It wasn\u2019t supposed to be like this for either of these teams. Two years ago, the Royals stormed out of the cave of irrelevance and into the Wild Card, winning that first series before losing to the Yankees in the division series. They followed that up with an 82-80 season of no playoffs and this year, the wheels have flown off. They\u2019re 40-60 as the Giants stumble into town, another team with great aspirations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Of course, the Giants haven\u2019t experienced the postseason since 2021, and they\u2019ve been trying to reinvent themselves continuously since about 2018. The Royals thought they had completed their journey through their post-2015 World Series window closure and into a new run of success. That didn\u2019t happen. And, like the Colorado Rockies, they seem remarkably dug in when it comes to moving players other teams might want at the trade deadline. For the second deadline in a row, their top two starters, Michael Wacha and Seth Lugo, won\u2019t be dangled<\/a>. Like the Giants, they seem like they\u2019re going to hold on to the players other teams might actually want.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But how did the Royals fall so far so fast? They play in one of the weaker divisions in the sport\u2026 only, the White Sox have surged ahead of them after years in the wilderness. The Tigers are still hanging around. The Guardians are always right there. So, is the AL Central that <\/em>bad these days? Not really. It\u2019s just the Royals.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n They\u2019re last in pitching value this season with a 1.9 fWAR. Technically it\u2019s tied with the Athletics for worst value, but \u2014 although the Athletics have a higher team ERA (5.36 to 5.00) \u2014 the Royals\u2019 xERA (determined by<\/a> exit velocity, launch angle, and sprint speed on \u201ctopped\u201d or \u201cweakly hit\u201d balls) is half a run higher. And if you limit it to just the past two months (so, since 5\/19), they\u2019re the worst by far<\/em>, with a team fWAR of -1.1 (5.69 ERA \/ 5.01 xERA) compared to the A\u2019s -0.5 (6.28 ERA \/ 4.50 xERA).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Offensively, they\u2019re in the bottom third: 16th in value (11.7 fWAR) thanks to their team defense (-3.2 Defensive Runs Above Average \u2014 9th), but 20th in wRC+ and runs scored (97 and 426, respectively).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n They are led, of course, but the incomparable Bobby Witt Jr. His team-leading 4.6 fWAR also situates him as the Most Valuable Player in the American League, trailing only Pete Crow-Armstrong (5.9) for Most Valuable Player in the sport. Backing him up is Home Run Derby participant Jac Caglianone, who has a team-leading 16 homers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Salvador Perez is far down the slope of his career downside. The 36-year old is hitting .212\/.256\/.351 on the season (387 PA) and over the past month, has appeared as a catcher in just 4 of 22 games played. The rest were either at first base or as the DH. He\u2019ll be a free agent after the season and it seems like this is his last hurrah.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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