After a good April and keeping up with A.L. Central leading Detroit Tigers, the Kansas City Royals are 3-3 so far this May. But for the rest of the month, they have a tough schedule. They have a game against the Baltimore Orioles, then they play the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Angels, Oakland Athletics, Houston Astros, the Angels again, the St. Louis Cardinals, and the Texas Rangers. Except for the lowly Astros and struggling Angels, the other teams are above .500 and possible playoff contenders.

Despite this month’s 3-3 record, there’s reasons for concern. So far this month, the Royals have six errors, with four of them committed in their two losses against the Orioles. The usually strong Royals bullpen lost a 2-1 decision to the White Sox Monday night and Luke Hochevar‘s errant pickoff throw to first in Tuesday night’s game against the Orioles led to a 4-3 loss. And in four of the six games played this month, the Royals offense scored three or less runs.

But it’s not all bad. It took until May 8 and 30 games into the season for the Royals to lose three games in a row. Last year, they lost three games in a row by April 14, eight games into the 2012 season. The starting rotation is pitching well, especially Jeremy Guthrie and Ervin Santana. Alex Gordon, Lorenzo Cain, Salvador Perez and Alcides Escobar are playing well. If Tim Collins, Kelvin Herrera and Greg Holland cut down their walks and settle into their roles, the defense quits making errors and the offense scores more runs, the Royals could get through May with a .500 or above record. Or they could implode and have losing record. Either way, we’ll know by June 1.

Source: Sports Management Degree Hub

After the 2012 season, it’s easy to accept the Royals will always lose and nothing will change. It’s hard to be optimistic and defend a sports team who hasn’t been above .500 since 2003 and not in the playoffs since 1985.

So should I and other Royals fans be more optimistic? I think so. Look, if the Baltimore Orioles can make the playoffs, so can the Royals.

You could call the Orioles the Royals of the A.L. East. In 2011, the Orioles had a 69-93 record. The last time they won 70 games was 2006. The last time they went over .500 was 1997. This year, the Orioles went 93-69, winning the Wild Card play-in game against the Rangers before losing the ALDS against the Yankees.

The Orioles weren’t supposed to be this good. Their Pythagorean win-loss record was 82-80 and many figured the team would finish towards the bottom of the A.L. East.

The Yankees won the A.L. East, but only by two games over the Orioles. The Rays played well, but “only” won 90 games, missing the playoffs. The Jays were Royals-like at 73-89. The Red Sox finished 69-93 and showed Bobby Valentine the door.

So what made the Orioles so good? It had to be their top-shelf starting pitching. Well, not really. The starters had a 4.42 team ERA, ninth in the A.L. and 21st in the the Majors. Their “ace” pitcher, Wei-Yin Chen, had a 4.02 ERA, a 12-11 record, pitched 192.2 innings with a 2.70 SO/BB ratio.

The Royals starters had a 5.01 team ERA, 11th in the A.L. and 26th in the Majors. That’s not too far off from the Orioles. The Royals “ace” was Bruce Chen, with a 5.07 ERA, a 11-14 record, pitching 191.2 innings with 2.98 SO/BB ratio. If Luke Hochevar wasn’t Luke Hochevar and Jeremy Guthrie had a full season with the Royals, The Royals starting rotation could be better than the Orioles rotation.

How about the bullpen? The Orioles had a 3.00 team ERA, third in the A.L. and fifth in the Majors. Just behind them were the Royals with a 3.17 team ERA, fourth in the A.L. and sixth in the Majors. The Royals had 535 strikeouts, the most in the A.L., but the Orioles had a 1.21 WHIP, compared to the Royals 1.34 WHIP. The Orioles bullpen was a factor, but it wasn’t the main reason they made the playoffs.

How about the Orioles lineup? Center fielder Adam Jones led the team with a .287 average, 103 runs and 16 stolen bases. DH Chris Davis led with 33 home runs and 85 RBI. As a team, the Orioles had a .247 average, 677 RBI, 270 doubles, 214 home runs, scoring 712 runs while allowing 705 runs.

