Royals not getting results they coveted
Offseason expectations not translating on field
KANSAS CITY, MO. Maturing young stars. Fortified pitching. Fan-base buzz.
Somehow, it has added up to same-old, same-old for the Kansas City Royals.
The longest-suffering team in baseball — absent from the playoffs for 27 years and counting — is staggering to the end of May, a season of promise and expected progress sagging beneath the weight of a threeweek slump. Their offense dormant, third baseman Mike Moustakas and some of their other gifted youngsters struggling, the Royals have lost 18 of 22 games after Tuesday’s 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals and fallen within a half-game of last place in the American League Central Division. It’s the worst three-week stretch turned in by any team, in either league, this season. And it’s perhaps the most painful.
The Houston Astros and strippeddown Miami Marlins have worse overall records but are merely as bad as expected. The Los Angeles Dodgers have disappointed but went for a quick and expensive, sign-the-bignames fix.
The Royals, meanwhile, have tended carefully to a rebuilding plan launched seven years ago by general manager Dayton Moore, reinforced it with the offseason acquisition of James Shields and other front-ofthe-rotation starting pitchers and anticipated nearing a payoff.
But they are last in the AL with 28 home runs, including two in their last 13 games, and they averaged 3.4 runs during the 22-game slide.
“It’s still May. Anything can happen,” says left fielder Alex Gordon, hitting .333 and one of the few offensive bright spots. “I think a lot of people are trying to push the panic button already, and we’ve just got to stay clear of that.”
That and history. Not since 2003 have the Royals been at .500 or above beyond May 26.
“The city’s frustrated right now with where we are. We get it. We understand, trust me,” designated hitter Billy Butler says. “We just have to control our frustration, because us being frustrated is going to do us no good. We have to play relaxed, and we have to stay relaxed.
“We know the city wants to win. We want to win. ... We have the pieces, and we have to go do it.”