After a strong start to 2013, the Kansas City Royals ended last week losing a three in a row to the injury plagued New York Yankees.  The Royals finished the week losing six of seven and find themselves two games behind the first place Indians with a record of 18-16.

In the first edition of Royals Weekend Rundown, let’s recap the week that was shall we?

Best of the Week:  Alex Gordon

Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer deserve some credit for getting the monkey off their backs and belting their first home runs of the season (Moustakas hit three this week).  This still doesn’t top Gordon’s monstrous week in which he slugged three homers, scored five runs, drove in eight, and hit .393.

Ned Yost made perhaps his best move as Royals skipper by moving Gordon to the three-hole to generate more run production.  Right now he’s hitting .400 with a 1.108 OPS in that spot.

While the production is over a small sample size, its a testament to Gordon’s growth as a ballplayer and the Royal’s patience the last few years.  Look at the numbers from the two halves of his career to date:

2007-2010:  .244 Avg. / 45 HR / 161 RBI / .320 OBP / .404 SLG

2011-2013:  .301 Avg. / 43 HR / 187 RBI / .365 OBP / .482 SLG

Gordon has gone from the brink of receiving the dreaded “bust” and demotion to making a name for himself as a cornerstone player for the club.  If he keeps this up for another two months, I would be shocked if he isn’t selected to his first All Star team.

Worst of the Week:  Billy Butler and Alcides Escobar

One could argue that this should go to the entire Royals offense except for the aforementioned Alex Gordon.  The team hit an abysmal .233 this week averaging around four runs per game.

While Escobar and Butler don’t deserve all the blame, they stand out because they hit first and fourth in the order respectively and hit a combined .105 (6-for-57) this week.  No need to worry, I expect both will bounce back soon in the next couple weeks against weaker pitching.

The Road Ahead:  Go West Young Men…

Monday night marks the first of a 10-game road West Coast road trip starting in Anaheim against the soul-searching Angels.  The Halos begin the series with a record of 14-23 and have at least found some rhythm on offense.  However, their pitching staff is still a mess.  Kansas City will face Joe Blanton, Jason Vargas, and Barry Enright who are a combined 1-10 and could help the Royals heat up.  After the three game stint in Anaheim, the Royals head to Oakland for a three game set with the A’s.

Probable Pitchers vs. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim:

Monday at 9:05 CT:  Luis Mendoza (0-2, 6.38 ERA) vs. Joe Blanton (0-6, 5.66 ERA)

Tuesday at 9:05 CT:  Jeremy Guthrie (5-0, 2.28 ERA) vs. Jason Vargas (1-3, 4.26 ERA)

Wednesday at 9:05 CT:  Wade Davis (2-3, 5.86 ERA) vs. Barry Enright (0-1, 11.37 ERA)

Follow Adam Rozwadowski on Twitter @adam_roz

The St. Louis Cardinals, according to many sources, seem to be searching for starting pitching.

The one thing the team has made sure that everyone is well aware of is the depth of starting pitching in this organization.  If that is true, then why the search for another arm in the rotation?

According to Derrick Goold of The St. Louis Post Dispatch, it appears the team feels the need for more innings in the rotation.  The loss of Chris Carpenter, the concern over Jaime Garcia, and the unknown of what kind of workload the young arms can carry has the team willing to add a known “inning eating” commodity.  Most recently, that interest has shown in the Tigers Rick Porcello.

Should the concern be warranted?  Adam Wainwright is now two springs removed from Tommy John surgery and projected to be back to his normal self.  The Jake Westbrook trade and subsequent signing was based off of his ability to pitch a high number of innings.  The Cardinals have not had two pitchers with over 200 innings just once in the last 26 years, as pointed out by friend of the site Jon Doble.

Looking at trends over the last three years for the projected six men battling for the five spots in the rotation, the concern does come through.