Meanwhile, DH Billy Butler led the team with a .313 average, 29 homers and 107 RBI. Alex Gordon led the team with 93 runs and Alcides Escobar stole a team high 35 bases. As a team, the Royals had a .265 average, 643 RBI, 295 doubles, 131 home runs, scoring 676 runs and allowing 746 runs.

The Royals had a better batting average and more doubles, but the Orioles had 83 more home runs and 34 more RBI. And the Royals gave up a lot more runs than they scored. Having a good team batting average and hitting doubles helps, but scoring more runs wins more games. The Orioles did a better job offensively than the Royals, but it wasn’t a big reason the Orioles played so well.

So what was it? The Orioles had something the Royals didn’t have much of: luck. There’s a stat called Pythagorean Luck, which is the difference between the actual win-loss record and the Pythagorean win-loss record. The Orioles were the best in the Majors with an 11 luck score and played way above expectations. The Royals were -2 and played slightly below expectations.

When the Orioles were in a close or extra inning game, they usually won. In one run games, the Orioles had a 29-9 record, the best in the Majors. The Royals were 27-26, which is at least above .500. The Orioles also had the best extra inning record in the Majors at 16-2. The Royals were 8-7, once again above .500. And the Orioles never lost a regular season game when they led after seven innings.

And love him or hate him, manager Buck Showalter did a good job managing the team. He’s obsessively detail oriented and after a while he usually wears out his welcome, but he’s a frontrunner for A.L. Manager of the Year.

Now the Orioles were far from perfect. The lack of an ace showed itself in the playoffs, even with the Yankees being offensively challenged. And a team can’t expect to win a majority of one run and extra inning games every year. And outside of pitcher Dylan Bundy and third baseman Manny Machado, the Orioles farm system is pretty shallow.

But the Orioles prove with timely performances, a average starting rotation and some luck, a team can win and make the playoffs, even in a strong A.L. East. There’s no excuses for the Kansas City Royals now. If the Baltimore Orioles can do it, the Royals can too.

Making his debut on i70baseball, the following article is from Carson Redmond, a young fan of the Kansas City Royals.  Carson’s articles will appear here from time to time and you can find thoughts from him, his father, and the rest of his family over at Redmonds On The Royals.

On July 10, 2012, the world turned their heads toward Kansas City while they hosted the All-Star game. Prince Fielder of the Detroit Tigers won the Home Run Derby, and what is the definition of a dumpster fire trade was capitalized. Yes, former Royal, Melky Cabrera won the All-Star game MVP, while still in the lead for the NL batting title. And you have to think that the Royals got a halfway decent return for the Giants star, and then you remember, that it is the Royals, the only team in baseball to spend an additional 24MM for 19 points of win %, and the only team in baseball with a scouting director for a GM. The Kansas City Royals who two months ago traded the best player in baseball for a starting pitcher with an ERA of 7.76. Today however, they traded a disgraced PED user for their only solid starter. Melky Cabrera’s batting average before his stats magically took a bump, and after;

Before: .262/.324/.370
Average HR/RBI’s per year: 8/54

After: .326/.365/.493
Average HR/RBI’s per year: 15/74

That is just not right. In the process the Royals also secured Jeff Francoeur to a 2 year 16MM extension. Jeff Francoeur has -3.0 WAR this year. So great job Dayton Moore! You did it again, but at least Frenchy isn’t here on a work visa, and he doesn’t get hit in the back with fly balls. But even blind squirrels find an acorn from time to time, and out of the ashes of what could be contemplated as the worst trade in MLB history, came Jeremy Guthrie. A man who’s ERA was 5.83 points higher at Coors Field than it was on the road.  Jeremy Guthrie, who was the Baltimore Orioles #1 starter for a matter of years, Jeremy Guthrie, who is better than Luke Hochevar. Yes, the Luke Hochevar that was selected ahead of Evan Longoria, Clayton Kershaw, Tim Lincecum, and Ian Kennedy. The Luke Hochevar whose career low in ERA is 4.68, The Luke Hochevar who either has “great stuff” is “tipping his pitches” or is “throwing the cutter to much” or maybe he just “throws too many pitches” (yes, he throws too many pitches in a Royals uniform).  Ya, THAT Luke Hochevar. Whatever the case may be, Hochevar is getting ready to pass Kyle Davies for the all time high ERA with at least 120 starts. And a couple of weeks ago Dayton Moore and Ned Yost hosted a press conference about why exactly they are undoubtedly going to bring Hochevar back for another miserable 2013 campaign. And Dayton Moore also refuses to call up Wil Myers, who has just 4 fewer home runs than Francoeur has RBI’s.

