Kansas City Royals Face Daunting Stretch in Second Half

Whew. That was a nice breather, am I right?

Major League Baseball took the last few days to catch a breath from a gruesome big league summer during the All-Star Break. No team needs this refresher more than your beloved Kansas City Royals.

Sure with Ned Yost and the boys taking part in the midsummer’s classic, it wasn’t completely baseball free. But they accomplished what needed to be done: secured home field advantage for the American League and rested up before one of the most taxing second half stretches in the league.

As if 76 games in 80 days isn’t hard enough, the boys in blue kick off the long road ahead with a double header against division foe, the Chicago White Sox. Needless to say we are going to find out a lot about this ball club over the next two months, whether or not they have enough to make another deep October push. Obviously the biggest concern going forward will be keeping guys healthy. Kansas City already took a devastating hit, losing corner stone left fielder Alex Gordon for quite some time (48 more days but who is counting). Also the staff has had its hits; see Yordano Ventura, Danny Duffy, Jason Vargas, just to name a few. Alex Rios was absent from the lineup for a stretch (some fans might say he remains absentee). That being said, this ball club boasts the best record in the American League. In a league that let’s be honest lacks a whole lot of competition. It’s one of the many reasons they are a heavy favorite not only to make another World Series appearance, but also to win the darn thing.

If 90 wins is the bar we set for teams to make the postseason the Royals are in rather good shape compared to their AL Central foe. Kansas City needs to go 38-38 to reach that 90-win threshold. Minnesota needs to go 41-32, Detroit needs to be 46-28, Cleveland 48-26, and 49-27 for the White Sox.

What does that mean exactly?

It means the division is there for the taking. The American League is there for the taking.

But this team will be put to the test like they have never been before. If they are standing tall after this ACT-like gauntlet, then Kansas City fans you have yourselves a real title contender. Everything I have seen through the first half makes me believe that will be the case. But as the old saying goes they don’t hand out pennants in July.

Just ask the 2014 Oakland Athletics.

Next: Royals Five Biggest Weaknesses at the Break