Royals Recap – 2021

Kansas City – As the lights get turned off in Kauffman Stadium on the 2021 season, I’m left sitting in the media’s booth wondering what we witnessed this year. It all began hiring GM Phillipe Yazzie after the fifth losing season in a row. During Yazzie’s press conference, he noted that there was more potential with this team, than was being put on the field. His 2021 goal was to produce a competing team. Nothing extreme by this first year skipper, but he gave a team and city hope.

As spring training came and went, iMLB released preseason standings. The projected record for the Royals was 61-101, only 5 games better than their 2020 bout. Fan expectations were about the same because owner David Glass, and GM Phillipe Yazzie made no waves during the offseason. Only additions to the team by Opening Day were two Rule 5 draftees, Telmito Agustin (OF) and Daniel Procopio (RP). Where both had plus side potential, they were not what the city hoped of seeing. The city wanted something or even someone to root for. The only guy they was the fan favorite, Brett Phillips. Which didn’t light up the stat sheet.

The Royals opened the season with the 2020 National League Champion, Minnesota Twins. The Royals went on to win the series and through the month of April finished 15-11, sitting at third in the division.  As the season moved into May, the team was clicking on all cylinders. They were near the top of most batting and pitching statistics. The team finished with a 20-9 monthly record, making for one of the best months ever record for Kansas City. However, as the months got warmer the Royals got cooler. This began their sinusoidal (yes, sinusoidal) season. They led the division for 46 consecutive days heading into the late June. This looked great on paper, but June was their worst monthly record of the year going 8-17. As the Royals fell into a slump, the Twins began to get into form. By late June, the Twins took the division lead outright and never looked back. When Yazzie was asked about the new divisional leaders, he quoted the late Dennis Green, “They are who we thought they were”.  

With Minnesota steadily distancing themselves from the rest of the AL Central, Yazzie and crew had to get back on track to stay in the fight for the wildcard. There was a steady battle out west between Houston and Anaheim, and it was apparent that whoever didn’t win the pennant would claim the first wildcard berth. So all eyes were vying for that second wildcard spot. The front office aware of what was at stake decided to add some talent via trades. By the trade deadline, they completed three trades:

1. Hunter Harvey (SP) was acquired from Baltimore for Brayan Medina (RP)
2. Stephen Piscotty (RF) was acquired from Detroit for Dylan Carlson (OF) and Domingo Santana (RF). 
3. Dominic Smith (1B/DH) was acquired from San Francisco for Khalil Lee (RF), Jean Carvajal (2B/SS), and Michael Massey (2B/SS)

Harvey has all the potential to either fulfill a middle to back end spot in a rotation. The Royals will try to plug him in as the 3 starter, but have the ability to move him between starter or reliever. Downside Harvey does have a reputation to catch the injury bug now and then. At the end of the day this acquisition didn’t cost the Royals greatly so if it fails, no harm no foul. 

Piscotty had put up decent numbers in his 1.5 years with Detroit slashing .263/.325/.451 earning himself 2.6 WAR. Piscotty was also an upgrade defensively from anyone they had. Sources say that Yazzie pushed this deal through the front office, to reacquaint Yazzie and Piscotty after their time with the Cardinals. After the deal was made public, Yazzie said “You don’t see many players play with the passion and love for the game like you do Piscotty.  Can’t wait to see him on the field in Royal Blue”.

Kansas City’s biggest hole was at first base. Fed up with the play and contract of Matt Carpenter they outright released him and pushed on with trade negotiations. With the lack of first baseman in the FA market and with the trend of contracts lately, the front office seemed desperate to make a deal work. They were in talks with multiple teams, but at the end the Giants had who they were looking for. Acquiring a power bat to anchor down this base hit focused team was just what they needed.  Smith did cost the Royals one of their highly talented prospects, Khalil Lee. If Kansas City can retain Smith for a few years to build around him in the lineup, this should trade should pay off.

July was a great month for the team. Overall they were 58-46 had a five game lead over the White Sox of the second wild card spot. Through some over sight, the Royals had managed to get this far without a manager. iMLB commissioner stepped in and required them to hire a manager as soon as possible. The Royals had many contract offers rejected by available personnel, until they came across Chris Tremie. Tremie coached in the Oakland Farm System and accrued a 59-82 record. Sources say he was chosen for the job due to his manager style and willingness to allow some full control of the team. His focus trends towards smallball where his strategies are very aggressive, which have a tendency to backfire. Kansas City was willing to give him a shot, but we will see how patient they will be with him. 

