I haven’t been able to write much on the blog since the start of teacher reporting. I am also starting a new position at a new school, which has left less time for posting on this site (and “Farm to Fountains”). I hope that in a couple of weeks, I’ll be more settled and thus able to write more in-depth posts like before. Thanks for being patient and following this blog.
That said, I wanted to share some quick thoughts about the Cardinals’ series at Kauffman this weekend and the upcoming series against the Twins at Target Field, which starts Monday.
Playoff Vibes at Kauffman Stadium Against St. Louis
The “I-70 Series” is always the most attended series at Kauffman Stadium every season, beyond Opening Day. Since moving to Kansas City, I have been to my fair share of Royals-Cardinals games at the K. They have tended to be depressing affairs, especially with Cardinals fans typically outnumbering Royals fans by a significant margin.
As expected, the Royals-Cardinals two-game series on Friday and Saturday was another “packed” affair. However, this season, the Royals split the series against their eastern Missouri neighbor in sensational style.
The Royals took three of four from the Cardinals this season, as they also swept St. Louis at Busch Stadium in early July. It is the first time the Royals have won the season series over the Cardinals since 2016, which Joel Goldberg of Bally Sports pointed out after the Royals’ 8-3 Saturday win.
Kansas City only played four games against the Cardinals this year, a product of the modified schedule that limits Interleague rivalries to only four games in a given season. Nonetheless, there were a lot of positive takeaways from the “I-70 Series” this year, especially from over the weekend.
The first thing that stands out is that the Royals will contend for a playoff spot.
The club bouncing back on Saturday after a rough 8-5 Friday night loss shows the resilience and growth of this young squad. It’s easy to focus on the frustrating bullpen situation, which got better after the Trade Deadline but still is far from the “HDH” squad Royals fans fondly remember from 2013 to 2015. That said, the Royals starting pitching will continue to keep this club in games, with Michael Wacha’s standout performance against his former club being a prime example.
The Royals have a stupendous 1 through 4 in the rotation with Cole Ragans, Seth Lugo, Brady Singer, and Wacha. While the No. 5 spot is far from a sure thing, the combo of Michael Lorenzen and perhaps Alec Marsh, who’s been looking better in Omaha lately, gives Kansas City the depth they need for a playoff run in August and September.
The bullpen may not be the most profound or most dependable bunch. However, suppose this rotation can continue to churn out quality starts. In that case, Royals fans can feel good about only 1 or 2 other relievers going to finish out games, especially with new reliever Lucas Erceg being the flamethrower that the Royals needed.
In addition to the strong starting pitching, the Royals’ offense seems to be coming into its own. They currently rank 8th in batting average, 6th in runs scored, and 12th in OPS. That’s a big reason why the Royals have won 65 games this season, nine more than their total from 2023.
The Royals lineup has a “pick me up” quality that helps them compete daily, even if it’s hard to determine who “exactly” will be the key performers in a given game. Hunter Renfroe has cooled off over the past couple of weeks. However, Vinnie Pasquantino, Kyle Isbel, Maikel Garcia, and MJ Melendez stepped up at this homestand, especially over the weekend.
The unpredictable nature of the Royals’ offense can be frustrating for fans, especially against mediocre starting pitching (which we saw in the Red Sox series). That said, Bobby Witt, Jr.’s presence has been the stabilizing force for this Kansas City lineup.
Witt is having an “MVP-like” season, and it’s getting harder for the national media to ignore it, even with Aaron Judge of the Yankees as the favorite.
The Royals offense isn’t just Witt. Conversely, without Witt, I am not sure the Royals are a much better lineup than we saw from 2018 to 2021. Without Witt and his MVP production, Kansas City certainly wouldn’t be 65-53 as of August 11th.
In all honesty, they probably would be barely above a 65-win team.
That should matter not only in the AL MVP race but also in the race for a spot in the American League postseason.
Kansas City can be tough to beat when Witt produces multiple hits and RBI, as Royals and Cardinals fans saw on Saturday.
Can the Royals Solve the Twins Riddle?
The Royals have handled the AL Central division well in 2024. They are 12-1 against the White Sox, 7-3 against the Tigers, and 4-2 against the Guardians.
The Twins, though, have been a different story. The Royals are 2-5 against Minnesota this season.
The Royals have been competitive against the Twins this year, outscoring them 32-27 (though an 11-0 win at the K in the third game of the year is a significant contributor to that positive run differential). However, the Royals’ struggles against the Twins have been an issue for the club beyond this season.
In 2023, Kansas City went 4-9 against Minnesota. In 2022, the final season of the old schedule model, they went 7-12. The Royals have found some success against the White Sox, Tigers, and Guardians over the past three years. The Twins, though, have been the Royals’ kryptonite.
The Royals lost three of four in their first series against the Twins at Target Field in late May. It looked like a turning point for both teams at the time. The Twins seemed to be pulling out of their early-season funk, while the Royals were still going through some “growing pains” after losing 106 games in 2023.
However, the Royals didn’t go away until nearly three months later. Furthermore, the Twins may be in second place, but they seem to be in trouble roster-wise. They didn’t add much at the Trade Deadline, and Joe Ryan, who’s been a “Royals-killer” in the past, is currently on the IL and could miss the rest of the season.
Additionally, the Twins only split at home this weekend against a Guardians team that lost seven in a row and had relinquished a sizeable amount of their once massive lead in the AL Central. That is a bit of a gut punch for a Twins team that could’ve been back in the lead by the middle of this week if they had swept Cleveland at Target Field.
Thus, the Royals must take advantage of the Twins’ recent struggles in Minneapolis over the next three days. A series win in Minnesota, followed by another in Cincinnati, could launch Kansas City past the Twins and perhaps even the Guardians when they return to the K on August 19th.
Kansas City has been looking for that statement series win. Over the past two weeks, they missed that opportunity against Boston, the Cubs, and the Diamondbacks. The split was appreciated against St. Louis, but it still wasn’t “exactly” the statement Royals fans wanted, especially those who are dubious that the Royals can beat “good” teams (i.e., ones above .500).
Winning two of three, at the very least, against the Twins in Minneapolis helps quiet those naysayers a bit…
It also helps them climb up a bit in the AL Central, which is much-needed, with a massive road series in Cleveland looming at the end of August.
Photo Credit: Reed Hoffmann/AP