That’s What Winning Do

Thank you, Kansas City Royals.
Just when this city became engrossed in what worthless Mel Kiper thinks of the Chiefs’ draft picks, the Royals stopped a 6-game skid and swept the Minnesota Twins.
That’s what winning do. (Thank you and get well, Jarrod Dyson)
Now, sports radio hosts in KC have to go back and watch the games, trying to speak from the “insiders” point of view.
“At least for another month,” they whisper to themselves. “They’ll surely collapse by then.”

***

Could you feel that sinking feeling? I could.
When the Royals embarked on a 6-game road trip on April 22nd, hopes were high. This team could be a contender, I thought. Who knows what will happen? Will they be alive in June? July?
Then, thud.
Every little thing the Royals had been doing poorly began to show. The Rangers and the (suddenly red-hot) Indians made them pay.
But, listen. We are a better team. We have a little pop in our lineup (in the middle of the major leagues in homers; Twins are last) and are leading the American League with a .274 batting average.
We have some speed (including Jarrod Dyson until he sprained his ankle today). The Royals lead the AL with 35 stolen bases.
Yeah, I’m talking about those guys with the interlocking “KC” on the cap.
There’s been some bad too, including a 4.48 team ERA and 101 walks allowed (2nd highest total in the AL), 35 home runs allowed (worst in the AL) and 21 errors (8th worst in the AL).
We got away with some of that in this Twins series. Sean O’Sullivan walked seven in game two and we got away with it. But, we’re not going to always get away with it.
Jarrod Dyson is fast. It was amazing when he tagged up on a fly ball to shallow left field in Friday’s game — and scored.
But, he’s no superman.
While we all love hustle, smart hustle is better. Hopefully, he recovers because he’s a weapon.
The bottom line is that the good teams will make us pay.

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Sunday Notebook: No More Lima Time

I was saddened to hear about Jose Lima’s death (STORY). I didn’t know much about him outside of his stints here in Kansas City, but by all accounts, he was an extremely fun guy. Age 37 – wow.

• • •

Zack Greinke struggled mightily against the Rockies, giving up seven earned runs in just 3 1/3 innings on the mound. The outing sent his ERA skyrocketing from 2.72 to 3.57.

You don’t see Zack struggle that bad very often. Is he pressing too hard because of the lack of run support? The Royals put up goose eggs while he was in the game, scoring their 7 runs after he left.

You can tell outside of the new manager winning spell the Royals just experienced that this team still has problems.

• • •

The Kansas City Star had a great article by Sam Mellinger (STORY) about the Royals’ prospects in the minor leagues, specifically the group at Double-A Northwest Arkansas. Even though the Dayton Moore era hasn’t been any better than the Allard Baird or Herk Robinson era, only time will tell. If these prospects flounder when they wear big league uniforms, we have even more problems.