Year Two of the Matt Quatraro tenure. Time to take a step up this year. Active in free agency and trades this offseason. A new look pitching rotation and bullpen. Will the young players take the leap up offensively? Bobby Witt extension? New stadium? Will Vinny recover from injury? Salvy taking aim at the Royals record book? Will Cole Ragans turn into the best Royals starting pitcher since Greinke 1.0?
Free Agents/Trades Acquisitions
Seth Lugo, SP
Michael Wacha, SP
Kyle Wright, SP
Hunter Renfroe, OF/DH
Will Smith, RP
Chris Stratton, RP
Nick Anderson, RP
Adam Frazier, 2B
Garrett Hampson, INF/OF
Matt Sauer, RP [Reply]
I’ll be at the Rockies series next weekend. Meeting my dad who’s coming in from KS (keeping him on an 8oz of beer pitch count while I go full Matt Stairs) and looking forward to seeing Coors Field for the first time along with some fireworks [Reply]
Originally Posted by Why Not?:
I'll be honest and say 6-5. That would be a great pace to stay on the rest of the season so it's not negative but I do think the road struggles are real. I will break it down like this:
Take 2 out of 3 from Tampa
Take 2 out of 3 from Colorado (honestly this is the series I worry about maybe the most. Don't want Ragans and CY Lugo being neutralized by that shitty atmosphere)
Split with the Cardinals
Lose 2 out of 3 to Boston.
Hit the AS break what, 9 games over .500? Sets up nicely to make a run.
I'd be totally fine with 6-5. I just have this feeling we're gonna either sweep Tampa or Colorado, and possibly both.
We've played exceptionally well at home all year, and I think we match up well with Tampa. And the Rockies... well... they're pretty, pretty bad, and how ever that mile high air might affect our pitchers, it will affect CO's as well, and they're pitching is wretched at every turn.
Cardinals have finally gotten back to playing good baseball, but I still think they're a good matchup for us. I think we either split, or take both.
Boston is also back to playing good baseball and winning some games. But we should have Ragans and Lugo going in that series, with Lugo being a fucking road warrior. I think we win at least one in Boston, and a good chance for two.
But we gotta get a bit of road mojo happening. The hitting splits are fucking crazy, good thing Colorado and Boston are both a couple of places that are hitter friendly, which I think could help. [Reply]
Originally Posted by GabyKeepsMeWarm:
Yes, yes and yes.
And that 12-15 record could've easily been the other way around with a little luck here and there. Our record is still underperforming our pythag, which is something to consider.
Another thing to consider, while 12-15 isn't great, it is their best June record since they notched 17 in 2017. [Reply]
Royals might have some more cash available to them. One of the owners, Paul Edgerly, has a stake in the Boston Celtics and they are being put on the market. [Reply]