All Smiles for the Royals Offense Again

The pitching, on the other hand, well, the offense was good.

On a team that was just shut out in back-to-back games this week, fired their hitting coach a few weeks ago and has had one of the worst offenses in the league, it’s a bit weird to be able see why they’re so frustrating when they don’t produce. Up and down the lineup, especially with someone like Michael A. Taylor performing the way he is, the Royals have the pieces on paper to be better at the very least. And now they’ve scored 15 runs in their last two games, which is the second-most they’ve scored in a two-game period this year and it was just the second time all year they’ve scored seven or more runs in consecutive games.

But what I thought was the most impressive is the way they did to the Orioles what it feels like others teams have been doing to them for years. This is the line score from the game.

What stands out to me is that the Royals didn’t let the Orioles take control at any point. They scored one in the top of the third and the Royals came back and scored four in the bottom half. In the fifth, the Orioles tied the game and the Royals came back and got two of the runs and the lead right back. And then they got the third run back during the next inning. No, they didn’t match the Orioles run in the eighth inning, but this is the sort of thing that a good team does consistently. I’m not saying the Royals are suddenly a good team, but their offense played like it yesterday. And they sort of did it on Wednesday as well. After the Blue Jays tied the game, they waited an inning but started tacking on when they scored in four consecutive innings from the fourth through the seventh.

And as has been the case so much more since the change in hitting coach, the Royals offense did it by controlling the center of the plate.

They also worked the edges, which is not necessarily sustainable, but they were 4 for 11 in the heart of the plate with two home runs and one of those singles was a Salvador Perez rocket off the wall that they were able to hold him to a single on.

Not to harp on the idea of being able to see better times ahead, but when you look at the 3-4-5 in the Royals lineup and see Bobby Witt Jr., Perez and MJ Melendez, it’s easy to see a trio who can produce for awhile, especially if Perez is back to hitting better. You can dream on adding Vinnie Pasquantino and Nick Pratto and being able to supplement with veterans, whether that’s Hunter Dozier or someone else or maybe even getting to count on someone like Edward Olivares or Kyle Isbel. But the point is that you need the stars to get it done and it sure feels like the Royals have them in place.

We know what Perez can do when he gets right, and we’ve seen glimpses of Witt and Melendez, but when they all click in one night, it can be pretty fun. Witt went 2 for 3 in this one with a sacrifice fly. The interesting thing is that the rockets he hit at 105.1 MPH and 110 MPH were not hits (one error and the sacrifice fly) while the two softer balls were his hits. He stole a base too. And Melendez went 1 for 2 with a big home run and two walks. Just look at this kind of power.

When you combine that with the kind of plate appearances he’s put together, that’s something you can build on. He’s now hitting .259/.339/.463 with a 10.7 percent walk rate and .204 ISO. Add that with Witt, who definitely has some work to do in terms of pitch selection, but when you hit the ball as hard as him, it’s easy to see how he can take the steps he needs, that’s a great start.

But again, that’s only one-third of the lineup. They currently also have Andrew Benintendi to help out, but he’ll likely be gone soon. They need help. They actually need to perform regularly too, but they need help. Last night, they got it. Whit Merrifield had two hits. Taylor had a hit and a walk. So did Emmanuel Rivera. And Carlos Santana built on his 4 for 4 day on Wednesday with probably the biggest hit of the night.

That came after the Orioles had tied the game at four in the fifth inning. The Royals wasted absolutely no time getting the lead back. Melendez worked his first walk of the game and then Jordan Lyles put a sinker right in the middle of the plate. And Santana didn’t miss it. As Alec Lewis noted on Twitter, Santana is now hitting .291/.381/.473 with six doubles, two homers, a 12.7 percent walk rate and 17.5 percent strikeout rate since May 20. That’s just 63 plate appearances and they’re drastically boosted by the last two games, but it’s a start. Maybe it changes nothing and he starts another long hitless stretch tonight, but for now, there at least appears to be a chance the Royals can get back something for him.

Snider Scuffles Again

Santana got to have his moment because Collin Snider continues his descent from a fireman who did his job as well as possible to basically someone who can’t be rostered anymore. I’ll get back to Kris Bubic, who I thought looked better than his last start but had way worse results (baseball is weird), but after he got himself into trouble in the fifth inning, Mike Matheny called on Snider for a job he’d done quite a bit this year. With runners on first and second and one out, Snider was tasked with stranding both runners. He did strand the first 19 runners he inherited but finally allowed one to score on Tuesday night.

Now that the streak is over, he appears to be starting a new one and that’s to let every inherited runner score. Ryan Mountcastle hit a rocket double that scored both runs. After he got a popup, he walked Tyler Nevin that forced the Royals to go to the bullpen once again. Joel Payamps walked a batter but ultimately stranded Snider’s runners and his to save Snider’s overall numbers, but he’s now sporting a 7.71 ERA in 21.1 innings with 11 walks and 12 strikeouts. The overall numbers are terrible, but in his last 19 appearances, he’s gone 14.2 innings with 21 hits allowed, nine walks and seven strikeouts and a gentleman’s 10.43 ERA.

Snider’s story was fun. I was skeptical of him being added to the 40-man back in November, but he started the year so strong that I thought maybe I was wrong. I wasn’t. I’m not sure if the Royals will make a move, but they should. Amir Garrett is in Omaha now for a rehab stint. Maybe he replaces Snider on the roster. Or maybe they stick it out for another week or so and just move Snider down when the 13-pitcher maximum goes into effect (if it does). But whatever the plan is, the big league club has to move forward without Snider on it.

Bubic Shows…Progress

Snider was in that position because Bubic got himself into trouble in the fifth inning, but as I said above, I thought he looked better than his start against the Astros. While he didn’t throw 50 percent changeups, he did use quite a few, throwing 37 out of 90 pitches. And I thought it was good for him. He got a few whiffs and some really ugly swings that led to foul balls. Four of his five strikeouts came on the pitch, but I think command was still a big issue.

Those pitches that are arm side and up are the ones that concern me as far as him being able to put it where he wants. Still, those aren’t bad misses because it’s tough to do much with them. The ones to focus on and figure out how he threw them are the ones below the zone and at the bottom of the zone. When a changeup is working, you can miss down the middle like he did and he didn’t get hurt on it at all, but that spot concerns me quite a bit. Still, I loved the way he was keeping hitters off balance.

His fastball was better, though. He threw strikes with it and while he did get dinged a lot by foul balls. Again, there were some misses in the middle, but he got away with it because his changeup was good and hitters were kept guessing.

There’s work to be done here, but I think even though he gave up four runs in 4.1 innings, I walk away from this outing by him feeling a little bit better moving forward. He has a tough task ahead of him in his next start against the Giants, but I’m curious to see how that changeup plays against a lineup that will be heavily right-handed since they platoon so much. I feel compelled to remind everyone once again that Bubic had a roughly league average 4.40 ERA in 180 innings between 2020 and 2021. This is a pitcher who has had some success. He just needs to find it again and then he can get back to being a part of the future plans. I think last night was a step in the right direction even if the numbers don’t fully agree.