By Seth Herrold
For months now Royals fans have been told that if they just wait until the young talent gracing one of the best farm systems anyone has seen in a long time gets to the major league level, they will have a winner to cheer for. But nobody ever threw out the possibility that the Royals could be winners before the talented young group gets to the big leagues. There is no Mike Moustakas or Eric Hosmer in Kansas City but, at 4-2, the Royals are winning.
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It is still very early in the season, and the Royals do have a lot of problems, but they have shown something synonymous with winning teams – resiliency. The Royals have a group of guys who never believe they are out of a ballgame and that is something I personally haven’t ever seen in Kansas City, save for April of 2003. When Chicago jumped out with four runs in the first inning of Tuesday’s game there was no panic, there was no giving up. The Royals fought back and, as they had done in their previous three games, they won the game in the end. On Wednesday, when Soria blew a save with two outs and a three-run lead in the ninth, the Royals again showed their resiliency. The came back and tied the game, forcing extra innings. They eventually lost, ending one of the more memorable winning streaks the Royals have had in a good long while. But the way they always find a way to extend the game is a great sign.
What is to say this team won’t collapse like that team in 2003 did?. What if this is just a flash in the pan start like 2003? Well I have seen things that look promising.
For one, even without the wave of prospects, I think this year’s team has a much more talented lineup. There are three strong bats in the lineup (Alex Gordon, Billy Butler and Kila Ka’aihue), surrounded by a slew of other guys who could step up at any moment to be a hero. In 2003, there was one strong bat, Carlos Beltran, surrounded by the other guys. Mike Sweeney wasn’t bad in the 108 games he actually played. You have to have more than one player that can hit consistently to keep the team winning because the other guys, as heroic as they may be at times, are not going to give you those dramatics night in and night out.
This year’s team also appears to have the strongest bullpen the Royals have had in a very long time. Now I say this the day after two-time all-star Joakim Soria blew a save, but the results have been there. Young guys like Aaron Crow, Tim Collins and Jeremy Jeffress are a huge improvement over the guys that were there just one year ago.
Finally, the defense is a lot better, with the exception of Mike Aviles at third base (more on him in a minute*). The addition of Alcides Escobar at shortstop, Kila playing first instead of Butler, a healthy Chris Getz at second base and Jeff Francoeur and Melky Cabrera in the outfield have made this team an impressive one to watch in the field. Outside of Aviles, the errors are down and some highlight reel worthy plays have been made by the boys in blue, who are usually more likely to pop up in the bloopers reels.
* Mike Aviles. He plays a vital role for the Royals as the lead-off batter and the third baseman in the field. Through five games Aviles has three errors. His play in the ninth on Wednesday, where he dove to stop a ball and had it kick off his glove, was not counted as an error, but it led to the blown save. It appeared Escobar had a play on the ball before Aviles dove to knock it down. As bad as he has been in the field, he has been worse at the plate. Aviles was the last out in yesterday’s loss, capping a 0-for-7 day at the plate. He is now hitless in his last 15 at bats and is just 2-for-26 on the season. He is hitting .115 and has a .179 on-base percentage. That is the guy who is batting first for the Royals.
I feel like Escobar would be a much better lead-off hitter. In one game as the Royals’ lead-off man, Escobar was 2-for-5 with an RBI and a stolen base. He has better speed than Aviles and hits much better.
So, while there are some areas that need to be changed or fixed, I feel this team is better than the 2003 team and if they are, that will provide the fans with something to cheer for before the prospects hit the big league level. If this run has proved anything it’s that this is a fun team to watch. Why wait to win Kansas City; you have a team that can do it right now.