Kansas City Royals: This is the Make or Break Point

The Kansas City Royals’ season may be decided by the end of the night. The team has gone 2-7 since the calendar turned to August. They have given up 29 runs to the Cardinals the last three games.

The season has been a display of the ultimate extremes for the Kansas City Royals. There was the month of April where the team was the worst in baseball. May saw the team crawl their way back to average. Their saving grace was that there was time to right the ship.

In June the Kansas City Royals exploded back into contention. They followed that up with a pretty good July. Being swept by the Dodgers going into the All-Star break slowed the momentum a bit. The Royals had a rough first week after the break, but were able to bounce back.

A Kansas City Royals team that was expected to be sellers by the July 31st trade deadline found a way to make themselves relevant. Not only that, but they were squarely in the playoff picture. Instead of selling they became buyers as they chased one more opportunity for success in October.

Since making the deals with the Padres and the White Sox clearly things have not worked out as hoped. One gigantic, Salvador Perez shaped, reason can arguably be the main factor.

The team has simply looked BAD since Sal hit the DL.

The team is now scrambling to save their season. Yost has decided to bench Alex Gordon. While I understand the people who have been calling for this to happen, let me say one thing:

Alex Gordon is not THE problem!

Yes Gordo has had a very rough season. The numbers justify this decision. If it turns things around that is great. But Alex was playing everyday when the Kansas City Royals was pacing the Dodgers as the hottest team in baseball. He was in the lineup as they played their way back to contention.

It is easy to say what a team should have done after the fact. For the Kansas City Royals they probably should have traded for a starting pitcher. The guy taking the bump for the Cardinals tonight being a good example.

At the same time the moves that were made were reasonable. Dayton Moore has justification for only completing those deals. He probably looked into other options and nothing made sense for the Kansas City Royals. That is fine.

Could they still add a pitcher that has cleared waivers? Sure. I don’t think Justin Verlander is going to be putting on royal blue anytime soon though, so it probably does not matter. This is a team that has struggled with its identity all season.

Perhaps this is the real Kansas City Royals that we are seeing.

Most likely they fall in the category of average. Having a bad April there was time to make it up. Having a bad August though, you don’t have another five months to get it figured out.

The Kansas City Royals have to handle their business each and every night. There no longer is room for error. A loss tonight feels like one of those “nail in the coffin” moments. I still hold hope, but it is not a tight grip. One thing I know is that this team can pull off crazy things.

Next: Can Jake Junis Be an Answer?

The Kansas City Royals are 57-56 and four games behind division leading Cleveland. They must stay above the .500 mark. Yes I’m attempting the Lavar Ball thing where I’m trying to speak something into existence. At this point nothing is off limits.