It occurred to me earlier that the Royals right now are pretty much in the same position they were ten years ago, which is 'right on the cusp of a wild card spot with a homegrown phenom running the show and another excellent Salvador Perez season, plus a surprisingly well-stocked rotation made mostly up of wise acquisitions'. We've really lapped ourselves. In fact, I'd even say that 2024 Bobby Witt is better than 2014 Eric Hosmer. And this rotation might be better too.
It's just going to come down to luck and circumstances. It is helpful that there's now three wild card spots. But that means that if the Royals are still hanging onto this last one at the end of the season, they'll have to play a division leader. At the moment that's Houston. And that's...not something I'm looking forward to indulging, because the second it hits October the Astros just lock in, and I don't know if the Royals are there yet.
But what's very clear is how much the Royals have been building over the past month or so. They're 10 games over .500, they've got an MVP candidate and a Cy Young candidate, they established superiority over the majority of the division, and they have erased memory of their June/July slump. The additions of Paul deJong, Michael Lorenzen and Lucas Erceg have made them a better team. Even the return of Kris Bubic, in a relief role due to the overpacked rotation that even brought Alec Marsh back to the minors, has been going extremely well.
Again, the key is the youth core that took a year more than expected to really blossom. It looked like this team was gearing up for something big in 2022, but injuries and inefficiency put a stop to that. Michael Massey is now fully MLB ready, with great defensive numbers paired with a .762 OPS. In fact, the defense on this team, including people like Kyle Isbel, Freddy Fermin, Adam Frazier, Garrett Hampson and SOMEHOW M.J. MELENDEZ, has been routinely great. Fermin getting to catch regularly while Perez can slide over to DH makes it win-win. And obviously Witt is still an excellent defensive shortstop, in addition to outhitting everybody south of Judge.
Meanwhile, the Royals are gonna end the season with a rotation that rivals the Mariners' and Phillies' for full consistency. Lugo, Singer, Ragans and Wacha have all had excellent seasons, and Lorenzen is continuing at his Texas pace for another strong campaign. This team, with these assets and this degree of excellence, could be a postseason threat. The only thing that worries me is the recent downturn, as well as how they match up against the Twins.
But still, the Royals very well might have something here, and they could be a surprise postseason threat in a year that already seems pretty well defined.
Coming Tonight: The Giants gave up on him. And as he ascends again, his team's giving up in general.
No comments:
Post a Comment