Five Takeaways from the first half of the Royals season.
- Brock Gorton
- Jul 26, 2022
- 5 min read
As we are halfway through the 2022 MLB season our beloved Royals are currently sitting at 36 and 56 on the year. 5th in the AL Central only 13 games out of first place in the division and 13.5 games back of a Wild Card spot. But don’t jump for joy at that just yet as the Royals have 5th worst record in the MLB. One game behind the division rival Detroit Tigers. So let us look at five takeaways from this season so far and see what light there is if there is any.
Number 5 The Rollercoaster of Pitching
At the beginning of the year, you would have been hard-pressed to find a Royals fan who thought Lynch, Bubic, and Kowar would have become dumpster fires, and yet here we are. 5.05 for Lynch, 5.87 for Bubic, and a whopping 8.80 ERA for Kowar. Those aren’t even the highest on the team those would go to Hernandez (9.09) Griffin (12.46) and Jake Brentz who has been an anchor in the wrong way this year with a 23.63 ERA. Thankfully there have been successes like Brad Keller, Zack Greinke, and Brady Singer to start games. With veterans like Barlow, Staumount, Clarke, and Coleman coming out of the pen. And the surprising rise of guys like Jose Cuas, Gabe Speier, and Daniel Mengden It’s safe to say the pitching still needs tons of work, but as Angel Zerpa has shown this year already the Royals pitching may not be that far off yet.
Number 4 A Cold Beginning
With spring the thoughts of warmth from the sun as the flowers and trees burst with color, animals come out of hibernation and populate the world. The Royals instead remained cold and asleep throughout April and May. Only amassing 16 wins through the first two months. The culprits? Bad pitching and the bats not being what they were last year. A cold Whit Merrifield coupled with an injured Salvy made for a rough time at the dish, not to mention Carlos Santana and Ryan O’Hearn getting plenty of at-bats to start the year. A complete 180 as to how the Royals started the year last where at one point, they had the best record in baseball before coming crashing back down to earth. A decent June and a strong start to July have them looking like they may have righted the ship slightly, but it is doubtful they can shake off the cold of April and May.
Number 3 The Revolution is Growing
Some common themes have populated the Royals' season this season. The dumpster fire is some parts of the Royals pitching staff and the wonder boys in Omaha and NWA not getting called up (more on them in a minute). Both of which have not been lost upon some of the Royal Kingdom. Which has prompted some of the fan base to become enraged at the names of some men in KC. Dayton Moore the long-time General Manager of the team, and Mike Matheny who is in his third year at the helm have not endeared themselves to the fan base in the slightest (coming over from the Cardinals after you were run out doesn’t help), and a man who’s named can trigger Royals fans from all over Cal Eldred the pitching coach for the team. All three of these men have been ridiculed for their mistakes, blunders, or ineptitude. Look no further than in the replies of any Royals tweet after a loss, transaction, or video. Either fire Eldred, Mike can’t manager, or clean house tweets can be found. This was the way things are now before the call-up of The Italian Nightmare the fans under each tweet would clamor for him or Nick Pratto. It got so bad at one point that people me including were tweeting French revolution pictures, gifs, and other items in the Royals’ mentions and replies. This has calmed down slightly in recent weeks, but it still shows that the fan base has grown more and more restless in recent years.
Number 2 A Broken Foundation
As mentioned earlier key veterans for the Royals have struggled this year. Whit, Taylor, Salvy, and Hernandez among others have had disappointing first halves to the season. Whether it’s been injuries, slumps, or coming back down to earth. The key players the Royals were counting on to start the year have vastly under preformed and underdelivered. Only Andrew Benintendi has improved from the past season. Barlow and Staumount pitching only as well as they can for this team. All of this was amplified in the final week of the season. When ten members of the Royals roster couldn’t make the trip to Toronto to face the Blue Jays in a four-game series due to them not meeting Canada’s vaccine mandate, of those ten were Michael A Taylor, Andrew Benintendi, Whit Merrifield, Hunter Dozier, Kyle Isbel, and Cam Gallagher. All veterans were either on the trading block or the chopping block. The core of the Royals team. A core that has been shown to have been rotten. A broken foundation is in dire need of repairs from trading some off and cutting bait on the others. A brush fire to clear the weeds out so something beautiful may indeed grow.
Number 1 Let the Kids Play
At the end of Spring training when the Royals broke camp great fanfare with the next golden boy of the franchise joining them in Kansas City. Bobby Witt Jr. From the moment he took the field at Kauffman Stadium he showed why he was the first-round draft pick. The number one prospect in baseball. In his first MLB game, he had the go-ahead RBI single to give the Royals the victory. The following game he flashed the leather to make a great defensive play at the plate to save a run. He currently leads the team in home runs. Shortly after he made his debut another Wonder Boy from Omaha made his debut. MJ Melendez. Originally joining the team while Cam Gallaher was injured MJ quickly made his presents felt as he shined in his role as DH and catcher which made it impossible to send him back up north to the Storm Chasers. The call-ups would not be done just yet however as the man, the myth, the legend, the Italian Nightmare would finally be called up to the Majors. The heavens and fans would rejoice at this news. While he has not been the world-beater that many hoped he would become he has still done better than what some feared he may become. With three home runs so far in his not even month-long MLB career the future looks bright for the youth the Royals have on display. And when the ten Royals couldn’t play in Canada, they called up ten to replace them. And those ten shined like no one could have imagined. Angel Zerpa pitched a picturesque game for the game one win. Nate Eaton homered in his first game for his first MLB hit. Michael Massey and Nick Pratto Shined as well. Shows the Royals’ future is in good hands in the coming years. Singer led the young pitchers and Witt and Melendez led the young hitting core. It shows that the Royals need to let the kids play. As Royals need to look toward the future instead of playing to the whims of the past. The fans are excited about the future and the World Series seems so far away now.
And there you have five takeaways from the first half of the Royals’ season. For more of a breakdown on the Royals season tune into Big Time Talkers every Wednesday here at B-Card Entertainment. You can follow me on Twitter@Brockgorton99.
Comments