Weekend in Review: A Royals Oof

There isn't much to say about the Royals right now that's even approaching positive.

That could pretty much have not gone any worse than it did. The weekend was a dud. The week was a dud. The month of June has been a dud. And after sitting at 15 games over .500 less than a month ago, they’re now 42-37 and aren’t even sitting in a playoff spot. Now, it could be worse. They could have started this stretch at .500 or under .500 because they’re still five games over and they’re still within a game of a playoff spot as we near the end of June. I think I wrote this last week that the game of “if I told you this in March, would you be happy?” is an interesting one but not realistic. But I will remind most that the dream was to “not be eliminated before May 1.”

It doesn’t mean this feels good. The rails have completely come off. It was understandable during their recent stretch of first place teams, but the A’s are not even remotely good while the Rangers are obviously the champs but haven’t hit their stride at all. A 1-5 week and a weekend sweep, particularly the way they all happened, is not what you want to see from a team you think can make the playoffs. On the flip side, good teams have bad stretches that make no sense all the time, and the Royals got off to their great start in a way that was not a fluke at all. I said many times that I wasn’t sure if they’d maintain the pace (they obviously haven’t), but they didn’t get there with smoke and mirrors.

The bullpen is a problem. No, that’s not right. Problem doesn’t give it proper weight. The bullpen is an abject failure. There is not a single pitcher who can be trusted. You can’t win many games with a bullpen that you can barely trust to get three outs with a multi-run lead. But when the offense is in the doldrums like this one is, forget about it. You need to have so many things go your way just to squeak out a win. That’s what happened on Thursday in Oakland. What they’re doing right now is a track toward a sub-.500 finish. Will they keep that up? I don’t know. If I was a betting man (oh wait, I am), I’d say it won’t. But just like I couldn’t tell you if or when the legitimately good Royals would turn, I can’t tell you when the legitimately bad Royals will turn. I believe they will, but your guess is as good as mine if that happens soon enough to matter for a run at the postseason.

But I also believe that if they continue to at least be in the race, they have the pieces in place to potentially be able to make even a little noise. I used to feel very different about this, and I’m going to get into why I think the Royals situation is different here, but I think if a team is competing for something, the front office and ownership group owes it to a city and a fan base to go for it. I’m not saying you trade Blake Mitchell and Gavin Cross for Garrett Crochet or anything, but I think you look to make some improvements to get things back in order and give your stars - Bobby Witt Jr., Salvador Perez and Cole Ragans (and maybe Seth Lugo the way he’s pitched this year) - a chance to do something.

I’ve seen a lot on social media screaming that the Royals should sell. I get it. I do. First of all, they’ve put themselves in that group of teams that should now be unsure of their path at best (unless they strike quickly). But there is an argument that if you’re not good enough to win a World Series, why mortgage future to get to a series that you may not even get a home game in (the Wild Card round is best of three at the higher round’s stadium for all three potential games)? I understand the argument. I don’t agree with it. But I get it. But I have a counterpoint about the Royals and their situation that I think there’s a lot of talking out of both sides of people’s mouths.

The Double Standard

When I bring up the trades the Royals can make, a lot of people have constructive thoughts. But a lot of people respond with the tried and true of wondering who the Royals even have who would interest other teams. Why is that? Because the farm system is in shambles, of course! Many of the same people also believe that while the farm system is in a state of disaster, there’s no reason for the Royals to give up their future for a medicore-at-best big league club.

Okay, but if the farm system is so bad, why does it matter if they trade from it? Is there really a future there anyway? What does it hurt to give up say, Peyton Wilson, for Mark Canha? It doesn’t have to be Canha, but if you think it’s going to take more, Canha went to the Brewers last year for their 30th-ranked prospect. Wilson is ranked 22nd in the Royals organization and Canha is having a similar season this year in terms of production. He’s an average bat who would improve the outfield situation and if the farm system stinks anyway, who cares if you’re giving up someone who isn’t part of the long-term solution?

Last year, the Yankees picked up Kenyan Middleton from the White Sox. Middleton struck out 47 batters in 36.1 innings for Chicago and the return was the Yankees 29th-ranked prospect. Are you really balking at trading Steven Zobac (currently 23rd in the Royals system on MLB Pipeline) if you think the system is so bad to get Austin Adams? Heck, the Marlins traded their 18th and 21st prospects for David Robertson last year. If the system is in such bad shape, why does it matter if you move Javier Vaz (15) and Trever Werner (19) for Carlos Estevez? Hell, throw in Mason Barnett (5) and get Taylor Ward too.

I don’t know if those deals get it done or not, but I also think you’re getting the point here. The system is either too bad to matter and there shouldn’t be anyone you wouldn’t be willing to give up other than maybe two or three guys, or you’re not willing to move on from some guys who might actually be okay. I’m fine saying no to trading top top prospects for rentals who don’t have any control beyond this season with this team, but it’s a double standard to say the system stinks but the Royals shouldn’t be trading from it to get better. Because I do believe organizations owe something to fans and cities when winning is a possibility.

The Games

I’m treating this weekend like 2023 and won’t be writing much about these games. What is there to say, really? Their starting pitching made them competitive enough in these games until the bullpen got involved on Friday and Saturday, and then it was no longer close enough to matter with the offense in the deep freeze. On the bright side, I do have a hunch we see Michael Massey back today, probably hitting leadoff for the team.

