Kansas City Royals Rewind: Salvador Perez Does it Again

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It has been yet another rough week for the KC Royals. After losing four of their five games two weeks ago, the Royals followed that up by losing four of six this week, as both the Cleveland Indians and Texas Rangers took two of three in their series.

Yet, this week was not an entirely lost cause. Despite the Royals struggles over the past two weeks, they remain only a game behind the Minnesota Twins as they are about to start a three game series against the division leaders. A sweep, or even just a victorious series for the Royals would cure quite a few ills.

Even with the Royals struggles this week, there were still a few solid performances, especially by players who may have needed to have a breakout week to fuel their confidence. Sometimes, all it takes is a bit of success to breed further success throughout the season.

Perhaps yesterday’s victory, where the Royals watched the Rangers come back from being down 3-0 to tie the game can work that way as well. Instead of watching the Rangers complete the comeback and suffering yet another agonizing loss, the Royals pulled out the victory, thanks to team leader Salvador Perez and his well timed home run in the bottom of the eighth. Could that be the game to get the Kansas City Royals back on track?

Before we look ahead to next week, let us take one last look at the week that was. As always, we begin by looking back at those players who struggled last week.

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2. Chris Young

For a time, it seemed as though Chris Young was the answer for a struggling Kansas City Royals starting rotation. He made his presence felt from the beginning, pitching five no-hit innings in his first start for the Royals as Young served notice to the rest of the American League.

Unfortunately, Young has struggled of late, and last week was certainly not an exception. In his outing against the Indians, Young allowed six runs on eight hits and two walks, striking out four. It was certainly not the type of performance that we had come to expect from Young during his time with the Royals.

This is the second straight rough outing from Young, who has seen his ERA jump from 0.78 to 2.56 in the past two weeks. Over that span, Young has allowed ten runs in eleven innings, giving up fifteen hits and four walks. Opponents have hit Young at a .319/.373/.617 clip over those past two outings, as he just has not managed to recapture that magic from earlier in the year.

Every starting pitcher goes through a rough patch during the season, and Chris Young is no exception. Unfortunately, his struggles have come as the Kansas City Royals rotation as a whole has had a bit of a rough patch.

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1. Yordano Ventura

Yordano Ventura has been quite maddening over his past five starts, as the Kansas City Royals ace has alternated rough outings with excellent starts. Last week was one of the former, as Ventura struggled against the Rangers on Saturday.

Unlike previous rough outings where he was able to right the ship after struggling early, Ventura could not get on track. He lasted three innings, allowing four runs on six hits, two walks and a hit batter, throwing 78 pitches. This was not an outing for the highlight reel by any stretch of the imagination.

Fortunately, there is hope that Ventura will rebound, and quickly. His previous two rough outings were followed by a stellar performance, so if trends continue, Ventura’s next start should be exactly the type of outing the Royals need. However, it would be great to see a lot more consistency from Ventura going forward.

Perhaps his next outing will be able to be exactly that. After all, it would not be difficult to perform better than he did last week in what was arguably his worst outing of the season.

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3. Jarrod Dyson

Yes, Jarrod Dyson had only seven at bats last week. However, he made every single one of those at bats count. During another week where the Kansas City Royals offense was practically dormant, Dyson’s contributions, even if they came in a limited role, were certainly noticeable.

Dyson was 4-7 last week, scoring a run and stealing  a base. He even showed a bit of extra base pop, hitting two doubles. Perhaps this uptick in production is due to Dyson being back in his accustomed role as the Royals fourth outfielder, a spot that he has grown quite comfortable with over the past few seasons.

This production is certainly coming at a great time. With Alex Rios struggling since his return from the disabled list, Dyson could get a bit more playing time than would be expected. If he can continue to get on base and be the disruptive force that he has proven capable of over the past few seasons, it could certainly help towards getting the Royals offense back in gear.

The Kansas City Royals have gone away from their speed based attack this season. If Jarrod Dyson is able to sustain this performance, that could be a major boost to the Royals getting back on track.

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2. Jeremy Guthrie

It certainly would not be difficult for Jeremy Guthrie to have improved upon last week’s performance. Yes, it was a historic outing, but for all of the wrong reasons. Watching how Guthrie would perform following that disastrous performance was certainly fascinating.

As we all should have expected, given Guthrie’s ability to bounce back, he came back strong. The only Kansas City Royals starter to have two starts last week, Guthrie did his part to give the Royals a chance to win, allowing three runs on five hits and three walks in twelve innings of work. Despite these strong outings, Guthrie did not factor into either decision.

It is certainly not a surprise that Guthrie would have solid outings after the disaster in the Bronx. He is, after all, the starter that keeps bouncing back time and again. Seemingly any time we are about to count Guthrie out, he has come back and cemented his place in the rotation. This week was not an exception.

Jeremy Guthrie has been quite the roller coaster this season, but he gave the Kansas City Royals exactly what they needed last week. Hopefully, this is a sign of things to come.

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1. Salvador Perez

Looking at his overall batting line, Salvador Perez may seem to be an odd person to place atop the hot list. His .235/.235/.588 batting line does not exactly jump off the page. However, Perez did hit two home runs, including the game winner yesterday against the Texas Rangers.

It is that game winning home run yesterday that was truly notable. In fact, if it seemed as though you had seen this before from Perez on June 7th, you would be correct. Since 2013, Perez has hit a go ahead home run for the Kansas City Royals on June 7th for three consecutive years. It is quite the impressive, and unique, statistic.

Perhaps this can continue to be an ongoing trend. The Royals will either be behind or tied next year, and there will be Perez, standing at the plate and launching a pitch into the bleachers to give the Royals yet another game winning home run. The only way it would be better would be if he was able to smile maddeningly at Miguel Cabrera as he rounded the bases.

At this point, June 7th should be Salvador Perez Day for the Kansas City Royals. Let us have a Perez themed giveaway, and watch him hit a game winning home run. It would truly be an excellent day at the ballpark next year.

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