Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports Ragans was stellar and the offense was relentless. Cole Ragans put together his second consecutive scoreless start while the Royals offense had another big day against a helpless Tigers pitching staff as Kansas City completed the sweep with an 8-3 victory this afternoon at Kauffman Stadium. With each team sending a tough lefty to the mound, both Matt Quatraro and A.J. Hinch stacked their lineups with seven right-handed hitters to try to gain the platoon advantage. The problem for Detroit: just two of those — Mark Canha and Andy Ibáñez — have an above-average batti ..read more

Photo by John Cordes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images It’s a battle of aces. The representatives of Paws from Detroit will take on the representatives of Sluggerrr from Kansas City this afternoon to complete this three-game set. Kansas City has outscored Detroit 18-6 on the way to decisive wins in the first two games of the series. They will go for the sweep today at Kauffman Stadium. Cole Ragans will take the mound for the Royals. Ragans has been much more effective this season than his 3.70 ERA implies. He’s put up a couple seven-run stinkers, but in his eight other starts, he has a 1.69 ERA ..read more

Another look at KC’s future. We recently went down to Cedar Rapids to watch the River Bandits play the Twins High-A team, the Kernals. The River Bandits came into this six-game set with a record of 19-14, but lost all six games of the series, allowing Cedar Rapids to jump them in the standings. The purpose of this trip was to watch the Royals 2021 #1 draft pick, Frank Mozzicato, now in his second season of High A ball. It also served the purpose of learning how to pronounce the name of Royals prospect Ben Kudrna. The helpful program says “sound it out like Coulder-na.” I never would have gues ..read more

Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports Is your bullpen not the best? Just don’t use them. Overall, the Royals bullpen has been the weakest part of the fast start. There has been a lot of hand-wringing about the deficiencies in the offense, but really it has been good enough so far. An average of 4.67 runs per game when the league average is 4.33 is not amazing, but it is 8th in baseball currently. Turns out, having two MVP-level bats in an offense is really helpful. The bullpen however ranks 25th by fWAR, 25th by FIP, and 29th by xFIP. Luckily, they rank 17th by ERA, and so have avoided some of the dow ..read more

See you later, alligators. A couple of things to track as this almost ludicrous Royals season moves along: 1) Can Bobby Witt, Jr. have a 10-WAR season? After tonight, Bobby Witt Jr. is on pace to hit 10 Wins Above Replacement per Fangraphs. A full list of players who had a 10 WAR season in the last quarter century: - Barry Bonds - Alex Rodriguez - Aaron Judge - Mookie Betts - Mike Trout — Matt LaMar (@LaMar_Matt) May 22, 2024 2) The team’s playoff chances are above 50% now. Can they sustain and keep building that? The Royals have a better than 50% chance of making the playoffs, via @fa ..read more

Alec Marsh #48 of the Kansas City Royals throws a pitch during the second inning against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park on May 15, 2024 in Seattle, Washington. | Photo by Alika Jenner/Getty Images Happy Marsh night! Happy Alec Marsh night, welcome to the game thread. Alec Marsh has already pitched a perfect first and Maikel Garcia has a leadoff triple. Enjoy ..read more

Photo by David Buono/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images The Texas A&M outfielder possesses a powerful bat and arm. With the MLB draft just a couple of months away, let’s continue evaluating some prospects that the Royals may consider drafting with the sixth overall pick. There are eight college players that are generally considered the best prospects in this class (though this consensus is waning as some prep players rise up draft boards). I started this series off with Nick Kurtz before Max stole my bit wrote up Hagen Smith. Today we’ll evaluate Texas A&M outfielder Braden Montgomery. M ..read more

Photo by Zac BonDurant/MLB Photos via Getty Images The Royals 2022 first-round pick has a 131 wRC+ this season. This Week in the Minors’ is our weekly look at notable performances from all over the system, from big-name prospects and less-heralded guys alike. The mission is to answer this simple question: “Who had a good week?” This Week in the Minors: Tuesday, May 14 to Sunday, May 19 AAA Omaha Storm Chasers (28-14, 1st Place, International League West) The Storm Chasers went 4-2 in St. Paul this week, reclaiming first place in the division. Fresh off the injured list this week, CJ Alexander ..read more

Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports Massey with a splashy. The Royals designated Matt Sauer for assignment, writes Anne Rogers. “We do think highly of him and that he’s going to be a big league pitcher for a long time, just currently, the way the team is constructed and the way he’s performed, we needed to make a move to bolster the ‘pen a little bit,” manager Matt Quatraro said. Sam Long is happy to be up in the big leagues, writes Jaylon Thompson. “I’ve always had the big curveball and the four-seam (fastball),” Long said. “I think the slider has been what’s really set me apart.” Long found ..read more

Kansas City Royals designated hitter Salvador Perez (13) rounds the bases after hitting a home run during the sixth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Kauffman Stadium. | Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports 11 games above .500 The Kansas City Royals are good. The boys, as they say, are playin’ some ball. BREAKING NEWS: The Boys Are Playin’ Some Ball — Royals Review (@royalsreview) May 21, 2024 Tonight, the Royals won their 30th game of the season. It is May 20 and Memorial Day is a week away. Last year, the Royals won their 30th game in July. JULY TWENTY-EIGHTH. Unbelievable. This team is le ..read more