Well so much for the offensive revival.  After the Royals out-slugged the Angels to take two of three, they finish the week at 2-4 after getting swept by the A’s.  Nonetheless, there’s a silver lining in all of this.  The club still sits at .500 and a few Royals hitters are mashing up the month of May.

Best of the Week:  Billy Butler

What a difference a week makes.  Big Old Country Breakfast bounced back from last week’s worst to this weeks best including a celebratory 5-for-5, 5 RBI night against the Angels.  Butler hit safely in five of six games this week and .480 overall (12-for-25) with a homer and 10 RBI.  As a result, Butler’s average has risen 45 points from .228 to .273.

He joins Alex Gordon, who deserves honorable mention this week, as the Royals two hottest hitters.  Gordon also hit .480 this week (12-for-25) and now has hit safely in 14 of 16 games in the month of May.  Gordon’s current .343 average ties him with Boston’s Dustin Pedroia for third in the American League.

Worst of the Week:  A-ced in Oakland

What hurts isn’t so much that they were swept by a struggling team, it’s how they lost.  The Royals led late in all three games, but ultimately dropped three straight one-run games.  The Royals bullpen, arguably the club’s biggest strength, blew two of those leads in the eighth including Sunday night’s thanks to a 403 foot blast by Yoenis Cespedes.

Kansas City’s bullpen still ranks third in the AL with a 3.07 ERA, so I believe this weekend’s sweep highlights the issue of their struggling offense rather than their pitching.  On paper, the Royals lineup is as deep as any in the AL including three players hitting over .300 in Gordon, Lorenzo Cain, and Salvador Perez.

However, the Royals still rank 13th out of 15 in runs scored (only the Mariners and White Sox have scored less).  A lot of the struggles derive from the lack of production from the heart of the order.

Butler appears to have turned things around, but Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas are in the midst of a serious slump.  They hit a combined 5-for-49 last week, a frightening .102.

The Road Ahead:  Eastbound and Down

Kansas City begins a three-game series with Houston on Monday night to wrap up the road trip.  Make no mistake, these are games the Royals have to take advantage of if they want to keep pace with Cleveland and Detroit.

They finished off the week with a four-game home series against the Angels.

Probable Pitchers at Houston Astros:

Monday at 7:10 CT:  Jeremy Guthrie (5-1, 2.82 ERA) vs. Dallas Keuchel (0-1, 4.82 ERA)

Tuesday at 7:10 CT:  Wade Davis (3-3, 5.98 ERA) vs. Bud Norris (4-4, 4.32 ERA)

Wednesday at 7:10 CT:  James Shields (2-4, 2.45 ERA) vs. Jordan Lyles (1-1, 6.63 ERA)

Probable Pitchers vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim:

Thursday at 7:10 CT:  Ervin Santana (3-3, 2.77 ERA) vs. Joe Blanton (0-7, 6.62 ERA)

Friday at 7:10 CT:  Luis Mendoza (1-2, 5.50 ERA) vs. Jason Vargas (3-3, 3.55 ERA)

Saturday at 1:10 CT:  Jeremy Guthrie (5-1, 2.82 ERA) vs.  TBA

Sunday at 1:10 CT:  Wade Davis (3-3, 5.98 ERA) vs. C.J. Wilson (3-3, 3.72 ERA)

Follow Adam Rozwadowski on Twitter @adam_roz

Lost in the roasting of Kansas City over the booing of Robinson Can0 was the sentiment that fans around baseball would not want to see Billy Butler compete in the Home Run Derby because they don’t even know who he is. If nothing else, after the heroic performance of the fans, at least no one can say that anymore. What’s more, it is about time. Time that Billy Butler get the recognition he deserves.

While the chances of Butler breaking Steve Balboni’s embarrassing home run record seem to be fading, he is nonetheless on pace to put together his most impressive season as  Royal. As of July 18, Butler was on pace for .300/32/100 while posting a career best 136 OPS in a lineup that has offered little in the way of protection. What’s more, Butler is well on his way to cementing his place as the best DH in Royals history and quite possibly the second best hitter in franchise history.