In August, the team was still in the hunt. The red-hot Indians and Yankees were screaming towards that second wildcard spot. Ready to jump at the opportunity to boost their team the Royals front office noticed Lance Lynn was released by the Texas Rangers. Lynn’s stats for 2021 were not the greatest, however his 2020 stats were above average. In 2020, Lynn collected 230 IP, 275 K, 4.10 ERA, 4.5 WAR. The Royals were in the position of adding arms to their slowly depleting staff. Hunter Harvey had gone down a few times already with shoulder injuries. The Royals signed Lynn to a 1-year, $7.5m contract with the hope he could revert to his 2020 self. The Royals ended the month with an overall record of 71-61 leading the wildcard race by 2.5 games.

September and October were not favorable months for Kansas City. With the wildcard within grasp, the Royals had three big series to get through. Each series just so happened to be against the two teams directly trailing them in the wildcard standings, Indians and Yankees. Overall the Royals squandered their place as the second wildcard team with a 10-20 stretch led by poor pitching and hitting. I’m not sure if I can even quantify which was actually worse. The aforementioned Lynn lasted 25 innings before tearing his rotator cuff putting an end to his season. In that short time frame, Lynn managed to have a 6.39 ERA with a 1.50 WHIP.  Two weeks after losing Lynn, Brad Keller suffered the same fate.

Due to these untimely injuries, Tremie and Yazzie were having to spot start pitchers hoping that they could survive the already dreadful September. The top of the rotation was now Scott Blewett, Scott Barlow, and Brady Singer. Blewett held his own as he did most of the season. The latter two decided to put up ERAs of 6.21 and 7.09 during this timeframe.  Of the 13-man pitching staff, four pitchers had ERAs under 4.0. On the offensive side, Yazzie and Tremie could not field a successful lineup. Mondesi, Gurriel, and recently traded for Piscotty were Antarctic cold. However, they were not alone, three other starters were hitting below or near below the Mendoza Line. Add all these ingredients together and there’s your recipe for disaster.

As the last out was being made at Kauffman stadium, it was so quiet you could hear the pop of the glove. Then the Royals watched on as the Indians celebrated knowing that they were playoff bound. During the postgame conference, Yazzie said, “First off want to say how proud I am of our guys. They played their asses off to even be in contention for the playoffs. We were counted out well before the season by many of the press and media bases. When I arrived to Kansas City, I told you that this team showed promise. Cannot wait to see what next year has in store for us.”

The addition of Smith and Piscotty to a lineup composed of Nicky Lopez, Adalberto Mondesi, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. could make for a threatening lineup. Piscotty’s time in Kansas City was not what the front office had hoped for. He went from being a .250/.319/.464 hitter at Detroit to .218/.278/.383 hitter at Kansas City. Hopefully he just ran into bad luck and can turn it around next year. His BABIP during the second half of the year was 25 points below his average. Dominic Smith is a game changer solidifying that 3^rd spot in the lineup. Smith was the reason behind a lot of the Royals second half wins. The ability to hit for power was something the lineup was lacking.

The pitching was overall surprisingly well. Scott Blewett was the dark horse for the season. He received a Rookie of the Month accolade and was up for Rookie of the Year discussions. In his rookie season, Blewett threw 203.2 IP, with a 2.92 ERA, 155 K, 62 BB. He is by no means a strike out pitcher, but if he can keep his walks down he will do just fine with this defense behind him. Another gem I’d like to point out is Kyle Zimmer. Zimmer had a 31.3 inning scoreless streak from April 27^th to August 10^th.  During that he time he went from having a 1.18 ERA to a 0.25 ERA. He finished the year with a 2.25 ERA, with 18 SV, OBA .188, 2.1 WAR.

All-in-all the Royals had improved by 27 games from the previous year, finishing 81-81. No one had expected this team to play .500 ball. Although that is nothing to brag home about, it is a step in the right direction. The front office is putting a blueprint together for success.