A Microburst of Offense and an Amazing Double Play Save the Day
A win in game one for the Royals was fueled by two innings of offense and turning two.
The Royals offense has been an issue for most of this season. It hasn’t stopped them from having the fourth-most wins in all of baseball, but it has been an issue. Here and there we see glimpses of what could be. Sometimes it’s a game, sometimes it’s two or three, and sometimes it’s two innings. That’s what happened last night when the offense exploded for seven runs between the second and third innings in Houston and was enough (barely) to get the 25th win of the season. What do you call something like that? Baseball and weather sometimes share terms. Was that a microburst?
Whatever it was, it was fun for a little bit, particularly after a weekend that was decidedly not fun offensively. They got a win, which is kind of the MO of this team, but sometimes you need a few runs to support a pitching staff that’s been the backbone of a team all season long. And while it was fleeting last night, there were so many encouraging signs that you can’t help but feel like it’s something they can build on even if it may just end up a blip on the radar when it’s all said and done.
They did it against Ryan Gusto, a starting pitcher who didn’t have much big league time. I think we all know what those guys can do to the Royals. Add in that he’s actually been solid this year and you have a recipe for disaster. Now add to the equation that the Royals had two on and one out in the first and didn’t score and it sure felt like an episode of Royals baseball we’d seen a few times this season already. But the second provided a glimpse into what could be, starting with the third pitch of the inning.
That’s the swing that led to Michael Massey having a solid offensive season in 2024. It’s also a swing we haven’t seen a whole lot of this season, though I actually have felt like it was getting closer. He made an out in the ninth inning on Friday night that was similar, but he got on top of the ball just a bit. Sometimes the turning of a calendar can be useful for a hitter. For Massey, he needed to get out of April. Since the start of May, he’s now hitting .275/.302/.475. He’s not striking out with just three in 43 plate appearances and he’s also not walking, with just two. Though he did walk last night, which is something that sometimes happens after you start hitting.
Based on the metrics, it’s pretty much what he “should” be doing. He has an xBA of .283 and an xSLG of .443, so he’s overperforming on the slug just a bit. His hard-hit rate is still just 36.8 percent, but he’s barreled a few more balls than we saw in April. The numbers I just gave you were .224, .309 and 30.4 percent in April, so things have turned significantly as the calendar shifted. It’s only 10 games, so I don’t think Massey is out of the woods yet, but he’s quietly had a strong month of May so far and with his defense at second base (I’m getting there), he gets a bit of a longer leash. That said, he’s expected to be a part of the middle of the order as the guy hitting sixth most nights, so he needs to produce, and he has been for a couple of weeks now.