Kansas City Royals: A Season To Remember

Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

The team opened the month of May by losing 2 of 3 games and the division lead to the Detroit Tigers.  During the month of May, 6 foot 10, 88 MPH fastballer Chris Young worked his way into the starting rotation; a fly ball pitcher like Young would prove to do just fine at a ballpark as big as the K.

The bullpen, as always, was lights out and featured the arms of Jason Frasor and (hold back the tears) Brandon Finnegan, who both continued to prove worthy of a throne in the Royals league-leading pen (while both were solid arms, the World Series win does not happen without the Cueto trade and the release of Frasor).

On May 19, Johnny Cueto took a trip to the K, but while in a Reds uniform he tossed 7 3-run, 9-hit innings.  Dayton Moore and Ned Yost probably had a close eye on Cueto on that day and made sure that the next time he would take the mound at Kauffman Stadium, his dreadlocks would be secured with a Royal blue skullcap.

The I-70 rivals came to town in May and stole 2 of 3 games from the Royals, but the 2015 postseason would not prove too friendly to the #1 seeded St. Louis Cardinals as they were bested by the Cubs in the NLDS. The end of May brought about a losing streak and a slump for the Royals as their first losing streak would truly begin on May 25 at Yankee Stadium.

As a Royals fan that sat not so quietly in the left field seats of Yankee Stadium on that fateful day, I have to concede that I have never felt more anger towards a pitcher and manager than I did for Jeremy Guthrie and Ned Yost on that day.  The Yanks blasted 5 home runs that day, 3 in the first inning and 4 total off of starter Guthrie.  The Royals were swept by the Pinstripes and headed to Wrigley in an attempt to rebound.

After their horrendous performance in NY, the Royals went on to lose the next 8 of their 10 games. By the end of May, Alex Rios had returned with a cool bat but the Royals were 29-18 and still had a .5 game division lead now over the Minnesota Twins.

Next: Injuries and the second half