Jeff Francoeur is the worst player in baseball. He is dead last in the league in WAR (Wins above Replacement, how many more wins you would get with this player, than an Irving Falu type player). His Rfield (the value of runs the player creates or gives up with his glove) is -14. I mean, even with my various kabetching about Hochevar, he is better than Frenchy.

The earlier point I made about 24MM for 19 points of win %, what I meant was .019 points of win percentage. I am sure Dayton Moore is a brilliant man, but he spent that 24 million on;

Jeff Francoeur: 16MM, 2 years
Jonathan Broxton: 4MM, 1 year
Jonathan Sanchez: 5.6MM, 1 year
Yuniesky Betancourt: 2MM, 1 year

If you add that up, it comes out around 27, but Francoeur was paid 2.5MM last year. So out of those signings, you have 2 DFA’s (designated for assignment, Betancourt and Sanchez), One trade (Broxton) and a -3.0 WAR (no analysis needed). Maybe the recent call-up of Jake Odorizzi will help the Royal’s jenga tower of a starting rotation finish the season, but I don’t think you are going to go on many winning streaks when you are running the penultimate fly ball pitcher in Bruce Chen out there every 5th day, and in the small possibility that I have not made this clear enough, Luke Hochevar isn’t exactly an ace either. On that note, remember that amazing, lefty heavy, franchise saving farm system the Royals had a couple of years ago, even without Odorizzi seeing the light of a Royals minor league uniform? Look and see how well that farm system from 2010 has done;

Eric Hosmer, MLB, 1B
2012: .237/.311/.367

Mike Moustakas, MLB, 3B
2012: .246/.298/.422

Wil Myers, AAA, OF
2012: .314/.387/.600
(worth mentioning that Myers has 37 HR’s)

John Lamb, RKL, LHP
*Tommy John surgery*

Mike Montgomery, AA, LHP
2012: 5-12, 6.07 ERA

Christian Colon, AAA, IF
2012: .301/.376/.413

Danny Duffy, MLB, LHP
*Tommy John surgery*

Chris Dwyer, AA, LHP
2012: 8-12 5.89 ERA

Aaron Crow, MLB, RHP
2012: 3-1 3.36 ERA

Brett Eibner, A+,OF
2012: .199/.298/.408

So, if I were giving them letter grades it would go like this;

Hosmer; C
Moustakas; B-
Myers; A
Lamb; incomplete
Montgomery; F-
Colon; B-
Duffy; B-
Dwyer; F-
Crow; A-
Eibner; I, for I don’t care, because he will never see the light of a Royals uniform.

So, we have 2 major league players who we hope are better than they have shown. One fantastic replacement for Francoeur, but at this point, I would be happy to have Daniel Nava replacing Frenchy. One guy who will never see Kauffman Stadium if he doesn’t move to 2nd, along with Gio not panning out. 2 Tommy John surgeries. One good reliever. 2 left handers that got demoted to AA. One guy that will never see the majors period. 8 of the 9 Royals position players are settled. If Dayton Moore would bring us a little starting pitching, we could be a legitimate contender in 2013. The Royals are currently closer to being a contender than they have been in a long time. So if we hold on to hope, and don’t hit that off button on your television quite yet, it might pay off.

For most of the last quarter of a century, the Kansas City Royals have done something more difficult than achieving success…they’ve avoided it completely.

