That was a very impressive weekend, as you described well. Even though they haven’t been great against the good teams, I’m feeling more optimistic, mostly because the rest of the AL has been mediocre at best. If they can keep scoring a bunch of runs in the late innings, that would minimize their bullpen challenges.
I think the fact that the Twins and Red Sox are a bad matchup (and I'll continue to argue they're pretty similar teams, so that makes sense) makes us think the Royals can't beat the good teams, but they're 4-2 against Cleveland, 3-3 against Seattle, 2-4 against Baltimore but all the games were tight, 3-3 against Tampa, 3-0 against Houston, 2-1 against Milwaukee, 3-1 against the Cardinals and did lose series to the Dodgers, Padres, Mets and Diamondbacks, but I didn't walk away thinking they were overmatched. I also think it's worth noting that the Tigers are three under overall, but four under against the Royals. That's not nothing.
They need a good showing against some good teams and they were *way* overmatched against the Yankees back when they were here, so they could go in the Twins/Red Sox category, but I don't think it's as ugly against good teams as it might seem based on the two teams they just struggle the most against.
So much has been said about the Royals record against the White Sox propping up their overall record, but what about the Twins? Same record against the White Sox, and for some reason just dominate the Royals. Take away the record against these two teams, and they are pretty mediocre as well.
Yeah, that rubs me the wrong way too. You're right about the Twins, but the Guardians are 5-5 against them. If they don't win the division, it's going to be because the Twins and Royals were 12-1 each against the worst team I've ever seen and they were, at best, 8-5. No team should ever feel bad for beating the teams they should beat.
Whenever someone says, "Look at the Royals record against teams not the White Sox!" I want to scream, "Look at their record against not the Twins!"
If you omit the outliers from statistical groups it's always going to look drastically different but that doesn't guarantee that omitting the outliers means anything!
100%. I was just telling a real-life friend this weekend that they’re 58-54 against the non-White Sox but 64-44 against the non-Twins/Red Sox, two of their least likely playoff opponents.
I just think everyone needs to get off the whole White Sox thing. If you are in a playoff race on September 1st…you’re a pretty good team regardless. It doesn’t mean Royals are bad, or the Guardians are bad, or the Twins are great. It’s just baseball. That thinking needs to die hopefully here soon. Lol.
I'm in KC this week and will be at the K Tuesday and Friday. These games will be the first home games I've been to with the Royals in playoff contention. I could not be more excited.
Also I love you are pretty consistent about pointing out all the correct decisions Q makes throughout the games. If I only paid attention to twitter, you would think he's the worst manager the Royals have ever had. So thank you for being level headed.
I'll be there Monday/Wednesday/Friday this week, I think. Should be rocking, though I'm not sure if the Angels are much of a draw these days. Still, I hope it's 20k+ for the Angels series and 30k+ this weekend every night.
The thing about Twitter is that people are angsty in the moment (some are just angsty in general and they drive me nuts, but that's another story for another day). These are things they would have annoyed their significant others or roommates or buddies with 20 years ago, but today are able to disseminate their anger in the moment to the masses. The reality is that most managers are somewhere between a bit below average and a bit above average. I think Q has his things that drag him down, but he does a nice job with this team. People get mad at the weirdest things like him not arguing balls and strikes, which will get him ejected and do no good, but overall, I really like the job he's done and the players seem to love playing for him.
What a time to be a Royals fan. I think it’s only a matter of time before Salvy gets locked in and gets lava hot for a stretch. No doubt he wants the postseason more than anyone. If Bobby, Vin and Sal all get hot at once they’re going to be really really hard to beat.
I've been waiting for that streak for Salvy for a bit now. It seems like he's closer. He's just been consistently solid for like a month now after a slump. At some point, he's going to go on one of his home run rampages, you'd think. It would be good if that started Friday.
You're not wrong. Erceg is very much a difference maker. I think DeJong is a nice piece who helps round out the roster, but he still helps quite a bit.
Hey, at least they got Walker instead of Nola or Sanchez. That's not nothing!
The Royals against the Reds this weekend were doing things we haven't seen this team do since April and May. If they're back to playing at that high of a level, it may not matter that they're facing the Phillies and Astros. Especially with seven against the Guardians who seem like they might be completely falling apart.
I'm not going to sit here and say they're definitely going to breeze through the stretch, but I've got a lot more hope after that weekend series than I did before it.
Absolutely on all of that. I believe this team’s top level can beat anyone. Every team this season has had valleys, and the Royals are no different, but when they’re doing what they did this weekend, the opponent doesn’t matter. If they can just keep it going to another week and not fall into another valley like they did in late June/early July, they’ll be just fine.
We are moving to KC from Denver in September. to be closer to family We are really hoping to attend a home playoff game. Thanks for the excellent recap!
My man Freddy Fermin continues to play well with more playing time and helping Salvy stay fresh at DH or 1B! Blanco needs more playing time in LF or RF! GO ROYALS!!!
