Difference between Rays and Royals: Good players

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. | The Royals did play sloppy on Sunday. Sure. Pitcher Luke Hochevar did not cover first on a double-play grounder. Center fielder Joey Gathright threw to third when he had no chance of getting the runner, allowing the hitter to advance to second. The Royals’ lineup drew just one walk. And so on.

Still, when watching this Tampa Bay 9-2 rout of the Royals, it was a reminder of something that is obvious but is also easy to forget: Good players make up good baseball teams. Sure, the Royals have made a wide variety of mistakes, errors, goofs and comical misplays over the last decade and a half. They’ve dropped pop-ups in the ninth, blown seemingly insurmountable leads, fallen off bases, thrown balls into each other’s faces, fired pitching coaches like they were temps, gotten into shouting matches with coaches, batted out of order, climbed walls on ground-rule doubles and wolfed down milk and cookies when there was tequila being served.

But, in the end, the Royals have lost because they have not had enough good baseball players. And they still don’t. This comes into sharp focus when you look at what the shocking Tampa Bay Rays are doing this year. The Rays are now 23 games over .500, they are pretty firmly in first place ahead of the Red Sox and way ahead of the Yankees. The Rays have also now outclassed the Royals three straight games. None of the games has been close.

Here’s what you notice when you watch the Rays: Good players everywhere. They have a healthy Scott Kazmir, who might just be the best pitcher in the American League. They have a kid, Evan Longoria, who cracked his 16th home run Sunday and is on pace to become the first American League rookie in more than a decade to hit more than 30 homers. They have a 23-year-old center fielder, B.J. Upton, who has a terrific .391 on-base percentage and is on pace to steal 50 bases. They have another young pitcher, James Shields, who blew away the Royals on Sunday, and this year he has 96 strikeouts and only 21 walks.

You can go on and on here. Outfielder Carl Crawford offers power and speed and has been one of the more underrated players in the league. Andy Sonnanstine is a smart and tough pitcher with 10 victories. Today’s starter, Matt Garza, has seven wins and a 3.47 ERA. Catcher Dioner Navarro is only 24, and he was just chosen for the All-Star Game. First baseman Carlos Peña is coming off a 46-homer year, and he looks like he’s heating up. There’s even more.

And you know what? That’s probably why the Rays are winning. There will be a lot of stories written about the Rays and their early-season magic, but here’s the reality: They are probably not winning because they are playing harder than other teams. It probably isn’t because they’re playing smarter. It probably isn’t because their manager has pushed all the right buttons. It probably doesn’t have anything to do with the curse of the Bambino or the fact Joe Torre left New York.

No, the Rays are winning because over the last few years, they have lost lots and lots of games and, so, they have had the chance to draft and trade for some talented young players. True, the Royals have also lost lots and lots of games and have had the chance to draft high and make deals with contending teams.

The difference is that the Rays’ players are better. Or, more to the point, they are performing. Upton was the No. 1 overall pick — he’s playing at a high level. Garza came in a trade for Delmon Young, who was also a No. 1 overall pick. He’s winning. Evan Longoria was the third overall pick. He’s the rookie of the year. Kazmir came in a trade when the New York Mets lost their minds and traded him for a middling righty named Victor Zambrano. These guys are all having big years, and there’s every reason to think they will only get better.

The Royals? Well, their No. 1 overall pick Luke Hochevar has a 5.40 ERA. Alex Gordon, the second overall pick, is hitting .255 with a little power and lots of strikeouts. Mark Teahen, who came over in the Carlos Beltran trade and has showed flashes of stardom, is kind of just plodding along. Brian Bannister, who came over in a trade and was so good most of last season, is getting hit hard now. Joey Gathright, who showed signs of developing into a center fielder who could get on base, is not getting on base enough. Billy Butler, the Royals’ best hitting prospect in ages, is hitting .264 and is just back up from a confidence-improving stint in the minor leagues.

This is not to say that Hochevar, Gordon, Teahen, Butler and the rest will not develop — they might. They have talent. They might. But that’s the word. Might. That means they have not yet. The Royals always seem to have players they believe have the power to hit 25-30 home runs, the stuff to win 15 games, the skill to become All-Stars. But for all sorts of reasons, it doesn’t happen.

The Royals have had a handful of nice performances this first half, which is why they are moderately improved. Zack Greinke has pitched well much of the time. David DeJesus has emerged and is hitting .312. And of course closer Joakim Soria has been a phenomenon and is now an All-Star. That’s more than the Royals have had in years past, and the Royals are at least on pace to win 70 games for the first time since 2003.

But that’s not really much to get excited about. The Rays, now, that’s exciting. For years, the Royals have had players with talent who could become something. But in Tampa right now, they have players with talent who are something. And that’s the difference between winning and losing right there.

To reach Joe Posnanski, call 816-234-4361 or send e-mail to jposnanski@kcstar.com. For previous columns, go to KansasCity.com.