Royals Report: 5 Things About Rolling Royals

The Royals won their fifth straight game by smashed the Tampa Bay Rays 10-5 Tuesday night at Kauffman Stadium. The KC Royals pounded out a season-high 18 hits, which extended their string of games with 10 or more to eight in a row.

The Kansas City Royals improved to 29-22, and extended their lead over Cleveland in the AL Central to two games. Tampa Bay slid to 22-28, losing their third game in a row.

The Kansas City offense continues to pour it on, with every starter hitting safely Tuesday night. Heck, even Jarrod Dyson slapped a hit after replacing the injured Brett Eibner. That means every PLAYER in the lineup got a hit at least one hit.

The recent flood of hits has inflated the team batting average to .272, good for fourth in all of major-league baseball. Lorenzo Cain got things rolling with a two-run HR (8) in the first. Tampa Bay erased that lead with a three-run shot of their own from Corey Dickerson. Kansas City tied itup in the third, and broke open the game with a five-run fourth inning in which the Royals sent nine batters to the plate and collected six hits.

The KC Royals won their sixth series in a row and will go for the sweep on Wednesday.

On to my five observations about Tuesday’s game:

Next: Conventional Wisdom

5) The Royals Keep Defying Conventional Wisdom

When teams lose three All-Stars, they’re supposed to go into survival mode. With such a talent drain, the hope becomes to tread water by maybe playing .500 baseball until your big dogs return.

Apparently, the 2016 KC Royals didn’t get that memo.

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Instead, the Kansas City Royals have responded to losing three All-Stars with a winning streak. Since losing catcher Salvador Perez on Saturday, they’ve pulled off the biggest ninth-inning comeback in franchise history on their way to reeling off four straight wins.

If you dial the clock back to May 22, the day left fielder Alex Gordon and third baseman Mike Moustakas slammed into one another while chasing a foul ball in Chicago, the team is 7-1. Until that disaster, the KC Royals offense had been averaging 3.53 runs per game. Since May 22, the Kansas City Royals have more than doubled their output to 7.25 runs per game.

That’s insane.

Yes. The young guys that took Gordon, Moustakas, and Perez’s places in the lineup have been on hot streaks. Whit Merrifield isn’t going to keep hitting .356/356/.467; Brett Eibner isn’t going to finish the season close to .462/.500/.692; and Paulo Orlando isn’t going to continue at  .376/.398/.495.

Even the decidedly not-young Drew Butera at age 32, who took over at catcher for Salvador Perez, is hitting .321/.406/.500. Despite Perez having been on fire at the plate before his thigh contusion, the Kansas City Royals haven’t really missed him.

How many teams could lose three All-Stars and two starting pitchers and go on a tear?

Next: Whit Merrifield

4) Whit Merrifield Is Taking Over At Second Base

Omar Infante last played on May 28 in the now famous 8-7 victory over the White Sox that saw the Kansas City Royals rally from a 7-1 ninth inning deficit to pull out the win. That’s three straight games that rookie Whit Merrifield has gotten the start at second base.

That’s what happens when a guy slashes .356/.356/.467. He’s going to get playing time.

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The fact is, Omar Infante hasn’t gotten the job done in the two and 1/3 seasons with the Kansas City Royals. While he’s been hitting a little better of late, Merrifield offers better range, better speed on the basepaths, and—so far—more pop at the plate.

Of course that his on base percentage (OBP) is the same as his batting average tells you that pitchers have been challenging the rookie with balls in the strike zone. If he continues to show that he belongs, pitchers will try to trick him more, and take more care to put the ball in a difficult location.

Merrifield isn’t a hacker. He’s twice finished with walk rates over 10% in his minor league career, and averaged a solid 8.6% walk rate in AAA Omaha earlier this season. Overall, Merrifield has forced pitchers to throw him strikes at the plate and showed tremendous versatility in the field, handling starting assignments at left field, second base, and third base with ease.

Instead of looking like an over-aged prospect at 27-years-old, he seems more like a polished player who is very ready for his big league opportunity.

Omar Infante has typically batted no. 9 when he’s in the 2016 lineup. Whit Merrifield has been hitting from the no. 2 spot, and looks like he belongs.

Enough said.

Next: Jorge Bonifacio

3) Eibner’s Injury Will Likely Lead To Jorge Bonifacio’s Big League Debut

Brett Eibner crumpled to the Kauffman Stadium turf while pursuing a fly ball (that turned into a triple with his injury). Eibner left the field on a cart with a left ankle injury that the KC Royals hope is a left ankle sprain (rather than a season-ending Achilles tear).

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Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost told Royals.com that he suspected that Eibner would have to go to the disabled list, but that the 27-year-old rookie would have it examined on Wednesday. Until the team has that diagnosis, I presume they won’t know exactly what they want to do.

If Yost is indeed right and Eibner will have to go to the disabled list, then right fielder Jorge Bonifacio seems the next player in line for promotion to Kansas City. The soon-to-be 23 Bonifacio is slashing .308/.371/.557 at Omaha this season with 9 doubles, 5 triples, and 9 home runs. He doesn’t command the plate like Eibner, but Bonifacio has been hitting the ball with more authority.

The Kansas City Royals farm system is showing that it has a lot more talent in the upper minors than most analysts projected before the season began. The KC Royals have lost four position players in less than 10 days, but haven’t yet hit bottom in the Omaha talent pool.

That, Royals fans, is the mark of success for general manager Dayton Moore.

Next: Dillon Gee

1) Kendrys Morales Found A Way To Beat His BABIP Problem

Hey, there’s an easy to prevent defenses from robbing you of a hit. You just put the ball in the seats.

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Kendrys Morales managed to implement this slump solution on Tuesday night, by smacking his sixth home run with one on and two out in the sixth inning. For those of you wondering if there was a third six (perhaps the man on base was Lorenzo Cain who wears no. 6), I’m sorry to disappoint you.

Morales’ bomb extended the Royals lead from 8-4 to 10-4, which really put the game out of reach. Along with his home run, Morales add a single to enjoy his first two-hit game since May 14. Notice that rookie Whit Merrifield has had six two-hit games and he didn’t even join the club until May 18.

Overall, Morales’ 2-5, 1 R, 3 RBI line was a refreshing change from the all too many 0-fers that he’s been posting this season. Kendrys Morales slash line zoomed to .193/.262/.330 with the big night.

Next: Recent Royals Injuries Might Have Silver Lining

Who knows, Morales guided a little flare to left field on Monday night to get lucky on a soft hit. Maybe that was just the break he needed to bust out of his slide. If Kendrys starts hitting, you know some weird juju has blessed the KC Royals.