The boys are playin' some ball!

Vinnie buttons up. Brady throws first-pitch strikes. The bullpen has some issues that need to be addressed. And the 2014 Royals return to Kansas City for a 10-year reunion.

Foreshadowing…

After a rough series in the Pacific Northwest against the Mariners, the Royals returned to the friendly environs of Kauffman Stadium and proceeded to get back on the winning track. The Oakland? A’s were the right opponent at the right time. The cure for whatever ails a team playing not the best baseball at a particular moment. Hats off to the schedule maker for impeccable timing.

As they say though, you still have to execute. The soon-to-be-nomadic A’s have put up a surprising fight through the first quarter of the season, but are starting what now feels like their inevitable fade. They limped into The K losers of five in a row. They limp out now losers of eight straight.

With most of the members of the 2014 AL Champion Royals in attendance, the weekend already had a festive flavor. The bats and the pitching from the 2024 edition kept the party rolling. The Royals are now 10 games over .500 and have won 12 of their last 18. I read somewhere the last time the Royals were 10 games over .500 was in 2015. The boys are indeed playin’ some ball.

Friday night’s 6-2 win started out as some sort of bizzaro pitching duel between Cole Ragans, a trendy preseason pick to garner some Cy Young votes at the end of the year, and Mitch Spence a Rule 5 selection out of the Yankees organization making his first career major league start. Is it just me, or does this sort of thing always seem to happen to the Royals? Spence, after navigating through a nervy first inning that included the obligatory Bobby Witt Jr. extra-base hit and /checks notes/ Salvador Perez infield single, seemed to find his groove. The Royals couldn’t hang any damage more damage on him before he left the game with two outs in the fifth.

The Oakland bullpen has been surprisingly strong this year, the sixth-best in the majors if you’re ranking by fWAR. (The Royals, by contrast, are 25th.) They limit the walks and punch out around a batter an inning while posting a collective 3.58 ERA. Yet the Royals were able to tack on some runs against relievers Austin Adams and Brandon Bielak. Michael Massey dropped a two-run bomb in the sixth and, a few batters later, Maikel Garcia did one better with a three-run jack. That was the cushion Ragans needed to wrap up his seven innings and hand things over to the bullpen.

Saturday’s 5-3 victory was one of those grinding type of games where it feels comfortable but you’re always waiting for that moment for everything to come crashing down. Yet it didn’t. The offense used doubles to set the table for singles. Salvy drove in two with a single in the first, Vinnie Pasquantino singled in a run in the fifth and Nelson Velázquez followed with a run-scoring single of his own in the sixth. Kyle Isbel had had enough of that singles nonsense in the seventh and hit his fourth home run of the season.

Seth Lugo continues to be a revelation. He didn’t make it through six full innings but got 10 of his 17 outs on strikeouts. That’s one start after he punched out 12 against the Angels. Granted, he’s been a reliever most of his career, but he’s now made 74 starts in his career and has posted double-digit strikeouts…twice. He’s been building to this moment. Lugo has 44 strikeouts in his last five starts after recording 14 strikeouts in his five starts this season.

The finale on Sunday featured starter Brady Singer riding his sinker/slider combo to nine strikeouts. Of the 89 pitches he offered Oakland on the afternoon, only eight of them were four-seamers and just three were changeups. To his credit, though, the four-seamer rode high in the zone and generated two whiffs and two fouls on four total swings.

The big moment came when Vinnie Pasquantino came off the bench to pinch-hit with the bases loaded in the sixth. The Royals were leading at that point 4-1, courtesy the top of the order but it just felt as though the boys needed a big hit to salt the game–and the series—away. Pasquantino did that, grounding a triple? (Yes, a triple!) down the first base line. The bullpen had the final three innings and put the finishing touches on an 8-4 win and a series sweep.

Join me as I empty the notebook from a wildly successful weekend.

I remember when there was some gnashing of teeth back when the Royals were awarded the 2012 All-Star Game. A prevailing thought at the time—both nationally and among some in Kansas City—was that since the Royals had been wandering the baseball hinterlands for so long, they wouldn’t have the nous to bring a party befitting the midsummer classic to Kauffman and the city. I remember writing at the time that line of thinking was misguided. If there’s one thing the Royals (and Kansas City) know how to do, it’s to stage a spectacle. It’s true. The Royals have consistently delivered when the moment has called for it. It’s just that for about thirty years those moments were rather scant.

