MLB Team Outlook: Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals have been a disappointment this season as they have failed to make a mark on the circuit with dreary performances throughout the year. They have failed to impress after a decent start and the main factor behind this has been their
inability to adapt to other conditions.
The Royals have played 60 games on the road this season and have managed to win just 20 of them while 40 results have gone against them. They have a winning percentage of just .333 on the road and this has not helped their cause this season.
At home games, however, the Royals have done a decent job and have lost just four more games than they have on. In a total of 70 games, Kansas has prevailed in 33 games while 37 decisions have gone against them. In total, the Royals have won 53 games this
season with 77 losses looming their win-loss record for a winning percentage of just .408.
The Royals are drawn in the American League Central division and despite no fierce competition in the division; the Royals are placed last due to their inability to perform against the bigger teams. They have been able to amass 563 runs this season but have
failed to restrict the opposition from scoring runs and have leaked a total of 628 runs so far in the season. This lacklustre performance has placed them 17.5 games behind Detroit Tigers and at least 2.5 games behind Minnesota Twins who are first and fourth
in the AL Central respectively.
A decent batting side in general, the Royals have the sixth-best batting average in the Majors this season and are the ninth-best when it comes to on-base percentage. Melky Cabrera and Alex Gordon have the standout performers on the plate and their statistics
are worthy advocates of their performance.
Cabrera has a batting average of exactly .300 this season and this is the best in the line-up by a significant margin. He has bagged 76 runs amid 160 hits this season and has illustrated his usefulness to the side with 74 RBI efforts thus far. Cabrera has
not stayed behind in smashing home-runs and has already hammered 16 of them. This number is expected to increase as the season progresses and the Royals play more for personal glory than for a postseason spot.
Gordon has produced more runs than Cabrera in lesser at-bats but has not been able to take the lead in RBIs. He has 82 runs against his name which include 17 well-struck home-runs. The Royals would want to be proactive in their approach and start building
a strong line-up around these two batters for a better result next season.
Royals’ bull-pen has not been able to produce its best from the mound this season. Aaron Crow was expected to be a formidable force deep in the game but he has been ordinary. Jeff Francis and Luke Hochevar are the most notable pitchers in the rotation and
their records of 4-14 and 8-10 are self-explanatory of how dull their performance has been.
The Royals played to back-to-back series against the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox in August but their poor showing reiterated their failure against formidable sides. This needs to be fixed sooner than later if a good performance is an aim for
the next campaign.
Note: Stats included in the feature are as on August 24, 2011.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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