MLB.com doesn't believe in KC Royals for one terrible reason

There is a difference between rooting for a team and believing in a team. For nearly a decade, KC Royals fans have rooted for a team with no belief in that team winning on any given day or playing meaningful baseball after digging a deep hole in the early season. Now, in 2024, there is real belief in this team. Whether it be Bobby Witt Jr. living up to his extension or the new pitching acquisitions looking stellar, belief sprouts anew in this fanbase.

The KC Royals haven't made believers out of everyone yet.

Leave it to a national writer to try and be a downer. This time, MLB.com's Will Leitch focused on seven teams with unexpectedly hot starts this season and assigned each a "likelihood of sustainability." The Deadspin founder isn't known for hard-hitting analysis, but even he did a disservice to the Royals by not believing in their start simply because of the uniform they wear.

"Why we were concerned: Again: They’re the Royals. Even with a new front office mindset and the good vibes of the Bobby Witt Jr. extension, this was still a team that lost 106 games last year."

- Will Leitch, MLB.com

That is it. That is the reason. Leitch continued to talk about vibes while citing the Royals' dominant rotation, Salvador Perez hitting like it is 2021, and Witt looking like an AL MVP candidate. However, Leitch ignored all of that to give Kansas City the third-lowest sustainability score at 30%. Meanwhile, Leitch gave the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Guardians 60% and 55% scores, respectively.

Make it make sense please.

No matter what he says, baseball is alive and well in Kansas City. The boys in blue return this weekend to Kauffman Stadium, where they are 8-2 this season and had a perfect 7-0 homestand a week ago. They host the Baltimore Orioles, who are also second in their division, for a three-game set and repeat of a series in Camden Yards earlier this month.

Hopefully by exorcising the walk-off demons against Baltimore, Kansas City can prove more ignorant doubters like Leitch wrong.

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