Ages ago as it was, chances are you recall the last time the Royals beat the New York Yankees: Game 2 of the 2024 American League Division Series at Yankee Stadium, where the Royals prevailed 4-2 to even the best-of-five series 1-1.
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Remember what that felt like?
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Even as the Royals’ season promptly was to be snuffed out with losses in the next two games, everything about them felt fresh and exhilarating and promising, didn’t it?
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It wasn’t just that they’d managed a preposterous 30-game regular-season improvement to 86 wins, earning their first postseason berth since winning the World Series in 2015.
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And that they’d swept Baltimore 2-0 in the AL Wild-Card series.
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It was what it all seemed to portend: the start of something big.
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Or at least bigger.
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And certainly more.
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Bobby Witt Jr. was emerging as a superstar, Sal Perez was soaking in the fountain of youth, Vinnie Pasquantino was blossoming into an RBI machine and Maikel Garcia was flashing some of the promise that would make him an All-Star in 2025.
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Embodying a stellar rotation, Seth Lugo and Cole Ragans finished second and fourth, respectively, in the American League Cy Young Award voting, with Michael Wacha also anchoring the group. And Lucas Erceg was establishing himself at the back end of the bullpen that would only be bolstered by the offseason acquisition of Carlos Estevez.
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Two seasons later, though, that apparent breakout has morphed into regression.
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At least at the one-third mark of this season, the once-intriguing turn then appears to have been less a launch point than an outlier: This year’s Royals are sputtering along at 22-32.
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The trend was aptly underscored Monday at Kauffman Stadium by the Royals’ 12th straight loss to the Yankees — including 10 regular-season games — since they evened that series in 2024.
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Perhaps you could find some consolation or encouragement in the fact the final was 4-3 and delivered with the help of a fluke infield single that spurred a two-run New York ninth.
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On a happier day, the story would have been all about the Royals finally purging this losing streak and Perez tying George Brett’s record with his 136th homer at The K and Witt’s animated celebration as he rounded the bases after sending the ball 432 feet to left in the eighth to give the Royals a fleeting lead.
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No wonder Witt was so charged up to get a lead against “a team like that,” perhaps just meaning the 32-22 Yankees and their history — but perhaps also cognizant of how it’s been the last few years.
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The Royals have lost 20 of their last 21 regular-season series against the Yankees, punctuated by getting blasted 24-6 in three games at Yankee Stadium earlier this season.
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That’s hardly the only indicator of what’s happened since the 2024 postseason, but it’s an illuminating through-line after the Royals last year at least generated another winning season despite falling short of the postseason.
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While nothing is irreversible, and I still think this group is plenty better than it’s been, Sunday was a bit of a microcosm of this season: With Wacha recording his MLB-leading ninth quality start (tied with Atlanta’s Chris Sale), the Royals amassed their AL-leading 29th quality start and ninth in 10 games.
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The sole exception in that span was a bullpen game in the wake of starter Kris Bubic joining Ragans (not to mention Estevez) on the injured list.
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But they’re 3-7 in those games and just 16-13 overall when starters achieve that standard — allowing three runs or fewer while pitching six innings or more.
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The how-can-this-be is remarkably simple in one sense.
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Entering the game Monday, only four teams across Major League Baseball had scored fewer runs than the Royals. Among their deficiencies is the ability to hit with runners in scoring position.
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They went 0-for-7 in that area on Monday to fall to .227 this season — which also is among the worst in baseball. (Although, to be fair, second baseman Michael Massey came through with sac fly in Monday’s second inning.)
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Add it all up, and here’s how it translates most readily into wins and losses: When the Royals score four runs or more, they are 17-9. When they score three or fewer, as they did yet again on Monday, they are 5-23.
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So the Royals have such scant margin for error that on a day like Monday they couldn’t overcome a rough outing at the back of the bullpen by Erceg — who was pitching after scuffling through 32 pitches Sunday.
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Never mind that it might have gone better if not for Paul Goldschmidt’s odd broken-bat pop-into-a-squib stopping short in front of Witt. That was followed by Jazz Chisholm’s hard double to right past the right side of Perez — who moved to first after the lefty-fielding Pasquantino was removed for pinch-runner Tyler Tolbert in the eighth.
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That move might well have paid off if the Royals had been able to get Tolbert home after he stole second with nobody out.
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But Perez and Carter Jensen struck out and Starling Marte grounded out pinch-hitting for Jac Caglianone. Presto, another man stranded in scoring position.
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Maybe the Royals will end the streak against the Yankees on Tuesday. Or, heck, win Tuesday and Wednesday to claim a series against them for the first time since 2023.
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But as of the latest loss to New York on Monday, it’s hard not to think about where things seem to be now vs. where they seemed to be going in October 2024.
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The whys are multifold, including the well-documented struggles of Perez and Pasquantino to start the season even as each has been thawing out lately.
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Look at the Royals’ lineup from that Game 2 win in 2024 to now, and you’ll see the same conspicuous void the Royals have suffered from ever since: their inability to acquire a game-changing bat … or two.
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While the offseason reasons made sense in real-time, including that it enabled the Royals to maintain crucial depth in their starting rotation, the results are disillusioning nonetheless.
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And while promising youngsters Jensen and Caglianone are making strides, they’re not filling that gap yet, either.
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And, well … who’s going to in the near-enough future to keep them from plummeting this season?
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No wonder we hear a clamor for change, largely directed at manager Matt Quatraro and hitting coach Alec Zumwalt. Fair enough. In a results-based business, it’s hard not to question those in charge, and the systems themselves, when so much seems awry.
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But the Royals’ issues also seem entwined, including the bigger question that also looms: Has the front office assembled the players this team needs, particularly offensively, to fulfill what was hinted at in 2024?
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Again, this season isn’t yet defined. But, certainly, the Royals have given ample reason to be skeptical — if not cynical — by now.
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And what seemed like an oasis in 2024 feels more and more like a mirage.
Vahe Gregorian ha sido columnista de deportes para The Kansas City Star desde 2013 después de 25 años en el St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Ha cubierto un amplio espectro de deportes, incluidos 10 Juegos Olímpicos. Vahe se especializó en inglés en la Universidad de Pensilvania y obtuvo su maestría en Mizzou.
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