The Kansas City Royals are still, for all intents and purposes, playoff hopefuls.
This weekend begins a critical series against the Chicago White Sox, who the Royals have tormented for the last two seasons. A lot of the remaining schedule is division games, including six with the White Sox, so a hot streak could still put Kansas City in the conversation.
If they get to the playoffs, however miraculous that may sound, it will have a lot to do with the Royals’ starting pitching. And though that unit has carried the team for much of the year, it’s dropped off lately, and two big names are injured, including All-Star Kris Bubic being down for the year.
Between Seth Lugo, Michael Wacha, Noah Cameron, Ryan Bergert, and Michael Lorenzen, the Royals have an overall air of competency that lacks the high-end talent of other contenders. Bubic could have been that high-end ace, and maybe Cole Ragans, who hopes to return in September, still could be.
However, based on the state of the rotation now, it’s hard to blame Bleacher Report’s Joel Reuter for putting Kansas City 14th among prospective playoff contenders in his rotation rankings released on Friday.
“Wacha is a 34-year-old veteran with 46.2 career postseason innings and 2013 NLCS MVP honors on his resume, while Cameron is a 26-year-old rookie who made his MLB debut earlier this year when he rattled off five straight quality starts to begin his time in the big leagues,” wrote. “With Kris Bubic and Cole Ragans both on the shelf, these two are being counted on for a bigger role than expected.”
“Bergert has looked solid in a pair of starts with the Royals since he was acquired at the deadline in the deal that sent catcher Freddy Fermin to (the San Diego Padres), while Lorenzen has been sidelined since July 12 with an oblique strain. Both could end up on the playoff roster in some capacity if the Royals can claw back into the wild-card picture.”
Lugo, who signed a two-year, $46 million extension just before the trade deadline, could be the X-factor here. He was great in his first 20 starts of the year, but he’s had back-to-back clunkers, raising his season ERA to 3.77 with 13 earned runs in his last eight innings.
Still, if the Royals do somehow make the playoffs, it likely means their pitching coalesced in a major way, so they’ll have to feel good about the group they’d have at that point.
More MLB: Royals Under-The-Radar Star Places 4th In Expert Poll For Postseason Award
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