Kansas City Royals: Postseason Picture Update

AL second wild card spot

Kansas City Royals

Overall record (through Sunday): 57-53

Last week: 2-5

This week: Vs. St. Louis Cardinals (Mon.-Tue.); at St. Louis Cardinals (Wed.-Thu.); at Chicago White Sox (Fri.-Sun.)

This position was up for grabs when the Kansas City Royals took the field against the Mariners in the second game of Sunday’s doubleheader.

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A win by Seattle would have bumped Tampa Bay into the final Wild Card place, but Jakob Junis and the Kansas City Royals’ bats showed up in a big way.

So if the season had ended Sunday (forget for a minute that not everybody has played the same number of games), the Kansas City Royals would have barely held onto a playoff spot.

This week features four games against the Cardinals before the weekend set against the White Sox. A 5-2 week would likely satisfy a fanbase that has grown increasingly pessimistic about the Kansas City Royals’ playoff aspirations.

The way the past week went—swept by Baltimore and split against Seattle—does not inspire confidence that this position will be in their possession even as soon as the next time we do this update.