Wainwright was injured the entire 2011 season, having a large impact on his three year average of 143 innings pitched.  If we remove the injury season and go back a year further, his average jumps up to 220 innings.  The concern is whether or not his arm can carry that load again, but for the sake of argument in this space, I give him the benefit of the doubt.  Innings Based On Average: 220

Westbrook was brought in to solve the issue of innings pitched.  Despite nagging injuries the last few years, he has approached the 200 inning plateau, though he has not reached it.  His 2010 season was split between the Indians and the Cardinals, but was still a productive one.  His average places him second in this discussion, though he is probably the number three man in the rotation.  Innings Based On Average: 187

Garcia, the wild card of the bunch, has seen injuries and ineffectiveness effect him during his major league career.  At times, he has been a dominant, top-of-the-rotation type pitcher.  At others, he has been sporadic and wild, projecting more at the back of the rotation.  Last season was the worst in his three year average, only producing a little more than 121 innings.  So far this Spring, it appears he has righted the ship and is back on pace to be a big part of this team.  Innings Based On Average: 166

Lance Lynn is a bit harder to project based on his limited exposure at the Major League level.  Many tend to forget that he was a starter during his minor league career, however, and the three year projection goes back to grab an entire year of starting at the Triple-A level.  His average is hurt by his time in the bullpen in St. Louis in 2011, but is still respectable for a guy entering his second year in a big league rotation. Innings Based On Average: 150

The final spot in the rotation will be left to either Joe Kelly or Shelby Miller.  Kelly is the easiest to examine in this conversation, thanks to his production filling in for Garcia last season.  His workload reached a peak due to the need for him in the big league rotation last year and leaves the Cardinals hopeful that he can repeat that performance but concerned that he may have pushed too hard, too soon.  It is also important to note that his 2010 season saw him work out of the bullpen in Class-A ball for a period of time. Innings Based On Average: 138

Shelby Miller has everyone buzzing.  He ranks as one of the top ten prospects in all of Major League Baseball and the team and fans are both excited to see what he can do on the biggest stage.  He gave everyone a glimpse of his potential at the end of last season.  He may be the biggest unknown in this situation and he may also offer a saving grace.  He projects as a top of the rotation starter and will be relied upon throughout his career and that time may come as soon as this season.  Innings Based On Average: 131

The ultimate equation that you would like to apply to an ideal situation is to break up the innings based on quality starts.  A quality start requires six innings pitched from the starter and there are 162 games in the major league season.  That puts most teams looking for 972 innings from their starting rotation in a perfect world.  The Cardinals rotation will fall well short of that goal based off of these projections. Innings For Rotation Based On Average: 854-861

That leaves the team about 110 innings short of where they would like to be.  The name that is driving the most attention right now is Rick Porcello, who’s three year average puts him at 183 innings.  Even if he was slotted to fill the five spot in the rotation, this gains the Cardinals around 50 innings.  A drastic improvement but not one that reaches their goal.

The Cardinals are relying on one of the pitchers in their rotation to overachieve their average and the addition of Porcello, or someone similar, to pick up the remainder of the balance.

Ultimately, the move may not be necessary but at the same time, it is not a bad one.  Assuming the team doesn’t have to part with any key components of the future, a trade for Porcello makes a whole lot of sense once you take a look at the numbers.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at i70baseball.
You can follow him on Twitter by clicking here.

KANSAS CITY, MO (November 20, 2012) — The Kansas City Royals announced today that the club has signed right-handed starting pitcher Jeremy Guthrie to a three-year Major League contract through the 2015 season.  Consistent with club policy, terms of the contract were not disclosed.

Guthrie, 33, went 5-3 with a 3.16 ERA in 14 starts for the Royals after Kansas City acquired him from the Colorado Rockies on July 20 in exchange for pitcher Jonathan Sanchez.  The Royals went 10-4 in his starts, including winning 10 of the final 11.  Guthrie personally ended the campaign on a career-best five-game winning streak.  He was 4-0 with a 2.17 ERA in his final 11 starts, posting the seventh-best ERA in baseball and the third-best in the American League from August 8 to the end of the season.  Guthrie especially enjoyed pitching at Kauffman Stadium where he posted a 4-2 record with a 2.40 ERA in nine outings.

A workhorse throughout his career, Guthrie last season fell just 18.1 innings shy of recording his fourth-consecutive 200-inning season and he has averaged 198.0 innings over his last five seasons.  Jeremy is 55-77 with a 4.28 ERA in 210 career appearances, including 183 starts, for the Indians (2004-06), Orioles (2007-11), Rockies (2012) and Royals (2012).

Guthrie and his wife, Jenny, reside in Pleasant Grove, Utah, with their daughter, Avery, and sons, Hudson and Dash Steven.

