KC Royals drop series but MLB Playoffs picture still looks good

With just 15 games left in the regular season, the KC Royals find themselves in the thick of the postseason race, holding onto the second American League Wild Card slot by a slim 1.5-game margin over the Minnesota Twins.

After dropping two of three games to the Yankees in The Bronx, Kansas City’s lead is more precarious, but its playoff chances remain promising. While catching the Cleveland Guardians atop the AL Central is highly unlikely — FanGraphs gives the Royals only a 6.8% chance to win the division — fans have a lot to be optimistic about.

After all, this is a team that lost 106 games just a season ago, and now they’re on the verge of a playoff appearance.

But the real reason to believe in a deep October run? The Royals' pitching staff.

Kansas City's pitching is a key to MLB Playoffs chase

Kansas City’s arms are getting healthy at the right time, and the return of Michael Lorenzen from injury could provide the final piece of the puzzle. Acquired from Texas at the trade deadline, Lorenzen was lights-out before landing on the Injured List with a hamstring issue late last month. Before then, he'd posted a 1.85 ERA in his first 24.1 innings as a Royal.

He made a rehab start for Double-A Northwest Arkansas Tuesday, signaling he could be ready to rejoin a Royals starting rotation that’s already formidable.

Adding Lorenzen to a rotation featuring Seth Lugo, Cole Ragans, and Michael Wacha gives Kansas City a wealth of arms that most playoff contenders would love to have, especially the Dodgers. It doesn’t stop there — Brady Singer has been a steady presence all season, pitching to a 3.42 ERA over 163.1 innings.

The Royals now have the luxury of turning some of these starters into long relievers for the Wild Card round, a best-of-three series where two good days of pitching can easily push a team into the AL Division Series.

The numbers tell the story: Kansas City's starters rank second in the American League with a 3.54 ERA, trailing only the Seattle Mariners. Their overall team ERA is sixth-best in the AL at 3.87.

Those kinds of stats don’t go unnoticed, either. Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after his team’s series win that “This is a big series win for us against a really good club over there that threw a lot of good pitching at us.”

Indeed, Kansas City’s pitching dominance has been on full display this month. The Royals have already spun three shutouts this month, including their lone win in New York.

No team wants to drop a series at this point in the season, but the Royals’ pitching is proving to be a difference-maker. If their arms stay healthy and continue to dominate, Kansas City could be primed for an unexpectedly deep playoff run.

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