Royals Report: Friday’s Win And Hanging With The President

5) Danny Duffy Played the Stopper

Danny Duffy shot down the Texas Rangers over 6.2 innings on Friday night, allowing only 4 hits, 2 walks, and 1 earned run while striking out 4. Duffy earned the win to go 6-1 on the season.

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Danny Duffy’s performance broke a two-game losing streak, which saw the Royals drop two in a row to AL Central leader Cleveland.

Duffy was in fine form, pitching into the seventh inning and avoiding the iffy “bridge” relievers. Luke Hochevar helped Duffy escape a seventh inning jam with runners on first and third by retiring pinch hitter Mitch Moreland on a line drive to left.

Duffy’s only mistake of the night came when Texas second baseman Rougned Odor slammed his 18th home run with one out in the fourth inning. Other than the solo shot, Duffy held the Rangers in check.

What has most impressed me about Danny Duffy’s breakthrough this season has been his consistency. He keeps working deep into games because he’s getting the ball over the plate. Even when he doesn’t have his good stuff, Duffy is keeping the KC Royals in the game and working into the sixth.

At this point, Duffy is the closet thing the Kansas City Royals have to an ace, and his 3.14 ERA and 10.33 K/9 legitimize that title. It’s too bad that the KC Royals only control Duffy through the 2017 season, or that Duffy didn’t become this guy earlier in his career.

I guess beggars can’t be choosers, and better late than never. You can supply your own cliche if you like. At least one of general manager Dayton Moore’s arms has finally developed into a front-line starter, which is better than none.

Next: Cheslor Cuthbert

4) Cheslor Cuthbert Extends His Hitting Streak

Cheslor Cuthbert’s solo home run in the third inning extended his hitting streak to 11 games. Cuthbert is now slashing a healthy .297/.327/.466 with 12 doubles, 9 home runs, and 33 RBIs in the 2016 season. He’s been more than adequate as a fill-in for third baseman Mike Moustakas, and has shown he very much belongs in the major leagues.

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In short, it’s been something of a dream season for the 23-year-old Cuthbert. The prior two seasons saw him run in place in the minors, while falling out of the top 100 prospects in the game.

At this point, you have to say that the pundits have underestimated Cuthbert’s future. He’s forcing his way into a spot in the Kansas City Royals lineup for next season, even after Moustakas returns from his torn ACL in 2017.

With Kendrys Morales hitting free-agency next winter, you have to think that Cuthbert will earn a spot on the roster. Perhaps he will become part of a rotation at the designated hitter spot, and provide an occasional day off for Moustakas against a tough left-handed pitcher.

Cuthbert looks like he’s going to entertain Kansas City Royals fans for years to come as part of the “second wave” of prospects to join the big club.

Next: Whit Merrifield

3) Whit Merrifield Busts Out Of Slump

After an almost dream-like first month in major-league baseball, Whit Merrifield has fallen to earth. Merrifield is hitting a mere .170/.250/.255 since July 1, as major-league pitchers have figured him out a little bit.

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In fact, Merrifield came into Friday’s game riding a horrendous 0-12 streak before smacking his second-inning single to score Alex Gordon. Merrifield went 1 for 3 with a single and RBI, plus 2 strikeouts.

Merrifield is slashing a much more typical .275/.309/.386 for a second baseman. He’s still a valuable player due to his ability to play plus defense at seven positions along with his speed on the bases, but he’s simply striking out too much. Merrifield has whiffed 49 times in 207 at bats in 2016, which isn’t very good for a player with limited power.

Merrifield needs to make an adjustment to put the ball in play more, and his ability to fix the hole in his swing will go a long way toward determining if he can continue as a starter in major-league baseball.

Next: Three-Headed Monster Returns

2) The Return Of The Three-Headed Bullpen Monster

Friday night, KC Royals manager Ned Yost got 2.1 shut down innings from the back end of his bullpen to finish out the game. It’s about time the three-headed bullpen monster did the job in Kansas City. 

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With the Royals scoring around 4.0 runs per game, they’re going to have to hold onto leads in the second half of the season if they’re to make a run at division-leader Cleveland. Either Luke Hochevar, Joakim Soria, or Brian Flynn is going to have to seize that seventh inning role so that the KC Royals can go back to dominating the late-innings by the time the playoffs roll around.

On Friday night, Hoch got the job done. Yet, we’ve seen both him and Joakim Soria look like they’ve overcome their troubles only to get blown up by opposing hitters.

While the KC Royals 3.13 ERA is still sixth best in MLB, they’ve fallen off from their earlier pace as the best bullpen in the league. That drop reflects the recent struggles of setup men Hochevar and Soria.

Somehow, Ned Yost has to figure out how to stop the bleeding and get back to dominating the late innings. Friday night was a good start.

Next: Hanging With The Prez

1) Could Hanging With The Prez Trigger A Second Half Run?

The Royals have been looking for something to turn around their season after the Indians went on a 13-game run in June. The KC Royals have been looking up in the standings every since, and now find themselves trailing the Indians by 8.0 games.

That lead isn’t insurmountable, but the Kansas City Royals will probably need a hot streak similar to the ones that kicked off the second half in 2013 and 2014.

Maybe, just maybe, hanging with President Barak Obama in the White House on their off day Thursday afternoon can provide that turning point they’ve been looking for since June.

What the KC Royals really could use is another Raul Ibanez speech, but they’re no longer a young team that doesn’t know what they can do on the big stage. The 2016 Kansas City Royals are defending World Champions who have won 22 post-season games since Ibanez fired up the clubhouse by telling them they needed to believe in themselves.

Next: Evaluating The Pitching Trade Targets

In 2016, the KC Royals are a team that looks like they need an infusion of energy to carry them through the final two months of the season. Who knows, having the most powerful man in the world telling them how inspiring they were in 2015 just might have reminded the KC Royals what they can do.