The Kansas City Royals roster is loaded with youngsters who were baptized by fire during the 71-91 campaign of 2011. Hopes were soaring high in September, as nearly every one of those pups seemed to be putting it together.

But for the team to take the next step to contention, nearly every one of those youngsters will need to improve on what he’s shown thus far (save perhaps Alex Gordon, who may not be able to improve on his great showing).

While improvement from the likes of Mike Moustakas and Alcides Escobar is essential, and while Lorenzo Cain and Johnny Giavotella must prove they can do it over a long haul, the biggest improvement is probably needed from pitcher Danny Duffy.

Duffy was given a crack at the starting rotation perhaps because the Royals realized no one could do worse than the starters they were running out to the mound.

Duffy was called up the day after Kyle Davies broke down in the first inning of a start against the Indians. What followed was legendary. Vin Mazzaro proceeded to give up an unthinkable 14 runs in just 2.1 innings of relief.

So the bar couldn’t have been much lower when Duffy joined the club. Still the jump from Omaha to KC was a big one. Duffy was rolling along with a 2.96 ERA and 84/19 K/BB ratio in 76 innings between Double-A and Triple-A. But the big leagues aren’t called “the big leagues” for nothing.

“It’s night and day. Everybody up here is up here for a reason,” Duffy said this off-season about the difference between the minors and majors.

Duffy went 4-8 in 20 starts, but he rarely gave himself a chance to pick up victories. When he wasn’t giving up big leads, he was racking up so many pitches that he had to be pulled early.

Duffy didn’t make it to the fifth inning five times. That means that in one of every four starts, Duffy didn’t even finish the fourth inning!

The rookie never led the team deep into games – he only pitched past the sixth inning three times.

For all his troubles, there’s no denying Duffy’s strike-out stuff. Armed with a mid-90s fastball and knee-buckling curve, the Royals believe Duffy doesn’t have to continue beating himself.

Former Royal pitcher and current broadcaster Jeff Montgomery, for one, sees hope for Duffy.

“Consistency will be the key for Danny,” Montgomery said recently. “It’s really important for him to go out and be a more consistent pitcher. He’s got to learn how to become more of a pitcher than a thrower.

“He’s got great stuff, great ability. If he’s able to capture that magic and learn how to get people out and that he doesn’t have to get everybody out himself, allow the hitters to get themselves out occasionally, he will improve.”

Montgomery seemed to see some of that kind of improvement in Duffy during the season. The former closer said recently that he saw Duffy trying to make the necessary changes as the season went along.

“One thing I saw in him last year that I was very impressed with was that every time he had a failure or a struggle, he made adjustments,” Montgomery said. “And it’s a system of adjustments that you have to make before you finally become a quality plug-in guy that you can go to every day.”

Duffy was just 1-4 at the All-Star Break, and he did improve with a 3-4 mark after the break. But the quality of his starts seemed to remain about the same. A closer look doesn’t exactly show that Duffy got better from the “adjustments” Montgomery alluded to.

Judging by a split of the first half and second half, Duffy didn’t really improve in two key areas – earned runs per inning, and walks per inning.

Duffy pitched 52 innings in the first half of the season. In that half, he gave up 28 earned runs and 25 walks.

In the second half of the season, Duffy was shut down after 53.1 innings. In the second half, he allowed 38 earned runs, while walking 26.

Duffy is not unaware of the fact that he didn’t get it done last year. He knows that he was allowed to stick in the rotation in spite of his dismal performance because the team was determined to let him grow into the role.

He said he’s been focused and disciplined in his effort to be better. He knows his big-league livelihood is at stake.

I think this off-season I’ve done everything I can to be what it takes to stay up here,” Duffy said. “I’ve watched a lot of video and I’m doing a lot of stuff, even in the mirror, with my delivery to improve. I just want to get out there and prove that I belong up here.”

Duffy may not have long to prove he belongs. Not in the starting rotation at least. He’ll most likely start there, but he might not stay there. He’ll have Mike Montgomery breathing down his neck, and Jake Odorizzi, Chris Dwyer and John Lamb not far away. Add those calling for Aaron Crow to be given a shot at starting, and there are plenty waiting in line, should Duffy continue to sputter.

But Duffy is trying to not let the pressure bother him.