That was an impressive weekend. I feel pretty good about the playoffs right now with Seattle falling back a bit. IDK, 3.5 game lead is not insurmountable…but they are playing good ball right now. All you can hope for. If they play like that, they will beat anyone. But the also is true for all the other playoff teams as well. You play your best, good luck. All about if it happens at the right time. Still gotta get there first…but if they can make some hay against the Angels….I actually feel better about this though stretch coming up. I’ll be curious if they feel pressure if things tighten up. For a team that wasn’t expected to be in this spot and things tighten up at the end. It will be an interesting thing to see.
Here is an interesting thought. Nobody expected the Royals to be good this year. Honestly, I expected the Guardians to take a step back. And even if they fall back…..they’ve had an impressive year. I look at the Guardians and the Royals and think…man..they are pretty similar. Maybe in the offseason…I’d be curious how two teams so similar in makeup both end up beating projections and better than expected.
Everyone is going to say that the pitching improved. The Guardians rotation has been rough, but their bullpen has been absolutely lights out. Last year, they had a 3.79 ERA out of the bullpen. It's 2.67 this year. That's a huge change.
The Royals had a 5.23 ERA in the bullpen last year and 5.12 from their starters. They're down to 4.26 in the bullpen and a ridiculous jump to 3.56 in the rotation.
But I think the offenses deserve more credit than they'll get when people dissect the seasons. The Royals wRC+ is 100. The Guardians is 98. Last year, it was 86 and 91. The Royals were 23rd in runs scored and Cleveland was 27th. This year, they're 7th and 13th respectively. Pitching may win championships, but scoring runs wins games. It all obviously works together, but the Royals focused on cutting strikeouts while the Guardians added some pop. It's worked for both of them so far.
Rehab appearances and being sent down for underperformance are pretty different, though. Schreiber has thrown two innings and thrown strikes. He's not ready yet, obviously, but Velazquez in AAA to get his swing back is way more of a concern.
My son is a reds fan and we watched the game together Saturday night. I felt bad for him and I kept the celebrations to a minimum. I love those 9th inning add on runs. I’m not as worried about McCarther blowing it. He makes me nervous as hell. The Royals are for real, and this next batch of tough games will prove it. What they have done this season is beyond impressive. No matter how everything turns out in the end I’m as impressed as I could be. They are playing with house money and I love it! One thing you can’t overlook is that Blanco holds the major league record for RBI’s in a game with a yellow crayon! Let’s see someone beat that!
That was a very impressive weekend, as you described well. Even though they haven’t been great against the good teams, I’m feeling more optimistic, mostly because the rest of the AL has been mediocre at best. If they can keep scoring a bunch of runs in the late innings, that would minimize their bullpen challenges.
I think the fact that the Twins and Red Sox are a bad matchup (and I'll continue to argue they're pretty similar teams, so that makes sense) makes us think the Royals can't beat the good teams, but they're 4-2 against Cleveland, 3-3 against Seattle, 2-4 against Baltimore but all the games were tight, 3-3 against Tampa, 3-0 against Houston, 2-1 against Milwaukee, 3-1 against the Cardinals and did lose series to the Dodgers, Padres, Mets and Diamondbacks, but I didn't walk away thinking they were overmatched. I also think it's worth noting that the Tigers are three under overall, but four under against the Royals. That's not nothing.
They need a good showing against some good teams and they were *way* overmatched against the Yankees back when they were here, so they could go in the Twins/Red Sox category, but I don't think it's as ugly against good teams as it might seem based on the two teams they just struggle the most against.
So much has been said about the Royals record against the White Sox propping up their overall record, but what about the Twins? Same record against the White Sox, and for some reason just dominate the Royals. Take away the record against these two teams, and they are pretty mediocre as well.
Yeah, that rubs me the wrong way too. You're right about the Twins, but the Guardians are 5-5 against them. If they don't win the division, it's going to be because the Twins and Royals were 12-1 each against the worst team I've ever seen and they were, at best, 8-5. No team should ever feel bad for beating the teams they should beat.
Whenever someone says, "Look at the Royals record against teams not the White Sox!" I want to scream, "Look at their record against not the Twins!"
If you omit the outliers from statistical groups it's always going to look drastically different but that doesn't guarantee that omitting the outliers means anything!
100%. I was just telling a real-life friend this weekend that they’re 58-54 against the non-White Sox but 64-44 against the non-Twins/Red Sox, two of their least likely playoff opponents.
I just think everyone needs to get off the whole White Sox thing. If you are in a playoff race on September 1st…you’re a pretty good team regardless. It doesn’t mean Royals are bad, or the Guardians are bad, or the Twins are great. It’s just baseball. That thinking needs to die hopefully here soon. Lol.
I'm in KC this week and will be at the K Tuesday and Friday. These games will be the first home games I've been to with the Royals in playoff contention. I could not be more excited.
Also I love you are pretty consistent about pointing out all the correct decisions Q makes throughout the games. If I only paid attention to twitter, you would think he's the worst manager the Royals have ever had. So thank you for being level headed.
I'll be there Monday/Wednesday/Friday this week, I think. Should be rocking, though I'm not sure if the Angels are much of a draw these days. Still, I hope it's 20k+ for the Angels series and 30k+ this weekend every night.
