The kids are alright

After the last 24 hours, this was clearly the game of the year. Let the kids play!

It was easily the game of the year for the Royals. It was probably the best win since 2015. I certainly can’t think of another more important victory over the last six and a half seasons. At least in the eyes of the fanbase.

The kids came through. Big time.

Minda Haas Kuhlmann | Flickr

Honestly, once the Royals took the lead in the fifth, the vibe shifted. It felt more like October than a regular season baseball game. Can you believe that? The margin was slim. Every pitch mattered. Would either team break? There was a tension present that isn’t ever there for a team trying to avoid 100 losses and playing what should be a meaningless game in Toronto just ahead of the All-Star break.

Yet it mattered.

The Royals simply needed this victory. Not only to prove to themselves that these kids belong on a major league field, but to provide salve for a fanbase let down by the actions and words of so many just a day before. This win doesn’t matter in the standings, but it matters just about everywhere else. Especially in that clubhouse.

Let’s start with…the starter. Angel Zerpa gave up a ton of loud contact but was able to tiptoe around the xBA and the potential trouble that comes with that. He allowed three batters to reach in the first, including two on walks, but defused the danger with a groundball double play and a strikeout on a nifty backfoot slider.

It required 24 pitches to get those three outs. Zerpa, if you will recall, pitched two innings and delivered 27 pitches in the second game of Monday’s doubleheader. It had to be a bit uncomfortable in the Royals dugout during the first. Surely, they were hoping Zerpa could give them a little more depth.

The command was recovered in the second. Zerpa carved up Lourdes Gurriel Jr. on a similar backfoot slider he used to close out the first and then got the next two outs on four pitches. The Jays in the third were dispatched in an even more rapid fashion. Check Zerpa’s pitch chart for that frame.

The Jays were aggressive, but the location was fine. A ball, a strike and three in play, out(s). Tidy

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that those three outs were quite loud. Nearly supersonic. In fact, four of the first eight balls put in play against Zerpa hit triple digits on exit velocity.

That’s dangerous territory for a team with an offense like the Blue Jays. Toronto scorched two more Zerpa offerings at 100+ MPH with another at 99 MPH for good measure in the fourth. Still, he kept the Jays at bay. Three ground balls in the fourth helped. (More on those in a moment.)

The fifth was dangerous for Zerpa. He opened the inning by making a good pitch to Matt Chapman on a 3-2 count that the righty went down and lined over the left field wall. It was a slider low and away. Definitely a strike. Definitely not a pitch you would expect a hitter to muscle over the left field wall. Pitch seven below.

I’m going to give Zerpa a little love here and say that was a good pitch in a good location and the outcome was just unlucky. Sure, with an xBA of .760, it had base hit written all over it. Over the fence, though? According to Statcast, it stays in 17 yards.

But then Zerpa recovered. After the dinger, he officially entered the danger zone. It added up…The short rest between outings (even though he didn’t go long on Monday), all the hard contact, a generally dangerous Jays lineup and the fact the lineup was turning over for the third time.

Zerpa finished off his night by retiring George Springer and Vladimir Guerrero on a pair of 106 MPH rockets. The former a ground ball fielder’s choice, facilitated by a nifty play from Nicky Lopez. The latter on a lineout to short. Credit to the young lefty for keeping his composure and tiptoeing through the danger. A very nice start.

You know what is fun to watch? How about a player making his major league debut take one out of the yard. On a ten pitch at bat! With a bat flip! Have a debut, Nate Eaton!

After the game, Eaton said he grinds out plate appearances. Consider that one well ground…

Fantastic effort to foul off those changeups and the sinker on the 3-2. Some were out of the zone, for sure, but he needed to protect. He saw just enough and was able to blast it out of the park. Memorable.

Edward Olivares led off the game for the new-look Royals. He reached base in each of his four times at bat. That’s good! He made outs on the bases three times. That’s bad! (He couldn’t make that fourth out as Mike Matheny lifted him for pinch runner Brewer Hicklen.)

Kind of impressive, if you think about it. And really you can’t fault him for really any of those outs. Well, maybe one.

One out! The first was on a hit and run where Bobby Witt Jr. lined one to right field, behind the field of vision of Olivares. Even if Olivares had picked up the ball, the arc and exit velocity made it easy for right fielder Teoscar Hernández to double him up.

