The defending World Series Champions Kansas City Royals have had a disappointing season to say the least. The Royals currently have a 55-59 record and sit 6.5 out of the second American League Wild Card spot. This weekend the Royals will travel to Minnesota to take on the Twins in what could be a make or break season series.
The Twins come into this weekend series with the second worst record in the MLB at 46-69. The Twins will send out Kyle Gibson (4-6 4.86 ERA), Tyler Duffey (7-8 5.93 ERA), and Hector Santiago (0-2 6.97 ERA) to the mound for the three-game set. These three pitchers aren’t exactly Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, and John Smoltz; so if the Royals want to turn their season around, they have the opportunity to get things started this weekend.
The Royals will travel to Detroit after this weekend, so a series win or sweep in Minnesota will add some much needed momentum heading into Motown. The Royals and Twins will face off again next week, this time in a four-game set at Kauffman Stadium.
Since the All-Star break, The Royals have been a team that has not been able to catch fire. They did not win their first six series of the second half, losing to: Tigers, Indians, Angels, two separate losing contests (including a four-game sweep) to the Texas Rangers, and split a four-game set with the Rays. Recently things have improved with The Royals winning the last two series against the Blue Jays and White Sox. One can imagine they will look to carry that momentum into Minnesota and Detroit.
It looks like it will be a two-team race with the Indians and Tigers battling it out in the AL Central. Both teams are fourteen and fifteen games above .500, compared to the Royals are four games under .500 and sit third in the division. You have to reasonably think that the Royals have played themselves out of the division race and can only have Wild Card game aspirations.
The Wild Card race looks like it will be a six-team race. The Orioles and Red Sox set atop the standings right now, with the Tigers, Mariners, Astros, and Yankees close behind. The Tigers, Mariners, and Astros all got hot at the right time, while the Yankees continue to stay alive in the hunt despite selling at the trade deadline. With all these teams getting hot and playing winning baseball, the slow start out of the gate for the Royals in the second half is already starting to haunt them.
The Royals will need their struggling starters to step it up this weekend. Ned Yost will end out Yordano Ventura (7-9 4.64 ERA), Dillon Gee – *Tentatively (4-5 4.54 ERA), and Edinson Volquez (8-10 5.03 ERA). The Royals won the World Series due to quality starting pitching, timely hitting, and the ability to win close games with their bullpen. Can we get some of that this weekend perhaps?
Lorenzo Cain might have given this team the spark it needs in the second half. Cain hit a walk-off single in the 14th inning Wednesday to beat the White So 3-2. The Royals won another close game the next day beating the Sox 2-1.
It’s now or never for the Royals if they have aspirations to defend their title, and it starts in Minnesota.
