The Royalman Report - logo by @AHairOffSquare

The Royals’ losing streak hit ten games and the Royalman Report went into therapy mode.

We spent some time discussing the streak, but then we focused on the silver linings and we were able to find a few. We had to stretch on a few, but we found them.

Mixed in we had Jeff laying on our “therapy couch”, we had talks of naked batting practice, Cool Runnings and Kelly’s Westport Ben. This streak has been rough on all of us, but hopefully this episode will be a nice distraction until our next win.

There’s gonna be a next win, right?

You can listen below or download the mp3 directly.

The Royalman Report is hosted by Troy “Royalman” Olsen with co-host Michael Engel and features Chris “Fake Ned Yost” Kamler and 610 Sports blogger Jeff Herr and airs  live Sundays at 7 p.m. central time at RoyalmanReport.com as well as on Livestream.com/RoyalmanReport.

Subscribe via the RSS feed and get updates when new episodes are uploaded.

Stuck in a cubicle, on a road trip, or using your smartphone?  Stitcher is a multi-platform radio app that’s available on Apple products, Droid, Blackberry and other phones.  Find us here on Stitcher.

You can also subscribe via iTunes: JUST CLICK HERE (and iPad, iPhone, iTouch users can get the Livestream app here to watch live or archived shows).

Follow the Royalman Report on Twitter.  While you’re at it, track down Kings of Kauffman on Twitter as well.

Where's Marty McFly When We Need Him? (Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-US PRESSWIRE)

We also did not expect to see a winless homestand. But, it is reality. Here we are, just 18 days into the 2012 season and the team has not won a game in 13 days. The Royals have not won a home game, they’re riding a 10 game losing streak, and they look both dazed AND confused.

So, I’m officially petitioning the commissioner’s office for a Do-Over.

I feel like we’ve earned it. You know the rule that applied when you were a kid and things just didn’t go the way you wanted them to at the beginning. You know how easy it was to hit the Reset button on the Nintendo and just start all over again. That’s what we need.

The beginning of this season has hit the city like a ton of on-deck donuts. Perhaps we all built it up too much. Perhaps we all just got a little bit too excited. Over the past two weeks, I’ve watched the gruff confidence of so many young players leak like helium out of an open ended balloon. It’s not that the Royals have never had a 10 game losing streak before. Though, you’d have to go back to 2009 to see the last time it happened. The biggest difference is that losing streak was nestled in the middle of July, when the team was already 11 games under .500. The past two years, the Royals have not lost more than 7 games in a row. Hardly anything to brag about, but better than in recent memory.

The 10 game streak has not been a nightly beat-down. Rather, these games have been frustratingly close. The Royals have held leads. They’ve scored first. They’ve rallied from behind. They’ve had opportunities to tie or win games. But they just have not been able to get it done. The bullpen has been tragic, but they’ve been having to pick up the slack from sub-par starting pitching. Even on nights where the starter fares well he’s only going 5-6 innings, which is not enough. Your bullpen should not have to work that hard. Offensively, it seems to be a different lineup every night, which is why a lot of the blame has fallen into manager Ned Yost’s lap. Thoughts are that he’s tinkering too much from day to day. There have been multiple bench-clearing altercations, a walk-off HBP, and baserunning gaffes galore.

A do-over would give everyone a chance to clear their head & try again.

Naturally, there would be those who would oppose the do-over. The Texas Rangers, for example, are hot out of the gate & Josh Hamilton looks like he might be the best player in the game. They surely wouldn’t want to give up their 13-3 start. Phil Humber threw a perfect game for the White Sox over the weekend. He’d never give that up. Guys like David Ortiz & Derek Jeter are playing like it’s 2006 again. Who knows what would happen if they succumbed to a do-over? Good luck telling the Baltimore Orioles or Washington Nationals that they’d have to scrap their fast starts & possibly go back to their basement-dwelling ways.

However, the Royals would get some support in this idea. I think that Ozzie Guillen might be the first in line for a do-over. Albert Pujols & Bobby Valentine would be fighting for a spot right behind him. Their respective teams would both be on board – they’re a combined 10-20 on the year. Fenway Park would be ok with another chance to celebrate its 100th anniversary. They got swept by their most-hated rival in a very embarrassing fashion. Personally, after visiting brand new Marlins Park in Miami, I think that whole stadium could use a do-over. Then again, maybe it’s just because of the closed roof and overuse of neon green.