It was no surprise the team put on one helluva party celebrating the 10th anniversary of their capture of the American League pennant. Damn, it was good to see all those guys back at The K. Has it been 10 years? It doesn’t feel like it.

The vibes on Friday were immaculate. From the player introductions where they walked out through the crowd to the pregame on-field interviews to the first pitch to the in-game visits with the broadcast, it was just an extremely well-produced evening. It helps that the 2024 Royals are an exciting bunch that’s incredibly entertaining to watch. It felt as though the presence of the old guys (I seriously can’t believe I called them old guys) was a benediction of sorts. Not exactly a passing of the torch, but maybe a moment of inspiration. The Kings of Kansas City were back in town.

Yes, the Royals still know how to throw a party.

I could listen to James Shields talk baseball all night. The Royals need to see if he will join the rotation of analysts. The guy is just great in that setting, clearly comfortable and doesn’t seem to take himself too seriously.

I’m amazed that Salvy is the last player from that 2014 team who is still playing. If you had asked me to put money down on one guy who would still be playing 10 years on, I wouldn’t have picked Perez. I feel like I write this all the time, but it’s true: He’s a marvel and a treasure.

The Royals announced an attendance of 24,585 on Friday. It was perhaps lower than you had hoped. They followed that with 22,014 on Saturday and 20,035 on Sunday. I have a couple of theories. I promise I am not a crackpot.

First, attendance always lags when a team is on the rise. It happened in 2014. On the August game against the A’s when the Royals moved into first place in the Central, they drew just 21,479. That was a Monday, you may argue. Fine. On Friday, September 12, 2014 when they were in a tie for first in the AL Central, and truly on the cusp of their first postseason appearance in 29 years, they drew just 19,191 against the Boston Red Sox. The attendance bounce comes the season after you put together a winning campaign or October run.

Second, the Ballys broadcast situation has really hurt this team specifically and baseball in general. This is a sport that is consumed regionally and in smaller doses throughout the summer. It’s a soundtrack. Casuals will turn the game on from time to time to check in. Grab their interest by playing fun baseball and winning and they’ll lock on. But if people are firing up their streaming devices and can’t find the ballgame, they’ll watch Survivor or some other crap. If people can’t watch, they can’t—or won’t—care.

Third, it’s not exactly easy to justify the expense that comes with a trip to the ballpark. I realize I’ve harped on this almost every season of late but $20 to park your car on the expanse of concrete surrounding the stadium is an absurd cost. (That’s if you prepay. If you pay at the gate it’s $30.) I found two tickets to Monday’s game against the Tigers for what I think is a good location (Section 419) for $20 each which seems like a good deal to me, but by the time you add on the concessions and whatnot, you’re looking at an easy $100 for two people to attend a ballgame. Sure, other things like movies cost too. My argument is a little planning is necessary anymore to go to a ballgame. It just doesn’t seem like it’s easy for fans to decide to head out to the game on a whim.

I think getting 66,000 for three games against Oakland less than a year removed from a 106-loss season is a strong number.

Lord knows you don’t want to look like a slob on the baseball field. From Anne Rogers on Saturday:

The Royals’ first baseman typically likes to have the top two buttons of his uniform unbuttoned, and Quatraro quipped that it looked “awful” and unprofessional.

“I said, ‘Yeah, OK,’” Pasquantino said. “And then I got out my first two at-bats. Surprise. So I said, ‘You know what? Maybe he’s onto something.’”

Pasquantino buttoned one button, and, well, he got a hit, snapping an 0-for-14 skid and driving in the go-ahead run in what would eventually be the Royals’ 5-3 win over the A’s at Kauffman Stadium.

“I’m currently batting .500 with only one button down instead of two,” Pasquantino said. “We’ll see what happens going forward. We’ll see what accessory changes there could be. But yeah, it was mostly the button being buttoned.

“That’s called good managing. I don’t think enough credit is given to managers in moments like that. Spotting out the little things. He’s a quiet guy, but when it’s time, he’ll let you know.”

“It was a relief for him, for sure, and a big lift for us.” Quatraro said. “Tie game, that’s a big base hit. I think it’s because he was playing with his shirt unbuttoned and he looked more professional after having it unbuttoned for a while.”

I love everything about this gamer from Rogers. Vinnie calling out the “good managing.” Quatraro telling him to look professional and then saying the hit came from buttoning up his jersey. It’s perfect.

With Big Game James roaming around The K this weekend and with players from that ‘14 team giving credit to Ned Yost you can’t help but notice the clubhouse vibes feel very similar to 10 years ago. Pasquantino is a guy who just sets the right kind of tone and Quatraro truly does feel like the right manager for this bunch.