Royals fans are very well aware of the last time their favorite team played a post-season game. It was October of 1985, and there is a large group of Royals fans that have been born and graduated college and maybe even gotten their first promotion that have never witnessed this feat. This is truly a remarkable feat, especially when you consider the following things that have taken place in major league baseball since October of 1985:

• The Florida/Miami Marlins have managed to enter the league as an expansion team, and win 2 World Series titles
• The Colorado Rockies emerged as an expansion team and have qualified for the playoffs 3 times and played in one World Series
• The Arizona Diamondbacks entered the league as an expansion team and have qualified for the playoffs 5 times and won one World Series title
• The Tampa Bay Rays entered the league as an expansion team and have made 3 playoff appearances and one World Series appearance, and are currently on pace to make the playoffs again this year
• The Cincinnati Reds have made 3 playoff appearances and won one World Series title, and are currently on pace to make the playoffs again this year
• The Minnesota Twins have made 8 playoff appearances and won two World Series titles
• The Baltimore Orioles have made 2 playoff appearances and are currently on pace to make the playoffs this year
• The Pittsburgh Pirates have made 3 playoff appearances and are currently in contention for a playoff spot this year
• The Toronto Blue Jays have made 4 playoff appearances and won 2 World Series titles
• The Cleveland Indians have made 7 playoff appearances and appeared in 1 World Series
• The Oakland Athletics have made 9 playoff appearances, 3 World Series appearances, and won 1 World Series title
• The Seattle Mariners have made 4 playoff appearances
• The Milwaukee Brewers have made 2 playoff appearances
• The San Diego Padres have made 4 playoff appearances and one World Series appearance

The 14 organizations listed above are all similar in market size to the Royals.  Most of these organizations have had multiple runs of competitive/championship baseball in the time that the Royals have not even been able to put together one. The only organization that has managed to go longer than the Royals without a playoff appearance is the Montreal Expos/Washington Nationals.  However, they are all but assured of making the playoffs this season.  While Royals fans likely are ready to throw their computers out the window after reading this, it provides some good perspective on just how pathetic this organization has been over the last 25+ years.

When the Colorado Rockies traded for starting Jeremy Guthrie last February, they expected him to be a reliable innings-eating pitcher with a deceptive fastball, a good slider and change up. The right-handed Guthrie was the Opening Day starter for the Baltimore Orioles the last three seasons and Guthrie was the Opening Day starter for the Rockies. By July 20, Guthrie’s 2012 season was a bust and the Rockies sent him to the Kansas City Royals for the disappointing lefty Jonathan Sanchez.

The 2012 season started out well with an Opening Day win against the Huston Astros. But the Rockies lost 13 of the 19 games Guthrie pitched in and he ended up with a 6.35 ERA, 4.5 K/9 and a 3.1 BB/9 over 90.2 innings. In late April and early May, Guthrie also missed 15 games with a right shoulder injury. By June 20, the Rockies sent the struggling Guthrie to the bullpen as their long reliever, going with a four-man rotation. Guthrie rejoined the rotation July 4, but the Rockies lost three of the last four games Guthrie started before being dealt to the Royals.

In his first three starts with the Royals, Guthrie looked like a right-handed version of Sanchez, giving up 14 earned runs over 16.1 innings, 12 strikeouts and five walks, being pegged as the losing pitcher in all three games.

But the last two starts reveal a different Jeremy Guthrie. In a combined 15 innings, Guthrie hasn’t given up a run, earned or unearned and thrown 14 strikeouts and given up just two walks. And the teams he pitched against were the Chicago White Sox and the Oakland A’s, both teams who are in the thick of the playoff hunt.

Since the trade, Guthrie has a 4.02 ERA, 7.5 K/9 and a 2.0 BB/9 over 31.3 innings. Meanwhile, Sanchez has a 9.53 ERA, 6.1 K/9 and a 7.4 BB/9 over 11.1 innings. So far, it looks like the Royals got the better end of the deal.

