00:00Let's get to this next team, Craig, because again, coming into the season, more of the
00:04victors.
00:04Hey, I thought this team would be good.
00:06I love pointing out teams that I thought were going to have good seasons where I'm just
00:09scratching my head right now.
00:11That's the Kansas City Royals, 21-31 coming into Memorial Day weekend here against better
00:17than 500 teams, 9-20, one-run games, 4-9, their expected win total isn't even that great
00:24above what their record is at 23-29.
00:26Craig, I was watching MLB Network yesterday, and the one thing I do love is Bobby Witt's
00:30arm, and if anybody's ever played Major League Baseball before, go stand on a Major League
00:34Baseball diamond at shortstop and just try to throw the baseball over to first base.
00:38This kid is electric, but that lineup looks so good, Craig, opening day.
00:42What is wrong with the Royals?
00:44Yeah, I don't know the answer to this.
00:46Like, this is one of those tough ones for me to sort of predict what could have happened.
00:50Now, you know, Detroit, a little bit easier when you lose your best pitcher, and maybe
00:54just the mentality of the team went down.
00:56Like, that I can see, but this one is bizarre.
00:5810 games under .500 on a team that we thought that was climbing, and Bobby Witt's numbers
01:03aren't bad.
01:04Mike Kells Garcia's numbers are, like, okay.
01:07But I think we got too caught up in the espresso machine with those Kansas City Royals, right?
01:13With Caglione and...
01:15The Italians.
01:16Yeah, and Vinny, you know, I think maybe that was, you know, getting too caught up in
01:21that and just realizing that those players are not that great.
01:25Like, that's just really the bottom line this season.
01:26It hasn't worked for them.
01:27They only have one or two hitters in that lineup that are hitting, regardless of where
01:31the fences are, and the pitching hasn't been great either.
01:32So, a team to keep an eye on, unfortunately, going the other way, Donnie.
01:37I did not think that this would happen.
01:39I thought Matt Quartaro was a potential manager of the year candidate last year, and I thought
01:44going into this year, getting him as, you know, remember, Tampa Bay's bench coach usually
01:48works out as a good manager in the big leagues.
01:50It is not working out this season in Kansas City.
01:52Kansas City could be a seller.
01:54Like, when you look at that lineup, Craig, it sort of works perfectly, and we just used
01:58those first two players.
01:58Mike Cal Garcia leadoff, followed by Bobby Witt.
02:01They're going to get on base.
02:01They're going to hit for average, which should be fantastic.
02:04No high, you know, all those high leverage situations that you put yourself in with runners
02:08in scoring position and runners on base makes it tougher for the pitchers.
02:11Look behind them.
02:12Now, I know, you know, weighted on base percentage is much better, but just look at the batting averages
02:16right now.
02:17198 for Vinny P, 202 for Salvador Perez, 231 for Carter Jansen.
02:21Jack Caglione seems like he's, you know, Mickey Mantle at a 247 out there.
02:26Isaac Collins, 213.
02:27Massey, 232.
02:29Isbell, 258.
02:30And also, is it just a kiss of death?
02:32Because one of the things I looked at, Craig, before the season was, like the way this roster
02:36looks overall, bringing the offenses in.
02:39Oh, these hitting atmospheres are going to be fantastic.
02:42Same thing with Toronto.
02:43Like, it's supposed to be a pinball machine in there, Craig, and everybody outside of the
02:46two superstars up top seem like they can't get out of their own way here.
02:50Yeah, and maybe that's what it is, is thinking that the fences are in and swinging for the
02:54fences.
02:55But, you know, not covering them and being around them every day, Donnie, is tough for
02:58me to really answer this.
02:59But look, in my heart, I kind of, it will get to Detroit, too.
03:04I kind of want to say that both Kansas City and Detroit will turn it around.
03:08But when you're burying yourself this bad and you're 10 games under 500, I always say
03:12this.
03:13If Kansas City and Detroit both play 500 the rest of the season, they have horrible seasons.
03:17And there's no expectation that they're going to play 500 baseball the rest of the season.
03:22So it could be a lost year for them.
03:24It's amazing, too, because it's also one of those teams, Craig, which you look at, smaller
03:28market teams starting to invest and spend some money.
03:31You want to see this work out because that's a pathway for a lot of other organizations.
03:34Hey, they're profitable.
03:35They're spending money in the smaller market.
03:36How are they doing this?
03:37Well, obviously, making smart signings, having a very good farm system.
03:40But I don't want to see Kansas City go, oh, we tried our best at this point, and it
03:44just doesn't work.
03:44I hope they can hang in there because the one thing we do know, it's not a great division.
03:47You can make some time up, but also, as Craig points out very astutely, you can't win the
03:52World Series in May and June.
03:54You can lose it, though, because you're going to have a bad team that has no chance at making
03:56the playoffs.
Comments