Two outs! The second out came on a steal. Olivares had the base easy, but he slid late and popped off the bag. Credit to Bo Bichette for keeping the glove on Olivares.

Three outs! The third was on an aggressive play where Olivares tried to take the extra base on Hernández and he wasn’t having any of that. This one I think you can quibble with as it’s just a low percentage play. Plus, Olivares was seeing the delivery of Toronto starter Kevin Gausman very well. That attempted steal for the second out above wasn’t even close. He got a good jump on the hit and run in the first. Why not take the base and see if you can move that way again?

It was costly because Witt hit a laser over the left field wall. It was the second run of the inning, but it could’ve been more.

Bonus fourth out! This wasn’t Olivares, but when he was lifted for Hicklen, it was totally amazing that Hicklen overran second base on a deflected grounder and lost his footing. After that, he had no choice but to break for third. Easy out.

Face it. Hicklen, running for Olivares, was out before he even put on his batting helmet in the dugout.

Nick Pratto’s defense in his debut was as advertised. You can just see how comfortable he is around the bag. There’s plenty of talk about Pratto’s soft hand, but for me, the footwork for a first baseman is so key and it’s clear Pratto has a fantastic sense of where he should set up and how he should move.

The soft hands were on display in the fourth when he fielded a couple of hard-hit grounders. Hell, you could see the whole package on how he handled pickoff moves.

We discussed this earlier in the year and it’s a shame Adalberto Mondesi isn’t part of this, but an infield defense that consists of Witt at short, Lopez at second and now Pratto at first is absolutely elite.

The Royals don’t secure this victory if the bullpen doesn’t do its thing. An obvious statement, for sure, but this bullpen has been suboptimal this year. Jackson Kowar came in behind Zerpa and delivered two strong innings, striking out two. The changeup has just been a weapon for him the last couple of appearances. He threw it 44 percent of the time on Thursday and got four swings and misses. Both his strikeouts came on cambios in the dirt.

Like just about everyone, I’ve been bearish about Kowar’s chances to stick given the evidence we’ve seen at the major league level. However, something seems to be clicking coming out of the bullpen. Facing only right-handed batters, Kowar worked down and down and in with the change. He hit the edges with his slider and four-seamer. He left nothing for the Jays to barrel.

Obviously, I’d like to see Kowar work his way back to the rotation. But if he’s able to give a few innings out of the bullpen in a tight game after the starter goes five…there’s plenty of value in that in today’s game, too.

Kowar was followed by Taylor Clarke who has now pitched nine scoreless frames over his last nine outings. In that stretch, he’s allowed three hits and one walk against nine strikeouts. At least for the time being that smells like an eighth inning guy to me.

The ninth, as usual, belonged to Scott Barlow. There’s always a bit of unease when he takes the mound (for me at least) in a tight game. There will be baserunners. It’s a fact. But he’s also going to get ground balls around 46 percent of the time and he rolled one up to close out the game.

Don’t forget, the Royals played the first game of this series shorthanded. Again. They were only able to add eight to the roster, even though they placed 10 on the restricted list. That’s because they can’t replace two of their starting pitchers until four days have elapsed. It’s a rule to prevent teams from monkeying around with their starting pitchers. I believe they can add one player to the roster tomorrow. The 10th man will come on Sunday.

Here’s how the probables stack up as the Royals close out the first half. After exiting his last start with a cut on his finger, it looks like Lynch is ready to go.

Fri, July 15 - RHP Zack Greinke (3-5, 4.52) vs. RHP Alek Manoah (9-4, 2.34) @ 6:07
Sat, July 16 - LHP Daniel Lynch (3-7, 4.92) vs. TBA @ 2:07
Sun, July 17 - LHP Kris Bubic (1-6, 6.63) vs. RHP José Berríos (7-4, 5.38) @ 11:05

Nicky Lopez gets the final word. Via Lynn Worthy on Twitter:

That was a ton of fun, man. That was awesome. Right from pitch one…This is obviously one of the better teams in the league. You guys obviously know our situation. It was an unselfish win. It was everyone pulling for each other…Zerpa got us off obviously to a really good start, and then tack some on, and then Eaton…I mean we were all so happy for him, the dugout erupted. I was saying that I don’t think anybody even watched my next at bat because they were so happy for Eaton. I mean, this was just a great win. It was a lot of fun.