So why the turnaround? A big part of it is Guthrie’s change of scenery. When Guthrie pitched at Coors Field, he had a 7.84 ERA and a 5.1 K/9 over 12 games in 59.2 innings pitched. When he was away from Coors Field, Guthrie had a 3.75 ERA and a 5.3 K/9 over 12 games and 62.1 innings pitched. Guthrie also gave up 15 homers at Coors Field compared to nine homers in other ballparks. And did I mention Guthrie is a flyball pitcher? That’s not a good thing in the rarefied air of Coors Field.

Kauffman Stadium is more of a pitcher’s ballpark and with the Royals good defensive outfield, Guthrie can afford to be a flyball pitcher. Lately, the Royals offense is improving, so that gives Guthrie and the starting rotation better run support.

Another factor is Guthrie’s attitude when joining the Royals. Sanchez always acted like he didn’t want to be with the Royals and his performance showed it. But Guthrie says the Royals were one of the three teams he would like pitch for and so far he’s displaying a good attitude.

But two good starts doesn’t mean Guthrie will continue his good run. And Guthrie isn’t going to turn the Royals 2012 season around by himself. These are the Royals we’re talking about, and starting pitching is still the weak link of the team.

Guthrie will be a free agent at the end of the year. If he has a good rest of the season, he could command more than his current $8.2 million salary. Would the Royals be willing or able to sign him, or will Guthrie go somewhere else for a bigger paycheck? And the Royals may believe they have better and more affordable in-house options and let Guthrie walk.

For a trade that seemed to be a wash about a month ago, Jeremy Guthrie is becoming a pleasant surprise. And with yesterday’s news of former Royal outfielder Melky Cabrera being suspended for 50 games for testing positive for testosterone, the Sanchez/Cabrera trade doesn’t seem too bad, especially with getting Guthrie out of the deal.

As if this Royals season hasn’t turned depressing enough, I took a look today at the original crystal ball from 1/1/2012. So much was possible then…

* Roy Oswalt was still a free agent

* Danny Duffy, Joakim Soria, and Felipe Paulino were all still in the mix

* Salvador Perez was expected to play a full season

* Eric Hosmer was still thought to be the savior

* Jarrod Dyson wasn’t expected to leave AAA

* Johnny Giavotella was expected to start at second base

* Mike Montgomery was still a real prospect

Looking at that list did something besides depress me though…it inspired me. It’s unreal that this team isn’t 30 games below .500 with the luck they’ve had. They are way overdue right? Let’s go back to the crystal ball and find out:

 July

• Jonathan Broxton is traded for 2 players we’ll either never hear from again or grow to hate. This opens up the closer’s role for Kelvin Herrera, perhaps the club’s best bullpen arm.
• Jeff Francoeur finishes the month on a tear, raising trade interest around the league. Dayton Moore refuses all trade offers and takes out a full page ad in the Kansas City Star to write an “Ode to Frenchy”.
• Lorenzo Cain gets a paper cut playing poker in the clubhouse and is immediately placed on the 60 Day DL. Wil Myers is called up to replace him.

August

• Eric Hosmer finally gets his batting average over .250 with a 4 hit, 2 home run performance against the Baltimore Orioles.
• As fans and the media clamor for Jake Odorizzi, Luke Hochevar “figures it out” with a 10 inning shutout in which he throws only 85 pitches. Hochevar credits his cutter, which he says he’s throwing more often.
• Jeff Francoeur hits .210 with no extra base hits and one RBI for the month. Dayton Moore tells him he’s proud of his effort.

September/October

• On the birthday of David Glass, fans assemble in the parking lot to celebrate, by boycotting his Royals. When parking lot attendants are unable to disperse the crowd, upper deck ushers are called in to use their notorious intimidation tactics.
• Jake Odorizzi finally joins the big league club and lasts 4 2/3 innings in each of his big league starts.
• Billy Butler hits home run number 37 to win the first game of a three game series against the Chicago White Sox. The Royals go on to win their next twelve in a row, costing themselves 4 spots in the draft in the process.

I am not saying the Kool Aid Drinker is giving up on 2012, the club may still have a Rockies-esque run in them. While this is obviously tongue-in-cheek, I don’t think there’s any chance at all the Frenchy gets traded. That probably means that another Cain injury is the only way that Wil Myers gets a call up before September.