“Everybody needs to have a progression in their career, and I feel like I’m getting to that point where I’m going to be consistent,” Duffy said. He admitted he’s aware of the talk about his struggles.

“I know there’s a lot of critiquing going on about my walks and my pitch counts, but I think this year I’m going to conquer that,” Duffy said. “I’ve really worked hard to get strong enough to repeat my delivery every pitch, and I feel that once you get that delivery repetition, you start putting the ball where you want.”

Duffy knows he’s not guaranteed the fifth spot in the rotation come spring. But he says he’s not going to get hung up on his role.

“I’m going to just fill in wherever they need me,” he said. “I can’t get ahead of myself. I’m just happy to be lucky enough to be a part of the squad.”

If you are not aware: The Detroit Tigers signed Prince Fielder a nine year, $214 Million contract this past week. Adding Fielder not only makes the Detroit Tigers the undisputed favorite to win the AL Central. It makes the divide between where the Kansas City Royals are, and where they need to be, to win the AL Central much greater than before.

The Tigers are just one of the Royals’ four divisional opponents. With the unbalanced schedule they will play each opponent 18 or 19 times. The divisional opponent I despise the most is dependant upon who is having the most success. In 2003 that team was the Twins. The Indians and White Sox have at one time been my most despised divisional opponent. Right now, I really don’t like the Tigers. Who ever the Tigers are playing 2012, I’ll root for them.

The Divide between the Tigers & the Royals might be bigger than this.

This is a new realization for me. Even last year when the Tigers won the division by 15 games I did not despise them as much as I despise them now. Maybe it was the horrendous 2003 season. Maybe it’s that the Tigers seem to draft a lot of players from Wichita State. Maybe, deep down I like the demeanor of their chain smoking manager Jim Leyland. I’m not sure why I had a soft spot for the Tigers until now. In fact the Royals Franchise should have a soft spot for the Tigers. After all, that 119 loss 2003 team is the only thing separating the Royals from being the WORST TEAM IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL this century! In the end the joke was on the Royals. The Tigers won the American League Pennant three seasons later. Meanwhile the Royals lost another 100 games, fired their general manager a week before the draft, and had a pitching staff so terrible an over the hill Scott Elarton was the Opening Day starter.

Because of Detroit’s separation from the rest of the AL Central I no longer have a soft spot for them. The White Sox and Twins have entered rebuilding mode. If the Royals are an improved team they should beat these two teams like a rented mule. I’m not sure I can feel sorry for them. Even there are repeated trips behind the woodshed. The Cleveland Indians are in the same place developmentally as the Royals. They might be ahead. They have already pulled the trigger for an ace pitcher to supplement their farm system. Something the Royals seem reluctant to do. If the Royals are ever going to make the playoffs they have to get through the Indians to do it. No love for the Indians, here.

This is how see the AL Central shaping up for the 2012 Season. The Tigers are miles head of the rest of the division. The Royals and Indians will fight for second and third. That is a fight the Royals need to win if they are going to seriously contend in 2013. The Twins and White Sox will be scrumming in the basement. I guess you could call it progress that the Royals are not being picked to finish last. Progress is good, but there is a great divide between the Royals and the Tigers. Dayton Moore and the Glass Family need to find a way to build a bridge.

The first post-season addition by the Royals was to collect Aaron Laffey off the waivers scrapheap.

Those hoping KC will add significant starting pitching help won’t bat an eye at this signing. But what does the addition of Laffey mean for the 2012 Royals, if anything?

Laffey was waived twice at the end of the season. Neither of those moves speaks well for the lefthander – he was let go by the horrible Mariners, then he was deemed unworthy of the late-season expanded roster of the Yankees.

But things haven’t always been so bleak for Laffey. His career started well enough. In 2007, at just 22, he went 4-2 as a starter for the Indians, and even pitched four scoreless innings of relief in a playoff game that fall.

Laffey spent two more full season with Cleveland pitching as a starter. His ERA and WHIP were decent. But he moved to the bullpen and soon his walks to strikeouts were about even, while his WHIP continued to climb.

At just 25, Cleveland gave up on him.

The Indians thought so little of Laffey, they traded him just prior to last season for an unknown minor leaguer. He pitched unspectacularly out of the pen for Seattle, until they let him go. The Yankees scooped him up for the playoff push in August. He was used sparingly and unceremoniously dumped before the playoffs.

