A Disastrous Start

I know, I know.  There are still a lot of games before we even get out of April.  I know there shouldn’t be any panic yet.  I know it’s a long season.  I also know the Kansas City Royals have gotten off to a disastrous start to the 2012 season.

Kansas City was filled with hope this spring.  A franchise that has struggled with ineptitude on and off the playing field looked to finally be turning a corner.  While few expected the Royals to challenge the divisional powerhouse Detroit Tigers, many believed the hometown team would actually field a competitive squad and maybe work themselves into the top 2 or 3 in the AL Central.  While this is certainly still a possibility, it is looking less and less likely.

The Royals began the season stocked with home grown talent well respected by other organizations.  The youth on offense seemed poise for a step forward in development.  The bullpen was well stocked with live arms and terrific talent.  The rotation was still the weak spot but even that bunch seemed hopeful of improvement. 

Things are not working out.  Optimism was still high after the Royals started the season with a successful 3-3 road trip through Los Angeles and Oakland.  A closer look though, gave plenty of warning of the disastrous things ahead.  All three of the Royals’ losses were bad ones.  On opening day against the Angels, it was a 0-0 ball game in the 8^th when the bullpen melted down and allowed 5 runs.  The offense remained dormant and was shut out.  The offense sparked to life over the next 2 games and the weak rotation held strong and Kansas City survived the talented Angels by taking the series 2-1.

In game four in Oakland, The Royals fielded a weak offensive line-up and were shut out again.  Worse yet, they had three base runners thrown out on the base paths, locking up the 0-1 loss.  Young Danny Duffy was brilliant in the next game and the Royals’ staff put up the first shut out of their own.  In the final game of the west coast trip, things flew apart.  After scratching out a 4-3 lead in the 12^th inning, closer Jonathan Broxton got the first out in the bottom of the 12^th then defensive wizard Alcides Escobar booted a grounder, Broxton walked the next two batters, then inexplicably hit the next two hitters on consecutive pitches and the Royals fell hard, 4-5, allowing 2 runs on no hits.

Kansas City promptly returned home to the excited fans in Kaufman Stadium, where the Royals promptly lost each of the seven games they have played in their home stadium.  Nothing has gone right.  The rotation has imploded, the offense stalled, and the bullpen has failed time and time again.  Everything has piled up against the snake bitten team, everything from bad defense, bad base running, bad starting pitching, no clutch hitting, a bullpen incapable of closing out, and in some instances, just some plain old bad luck.  It has been as frustrating stretch of games as any ever for an organization that has been awful for two and a half decades. 

The Royals claim there is no panic but it is there.  Kansas City dug a deep hole that is much worse than even the 3-10 would indicate.  KC has to win 14 of their next 21 home games just to get back to .500 at home – a stretch that would take them well into June.  What are the chances they can play .667 at home over the next month and a half, with nearly half of those games against the Yankees, Red Sox, and D-Backs?  It is not looking good.  The Royals have already played 7 of their games against teams they hoped to be either better than or at the very least, even with.  They are 1-6 in those games against Oakland, Cleveland, and Toronto so far. 

Very few of the Royals have stood out on an individual basis.  Bruce Chen, Danny Duffy, and Billy Butler have performed well but no one else has excited fans on a regular basis thus far.  There has been little consistency unless it is the bad kind.  For this team to turn it around, several players need to step forward and perform well.  Numerous guys need to take a giant step forward in their development if anything positive can be saved this season.  This can all happen but the likelihood becomes more remote with each horrible outing.  Maybe the Kansas City Royals can start their turnaround tonight.

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