As is usually the case in July inKansas City, next year offers much more intrigue, so I’ll leave you with my guesses on that:

Is there any chance the Royals acquire a front line starter? No

What does Dayton do with Wil Myers, Lorenzo Cain, and Jef Francoeur? Frenchy is here for the duration, Myers will have to beat out Cain.

Who really is the second baseman of the future? Chris Getz

Will any of the Royals pitching prospects ever experience sustained success in the majors? Not in 2013.

Do we ever see Joakim Soria in a Royals uniform again? Yes.

Do Danny Duffy and Felipe Paulino make it back by the All Start Break next year? Will they still be any good? Duffy comes back better than ever, after the break. Paulino is the wildest of wild cards.

ALL-STAR GAME MLB.COM FINAL VOTE SPONSORED BY FIRESTONE ENDS
Freese, Darvish outlast contenders to win roster spots on All-Star Teams; First-ever Twitter vote attracts strong fan support, trending topics during final hours

NEW YORK, July 5, 2012 – David Freese of the St. Louis Cardinals and Yu Darvish of the Texas Rangers were chosen by fans as the winners of the 2012 All-Star Game MLB.com Final Vote Sponsored by Firestone in online voting on MLB.com, the official website of Major League Baseball, the individual Club websites and Twitter, where designated player hashtags counted during the final four hours of balloting today.

The National League winner, Freese, topped all vote-getters with 8.4 million votes and was followed by Michael Bourn of the Atlanta Braves; Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals; and Aaron Hill of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Braves third baseman Chipper Jones was removed from the ballot after being named to the NL All-Star team.

On the American League ballot, Darvish will make his All-Star debut after holding off a furious final day charge from Jake Peavy of the Chicago White Sox with a final tally of 7.3 million votes. Darvish, the third rookie to win the All-Star Game Final Vote, and Peavy were followed by Jason Hammel of the Baltimore Orioles; Jonathan Broxton of the Midsummer Classic host Kansas City Royals and Ernesto Frieri of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

The All-Star Game MLB.com Final Vote Sponsored by Firestone concluded this year’s program with the first-ever Twitter vote as tweets with a player’s designated hashtag counted in his overall total. This effort drew a sustained average of more than 2,500 tweets per minute, highlighted by a peak of 8,881 at 3:59 p.m. EDT, and accounted for nine percent of the total votes cast during the four-hour window. The leading Twitter vote-getter was #VoteBourn, followed by #FreesePlease, #VoteYu, #TakeJake and #BryceIn12 in the top five. All of the leading contenders had their hashtags trending in the U.S. and worldwide and all nine candidates trended in their local markets, ultimately leading to 50 million total votes cast.

Here is the complete list of previous winners: Paul Konerko (AL, 2011); Shane Victorino (NL, 2011); Nick Swisher (AL, 2010); Joey Votto (NL, 2010); Brandon Inge (AL, 2009), Victorino (NL, 2009); Evan Longoria (AL, 2008); Corey Hart (NL, 2008); Hideki Okajima (AL, 2007); Chris Young (NL, 2007); A.J. Pierzynski (AL, 2006); Nomar Garciaparra (NL, 2006); Scott Podsednik (AL, 2005); Roy Oswalt (NL, 2005); Matsui (AL, 2004); Bobby Abreu (NL, 2004); Jason Varitek (AL, 2003); Geoff Jenkins (NL, 2003); Johnny Damon (AL, 2002); and Andruw Jones (NL, 2002).

The 83rd All-Star Game will be televised nationally by FOX Sports; in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and RDS; and worldwide by partners in more than 200 countries via MLB International’s independent feed.  Pregame ceremonies will begin at 7:30 p.m. (EDT)/6:30 p.m. (CDT).  ESPN Radio and ESPN Radio Deportes will provide exclusive national radio coverage of the All-Star Game.  MLB Network, MLB.com and Sirius XM also will provide comprehensive All-Star Week coverage.  For more information, please visit allstargame.com or royals.com/asg.