Laffey has strangely gotten worse with every season. While his ERA in 2011 (3.88) was lower than his career ERA going into the season (4.41) he did pitch fewer innings than in any season before. His WHIP has, remarkably, increased every season.

Does that mean he offers nothing to the Royals?

Well, the Royals may hope Laffey can be an improvement over their lefty relief options from last year – Tim Collins and Everett Teaford. But Laffey’s typical numbers are not as good as what Collins and Teaford posted last season.

The one thing he does bring, however, is experience. Laffey has pitched in 126 games in his career, logging 373.2 innings. Collins and Teaford together combined for 111 shaky innings in 2011.

When Laffey was regarded as a top prospect, scouts liked his ability to induce ground balls with his offspeed stuff. Never overpowering – he traditionally allows better than three base runners per strikeout – Laffey will have to bring crafty situational stuff to the table to compete with Collins and Teaford.

Since the Royals will be reluctant to spend much money this off-season, Laffey will probably find a role in the KC pen. But if you asked Cleveland, Seattle and the Yankees, they don’t figure the addition will be of significance.

We’ll see if they’re right.

The 2011 season did not start the way Joakim Soria wanted it to.

Through April and May, he gave up 16 earned runs over 23 innings. He was 3-3 with 5 blown saves in 12 opportunities.

Nearly every Royals fan was calling for his removal from the closer role (or the entire team, in some cases). There was talk about trading him before his value went any lower, converting him to a starter, or possibly even demoting him.

Many said his career was over and that the Royals needed to start fresh with the younger, more exciting Aaron Crow.

Well, Ned Yost did end up giving Crow the closer role.

However, he made it clear that it wasn’t permanent and that he wanted Soria to work some things out as a middle reliever until he felt more comfortable on the mound.

He ended up pitching 5 scoreless innings in 3 games as a middle reliever, which was good enough for the Royals’ skipper.

Yost immediately gave Soria back the title as closer, which turned out to be one of his best decisions of the year.

Since that point, Soria only has 2 blown saves while giving up 11 earned runs in 35.1 innings. He has also had 41 strikeouts compared to 7 walks in that same time period.

These numbers might seem completely inaccurate to most Royals fans because it feels like he has been much worse over the past three and a half months.

The main reason for this is because his two blown saves since the 1^st of June were the two most heartbreaking losses for the Royals in that span.

The first of the two came on July 30^th against the Indians. The Royals gave Soria the ball with a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the 9^th. He gave up a sacrifice fly to tie the game and a walk-off 3-run bomb by Matt LaPorta to end it.

Then came the Tampa Bay Rays game on August 10^th. No Royals fan will forget this one, so there isn’t a need to go into great detail. Crow and Soria gave up 5 runs in the bottom of the 9^th to lose 8-7. It was the epitome of a heartbreaker for the Royals and their fans.

Other than those two games, Soria has been almost lights out. It’s hard for fans to see it, but he is back to his old self.

Wanting a trade or a role change for Soria needs to come to a stop. His first two months of this year were horrendous to say the least, but he has definitely regained his form.

Other than perhaps Greg Holland, Soria has been the most consistent pitcher for the Royals this year.

He is still the leader of the Royals’ bullpen and should continue to be as they make their push in the next couple of years.

A good closer is tough to come by, and the Royals have one in Soria.

It’d be a shame to mess that up as they get closer to becoming a real contender.

After their toughest stretch of the season (against the Yankees and Red Sox), the Royals hit the road for an easier slate of games (Blue Jays, Indians, Tigers). The road trip went okay, as they finished 5-5, but it easily could have went excellent as every loss was by one run.

They came back to Kansas City last weekend for a quick three-game series against the Indians and the first game of the series produced the same result: a one-run loss.

Going 5-6 in 11 straight games seems like something the Royals have been doing for the majority of the year. However, having all six losses come down to one run is extremely tough to take for the team and the fans.

Of the Royals’ 83 losses so far this year, 31 of them have been by one run.

Yep… 31.

They have grown accustomed to building an early lead and losing it, or counting on their offense to make a comeback in the last few innings.

As disheartening as these losses can be, there is light to be shed on the situation.