The thing about Twitter is that people are angsty in the moment (some are just angsty in general and they drive me nuts, but that's another story for another day). These are things they would have annoyed their significant others or roommates or buddies with 20 years ago, but today are able to disseminate their anger in the moment to the masses. The reality is that most managers are somewhere between a bit below average and a bit above average. I think Q has his things that drag him down, but he does a nice job with this team. People get mad at the weirdest things like him not arguing balls and strikes, which will get him ejected and do no good, but overall, I really like the job he's done and the players seem to love playing for him.
What a time to be a Royals fan. I think it’s only a matter of time before Salvy gets locked in and gets lava hot for a stretch. No doubt he wants the postseason more than anyone. If Bobby, Vin and Sal all get hot at once they’re going to be really really hard to beat.
I've been waiting for that streak for Salvy for a bit now. It seems like he's closer. He's just been consistently solid for like a month now after a slump. At some point, he's going to go on one of his home run rampages, you'd think. It would be good if that started Friday.
DeJong and Erceg are difference makers Royals need for stretch run.
JJ said he needed power right arm closer and power hitting outfielder and he got them both.
Shows you what difference good front office can make.
You're not wrong. Erceg is very much a difference maker. I think DeJong is a nice piece who helps round out the roster, but he still helps quite a bit.
Hey, at least they got Walker instead of Nola or Sanchez. That's not nothing!
The Royals against the Reds this weekend were doing things we haven't seen this team do since April and May. If they're back to playing at that high of a level, it may not matter that they're facing the Phillies and Astros. Especially with seven against the Guardians who seem like they might be completely falling apart.
I'm not going to sit here and say they're definitely going to breeze through the stretch, but I've got a lot more hope after that weekend series than I did before it.
Absolutely on all of that. I believe this team’s top level can beat anyone. Every team this season has had valleys, and the Royals are no different, but when they’re doing what they did this weekend, the opponent doesn’t matter. If they can just keep it going to another week and not fall into another valley like they did in late June/early July, they’ll be just fine.
We are moving to KC from Denver in September. to be closer to family We are really hoping to attend a home playoff game. Thanks for the excellent recap!
I sure hope you get to!
My man Freddy Fermin continues to play well with more playing time and helping Salvy stay fresh at DH or 1B! Blanco needs more playing time in LF or RF! GO ROYALS!!!
That was an impressive weekend. I feel pretty good about the playoffs right now with Seattle falling back a bit. IDK, 3.5 game lead is not insurmountable…but they are playing good ball right now. All you can hope for. If they play like that, they will beat anyone. But the also is true for all the other playoff teams as well. You play your best, good luck. All about if it happens at the right time. Still gotta get there first…but if they can make some hay against the Angels….I actually feel better about this though stretch coming up. I’ll be curious if they feel pressure if things tighten up. For a team that wasn’t expected to be in this spot and things tighten up at the end. It will be an interesting thing to see.
Here is an interesting thought. Nobody expected the Royals to be good this year. Honestly, I expected the Guardians to take a step back. And even if they fall back…..they’ve had an impressive year. I look at the Guardians and the Royals and think…man..they are pretty similar. Maybe in the offseason…I’d be curious how two teams so similar in makeup both end up beating projections and better than expected.
Everyone is going to say that the pitching improved. The Guardians rotation has been rough, but their bullpen has been absolutely lights out. Last year, they had a 3.79 ERA out of the bullpen. It's 2.67 this year. That's a huge change.
The Royals had a 5.23 ERA in the bullpen last year and 5.12 from their starters. They're down to 4.26 in the bullpen and a ridiculous jump to 3.56 in the rotation.
But I think the offenses deserve more credit than they'll get when people dissect the seasons. The Royals wRC+ is 100. The Guardians is 98. Last year, it was 86 and 91. The Royals were 23rd in runs scored and Cleveland was 27th. This year, they're 7th and 13th respectively. Pitching may win championships, but scoring runs wins games. It all obviously works together, but the Royals focused on cutting strikeouts while the Guardians added some pop. It's worked for both of them so far.
Just checked Screibers AA stats and oh my. He and Nelly haven’t exactly bounce back in the minors like we hoped.
Rehab appearances and being sent down for underperformance are pretty different, though. Schreiber has thrown two innings and thrown strikes. He's not ready yet, obviously, but Velazquez in AAA to get his swing back is way more of a concern.
Oh boy…
My son is a reds fan and we watched the game together Saturday night. I felt bad for him and I kept the celebrations to a minimum. I love those 9th inning add on runs. I’m not as worried about McCarther blowing it. He makes me nervous as hell. The Royals are for real, and this next batch of tough games will prove it. What they have done this season is beyond impressive. No matter how everything turns out in the end I’m as impressed as I could be. They are playing with house money and I love it! One thing you can’t overlook is that Blanco holds the major league record for RBI’s in a game with a yellow crayon! Let’s see someone beat that!
That’s a great point on the yellow crayon bat. That record may be in the DiMaggio stratosphere.
A beautiful Royals weekend. Now just do something with Zerpa and I will be happy for awhile.