At 26 years old, Butler has already joined the Kansas City Royals all-time top ten in doubles (8^th) and RBI (10^th); he also has the fourth best career batting average (.297) and the fifth best OPS+ (121). Butler is under club control until 2015, and assuming he isn’t traded and maintains his pace of the last 2 ½ seasons, his totals will look something like this in October of 2015:

1510 hits- 6^th

351 doubles- 5th

165 home runs- 5th

751 RBI- 6th

510 BB- 5th

Not overly impressive until you think about the fact that he would still only be 29 years old. Considering that Butler is limited to the American League in terms of value, he’s not the type of power hitter that demands a huge contract, and he seems to genuinely enjoy playing in Kansas City, he could very well be the type of player we didn’t think we would see again; a great hitter to play his whole career in Kansas City. It’s foolish to say you can accurately predict what is career would look like if he did, but it’s hard to imagine that he couldn’t play at at least the same level from 26-33 as he has from 23-26. Let’s take a look at those numbers again, assuming he does:

2254 hits- 2nd

527 doubles- 2nd

249 home runs- 2nd

1123 RBI- 2nd

770 BB- 5^th

The point of this is not to project Butler’s stats over an entire career, but it is pretty easy to see that he could make a run at some incredible milestones. Ten years ago we were sure that the economics of baseball would keep us from ever having a member of the 3,000 hit club play their entire career for the Kansas City Royals, Butler could. Here are the hit totals of some of the more recent members of the 3,000 hit club at 26 years old:

Billy Butler- 864

Rafael Palmeiro- 805

Tony Gwyn- 770

Craig Biggio- 624

Wade Boggs- 531

It seemed even less likely that we’d see another Royal get 600 doubles in a Royals uniform, but again, at age 26:

George Brett- 211

Billy Butler- 198

Barry Bonds- 184

Paul Molitor- 147

Every player that has reached either one of those milestones, and is eligible for induction, is in the Hall of Fame except for Rafael Palmeiro. Billy could reach both, even without the expected surge in his performance over the next 3-5 years.  I guess I am okay with the rest of baseball not realizing what a great hitter Billy Butler is, but it would sure be a shame if there was one baseball fan in Kansas City that didn’t.

While we sit around and worry about not being able to sign the Hosmer’s and Moustakas’ of the world, let’s make sure we are celebrating #Country Breakfast, and keeping him around. While we lament the loss of Carlos Beltran, Johnny Damon, and Jermaine Dye, let’s consider that Billy Butler is a better hitter than any of them were through age 26.

You can argue until you’re blue in the face about whether booing Can0 was classless or small-time. I really don’t care even if you’re right. In my eyes it showed an appreciation of Billy that is long overdue, and hopefully the beginning of a love affair that lasts the next 10-15 years.

I have to admit I was a little surprised Billy Butler was the Royals representative for the 2012 All-Star Game (unless Jonathan Broxton is voted in as the Final Vote) instead of Mike Moustakas or Alcides Escobar. After all, Moose was getting a lot of deserving All-Star voting attention and Escobar is having an All-Star kind of year. But I shouldn’t be surprised Butler got the All-Star nod over Moustakas and Escobar.

One, Butler is having another good year, which is Billy being Billy. It’s easy to take Butler for granted because he’s consistently good. His batting average is at .290 and his on base percentage is at .366. He leads the team in slugging percentage at .500, home runs with 16 and RBI with 48. Yes, his defense is bad and Eric Hosmer is a much better defensive first baseman. But the designated hitter is an offensive position, and Butler is an excellent hitter.

Another reason why Butler was picked over Moustakas and Escobar was the makeup of the American League All-Star roster and fan and player voting. For third base, Texas Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre is a starter, voted in by the fans. Detroit Tigers third baseman Miguel Cabrera was voted in by the players, managers and coaches as a reserve. And compared to Moustakas, Cabrera is having a better year offensively, even if Moose’s defense is better than Cabrera’s.

As for shortstop, the Yankees Derek Jeter will be a starting A.L. All-Star shortstop until he retires. Cleveland Indians shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera was voted in by players, managers and coaches as a reserve shortstop. And Texas has a good shortstop in Elvis Andrus, who is one of the reserves picked by Rangers manager Ron Washington. In Escoabar’s case, he didn’t have the player votes Cabrera had, and it was natural for Washington to pick Andrus.

Three designated hitters are on the A.L. All-Star roster. Boston Red Sox DH David Ortiz, another fan favorite like Jeter, is having a good year and will start. Next is Butler, who was selected by Washington. Finally, the Comeback Kid, Chicago White Sox DH Adam Dunn, who was voted in by the players, managers and coaches.