If this petition got any movement, would there be any dissention within the Royals clubhouse? You know that Joakim Soria, Sal Perez, & Lorenzo Cain would be happy to go back to being injury free, and you know that Eric Hosmer & Alex Gordon would prefer to be hitting over .200. The entire pitching staff would be on board. However, what about Yuniesky Betancourt? He’s somehow found himself as the starting second baseman and leadoff hitter. He’s got the club’s best average and has only made one error so far. Billy Butler is hitting well & may not want to start over at .000. And what about notorious slow starter Mike Moustakas?. He’s looked pretty good through the first 15 games, and at .269, is hitting well above his typical early season average. Would their personal success be enough to overshadow their failures as a team? I’d like to think not. Hopefully Frenchy can rally the troops to form a unified front.

Moustakas Has Looked Good Early. (Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-US PRESSWIRE)

In a perfect world, it would be that easy. In a normal world, the Royals would just turn to their stopper. The guy who can put the team on his back and make the losing stop. The problem is that the Royals simply don’t have that guy. They have guys who want to be that guy or are sometimes that guy, but they aren’t that guy every time out. Those guys are rare, but it seems that most teams have one. Good teams have two or three and they’re almost always in the form of a dominating starting pitcher. Kansas City traded away their last one to Milwaukee. When that guy pitches, it’s not a guaranteed win, but it’s a guaranteed chance to win.

Back in 2005, the Houston Astros got off to a bad start. On May 24th, the team was 15-34 & the Houston Chronicle printed a full-page obituary proclaiming that the season was dead. They rallied, and despite the odds, stormed back into the race and went all the way to the World Series. They, however, had a pitching rotation that included Roy Oswalt, Andy Pettitte, and Roger Clemens. Not a bad trio to mount a comeback with.

That year, Astros third baseman Morgan Ensberg said, “You can only get better when you’re terrible.”

The Royals need to have their own personal do-over starting today. Commissioner Selig would surely laugh at the formal request, so I’ll save it. All the Royals can do is clear the slate and win today. The losing streak does not matter, today’s game matters. And if they can win one before hitting the road again, it will help cleanse the awful taste that every Royals fan has in their mouth right now. It will salvage those who haven’t fully jumped off the “Our Time” bandwagon. It will give the team some of that swagger back before getting out of KC for a while.

The season is NOT lost. I’m not ready to start talking about next year yet. They’ve played 15 games out of 162 – that’s less than a tenth of the season. The answer is not to start firing managers, GMs, batboys, or coaches. The answer is not to start dumping players or flipping lineups. Just win today. The rest will fix itself and the do-over will not be necessary after all.

Stay current on all the Kings of Kauffman content and news by following us on Twitter, Facebook, or by way of our RSS feed.

Felipe Paulino was placed on the DL before the season started and helped Luis Mendoza and Danny Duffy stick in the big league rotation. He had a strained right forearm and is making a rehab start for Northwest Arkansas on Wednesday, according to Bob Dutton.

I’d expect that Paulino will make a start for Omaha as well before the Royals determine when to make a switch. Duffy has pitched well in two starts before some struggles in Sunday’s game, but his ERA overall is 3.63 and his average fastball velocity is rivaled only by Stephen Strasburg so far this year. Mendoza, on the other hand, has had two rough starts, walking nine in 13 innings and giving up 24 hits. He may have two more starts to convince the Royals he’s actually changed and that his 2011 wasn’t a mirage. You know my thoughts on the matter.

Lorenzo Cain early in 2012. Mandatory Credit: Jason O. Watson-US PRESSWIRE

The more immediate good news is that Lorenzo Cain is close to returning. After a fine running catch in Oakland, Cain strained his groin, landing on the DL. He made his first rehab appearance Sunday for Northwest Arkansas and Dutton reports that he’s tentatively set to return on Friday when the Royals will be in Minnesota.

Cain was hitting .133 through four and a half games when he hurt himself, but after a strong spring, he may be the answer to the Royals problems in the top of the order. So far, Ned Yost has used a mix of Yuniesky Betancourt, Chris Getz, Alcides Escobar and Jeff Francoeur in the top two spots in the order. Cain isn’t a traditional leadoff hitter, but his speed would play well there. He’d also be a good bat between Alex Gordon and Eric Hosmer – two lefties – at the top of the order.

His return would also help out by adding offensive potential with great defense. In his absence, the Royals have played a rotation of Jarrod Dyson (who misplayed some balls in two games of the Cleveland series) and Jason Bourgeois while Mitch Maier has gotten the most work. None of the three are seen as consistent regulars, though Maier has filled that role in the past. They’re all better suited to being late inning replacements for defensive or pinch-running purposes.

Blake Wood may be ready to return soon to reinforce a bullpen that has been heavily taxed early on in 2012. His return would help since Greg Holland was placed on the DL after his awful appearance on Friday night. Joakim Soria, of course, is out for the year, while Manuel Pina and Salvador Perez both have a way to go to recover from meniscus surgeries.

Stay current on all the Kings of Kauffman content and news by following us on Twitter, Facebook, or by way of our RSS feed.