably be permanent fixtures in the lineup again this season. That's assuming Gordo doesn't play so poorly that he's eventually benched, but seeing as he truly looks as hopeless as ever right now, that eventual benching is not out of the question.
After struggling in '16, Gordo hit well in the following spring training, finishing with an .884 OPS.
After struggling more in '17, Gordo looked lost in the following spring training, finishing with a .398 OPS.
That was in Surprise, Arizona, where hitters notoriously have the advantage. I guess a ground ball to the second baseman is an out in any ballpark, but you get my point. As for Alcides, well, that's just Alcides.
Don't let this bum you out, though. Hope for improvement from Jorge Soler and the steady emergence of Whit Merrifield should be enough to titillate true baseball fans this season. Also, once Jorge Bonifacio returns from suspension, a hot hand could force a shake-up in the outfield, especially if KC is still flirting with contention. That is not likely, judging by what the vast majority of experts will currently tell you, but it also isn't nearly as unfathomable as the Debbie Downers of the sports world want us to think it is. Your 2014 Royals reached Game 7 of the World Series with the 17th-best team OPS in baseball, and they lost to a team that ranked 14th.
Oh, and whenever you're feeling down about this team, think about Frank Schwindel. Can he start working on his defensive skills in left field, please?
Doug LaCerte has a Facebook page and will probably continue to rave about Schwindel @DLaC67.
The #1-ranked Houston Astros are currently the champs. The #2 Cleveland Indians won 102 games in record-breaking fashion. Aaron Judge anchors the lineup of the #3 New York Yankees - a team that has the next-best odds in the AL of winning the World Series this year, behind only Houston. The trend goes on and on. The nine highest team OPS totals from last year belonged to postseason teams. The only team who made the playoffs without a top-ten OPS was the Boston Red Sox, and they only won a single postseason game.
You can look back through the years and see this trend continue even further. 6 of the 10 highest team OPS totals from 2016 belonged to playoff squads. The 7th-highest team OPS belonged to Cleveland, who lost in the Fall Classic to the 3rd-ranked Chicago Cubs. Even your 2015 World Series champion Kansas City Royals barely avoided being an outlier by ranking 10th in this stat during that sweet, sweet season. KC had to fight through the two best lineups in the world that year just to pass the first two playoff rounds; Toronto and Houston ranked first and second respectively in 2015 team OPS.
This means nothing good for your 2018 Royals, unless you ascribe to the philosophy that losing is winning this year because it means acquiring higher draft picks. Alcides Escobar and Alex Gordon both had an OPS below .630 last season, and they'll presumably be permanent fixtures in the lineup again this season. That's assuming Gordo doesn't play so poorly that he's eventually benched, but seeing as he truly looks as hopeless as ever right now, that eventual benching is not out of the question.
After struggling in '16, Gordo hit well in the following spring training, finishing with an .884 OPS.
After struggling more in '17, Gordo looked lost in the following spring training, finishing with a .398 OPS.
That was in Surprise, Arizona, where hitters notoriously have the advantage. I guess a ground ball to the second baseman is an out in any ballpark, but you get my point. As for Alcides, well, that's just Alcides.
Don't let this bum you out, though. Hope for improvement from Jorge Soler and the steady emergence of Whit Merrifield should be enough to titillate true baseball fans this season. Also, once Jorge Bonifacio returns from suspension, a hot hand could force a shake-up in the outfield, especially if KC is still flirting with contention. That is not likely, judging by what the vast majority of experts will currently tell you, but it also isn't nearly as unfathomable as the Debbie Downers of the sports world want us to think it is. Your 2014 Royals reached Game 7 of the World Series with the 17th-best team OPS in baseball, and they lost to a team that ranked 14th.
Oh, and whenever you're feeling down about this team, think about Frank Schwindel. Can he start working on his defensive skills in left field, please?
Doug LaCerte has a Facebook page and will probably continue to rave about Schwindel @DLaC67.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)