Why the Kansas City Royals Will Make the 2017 Postseason

A lot of Kansas City Royals fans have given up on this team. It’s understandable given the recent scoreless streak. But here’s why the Royals will turn things around and still make the playoffs.

When this article is posted, the Kansas City Royals will be sitting on a scoreless drought that stretches back to Thursday afternoon.

Six scoreless innings to begin Tuesday night’s game will see the team set the MLB record for the longest streak of innings without scoring. I don’t need to explain to you how incredible—for all the wrong reasons—that is.

But I will say it’s hard to fathom a record such as that being set in the midst of a season featuring a record number of home runs across the league.

All of that being said, this streak will end. It might not feel like it right now, but it will.

It’s easy to get caught up in the highs and lows of a baseball season.

I mean, heck, someone at KoK tweeted after Eric Hosmer hit a walk-off home run on Wednesday that the next four games looked winnable. That quickly backfired, but it’s understandable given what had just happened.

Now that the team has lost five games in a row—albeit the last two by insane 12-0 scorelines—everyone seems to be throwing in the towel. Those people are going to look pretty stupid when the Kansas City Royals are playing in the Wild Card game. They will have to quietly go pick that towel up, put it in the linen closet (Be honest, you aren’t putting it in the laundry basket.) and pretend like nothing happened.

A baseball season is full of ebbs and flows. The Kansas City Royals could not have gotten off to a much worse start to the season. Yet, a surge in June and a solid July had the team slotted in as the American League’s second Wild Card representative when August began.

The Kansas City Royals’ chances of making the playoffs for the third time in four seasons have dwindled as the month has continued. Since the start of August, the team’s record sits at 9-17. That is a winning percentage of .346. Two separate five-game losing streaks, including the current one, have occurred this month.

It’s been ugly. Nobody could deny that, but hope is not lost.

Even with the struggles, the Kansas City Royals sit just three games back.

Let me repeat that. Even with those horrendous numbers, the team is just three games out of reclaiming a playoff berth.

Granted, that says almost as much about the ineptitude of the rest of the Wild Card chasers as it does the Kansas City Royals. But that’s a major reason why the team should not be considered out of the postseason race.

There are currently six teams within three games of Minnesota for the final Wild Card slot. While that makes for a tough ask to beat out a half-dozen other teams for the spot, the Kansas City Royals have the most playoff pedigree of the bunch.

The core of the Kansas City Royals has been to two World Series.

The Twins haven’t been to the playoffs since 2010. The Angels have been absent from the postseason since being swept by the Royals in the 2014 ALDS. The Orioles lost last year’s Wild Card game and also got swept by the Royals in the 2014 ALCS. The Mariners haven’t experienced playoff baseball since 2001. The Rays haven’t reached the postseason since 2013.

Kansas City Royals

The Rangers have arguably the most playoff experience outside of the Kansas City Royals. Texas has made the postseason each of the past two years. However, both playoff campaigns ended with ALDS losses to Toronto.

When the Kansas City Royals get things figured out, they are more than capable of putting together an incredible run. With the current starting rotation, winning streaks of the seven- and eight-game variety will not occur. But the team has the talent to win 20-plus games in September.

The schedule isn’t overly arduous the rest of the way. Seventeen of the team’s remaining games will come against opponents that currently own losing records. Another seven games will come against Minnesota, and that will give the Kansas City Royals ample opportunities to chase down the Twins.

And chase them down they will.

So those of you who have given up on the Kansas City Royals need to prepare to hop back on the bandwagon when this team is playing in the American League Wild Card Game.

Next: Why the Royals Won't Make the Playoffs

Don’t worry, I won’t say I told you so. … I’ll just tweet it out.