6 KC Royals who helped make first month bearable

The month of April, which seems to treat them badly more often than not, ended quietly for the KC Royals Saturday night. The Yankees ruined the unveiling of Kansas City’s much-anticipated City Connect uniforms by shutting them out 3-0.

The loss, coming on the heels of the mercifully weather-shortened 12-2 drubbing the Royals suffered Friday night, left them 7-12, a stark contrast to the 15-9 April they enjoyed last season.

The current campaign’s lowlights outweigh its highlights.

The Royals are hitting an American League worst .209 after Saturday. At 4.55, their team ERA is the league’s second worst.

Two Kansas City relievers are tied with a starter for most team wins with two. New York’s Friday hammering of Jake Brentz (without making an out, they scored five runs, four of them earned, off him) left him with an eight-appearance ERA of 23.63, and he’s now on the Injured List with a flexor strain. Jackson Kowar lasted a game before the club sent him to the minors, and Brady Singer followed him there Thursday.

At the plate, only one qualified batter has an average over .242. Regulars Whit Merrifield, Carlos Santana and Michael A. Taylor are all hitting under .200; so was Adalberto Mondesi before suffering an ACL tear Tuesday that likely ended his season.

Fortunately, some Royals played well enough to make April a bit more palatable.

Rookie Bobby Witt Jr. is making things interesting for the KC Royals.

MLB Pipeline still ranks Bobby Witt Jr. as KC’s No. 1 prospect but, despite an April slump, chances are he’ll soon lose that tag because he’s probably in Kansas City to stay.

Witt, who’s played every game in his rookie season, is batting only .216 since going 1-for-3 Saturday night. But because he’s Bobby Witt Jr., he’s fun to watch and makes games more interesting. And he has a nine-game hitting streak.

Witt’s glove is good—he’s made some excellent plays and throws fluidly and powerfully from third base. His two errors take little away from how he’s handling the hot corner.

In his contract year, this KC Royals outfielder has a case for an extension.

Andrew Benintendi, the talented left fielder Kansas City traded Franchy Cordero and Khalil Lee for two winters ago, has business to settle with the Royals sometime in the near future. Unless they reach a last-minute accord, he and the club are headed for an arbitration hearing after they couldn’t agree on terms for a 2022 contract.

After the start he’s having, the Royals may want to seriously consider cutting a brand new deal with Benintendi, especially considering he’s eligible for free agency after this season.

Through Saturday, Benintendi is the only Royal hitting better than .242—although New York held him hitless (only the fourth time opponents have managed that this season)—he’s hitting .373 with 10 RBIs and six walks in 19 games. His .419 OBP and .882 OPS are excellent.

He also hasn’t made an error, which isn’t surprising considering the Gold Glove he won last year for his first season trying to replace Alex Gordon in left field.

Coupled with that honor and the finish he put on his 2021 campaign, the case Benintendi is now making for an extension is compelling. He overcame an early season slump and later a rib fracture to hit .342 and drive in 29 runs last September and ended the year with a .276 average and 17 homers, and his 2022 numbers suggest he’s headed for an even better season.

A pair of veteran starters are pitching quite well for the KC Royals in 2022.

They have yet to win even one game between them, but Zack Greinke and Brad Keller haven’t let anyone down on the mound this season.

They’ve been joys to watch, especially for Kansas City fans starved for better starting pitching.

The show began Opening Day when Greinke allowed Cleveland only one run over 5.2 innings in his return to Kauffman Stadium. Because he left trailing 1-0, he didn’t get the win when the Royals scored twice in the eighth for a 3-1 victory.

He’s started three times since then and pitched well enough to win, but the Royals can’t seem to score for him—they average two runs per game when he starts, the same average offensive effort Keller receives. Scheduled to pitch next against the Cardinals in St. Louis Monday, Greinke is 0-1 with a 2.86 ERA.

Equally impressive has been Keller, the fifth-year Kansas City starter who is so far adhering to his pattern of pitching well in even-numbered seasons. His lack of a victory this year isn’t due to lack of solid performance—his only rough game came nine days ago when Seattle tagged him for six runs (four earned) in 4.2 innings. Otherwise, he’s given up an average of just one run per start and has an ERA of 2.19.