It wasn’t all good vibes this weekend. After writing about the Royals’ abysmal outfield situation last Friday, nothing really happened to move me off that opinion. The one through five hitters were responsible for almost all the damage in the sweep. On Friday, Perez and Massey each had three hits and Garcia drove in three. On Saturday, Perez had a pair of RBI and Garcia scored twice while a buttoned-up Pasquantino had that key RBI. Then on Sunday Garcia, Witt and Perez each had two hits.

Another issue that’s going to need to be addressed by the Royals is the back end of the bullpen. As a Rule 5 guy, Matt Sauer shows some promise. The stuff looks to be very good. It’s about the command at the moment. He had a rough weekend. Throwing in the ninth inning on Friday and Sunday, he allowed a home run in both outings—a two-run blast on Friday to Shea Langeliers and then a three-run shot on Sunday to Brent Rooker. Quatraro is using Sauer in the right moments in that he pitched with a six-run lead on Friday and a seven-run cushion on Sunday. But the Royals had to get the bullpen hot on Sunday because Sauer isn’t close to being trusted at the moment.

As a Rule 5 pick, the Royals just can’t send him out to the minors. In order to do that, they’d need to strike a deal with the Yankees. Maybe that can happen but it’s also possible New York would welcome him back to their organization. The one thing I do know is that Sauer isn’t big league ready at this moment. If the Royals were hanging around in fourth place in the Central…whatever. But like I wrote on Friday, if the Royals are serious about contention they have to look for upgrades in positions of weakness. They have a couple of decent arms in the bullpen but right now it doesn’t feel like it’s enough.

Singer had a much better start on Sunday than his last outing against the Mariners. He really filled up the zone with his first pitch, falling behind to just four of the 26 batters he faced. These are his first pitches.

He did a fine job staying out of the middle and, with the slider, was really dotting the edges. It’s like he was a different pitcher from what we saw last Monday. Yeah, I would like to see a few more four-seamers up, but I know…Singer just isn’t going to move off his sinker and slider. The four-seamer was really effective on Sunday, even in small quantities, and that’s probably because his sinker/slider combo was working so well. I just continue to think it’s foolish for Singer to neglect certain weapons.

He remains maddingly inconsistent.

Some good news from Northwest Arkansas as Kris Bubic made his first Double-A start in his rehab assignment from Tommy John surgery. He threw three scoreless frames, allowing just one hit while striking out three. The best news of all…he didn’t allow a walk. Overall he threw 36 pitches, 23 strikes and his velocity looked to be very much on point. He was throwing around 93 MPH before he was injured last April.

Bubic previously made three appearances in Arizona in the complex league, striking out eight and walking two in 3.1 innings of work. His rehab assignment started on May 7, so he’s about halfway through before the Royals will have to call him back up or use up an option to send him to Triple-A. It will be interesting to see what the team does, espcially if their current rotation continues to perform. They’ve been incredibly durable this season with only Alec Marsh missing starts due to that forearm bruise.

Pitching depth…it’s a good problem to have.

Central Issues

Twins 2, Guardians 5

This was the week the sausage turned rotten. The Twins, fresh off of being swept by the Yankees, were disposed of by the Guardians in all three games this weekend. The ninth inning in this one was all kind of bananas as Emmanual Clase couldn’t catch a ball covering the bag which would’ve ended the game and given Cleveland a 2-1 victory. Instead Byron Buxton scampered home and tied the game. In the bottom of the frame Andrés Giménez walked and went to second on a passed ball. After an intentional walk to Josh Naylor, Will Brennan crushed a first-pitch curve ball from Johan Duran 345 feet to send Cleveland fans home happy. Closers, man.

White Sox 2, Yankees 7

The Yankees finished off a sweep as Chicago starter Chris Flexen gave up all seven runs in four innings. Three runs came on a Jon Berti home run, which doesn’t happen all that often. Two runs came on an Aaron Judge home run. That seems to happen quite a bit. The Yankees went 6-0 against the AL Central this week.

Tigers 4, Diamondbacks 6

Detroit was trailing 4-1 and chipped away, plating single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to tie the score. The tying run scored on a Kerry Carpenter triple with Detroit third base coach Joey Cora sending him home in an attempt for an inside-the-park home run to take the lead. It didn’t quite work as Carpenter was gunned down for the third out in the inning. Then, wouldn’t you know it, Arizona rallied for two in the bottom half of the frame to secure the win.