Royals fans can’t let Nick Mears implosion vs. Tigers steal blame from the real goat

The Kansas City Royals are once again in a place in which they’re forced to go back to the drawing board after another frustrating loss. And unfortunately, the bullpen played a role in why it occurred. This time around it was Nick Mears who was on the hook for the loss, having squandered the lead by surrendering a pair of runs in the eighth inning.

As annoying as it may be to watch the bullpen continue to factor into the Royals’ slow start to the season, the fanbase can’t harp on Mears too much. Was it a bad day at the office for him? Yes, however, it was also a bad day for the offense, which is becoming common place nowadays. And that’s what where the fingers of blame need to be pointed right now.

The offense did Mears along with starter Cole Ragans and Mears’ bullpen mate Matt Strahm no favors on Tuesday, scoring just one run off four hits. This now places Kansas City 28th in the league in runs scored per game as one of just three teams with a mark below 3.25.

And what’s more glaring is the fact it’s not bad luck. The more days go by, the more it’s becoming clear that the Royals offense are the makers of their own demise. After last night’s terrible showing, Kansas City is now riding an 0-for-33 streak with runners in scoring position. And as Joel Penfield of KC Sports Network pointed out, the Royals are simply one of the worst offenses when it comes to cashing in on runners in scoring position this season as a whole.

Nick Mears still has a key role to play in the Royals’ bullpen moving forward

Again, Tuesday was a bad day at the office for Mears. But even Hall of Fame relievers like the great Mariano Rivera had days where he got lit up too, proving that even the best relievers faulter from time-to-time. This outing should not take away from how valuable Mears is to the bullpen. And luckily it appears many Royals fans realize that already.

The reality is, Mears entered this start having not allowed a run in his six previous outings and sported a 0.88 WHIP in the process. And it’s not as if Mears now sports astronomically high numbers all of a sudden. His 2.70 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and .174 BAA still make him one of Kansas City’s most reliable relief arms.

And the underlying metrics still spell a lot of good things for him to, as he’s been great at keeping the ball on the ground and avoiding barrels (he hasn’t allowed a single one this season), which in turn has helped give him well above average expected metrics (xERA and xBA).

This bullpen has plenty of current question marks that fans are more in their right criticize. John Schreiber has been worryingly dreadful, sporting a 6.00 ERA, 7.83 FIP, 2.00 WHIP and .250 BAA. And Alex Lange with his 4.05 ERA and 1.50 WHIP hasn’t been overly exciting either.

Then, Carlos Estévez and Bailey Falter, a pair of names carrying a multitude of uncertainty due to their lackluster performances this season, are likely set to make their returns sooner rather than later. Given their question marks, Mears’ stability will be that much more important for the Royals to lean on.

It was a bad night, but the lion share of the blame needs to rest with the offense. You can’t win games if you can’t score runs and a reliever surrendering a pair of runs shouldn’t automatically be the death sentence it currently is with this inefficient offense.