Friday - Rangers 6, Royals 2 - Schreiber’s Continued Demise

Brady Singer was…fine? He gave up a run over five innings, but he needed 89 pitches to do it, which is too many. So it led to the Royals having to go to the bullpen in the sixth and John Schreiber continued his descent to be completely unusable. He gave up three runs on three hits over 0.2 innings. Since April ended, he has allowed 15 runs (13 earned) on 26 hits in 16 innings with 10 strikeouts, eight walks and a hit batter. That means he’s recorded 48 outs and allowed 35 base runners with an ERA of 7.31. Yikes.

Then Sam Long came in to try to bail him out and he lost his perfect ERA by allowing two more runs. It really does feel like every single reliever who has been put his year has had his moment of “maybe this is the guy they can trust” only for him to fall flat on his face. I guess the next one is going to be Carlos Hernandez who threw a scoreless inning (and then another 1.2 scoreless innings yesterday).

The Royals scored their last run of the weekend in the fifth inning on a seeing-eye single from Garrett Hampson to score their second run of the day and give them the last lead they’d see for awhile. Hampson didn’t start, though. He replaced Kyle Isbel, who did this in the third for their first hit

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And then he left the game with back issues. He’s only the second Royal to have to leave a game with a back injury, but both of them happened after hitting a homer on the road in a dome. I’m not sure there’s a lesson there.

Saturday - Rangers 6, Royals 0 - Wacha’s Return

Michael Wacha made his return and he was good. Had it not been his first start in nearly a month, he would have gone more than five innings, but he had a similar line to Singer with just one run allowed. Unfortunately for him, he had the audacity of allowing a run when the offense refused to score one.

Will Smith is making his return as a reliable reliever with another scoreless inning. And maybe Chris Stratton has always been one, only with the caveat that he may totally implode. You just never know with him, but he’s been good way more than he’s been bad with 24 scoreless outings out of 31. But don’t worry. In this one, Angel Zerpa has now moved from an answer to a question with five runs allowed on three hits in just one-third of an inning.

Sunday - Rangers 4, Royals 0 - Marsh’s Mediocrity

It wouldn’t have mattered if Marsh allowed one run on one hit, so I’m not going to bash him or anything, but this one was a much more normal game. Marsh was okay enough, missing a quality start by just one out. He gave up too many hits, so I think he’s still trying to calibrate good strikes and bad, but that’s not that big of a deal for a fifth starter. I’d say he bounced back at least some from the brutal start in Oakland last week.

The issue here was the offense. They got one hit off Max Scherzer in his first start of the year and then just one against Jose Ureña in four scoreless innings of relief. In total, the Rangers threw a team Maddux, needing just 99 pitches to shut the Royals out for a second consecutive day. I suppose they could get one-hit or no-hit, but this is likely the low point for an offense that just a couple of weeks ago was literally just one run short of scoring five per game for the season. They’ve scored 33 in 12 games since.

Player of the Week

All of you for watching this. But hey, let’s give MJ Melendez some props. He’s come out of his slump and had a really nice week at the plate and a solid road trip. He hit .294/.368/.529 with four doubles and a 10.5 percent walk rate this week and .346/.414/.615 with those four doubles and a home run with a 10.3 percent walk rate on the road trip as a whole. Good for him for coming around some.

The Week Ahead

I was excited for the schedule to get a little easier. I thought the Royals might get back to winning some games. They obviously did not, so nobody can be looked past, and that includes the 27-50 Miami Marlins. They’re a bad team, but so are the Royals right now. They were expecting a rotation of Jesus Luzardo, Braxton Garrett, Edward Cabrera, Eury Perez and Trevor Rogers this year even after they knew they wouldn’t have Sandy Alcantara. All but Rogers are on the IL. If you think the Royals offense is bad right now, the Marlins have averaged 3.5 runs per game for the season. They’ve scored five or more runs just 24 times. Here are the pitching matchups:

• Monday: Roddery Muñoz vs. Cole Ragans

• Tuesday: Yonny Chirinos vs. Seth Lugo

• Wednesday: Trevor Rogers vs. Brady Singer

A month ago, I’d have been saying that’s an easy sweep. Heck, maybe a week ago. Nothing is easy for this team right now. Still, the Marlins are a mess. They have two regulars with a wRC+ of 100 or more and the top number is by Jazz Chisholm Jr. at 116. He’s their best hitter. Yikes. The Royals need to win this series.

And if they do, that’ll determine if the series starting Thursday matters at all. At best, they’ll be six games out when the Guardians come to town, and that’s if the Guardians get swept and the Royals sweep. But even if the Royals take two of three and Cleveland loses two of three to Baltimore, eight games in a four-game series at least has some meaning, especially knowing that Cleveland still has some tough games remaining - three with a getting healthy Diamondbacks team, seven against Baltimore, three against a getting better Astros team, three against the Dodgers, three against the Brewers, eight against the Twins, three against the Yankees, three against the Phillies and three against a getting healthier Rangers team. The division went from a tough sled to a true longshot over the last few days, but it’s early enough that a big week from the Royals can change that. Am I expecting it? No. But I’d be lying to you if I said I’ve expected much of what we’ve seen this season, both good and bad, so I guess we’ll stay tuned in to find out.