Kansas City Royals: How Former Players Have Performed in 2017 Playoffs

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BOSTON, MA – OCTOBER 09: Carlos Beltran /

The Kansas City Royals didn’t make the playoffs this season, but several former players did with their current teams. Here’s a look at how those ex-Royals have performed thus far.

While the members of the 2017 Kansas City Royals aren’t experiencing the postseason, there are some former players who have made the playoffs with other teams. So we’ve decided to take a look at how those individuals have done, so far.

Most of the players have struggled. Some of them didn’t survive their respective wild card game, while others got sent home during the division series. However, a few did make it through to the league championship series.

Depending on the player, it can be fun or frustrating to watch them in the postseason with someone else. Obviously, the circumstances surrounding their respective departures has a huge influence on those feelings.

Some of the players left in trades that were wins for the Kansas City Royals; others left in trades that were losses—or at least seem to be losses at this point. Some players signed with other teams when the Royals had hoped to re-sign them; others signed with other teams when the team showed no interest in keeping them around.

Regardless, all of these guys played for the Kansas City Royals at one point—that means no Mike Montgomery—and are thus of interest.

NEW YORK, NY – OCTOBER 03: Ervin Santana /

Eliminated in Wild Card Game

A former Kansas City Royals pitcher featured on the losing side in each wild card game this year. In the American League winner-take-all game, Ervin Santana started for the Minnesota Twins. On the National League side, Greg Holland made an appearance out of the Colorado Rockies bullpen.

Here’s how the two pitchers, who were teammates in 2013, did in their respective elimination games:

Ervin Santana, Twins

Santana lasted just two innings against the New York Yankees. His teammates gave him a nice 3-0 lead before he took the mound. The robust top of the first inning even chased his opposite number, Luis Severino, after recording just one out.

The man who spent just one season in Kansas City, though, couldn’t take advantage. He gave those three runs right back in the bottom half of the first. Brett Gardner walked, Aaron Judge singled and Didi Gregorius hit a massive three-run homer to tie the game.

Gardner homered in the second inning to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead. The Twins tied the game in the top of the third, but Santana still got replaced by Jose Berrios to begin the third inning. The Minnesota bullpen struggled in the 8-4 defeat with Berrios taking the loss.

Greg Holland, Rockies

Holland got thrust into a high-scoring game in the NL Wild Card Game and didn’t fare too well. In the bottom of the eighth inning, the former Kansas City Royals closer came on with his team trailing 8-7.

Looking to keep the Rockies within striking distance, Holland struggled against a potent Diamondbacks lineup. The right-hander came on with one on and one out. He got the dangerous J.D. Martinez to ground into a fielder’s choice for the second out.

However, Jake Lamb singled and A.J. Pollock tripled to bring in two runs. Arizona wasn’t done, though. After an intentional walk, Jeff Mathis beached on a bunt single that extended the lead to 11-7. Holland finally got out of the inning, but the damage had already been done.

Colorado scored a run in the ninth, showing just how vital those insurance runs were.

Eliminated in Division Series

Former Kansas City Royals ace Zack Greinke struggled in the wild card game, despite having a 6-0 lead entering the fourth inning. He had thrown three scoreless innings before a four-run implosion saw him leave after 3 2/3 frames.

The Diamondbacks advanced, though, to face the Dodgers. That series didn’t go well, as Arizona suffered a sweep to their NL West Division rival. In the other NL Division Series, ex-Kansas City Royals reliever Ryan Madson suffered a heartbreaking loss with the Washington Nationals.

Here’s how the former Royals who lost in the division series performed:

Zack Greinke, Gregor Blanco and Rey Fuentes, Diamondbacks

As mentioned above, Greinke started the wild card game. But he wasn’t the only former Kansas City Royals player on the Diamondbacks’ roster for the game. Ex-Royals Gregor Blanco and Rey Fuentes both made the roster for the winner-take-all contest. Neither played, though.

Blanco also made the NLDS roster, while Fuentes, whom Kansas City released in Sept. 2016 after playing 13 games, didn’t. Despite not featuring in the wild card game, Blanco saw action in all three NLDS games. Blanco, who played for the Royals during part of the 2010 season, went 0 for 3 with two strikeouts in his limited time.