Butler is a first time All-Star and a deserving one. Moustakas is having a great year, but Miguel Cabrera is having a better year and is better known among his peers. One could argue Escobar was snubbed, but the players were more familiar with Asdrubal Cabrera and voted for him. If the Royals had a better record and more national attention, Escobar would have had a better chance to make the All-Star roster.

There is one more chance for the Royals to add another player to the All-Star roster. Closer Jonathan Broxton is on the A. L. Final Vote ballot. As of this writing, starting pitcher Yu Darvish is leading the A. L. Final Vote tally. To be honest, I doubt a lot of Royals fans will vote for Broxton. Yes, he has 20 saves. But those saves didn’t come easy and when he’s on the mound, fans wish for the halcyon days of Joakim Soria.

It’s a little disappointing the Royals have only one player on the roster, since the game is being played in Kansas City. But the Royals brought this on themselves. If they were playing better, there would be more Royals on the All-Star roster. The best way to get more players on an All-Star roster is the win the American League Pennant. For the Royals, let’s hope that’s sooner than later.

It’s that time again, for the monthly article devoted to the Kool Aid Drinker. Originally, the Kool Aid Drinker wanted to run down his most boo-able Kansas City Royals at each position, but then I thought that might confuse some people. I have clearly presented the Kool Aid Drinker as an overly positive Royals fan that is predicting big things for the club, so talking about booing Royals doesn’t seem like his style right? Wrong. That bit of foreseen confusion led me to this, the Kool Aid Drinker’s Manifesto:

First and foremost, the Kool Aid Drinker is not just in me. There is a little bit of him in everyone that still considers himself a Royals fan in 2012. Every true fan that believed in Bob Hamelin, Mike MacDougal, and Angel Berroa…amongst others. I cannot imagine you could still be a fan of this team after 20 some years of futility without having a little unreasonable optimism in you.

While it is quite obvious that the Kool Aid Drinker loves his Royals, it should be mentioned that he is not above becoming disenchanted with those who do not live up to his lofty expectation, especially if their effort or desire seems to be lacking in any way. Ricky Blownsavico, Pop Up Perez, and Odalis “grasa pedazo de caca” Perez are just a few players that have felt his wrath. The Kool Aid Drinker is a very vocal fan, in good times and in bad.

As you can probably tell from above, the Kool Aid Drinker loves nicknames. But not Trey Hillman type nicknames. Getzy? Gordo? C’mon. He expects creativity like Country Breakfast, The Pain Killer, and The Dominator. Sometimes the Kool Aid Drinker latches on to main stream nicknames, and others he creates his own. But you will not hear him calling Jonathan Sanchez “Sanchy” any time soon.

The Kool Aid Drinker is fairly old school, especially when it comes to stadium behavior. If there is something exciting going on and you are behind him you are expected to stand; don’t ask him to sit on his hands. While he believes that there is no place for vulgarity in the stadium, he will absolutely heckle an opposing player if given a reason, mercilessly at times. I say fairly old school because he does not hate the amusement park in left field or people that start the wave. If you’re there to cheer on the Royals, we are all on the same side.

The Kool Aid Drinker hates the New York Yankees and the St. Louis Cardinals. He doesn’t care much for their fans either, especially the ones that live in KC. He believes that Yankees fans living in KC are generally bandwagoners who know little about the game. He thinks that the “Greatest Fans in Baseball” are probably the ones still coming out to the K after 26 years of losing baseball, and not some “Nation” of bird watchers that are so absolutely “informed” and “polite,” yet they blindly cheered for one of the most obvious steroid users of our generation without even a hint of remorse. (Mark McGwire, not Albert Pujols.) He also likes to goad these fan bases into ridiculous arguments that even he knows he can’t win with logic, like telling them it is okay that they lost the 43 year old Pujols because he’d rather have Eric Hosmer in 2012 anyway…or that new video evidence clearly shows that Denkinger got it right.

The Kool Aid Drinker is not thrilled with bandwagon fans, but he welcomes them all the same. There’s plenty of Kool Aid for everyone, especially in 2012. Unless, of course, they are in the above mentioned categories and just trying to hedge their bets. In fact, the Kool Aid Drinker wants to take this moment to invite anyone who reads this to jump on board right now. I’m not ready to make my final projections, but you can see what I think about the first half of the year here. It’s going to be an amazing ride in 2012, with youth developing into greatness and the eyes of the world on Kansas City in both July and hopefully October. It is “our time” Kansas City–for winning, for championships, for Kool Aid.