KC Royals: 3 reasons to believe June might be better

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The KC Royals were, to be painfully but accurately blunt, awful in May. They entered the month in fourth place in the American League Central and left it in last, a testament to the sad truth that the 16-32 record with which they crawled away from May made them major league baseball’s worst team.

Why Kansas City lost 20 of 29 in May is no mystery. The pitching was bad and the hitting, while somewhat better after the club parted ways with hitting coach Terry Bradshaw, wasn’t good enough to overcome the deep holes KC hurlers too often dug.

Barring some Central Division-wide collapse, which isn’t likely to happen, contention no longer qualifies as even a pipe dream for this club. Other than the five regular season games on the schedule, there will be no October baseball in Kansas City; the playoffs will again be something the Royals watch on television.

And June could be rough. Kansas City opened the new month by losing to Cleveland Wednesday and must play 12 games against four legitimate contenders—the Astros, Blue Jays, Giants and Angels—and 13 against Oakland, Texas and Baltimore, all sub-.500 clubs but still better than the Royals.

But can June be better than May? Yes, and here are three reasons to think so.

Salvador Perez should be better at the plate in June for the KC Royals.

It isn’t a stretch to say that as Salvador Perez goes, so go the Royals. He’s the team backbone, its spirit, and a major gauge of its success. When he’s hot, the club is better; when he’s not, it’s not.

Attribute much of the Royals’ moderate improvement last year to Perez’s 48 home runs, 121 RBIs, .273 average and 128 OPS+, the driving numbers behind his team-record fourth Silver Slugger.

But his subpar 2022—he’s slashing .187/.227/.355—helps explain part of Kansas City’s offensive malaise. Yes, a thumb injury forced him to the Injured List May 17, but he was slashing .206/.239/.397 then and is 1-for-19 since returning a week ago.

Will Perez ever break out of his season-long slump? Yes, and it should happen soon—he’s too good not to recover. And when he does, his numbers and the club’s record will be much better in June.

Look for prospect Vinnie Pasquantino to make his KC Royals debut in June.

Just a year ago, first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino was hitting .183 for Quad Cities, Kansas City’s new High-A affiliate. The minor league season wasn’t a full month old, so panicking about a prospect with a long way to go wasn’t necessary.

Nor did it ever become so. Pasquantino righted himself and was by late July hitting .291 with a .384 OBP and .949 OPS; together with 13 homers and 42 RBIs, those numbers earned him a promotion to Double-A Northwest Arkansas, where in 55 games he clubbed another 11 homers, drove in 42 runs, and slashed .310/.405/.560.

Then he hit .391 with a 1.179 OPS for the Royals in 13 spring training games and was deemed ready for Triple-A, where he’s homered 15 times with 52 RBIs and a .298 average, .392 OBP and 1.059 OPS.

All this, while Carlos Santana plays first base in Kansas City with a .161 average and two homers in 36 games.

Why? General Manager J.J. Picollo suggests, per Kansas City Star Royals beat writer Lynn Worthy, that the Royals don’t want to force the player MLB Pipeline ranks as KC’s fourth-best prospect into a position where he feels too much pressure to fuel the club’s weak offense, and prefer to see him get more at-bats at Omaha.

Add those reasons to the notion that the Royals are still trying to squeeze out of Santana what trade value he might have left, and why Santana plays in the majors and Pasquantino in the minors becomes more clear.

Expect that to change, and change soon. The Royals are a bad team getting worse, which means attendance, and consequently revenues, are sure to soon decrease, and Santana isn’t doing anything to help matters. Despite Picollo’s concerns, Pasquantino forcing his hand is inevitable. He’ll likely arrive in Kansas City in the coming days.

Just in time to help make June better than May around Kauffman Stadium.

(Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports) /

A vastly improved KC Royals pitcher should help things improve in June.

No one doubts former first-round draft pick Brady Singer’s potential or desire. His usually calm (but occasionally expressive) mound presence at least partially conceals the competitive fire that apparently burns fiercely within.

Until recently, though, something, probably a well-chronicled reluctance to trust the changeup he rarely threw, prevented Singer’s performance from equaling his potential. Despite being a rotation member the past two seasons, he came into this campaign with an unremarkable 9-15 record.

And when Opening Day arrived, Singer had slipped out of the rotation and into the bullpen, from which he made only three appearances before the Royals sent him down to Omaha. His assignment was clearly to prepare for resuming his starter’s role and to work on that underused changeup.

Probably forced by his employer to further develop the pitch, Singer used it well as a Storm Chaser. He went 1-0 with a 3.29 ERA before temporarily returning to Kansas City to throw the nightcap of a doubleheader against the White Sox; he was superb, earning his first win of the season by holding the Sox scoreless and striking out nine in seven innings.

Then, after a required short return to Omaha, Singer came back to the Royals and threw another scoreless seven frames against Minnesota 11 days ago, and picked up his second win last Saturday by striking out eight in 5.2 innings to beat the Twins again.

So it is that the Royals’ rotation now includes Singer. He seems to have found himself and, at 2-0, 2.49, is in line to start against Houston when Kansas City opens a 10-game homestand Friday evening.

If he continues to pitch like he did in May, June should be much brighter for the Royals.

Next. It's time to shake up the Royals. dark

If Salvador Perez starts hitting, Vinnie Pasquantino gets to Kansas City and plays like he has in the minors, and Brady Singer continues to pitch like everyone always knew he could, the Royals should be better in June than they were in May.

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