Royals Report: 5 Things About Bounce-Back Vs. Tigers

The Royals bounced back from Thursday night’s disappointing defeat by routing the Detroit Tigers 10-3 at Kauffman Stadium Friday night.

The KC Royals improved to 36-31 and remain 0.5 games behind the Indians in the AL Central. The Tigers fell to 34-33 and are now 2.5 games behind Cleveland.

The Kansas City Royals continue to hit, notching yet another 10+ hit game on Friday night while scoring 10 runs. The team’s offensive problems in May seem far behind them now, with rookies Whit Merrifield, Brett Eibner, and Cheslor Cuthbert providing a boost at the plate, and second-year outfield Paulo Orlando hitting .343. 

While I have some doubts that the young guys can continue their torrid hitting over the rest of the season, they have shown they belong in the major leagues. In fact, Whit Merrifield has shown so much polish to his game that general manager Dayton Moore could cut struggling second baseman Omar Infante. With Kendrys Morales pulling out of his slump (he hit a home run Friday night), the team is scoring runs despite missing both Alex Gordon and Mike Moustakas over the last month.

On to my observations about Friday’s game:

Next: Yordano Ventura

5) Yordano Ventura Has Rallied After Meltdown

Yordano Ventura got blasted for his immaturity across the baseball world after his blowup against Orioles star Manny Machado. With rumors flying that the KC Royals had been shopping him to other teams, Ventura has dominated opponents in his last two starts.

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Yordano Ventura dominated the White Sox on last Sunday, allowing only one run in seven innings with 10 strikeouts. Ventura followed that strong outing by shutting out the Detroit Tigers over 6.1 innings with five strikeouts.

The two strong starts lowered Ventura’s 5.32 ERA to a much improved 4.54 ERA.

The fact is, Yordano Ventura is a weird guy. Last season, he was struggling and was actually optioned to Omaha before getting immediately recalled when Jason Vargos tore his UCL. After that threat, Ventura settled down to finish the 2015 season well-enough that Ned Yost chose him to open the playoffs against the Astros.

There’s a dominant pitcher in there, when he’s focused. When something upsets Yordano Ventura, he gets rocked. I guess the Kansas City Royals are hoping he grows into a guy that ALWAYS has his head right.

Perhaps the criticism humbled Ventura and made him determined to show everyone what kind of pitcher he can be.

Next: Detroit Manager Brad Ausmus

4) Brad Ausmus‘s Strange Decision

Ned Yost isn’t the only manager that makes curious decisions with his relief pitchers. In the key seventh inning, the KC Royals held a slim 1-0 lead with with runners on first and second with left-handed hitting Eric Hosmer at the plate.

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Detroit manager Brad Ausmus elected to go with righty reliever Shane Greene even though he had ex Royals lefty farmhand Blaine Hardy already warm in the bullpen. Conventional baseball strategy suggests the manager should bring the lefty in to get the platoon advantage against the hot-hitting Eric Hosmer (.317/.376/.520).

Hosmer promptly singled to bring home an insurance run, triggering a four-run Kansas City Royals rally that gave KC a dominating 5-0 lead.

The seventh inning turned a nail biter into an easy win. The Royals went from looking to finish out the game with closer Wade Davis, to bringing in mop up men after the already warm Herrera, who had escaped a jam in the seventh, also pitched the eighth.

The Tigers also brought out their second line relievers. With both teams bringing in their garbage time guys, the KC Royals scored five more times in the eighth and the Tigers added three in the ninth.

Although the 10-3 game looked like a laugher, it was actually a tight 0-0 game through five innings and a narrow 1-0 in the seventh. Ausmus’s odd choice had a lot to do with the Kansas City Royals catching fire and breaking the game open.

Next: Kendrys Morales

3) Don’t Look Now But Kendrys Morales Is Heating Up

Yes, Kendrys’s slash line still sucks at .212/.283/354 for the season. But, he’s hit .263/.300/.421 in the seven days prior to Friday night. Then he proceeded to go 2 for 2 with three walks on the night, including  a three-run home run that put a dagger in Detroit’s hopes to pull off a rally.

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The key was when Morales started to shoot the ball to the opposite field against the shift. That forced pitchers to be a little more careful with him, and Morales responded by taking his walks. Morales has a six game hitting streak going, and has raised his average from .191 on June 5 to .212 on June 17.

Kendrys Morales needs to get going to get consistent production from the Kansas City Royals offense. He’s a key middle-of-the-order switch hitter that makes it tough for opposing teams to play the match-up game against the KC Royals lineup in the late innings. As hot as Salvador Perez has been lately, the team needs Morales to provide him protection, or else opponents will start pitching around Perez.

Even with Morales terrible start, ESPN still projects him to hit 19 home runs with 65 RBI’s. If Morales can bring up his crazy low .235 BABIP (Batting Average Balls In Play), he can still have a productive season—even if the overall numbers end up sub-par due to his first 10 weeks.

In short, for the Royals to make a championship run, they’re going to need Morales.

Next: Salvador Perez

1) Bounce-back Win Was Important

The Kansas City Royals are just coming off a string in which they won six straight games, lost eight straight, won five straight, and then lost Thursday night after blowing a seventh inning lead. The last time the KC Royals blew a late lead, the bad feeling snowballed into seven more consecutive losses.

This time, the Kansas City Royals bounced back the next day with a victory after dropping Thursday’s game against Detroit.

Hopefully, the KC Royals will continue their recent strong play as they finish out this homestand with two more games at Kauffman Stadium against the Tigers, and hit the road for two games against the Mets. The Kansas City Royals really need to succeed on the road in late June to prevent developing a mental block about away games.

The KC Royals are a mere 13-23 on the road, which is a far cry from their 23-8 record at home.

Next: Five Players The Royals Could Sell At The Trade Deadline

Whether or not the Kansas City Royals can get their act together away from Kauffman Stadium could be the difference between staying home in October, and winning the AL Central title and a chance to defend their title in the post-season.