Despite standing virtually no chance at the playoffs, the Kansas City Royals somehow managed to successfully playoff elimination this weekend.
The Royals took two of three games from the first-place Toronto Blue Jays at Kauffman Stadium, evening their record at 78-78. With six games to play, they’re now six games back of the Cleveland Guardians and Houston Astros (84-72) for the third and final American League wild card spot.
So, although the Royals entered play this week mathematically alive, in reality, it’s only a matter of time until the final bell tolls.
It boils down to this: the Royals, Guardians, and Astros have a combined 18 games to play. If any of those 18 games fails to go the Royals’ way (they lose one, or Cleveland or Houston wins one), it’s officially over.
If we consider each game a coin flip, the odds of the Royals getting “heads” 18 times in a row are one in 262,144.
Manager Matt Quatraro acknowledged Sunday that at this point, his team is playing for pride.
“We know this is a baseball town, we know the fans love baseball,” Quatraro said, per Jackson Stone of MLB.com. “We’re doing our best to put the best product out there and keep fighting, because that’s the spirit of this city. We don’t take that for granted. We want to win at home. We want to win everywhere to make our fans proud.”
The best the Royals can realistically hope to do is to win four of their last six and finish with a winning record for the second season in a row. That would establish some positive momentum heading into an offseason where some serious questions will need to be addressed.
The Royals showed some fight by going 3-3 on their homestand against prospective playoff teams (the Seattle Mariners and Blue Jays). Now, they’ll finish with six games on the road against the Los Angeles Angels and Athletics.
Players will still be gunning for individual milestones, as well as looking to make lasting impressions that may help guarantee their spot on next year’s roster. But the story of this season has largely been told, and it’s one of profound mediocrity.
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