Thus far the West has been very, very good to us! The Royals are on the downward stretch of an 9 game/10 day stretch in California. And thus far shooter, we are hot! The Royals are 3 games away from .500, 4 games out of first in the Central, and are scoring 7+ runs a game. This team is fuego. But does that make us buyers all of the sudden?
In the same tone we have been saying all along "hold on,"" give the team a little longer before the fire sale," I issue you the same warning. Just the opposite. Hold on, let's not buy the t-bone before sticking your head up the bull's ass. Trust me, you would rather take my word for it. Let's have a level head and take a little perspective.
First, the Padres and Giants sit last and second to last in the NL West. They are currently a combined 53-82, a .393 winning percentage. Second, The Royals are still missing two key starters. While Strahm looked ready for the limelight last night, let's not forget the Eric Skoglund apparition that suddenly vanished in his last two starts. Jake Junis has had some great outings as well, but I am not sure any of these three are ready for a September run as starters.
And Lastly, as hot as these guys are (even Alex Gordon is hitting right now), we saw how cold they can get. There would be nothing more detrimental to this franchise, than for us to stay hot through July, then hit the funk again in August, and we are stuck with all our free agents, plus anything we may have acquired to make try and make our run.
Now that being said I would really like to see the Royals do a few things. The first is get Kyle Zimmer to the pros as soon as possible. He is finally pitching again, and we all know it is only a matter of time before he hits the DL again. I think if you can get him a start or two before July 31st, we may be able to whet the appetites of a few clubs, and use him to upgrade our current roster if need be. I plan on writing more about this later, so this whetting of your appetite will be similar to what the Royals should do to possible suitors!
Second, They should STOP tinkering with the line-up. I get it, Esky and Gordo are starting to hit! There are multiple reasons for this. Esky is getting more fastballs down in the order. And that is what he does to fastballs. Gordo actually made an adjustment to his swing. Letting the ball travel just a bit longer, and dropping the bat head when triggering. Keep these two where they are and their success just may continue.
And lastly, get Brandon Moss a few more AB's, while continuing to cycle Salvy and Butera behind the dish and at DH. This has been keeping Salvy a lot fresher, and his offensive numbers have flourished for it! Also we get to see a lot more of Butera's hair this way! WIN-WIN!
So temper your fandom for just a bit, but realize there may be a shift coming in this season. If the Royals keep winning at a Zach Hodson predicted 2 of every 3 game clip through the All-Star game they will be lined up to be buyers once again. However, if this does happen, understand the next three years may be a little thin at the K! But I think we would all say one more run to the World Series with these guys would totally be worth it!
