KC Royals: Top 5 moments from July 2019

Glenn Sparkman struggled all year, and had just put together three ugly starts where he allowed 17 runs in 13 innings pitched. And then it happened, he tossed the best game of the year for the KC Royals with a complete game shutout against the White Sox on Jul. 15.

This definitely wasn’t Glenn Sparkman’s year, as he had an extremely rough 2019, so highlighting anything positive creates certain difficulties. We can rest assured of Sparkman’s disappointment, as he understands just the type of season he had, and (we’re hoping) he’s hoping for a better outcome in 2020. However, he did deliver an absolute gem on Jul. 15 against the Chicago White Sox.

The KC Royals jumped out on the White Sox during the first inning by scoring two runs, right after Sparkman had retired the side in order, thanks to a 6-4-3 double play to open the initial frame – after that, Sparkman took control and steadily posted zeros inning-after-inning.

He finished the game with a career-high eight strikeouts, seven of which were swinging. He dealt a healthy diet of fastballs and sliders (95 out of the 116 total pitches). The slider was his lethal weapon as he wielded it to deliver those swinging strikeouts.

Sparkman will focus in trying to produce consistent results for the ballclub in 2020. It’s difficult to have him outside of the pitching rotation as the next campaign gets underway, especially with the uncertainty of the young guns’ arrivals. However, he’ll have to earn the spot, and show improvement from the start if he wants to stay at the major league level.

His struggles are real, but he gave us one outstanding performance.