Greinke, meanwhile, started Game 3. He pitched better than in the wild card game, but his offense couldn’t figure out Yu Darvish. Greinke, who won the 2009 AL Cy Young award with the Kansas City Royals, allowed three runs over five-plus innings in the 3-1 defeat.

He allowed four hits and five walks with four strikeouts. Even still, what really hurt Greinke were the solo home runs he allowed to Cody Bellinger and Austin Barnes. The latter of which led to Greinke’s exit after one batter in the sixth inning.

Ryan Madson, Nationals

After coming over in a trade from Oakland, Madson became a key component in a struggling Washington bullpen. The setup man for the Kansas City Royals 2015 team, Madson made an appearance in four of the five games in the NLDS.

The Nationals missed Madson in the lone game in which the 37-year-old didn’t feature. In Game 3, Washington carried a 1-0 lead into the seventh inning, but Chicago scored single runs in the seventh and eighth to take a 2-1 win.

In the games he did pitch, Madson struck out four, while allowing four hits, two walks and one hit-by-pitch. Despite those numbers, he only allowed one run in his four innings.

It wasn’t enough to keep his team’s season alive.

WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 13: Wade Davis /

Reached League Championship Series

Carlos Beltran hasn’t been with the Kansas City Royals for well over a decade. However, any fans who saw him feature in the outfield at Kauffman Stadium, particularly alongside Johnny Damon and Jermaine Dye, know he’s one of the best players to suit up for the franchise.

Speaking of franchise greats, Wade Davis and Ben Zobrist teamed up to help the Royals win the 2015 World Series. Now, they’re trying to win another title together for the Cubs in 2017—after Zobrist won one by himself in Chicago last year.

Here’s how those three players helped their team move within touching distance of a pennant:

Carlos Beltran, Astros

The former AL Rookie of the Year has turned into one of the greatest postseason hitters of all time. However, Beltran has never been able to win a World Series—with his only appearance, thus far, coming with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2013.

He has a great chance to get back to the World Series this season. It would ironically come with the franchise the Kansas City Royals traded him to in 2004. The trade ended a great five-a-half-year run with the Royals, but Beltran deserved to play for a winner. He’s gotten that opportunity several times over, having made the postseason on seven occasions with six different organizations.

This year, he has played in three of the Astros’ four postseason games. He’s 2 for 5 with a huge RBI-double in the ninth inning of Game 4 that helped Houston close out the ALDS.

Wade Davis and Ben Zobrist, Cubs

Zobrist and Davis left Kansas City for Chicago under extremely different circumstances. The former signed with the Cubs in the offseason after the 2015 title-winning campaign; the latter landed with the Cubbies after a straight-up trade for Jorge Soler.

While Kansas City Royals fans probably like watching Zobrist and Davis succeed, it has to hurt thinking about what could have been. What if, instead of Alex Gordon, the team had tried to re-sign Zobrist heading into 2016? What if Dayton Moore hadn’t sent Davis away for an unproven hitter?

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To be fair, Zobrist has regressed mightily in 2017 after winning World Series MVP honors in 2016. His versatility, though, has kept him a key member of the Cubs. He played in all five games of the NLDS, finishing 4 for 17, including a pair of doubles, with one walk and three runs scored. Zobrist’s double in Game 3 broke up Max Scherzer‘s no-hitter, and he eventually scored the tying run.

Davis, meanwhile, had an up-and-down series. He nailed down three saves but also gave up a grand slam that helped the Nationals force Game 5. But in that winner-take-all game—on the road, no less—Davis showed his mettle.

He nailed down the final seven outs, including a flawless ninth inning, to close out a 9-8 win. His strikeout of Bryce Harper to end the game will be one of the lasting memories of this postseason.

It’s just a shame he’s closing out postseason games for the Chicago Cubs instead of the Kansas City Royals. Because, if Davis had stayed, that might have been the case.

Next: Best Performances from the 2017 Season

Either way, we’ll keep tabs on Davis, Zobrist and Beltran to see if any former Royals will earn rings this fall.

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How Former Kansas City Royals Have Performed in 2017 Playoffs