The hits keep on coming, but it’s not Eric Hosmer hitting into better luck. With left-handed starter Danny Duffy being out for the year due to a ligament tear in his elbow, the Royals suffered another injury to a key player. The Royals already lost closer Joakim Soria for the year to Tommy John surgery. Catcher Salvador Perez won’t be back until the All-Star Break recovering from a knee injury. Center fielder Lorenzo Cain is still recovering from a groin injury he suffered early in the season. Not to mention starter Jonathan Sanchez is on the DL with biceps tendinitis. These players were supposed to be a key part of the 2012 season and help make the Royals competitive. Instead, other players are filling the void.

With the loss of Danny Duffy for the year and Jonathan Sanchez out for a few weeks, pitchers Luis Mendoza and Vin Mazzaro are in the rotation. Mendoza and Mazzaro don’t inspire much confidence from Royals fans. But last Sunday, Mendoza pitched well, filling in for injured Duffy. And Tuesday night Mazzaro was unMazzaro like and pitched well enough against the Texas Rangers to win the game.

Mendoza and Mazzaro know they have a great opportunity to prove they belong with the Royals. But they need to pitch deep into games and keep the runs down if they have any chance to stay in the rotation.

Sometimes closer Jonathan Broxton makes the ninth inning more interesting than it needs to be. But in 15 games, Broxton has eight saves and until last night’s game with Baltimore, he’s held the opposing team scoreless with a 1.32 ERA. Many fans were surprised the Royals got Broxton in the off-season, but with the loss of Soria, it looks like a smart move.

Of course the Royals would prefer to have Salvador Perez behind the plate, but Humberto Quintero and Brayan Pena are holding their own. Interesting stats: before Wednesday’s game with the Baltimore Orioles, Quintero and Pena had the same amount of hits (15), doubles (6), RBI (7) and batting average (.238). Which mean they’re about the same player performance wise and one of them will be the backup catcher when Perez returns.

With Lorenzo Cain out since early April, Jarrod Dyson was plugged in to fill the void. After a forgettable two-game stint which sent him back to Omaha, Dyson was recalled a couple of weeks later and has done well in 18 games with a .304/.383/.362 average with 17 runs, 24 hits and nine walks. However, despite his speed, Dyson only has four stolen bases and was caught stealing twice.

If Dyson continues to play well, he presents the Royals with a dilemma when Cain returns. Do the Royals keep Dyson as the starting center fielder and put Cain on the bench or does Dyson go to the bench or Omaha and Cain becomes the starting center fielder? As long as Dyson plays well and the team is winning, the Royals will cross that bridge when they get there.

Despite all the injuries, the Royals are playing better baseball. And this is with Hosmer still struggling at the plate and Alex Gordon striking out more often and getting less hits and runs. On the positive side, Chris Getz and Alcides Escobar are playing well in the infield. The bullpen is pitching better and starters Bruce Chen and Paulino are pitching well.

It’s hard to forget the 12 game losing streak earlier this season, but fans have to be encouraged by the way the Royals are playing lately, despite all the injuries. Perhaps the team is playing up to their potential. Now the Royals need Eric Hosmer to be Eric Hosmer again.

Rejoice! The Royals won 8-2 against the Cleveland Indians Wednesday night, ending their 12 game losing streak. It’s a good thing, because if the Royals kept losing, who knows what would happen…

Alex Gordon found dazed and incoherent in the Royals clubhouse.

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May, 3, 2012: After losing their record setting 21st game to the New York Yankees, Royals coaches and officials were alarmed when they found left fielder Alex Gordon cowered in the corner of the Royals clubhouse, surrounded by empty bottles of Cherry RC and plates of half-eaten funnel cakes. Gordon was babbling incoherently and his mouth and face were coated in powdered sugar. Gordon leads the league with 42 strikeouts and seven face plants in left field while making defensive plays. Efforts to bring Gordon back to reality were unsuccessful.

"Yeah, we're a bit concerned about Gordo, but everyone handles adversity differently," said Manager Ned Yost. "We just need to wipe the powdered sugar off his face and he'll be ready for tomorrow."