KANSAS CITY -- Coming home off a winning road trip provided some optimism for the Royals, who are still searching for any sort of momentum as they near the halfway point of the season.
Instead, Tuesday’s series opener against the Rays played out in an all-too-familiar way. The Royals were no-hit until the sixth inning and shut out until the ninth of their 5-1 loss at Kauffman Stadium, dropping their eighth consecutive game at home.
They haven’t won here since May 31.
“I don’t think there's anything bigger to it,” first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino said, “Other than we’re just not playing great.”
The Royals have scored the fewest runs in the Major Leagues and only slightly hold the edge over the Pirates in runs per game (3.3 versus 3.2). Kansas City ran into the red-hot Rays on Tuesday and mustered just two hits against starter Taj Bradley, who entered the game with a 4.95 ERA. Royals starter Kris Bubic’s line – four runs (two earned) over six innings – was inflated by defensive mistakes.
The holes on this team are clear; the Royals need a bat, probably two. Pitching is always at a premium, and if the Royals could add a reliever to help the back-end of the bullpen, all the better.
Their propensity to fill those holes?
With the July 31 Trade Deadline five weeks away, the answer is not quite as clear.
“Whether it ends up being where we’re in a position that we’re in it, or a position we’re not, you’re always trying to improve your team,” general manager J.J. Picollo said.
At 38-41, the Royals are below .500 but 3 1/2 games out of an American League Wild Card spot. The postseason is not out of reach.
For them and nearly every other team.
Kansas City is one of six teams within 4 1/2 games of a playoff spot.
There’s a lot of time for that to change between now and the end of July, but if the season continues like this, the Royals’ Deadline strategy remains murky as buyers or sellers.
“If we’re within striking distance – and I don’t know what that record would be because .500 seems to be a playoff record right now – I don’t think we should panic and say the season is over,” Picollo said. “Because there are just too many games left in the season. We’re trying to build off of something that was really positive last year. Making the playoffs again this year would be really important to this organization and really important to the city.”
The market has yet to heat up, given the volume of teams still in contention. It might end up being a slow-moving Deadline season for that reason, with limited players available from clear sellers.
Some of the Royals’ pro scouts are in Kansas City this week to discuss the landscape with Picollo. Conversations have yet to pick up with other clubs, but the Royals want to be ready when they do. That includes what players they want – and what they’re willing to give up.
An impact bat in a market like this will not be an easy trade to make. It will take more than one top prospect, and the Royals must decide if they’re ready for that.
“Some of that is reflective of what we might get in terms of years of control,” Picollo said. “If you get a lot of years of control, there are some guys you might not have wanted to trade, but are more willing to do it because you’re getting a Major League player for a number of years. I don’t want to say everybody is in play. But you have to be open-minded because you never know what another team is thinking about that maybe we’re not thinking about.”
Picollo said Tuesday that Royals chairman/CEO John Sherman continues to be optimistic about the team, especially because the rotation remains a strength despite the injuries it has sustained this year.
And that gives Picollo an open path for whatever happens in the next five weeks.
“He’s said that he’s ‘open to anything you bring to me,’” Picollo said of Sherman. “I think it speaks to his desire to win, his belief in our team, where the organization is going. Even our long-term vision for the club – part of it is establishing a winning culture in the Major Leagues on a consistent basis. So he’ll be open-minded.”
The Royals’ Deadline strategy ultimately lies in the current roster. Core players have to improve. No one feels that more than they do.
On a night like Tuesday, one game of many just like it, the need becomes all the more glaring.