First off, the Royals’ Runs Scored(RS)-Runs Allowed(RA) Differential is sitting at -53 after 142 games. This isn’t a great number by any means, but it is definitely surprising considering their record is 59-83.

Last year, they were at a -172 RS-RA Differential after 142 games, with a 58-84 record.

This means two things: 1) The 2011 Royals are one game better in the standings than the 2010 Royals and 2) The 2011 Royals are much, much more competitive than the 2010 Royals.

With the plethora of rookies on the current roster, there is no doubt in my mind that the improvement is going to continue into 2012.

This year, the Royals have been experiencing a ton of growing pains. Whether it’s the rookies in the bullpen blowing leads or the rookie hitters going through 0-20 slumps, 2011 has been more of a learning episode than anything.

Next year, look for the bullpen to hold onto more of the one or two run leads. Look for Mike Moustakas to go on a 15-game hitting streak filled with doubles and home runs rather than singles through the hole at 1^st and 2^nd. Look for Johnny Giavotella to be kept in the game during the 9^th inning because he has improved his defense.

One-run losses are very frustrating when they are happening over and over. Nobody likes to lose, especially in that type of fashion.

Improvement has to start somewhere and being closer and more competitive in individual games is a great start.

As hard as these losses are to swallow this year, just know that they are actually stepping stones into much greater success in 2012.

Back in March I wrote an article previewing the month of July for the Royals. Since July is nearly complete I thought now would be a good time to review that article and see if I knew what I was talking about. Let’s get to it:

“The days are long and hot. It is the only month Major League Baseball has to itself on the sports calendar. If you are reading this, you probably like that. It is when most of America takes their vacations. In recent years it is when Royals fans begin taking their vacations from watching or listening to the Royals. They would rather listen to cicadas and think about Chiefs training camp, or their favorite college team.”

I have taken a vacation. The days are defiantly long, and we all hope it’s another 31 years before we see another summer this hot. The end to the NFL Lock-Out has cut short MLB’s time in the spotlight. It might re-emerge sometime in September. Overall, the Royals are where we thought they would be for the same reasons we thought they would.

“With the exception of Cleveland at the end, all of them are expected to compete for play-off spots in 2011”

Oops. This will make the third time I’ve mentioned this. The Royals need to get some wins against the Indians this weekend. They have cooled off since jumping out of the gate, but they are still contending for the division title. Collectively they are the same age as the Royals…except their starting pitching is decent. I don’t see any reason they won’t get better. As a Royals fan I’m worried and jealous of the Indians. Beginning the weekend with a 12-0 thrashing is a good start.

“July is when the much publicized prospects will likely be called up. I expect Mike Moustakas to be the first, followed by Mike Montgomery. Watching them develop will be a reason to pay attention”

And

“But if you haven’t noticed the Royals have a log jam of power hitting first baseman. I anticipate one of them being traded, along with Eric Hosmer making his MLB debut.”

It has not exactly gone down like this. Eric Hosmer was the first to be called up. Many of us were shocked by the timing of Hosmer’s call up. But, he’s done the best out of any of the prospects promoted. Mike Montgomery has turned it around lately, but has struggled most of the season at Omaha. Mike Moustakas destroyed PCL pitching while he was there. Since being called up he has struggled. However, he did show signs of life this week in Boston. Too bad the other power hitting first baseman mentioned in the March article doesn’t bring any trade value.

“The end of July is also the trade deadline. I love the trade deadline. You never know what might happen”

The trade deadline is fun if you’re a fan baseball in general. I’ve been a tad frustrated about what the Royals haven’t done at the trade deadline. I want some veterans out of here, and Lorenzo Cain, and Johnny Giavottella called up. But then I remember that each trade needs a trade partner. I can’t figure out a team that needs Frenchy, Melky, or Chris Getz who can’t find a better option on another team. And I wouldn’t wish our starting pitching on anyone. This leads me to believe the Royals are done for this trade season, and if they aren’t, it won’t be anything to get excited about.

“the Royals are .500….”

Pfffft!

