Keeping Perspective: How will the Royals respond to their first two losses?

Perspective. "A particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view."

If, at the beginning of this season, a wizard would have been able to gaze into a crystal ball and predict that the Kansas City Royals would be 7-2 after their first nine games (including a sweep of the White Sox and the Angels) most sensible Royals fans would have snatched that prediction up and claimed it with every ounce of passion that they possessed. For a team that was predicted by most "experts" in and around baseball to regress significantly from last season, a 7-2 start is just about as good of a beginning as the Royals could have hoped for.

The Royals return home tomorrow night to a Kauffman stadium that promises to be shaking at the seams to square off against Billy Butler and the Oakland Athletics for the first time since what what we might simply call, "The Rally." They come home rightfully full of optimism, hope, and the knowledge that they are a solid, winning ball-club that is capable of taking this fanbase on another crazy rollercoaster of a summer.

They have hit for power, played excellent defense, and demonstrated the same shut-down bullpen that carried them to the World Series last October (Jason Frasor was NAILS today). The Royals are a good baseball team.

But that is not to say that these last two days that have brought with them the first losses of the season do not (rightfully) sting. After riding high for those first seven games, Royals nation has fallen back out of the stratosphere and back into the reality of the 162 game marathon that is baseball.

This re-entry back into the real world has brought with it the first glimpses of some of the holes and the shortcomings that this team possesses. For two games, at least, it became evident why so many pre-season prognostications were not so high on the Royals. So as the team and the fans will have an entire evening to digest these first 9 games, here are a two observations and one question as the Royals make the trip home from Minnesota:

1. The Stubbornness of Ned Yost: For the sake of full disclosure, I love Ned Yost. I believe him to be a solid manager and the perfect fit for Kansas City, but there are times when I feel like he get's something in his "dome" and will stick to it no matter what. Sometimes this works (Moustakas hitting second) and sometimes it does not (Jarrod Dyson playing Right Field). The world may never know why Yost determined to keep Cain in Center and put Dyson in Right, but today, Dyson looked utterly lost in his new position.

2. When the bats get quiet, this team is quite vulnerable: Yesterday, number 3 starter Edison Volquez pitched a gem of a game, in giving up just 3 runs, he was a tough luck loser. In taking his first loss as a Royal, he fell victim to the weakness that most everyone felt would show its face sooner or later; the silencing of the Royals bats. While it is true that Twins pitcher Kyle Gibson has always seemed, for whatever reason, to have the Royal's number, the sudden drop off in offensive production was somewhat startling.

3. How will the Royals handle adversity? In the last 48 hours the Royals have placed their starting Right Fielder on the Disabled List with broken hand, listened to Alex Rios blame the Twins organization for his broken hand, called up what is essentially a full-time pinch runner (the right move), and sustained their first two losses of the season.

At the risk of overreacting, this is an early season gut-check moment for the Royals. Royals fans can only hope that the "domes" of the players is clear and focused as they get ready for this weekend series. Oakland is going to come to "The K" hungry and looking for redemption and immediately following that series the Royals have several games with AL Central opponents lined up. This is a team that needs to use this trip home as an opportunity to re-focus and dig in.

Photo: kcconfidential.com

Previous Post Royals Drop Rubber Match with Twins The Royals lost their second straight game, dropping an afternoon matchup with the Minnesota Twins 8 to 5. This was the rubber match in the series with the Royals having won the first contest and the Twins winning yesterdays game. Jason Vargas took the ... Read more Tweet Next Post Single Parade, Paulo Orlando Spoil Billy Butler's Emotional Homecoming Kansas City sent Oakland back to the Intercontinental Hotel with flashbacks of the 2014 Wildcard game. The Royals squeaked one out a 6-4 win tonight in another thrilling match against the Oakland Athletics, but before the series started, the Royals presented Billy Butler with ... Read more

Facebook Comments

comments