ESPN writer crushes Royals while issuing his first-half grades for all 30 MLB teams
Royals chairman and CEO John Sherman met with reporters on March 29, one day before the start of the 2023 season., and answered a number of questions.
My colleague Vahe Gregorian asked Sherman how he would measure success this season in the first full year with J.J. Picollo as general manager and Matt Quatraro as manager.
“Well, I mean, I’m interested in how JJ and Q feel about this, but I’m kind of looking for a step forward,” Sherman said. “You know, I think how you measure that, I mean wins is certainly good, but a step forward. Are we going in the right direction? Are we preparing to compete again for a championship. Last year, I didn’t feel like we took that step forward.“
It’s hard to argue that the Royals have moved forward this season.
The Royals have parted ways with multiple veterans as they seek to determine which younger players might make up a core to build around moving forward.
It’s not translated to success on the field. The Royals won just 65 games in 2022, and they are on pace to win nearly 20 fewer games this season.
At 26-65, the Royals have just one more victory than the Oakland A’s, who are eyeing a move to Las Vegas.
The Royals’ struggles put them in the crosshairs of ESPN’s David Schoenfield, who issued grades to all 30 Major League Baseball teams at the All-Star break.
“With the first half in the books, let’s give all 30 teams a grade on their performance, relative to their preseason expectations,” Schoenfield wrote.
In the preseason, ESPN projected the Royals to finish with a 72-90 record. To reach that mark, the Royals would need a 46-25 record (.648 winning percentage) in the second half.
That’s a key reason why the Royals received worse than a failing grade from Schoenfield, who handed the team an F-minus. That was the worst of all 30 teams.
“Is there progress being made here?” he wrote.
“I sure don’t see it. None of the young hitters — Bobby Witt Jr., MJ Melendez, Vinnie Pasquantino, Nick Pratto — have really broken out, although only Melendez has been bad and Pasquantino gets a pass after tearing a labrum in his right shoulder that will force him to miss the rest of the season. Brady Singer has regressed after a nice 2022. Jordan Lyles and Zack Greinke are a combined 2-20. The farm system might be the worst in baseball. They’ve yet to win three games in a row. They’re on pace to go 46-116. They might be worse — gulp — than the A’s.”
Time will tell if the Royals finish with a worse record than Oakland, but it truly was a rough first half of the season at Kauffman Stadium.
