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Everyone has the same take on the Kansas City Royals’ recent slump: for everything going against them, KC still sits above .500, which ironically suggests they are a good ballclub. Danny Parkins, Sam Mellinger, Rex Hudler, Lee Judge, myself and many other fans all have similar thoughts on the subject, simply because it’s the clearest, most logical thought an attentive Royals fan can have right now.
We’ll be stuck in this same train of thought for as long as the Royals continue to underperform. That’s just the nature of a slump, and baseball in general. Every baseball journalist in KC can stop writing about this slump as soon as the Royals get back to winning consistently. It could just be an ugly-but-forgettable slump if some of the aforementioned Royals bounce back. If the majority of KC’s problems continue to be problems though, those flaws will crush the Royals’ chances at another World Series title, or any kind of deep playoff run.
With all the “season’s still young” cliches in mind, this series is still important for KC and their chances to repeat as world champs. According to a closer look at the batter/pitcher matchups in this three-game battle with the Cleveland Indians, the Royals should have the slight advantage.
Yordano Ventura and Danny Salazar will take the mound in tonight’s game. Lorenzo Cain, Eric Hosmer and Alcides Escobar all have at least 17 career at-bats against Salazar with a batting average in the .300s or higher. However, nobody else in the Royals lineup has impressive numbers against tonight’s starter, as indicated by a .234 team average against Salazar. It could come down to any of the three aforementioned Royals’ ability to succeed in clutch situations.
Every moment is magnified by the lack of sufficient data this early in the season, as numerous cheesy baseball sayings will tell you. Nonetheless, clutch moments throughout this game and this series will significantly impact the mindset of numerous Royals while they’re in the batter’s box this year. Enough success or failure in this series could mean the difference between timidity and confidence. Hosmer could lead his team to a win and stay red-hot. Escobar could continue reaching base, and score a game-winner that boosts his confidence as a leadoff hitter. Lo Cain could lean back and send a clutch home run into the seats. These things matter, even if the season is still young.
Tomorrow, KC and Ian Kennedy will face off against a starter who isn’t even on Cleveland’s big league roster. The Indians are expected to promote Corey Anderson from their Triple-A affiliate to start the second game of this series. Anderson started four games already for the Indians this year, and in each of his last three outings, he allowed five runs. Fellow Corey and Indians starter Corey Kluber actually noticed a flaw in Anderson’s delivery, and ever since pointing it out, the less-successful Corey has been working to fix the flaw. A struggling, recently demoted starter sounds like just what the Royals need for an offensive explosion.
The starters for Game 3 have identical 3.13 ERAs, so we’ll assume neither Edinson Volquez nor Josh Tomlin will have a huge advantage in that meeting. Still, Steady Edi’s numbers against current Indians are slightly better than Tomlin’s stats against KC. The Indians combine for a .830 OPS against Volquez, while the Royals roster combines for a .923 OPS against Tomlin. Mike Moustakas and Salvador Perez, two Royals who did not fare well against Salazar in their careers, both have an OPS higher than 1.4 against Tomlin through at least 14 at-bats.
This series should give every guy in the Royals’ lineup a chance to contribute offensively. These next few games could kickstart the turnaround that puts the “why does KC keep losing” question far behind us. If the Royals continue to lose more than they win, that little kernel of fear in every fan will continue to grow.
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