“Finally, we all know there won’t be any football training camp to look forward to. So you might as well watch the Royals”

I’m glad to have been wrong on this statement. Baseball is my favorite sport, and the Royals are my favorite team. But I love the Chiefs and the NFL too and I’m glad that their CBA has been settled. Despite being hopelessly buried in last place I still get sucked in. Especially when they have a stretch like they have had in the last week. August through October is my favorite time of the year. There is a lot going on in the world of sports, and the weather and leaves turn to awesome. And for the first time in several summers the Royals have proven they can be interesting enough to be apart of that.

It’s been said that the Major League Baseball season is a grind. Night-in, night-out, day-after-day. I’m sure it gets old for the players and the ancillary support employees. But I’m not feeling sorry for them, not even the ancillary non millionaire employees. Would you rather have a real job? Or a real job that involves baseball on some level? I know which one I would choose.

Since I committed to blogging about the Royals once I week I’ve done a good job of coming up with stuff to write about. But now almost a third into the season it’s starting to feel like a grind. I’ve got some serious writers block, or if I’ve offended some of the formally educated writers, bloggers block. I have a few ideas marinating, but not enough time to do the necessary research before the deadline.

I have a few thoughts on this past weeks Royal’s action that I have not seen expressed by others. However, by themselves aren’t enough to write an entire blog entry worth anyone’s time. So I’ll just combine them like a potpourri:

-The Royals are 2-7 against the Indians this season. This is highly troubling to me as a Royals fan. The Royals are the second youngest team in the majors. The only team that’s younger is the Indians. It maybe true the Indians are a little ahead of the Royals in their development, and there are still pieces of the future down in Omaha. Strategically these teams are in the same place. These games haven’t been close. The Indians have throttled the Royals. If the Royals are to ever win this division they’re going to have to beat the current Indians team. They’re not going any where, and they will get better. The fact that the Royals young guys are getting beat by the Indians young guys is cause for concern. Look for this rivalry to develop a little more over the years.

-As Royals fans we’ve seen our share of losing. Not just losing, but embarrassing, comical, historically bad losing. The list of bloopers is so long I could probably write a whole post about it. But I’m not. And my favorite you can’t even quantify in a highlight real. I have a favorite blooper. Mainly because I was in attendance. On July 1st, 2005 against the LAA Angels David DeJesus and Angel Berroa batted out of order in the first inning. 2005 was also the year of the 19 game losing streak. Historical, pathetic, and embarrassing. I thought the dark days of 2005 were behind us. But this week the Royals brought us two more Yackety Sax moments in one week:

Vin Mazzaro’s 14 run performance against the Indians was the first. So bad it made not just national sports headlines, but national news headlines. You can blame Ned Yost for keeping him out there. You can blame Vin Mazzaro for being terrible. Either way it was an organizational failure that resulted in something so bad it had not been done before. However, there was some good news. Vin Mazzaro got Danny Duffy’s Nexrad Laptop, Mesonet, and barometer.

Photo Courtesy of Minda Haas

But the Royals weren’t done with the goofyness. During Wednesday’s game Jerod Dyson and Mike Aviles got picked off first as pinch runners in the 9th inning. Think about that. They were brought in to run bases, and got picked off. Two pinch runners being picked off in the same inning not happened since 1896. At least it’s happened before.

I can deal with some losing. After all, I still care enough about the Royals to watch, listen, and write. But is it too much to ask to not be historically terrible along the way?

-Finally, This weekend is the first round of the 2011 I70 Series. I kind of feel obligated to mention it…since it’s the title of the site and all. I have to admit. I vaguely remember the 1985 World Series as I was too young. All of my memories of that would be second hand, or after the fact. I did not catch on to the full ramifications of the Kansas City – St Louis rivalry until I moved to Kansas City in 2003. Growing up in Wichita I thought it was OK to root for the Cardinals as an NL Team. I quickly learned that liking both the Royals and Cardinals is sort of bad form in either city. In 2003 the Royals had their swagger back, and I attended 2 of 3 games at Kauffman Stadium. My brother and I ran our mouths to the St Louis fans and had a good time even though the Royals lost two of three in that series. I also remember the return series in St Louis ending with Mike MacDougal, yes that Mike MacDougal striking out the Great Pujols looking with a nasty 12-6 curve ball. Royals and Cards split the 2003 I70 Series. Since the Royals have been so bad since then I really haven’t taken notice of the series since then. But since leaving Kansas City…I still kind of root for the Cardinals, but don’t tell anyone.