Royals’ first homestand ends with another loss: ‘You never want to start like this’
There are positive developments for the Kansas City Royals this season if you want to look hard enough for them.
The Kansas City Royals starters’ earned-run average heading into Thursday was 2.59 — the fourth-best mark in baseball. In addition, KC’s catchers have taken much-needed strides with pitch framing, and following an offseason emphasis, the team’s first-pitch strike percentage is way up from a year ago.
None of it matters much right now, though. Not with KC’s bats remaining this inconsistent, the latest example coming in Thursday afternoon’s 6-3 home loss to the Toronto Blue Jays in the finale of a four-game series at Kauffman Stadium.
The Royals have stumbled out of the gate following their first homestand. They have a 1-6 record, which included a 1-3 mark against Toronto.
And so far, the offense bears much of the blame.
“You never want to start like this,” Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. said after the game. “So you’ve just got to keep learning and improving and keep getting better. I think that’s what we’ll do as a whole. Just keep moving forward.”
KC is averaging 2.4 runs in its seven contests. The Royals have been shut out three times.
Any momentum working in other directions, then — whether pitching or catching — has taken a back seat as the Royals wait for their bats to elevate to an even below-average level.
“It’s not fun to lose, but I mean, it’s 162 games,” said Royals bench coach Paul Hoover, who filled in as manager for a second straight day after Matt Quatraro tested positive for COVID-19 this week. “So you stay the course. We’ll just keep working, keep getting better and throw our guys out there and continue to get better.”
Thursday was going to be difficult for the Royals offense regardless, given the opposing starting pitcher. Kevin Gausman was one of AL’s best hurlers a season ago, and he lived up to that reputation with six shutout innings and seven strikeouts.
The Royals, to their credit, put together a rally after Gausman departed. Witt Jr. dinged his first home run of the season off the left field foul pole in the eighth against Trevor Richards. The Royals tacked on a walk (MJ Melendez), two singles (Salvador Perez and Vinnie Pasquantino) and a double (Edward Olivares) after that, suddenly making the score 6-3 with runners and second and third and no outs.
The team’s poor clutch hitting early in the season, however, circled back at an inopportune time. Franmil Reyes grounded out as a pinch-hitter, then Hunter Dozier and Nick Pratto followed with strikeouts to end the threat.
Witt Jr. was asked afterward if he felt guys were starting to press offensively, given the team’s struggles.
“We’re human, so whenever you lose, you’re gonna get frustrated. So that’s part of it,” Witt Jr. said. “And so now it’s just how you can bounce back. So I think that the guys we have here, we’re family in here. So I think we’re gonna keep pushing and keep going.
“I think the frustration, it builds to good things. You learn from it. You don’t want to do it again. We’ll keep moving forward, like I’ve been saying. I think that times will keep getting better, and so just gotta keep rolling.”
Royals starter Jordan Lyles also provided some reason for long-term optimism, even if it came with short-term negative results. The right-hander — he signed as a free agent with the Royals this offseason — struck out nine and walked none in 5 2/3 innings but still was blistered for five runs as the Blue Jays connected on five extra-base hits.
“It was kind of tough to wrap your head around exactly what happened, but that’s what good lineups and good teams do,” Lyles said. “With Toronto, they’re really good offensively, and before you know it, they were up a five-spot on us.”
Lyles said he believed the team’s youth would be beneficial following the team’s opening-week skid.
“The younger guys bounce back a little bit better than older guys do,” Lyles said. “We’re gonna get the offense turned around. We’ve got too much talent. We’ll be fine. No one’s sweating. I haven’t heard any words of discouragement, so we’ll be OK.”
Missed the start of the series?
Game 1: Pre-game text helped spur Royals to first win of season
Game 2: Blue Jays hold Royals to 4 hits in 4-1 win
Game 3: Royals waste Zack Greinke’s strong outing in loss
Royals retirement coming
The Royals announced Thursday that former outfielder Lorenzo Cain would be honored at Kauffman Stadium on May 6 before a home game against the Oakland Athletics.
Cain, who played in KC from 2011-17, will sign an honorary one-day contract with the Royals that day so he can retire with the team.
On deck
The Royals play a three-game road series against the San Francisco Giants this weekend. Brad Keller will face Alex Cobb in the Giants’ home opener at 3:35 p.m. Central Time on Friday.
This story was originally published April 6, 2023 at 3:47 PM.
