Royals: Remaining May Schedule Could Prove Pivotal

The Royals are not even 25% of the way through the 2016 schedule, but hit an important stretch of games that could affect their entire season.

On the morning of 15 May, the KC Royals find themselves two games under .500 at 17-19 and 6.5 games behind the AL Central leading White Sox. Also, as pointed out by John Viril, the Royals have two injured starting pitchers, and an offensive black hole in RF. The old adage is that a team cannot win a division in April or May, but they sure can lose one.

The schedule for the 2nd half of May for the Kansas City Royals features two series vs. bottom dwellers Minnesota and Atlanta. The KC Royals also face the Red Sox who lead MLB in batting average and runs scored, and the Rays at the end of the month. Perhaps more importantly though, the Royals have two series vs. the White Sox.

At the same time the White Sox have series’ against the Yankees, Astros, and Indians to go along with their two series vs. the Kansas City Royals. Then the White Sox finish off the month of May against the Mets.

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Again, I will acknowledge here that it is still just mid-May. But, if the KC Royals have another 16 game stretch like the last one, and the White Sox remain somewhat hot, the Kansas City Royals could find themselves easily 10 games or more out of first place. Now, any talented team can climb out of a hole this early in the season. But the White Sox appear to be truly good this year, and to climb out of any hole the KC Royals have dug, they first have to quit digging.

The danger, of course, is that a bad month of May could leave the Kansas City Royals with nothing more than a shot at a wild card. While the Royals used a wild card bid to win the AL pennant in 2014, the coin-flip game isn’t the outcome the defending champions wish to endure on what is always a difficult path toward a repeat.

The Kansas City Royals will have to pick up their play in the second half of the month if they want to avoid putting themselves in a deep hole. Giving yourself a handicap isn’t a good idea for any team.

Next: Royals Revert To Losing After Friday The 13th Reprieve

Splitting their first two games with the moribund Atlanta Braves isn’t a good start.