Royals: Top 5 moments in March/April from 2019 season

The beginning of 2019 was not kind to the Kansas City Royals, but we still persevered to find the best moments for March and April.

As hard as it is to believe, the Kansas City Royals started the season with two wins and were in first place for a grand total of three days. Then the wheels came flying off on March 31st with a 6-3 loss to the Chicago White Sox. That would begin a 10-game losing streak and April ended on a 2-8 slide. All told, a .310 winning percentage for the opening month(s) would essentially knock any hopes for a decent season off the map.

By the end of the day on April 29th, the Royals stood nine and a half games out of first place already. The team was not getting blown out of all these games as seven of the twenty losses were by two runs or less. There were also leads in many of these games that a struggling bullpen could not hold. The lack of quality arms would plague the team throughout the year though, save for a few players.

One of the most exciting moments of the month was Brad Keller dotting a fastball to the Chicago White Sox’s Tim Anderson backside after he did theatrics following a home run in his previous at-bat. The two teams have never been the best of friends and this incident at least showed the Royals still had fight for a team not producing many wins.

It the midst of all the pain and suffering Kansas City Royals fans went through, some positive individual and team achievements did occur. We take time to celebrate even the smallest of victories as we enter the holiday season.

Moment #5: 100th major league double

For a player entering just his fourth major league season, it seems that many of Whit Merrifield‘s accomplishments have a historical significance to them.  On April 12th, a double hit in a game that stopped a Kansas City Royals 10-game skid was no different.

A Friday night crowd of only 11,950 showed up at Kauffman Stadium to watch a Royals team that was already trying to stay relevant in a baseball season that was only a couple of weeks old.  The home team put the game away early with a six-run first inning that chased starter Carlos Carrasco out of the contest with only two-thirds of an inning pitched.

Merrifield recorded his milestone in the bottom of the fourth off of Tyler Olson.  He took a pitch deep down the right-field line and ended up on second base for the 100th double.  The ball ended being auctioned for $205 a month later.

It was a two-bagger that was not only the 100th of his career but another step to the second season in a row that would see him hit over 40 doubles.  By the time the 2019 schedule closed out, Merrifield would end up with 138 in his career and in 24th place all-time for Royals players. Everyone above him has at least 100 more games played and he could easily crack the top 10 if he is still with the organization for a couple more years.

Moment #4: Major league debut

One moment that undoubtedly sticks out in a player’s career is when he makes his major league debut.  Often times it is after several years spent in the minors working his way to get a chance to prove himself at the highest level.

Kelvin Gutierrez took the field of a big-league stadium for his first career appearance on April 27th at the friendly confines of Kauffman Stadium.  It was against the Los Angeles Angels and the Kansas City Royals had lost six of their prior seven contests.

Gutierrez was placed at third base and batting seventh just behind Jorge Soler.  As baseball is known to do, he was put on the spot in the first inning with a ground ball from Albert Pujols that Kelvin cooly turned into a 5-4-3 double play to end the inning.

His first at-bat came in the second frame against Jaime Barria and drew a four-pitch walk.  His next plate appearance was even better as he lined a single to left field and drove home Ryan O’Hearn and Soler for his first hit and two RBI’s.

The rest of the game was uneventful for Gutierrez but going one for three, driving home two runs and recording a putout with two assists and no errors is not a shabby way to start your career.  He bounced around between Omaha and Kansas City and ultimately had his season cut short by an injury.  In 20 major league games, he produced a .260/.304/.356 slash.

Moment #1: Big Opening Day crowd and win

Regardless of team expectations, Opening Day’s are always special.  Baseball games start counting against your record, spring has arrived and even Kansas City Royals fans’ might have a glimmer of hope for a surprise season.

On March 28th, 2019 the Chicago White Sox opened the season in KC.  It was a 3:15 pm game with all the usual pomp and circumstance you would expect for the first game of the year.  It was a decent day as the temperature was 55 degrees and a wind blowing out to centerfield at 11mph.  31,675 packed the K to watch the Boys in Blue.

Taking the mound at the young age of 23 was Brad Keller who was a Rule 5 steal the prior year going 9-6 with a 3.08 ERA as he started 20 games and appeared in relief in another 21 contests.  He would be the second-youngest Opening Day starter in Royals history.

A pitcher’s duel developed between Keller and White Sox starter Carlos Rondon.  No hits allowed by either the first three innings.  Kansas City scratched out a run in the bottom of the fourth as Adalberto Mondesi tripled (after an overturned out call) and Alex Gordon chased him home with a sacrifice fly.

The pitchers dominated again until the bottom of the sixth.  Merrifield singled and stole second and third base and then Gordon was hit by a pitch.  Soler singled home Whit and then surprise addition to the team Frank Schwindel reached on an error which allowed Gordo to score.

The White Sox bullpen gave up two more runs in the seventh frame as Mondesi tripled again, this time scoring Merrifield.  Soler collected another RBI with double that brought Gordon around (he had replaced Mondesi on base due to a fielder’s choice).

Keller pitched seven scoreless innings giving up only two hits and one walk while striking out five.  With a 5-0 lead and 92 pitches thrown, Ned Yost made a call to the bullpen and Ian Kennedy tossed a 1-2-3 inning.

https://twitter.com/Royals/status/1111436996973465600

A common theme would play out in the ninth as the Royals bullpen struggled mightily.  The combination of Peralta, Jake Diekman, and Kevin McCarthy allowed three runs and had runners on base before Brad Boxberger ended the game retiring his only batter.

The Kansas City Royals would win their next game on March 30th and actually spent a day in first place by themselves. The next day would bring a loss and a slip into a tie for first with a 2-1 record. The month of April was brutal and KC would be free-falling to another 100-plus loss season. But for one day, everything was perfect.