Royals Rolling (Flatly) into May - Rouchicus's Blog

Rouchicus's Blog

Royals Rolling (Flatly) into May

Posted on June 8, 2011 at 06:47 PM.

After a strong first month of the season going 16-11, the Royals are stumbling out of the gates in May going 0-2 and now only lead the Twins by half a game at 16-13.

After last night's 8-3 loss against the Orioles, the Royals are on a 3 game skid after winning 7 straight. Some have suggested that the Royals need a change in the lineup as the OBP from Betemit and Cabrera is not justifying keeping them where they are. Some have even said it's time to take Betemit out of the everyday lineup altogether.

On the bright side, Billy Butler extended his hitting streak to 18 games and is now hitting .321. His RBI total (10) isn't what you would like to see out your 3 hole but you can attribute that to not many baserunners being on when he's up to bat.

Jeff Francoeur has been a pleasant surprise so far this season. He himself is riding a 9 game hitting streak and has really impressed with his power and clutch hitting. His line is currently .340/.369/.642 with 8 HR and 23 RBI. Not bad for a dirt cheap FA pickup.

Don't tell anyone, but Alex Gordon may finally be putting it together in the big leagues. He has been a doubles machine (12) so far and his BA keeps crawling closer and closer to .300.

The pitching is another story though. After the signing of Ben Sheets during Spring Training, the fanbase was optimistic that our rotation may not be as bad as some thought. At the very least, they thought that they could hold us over until Duffy and Montgomery are brought up.

While the rotation has been by no means been bad, they have really been slipping up the least week or so. It seems every Royals' starting pitcher has lost control of their pitches and that has led to poor pitch management which means heavy dependency on the bullpen and being dead last in strikeouts.

The bullpen has been the brightest piece to the team so far, however. With a group of young guns, many expected them to show great stuff, but maybe not have what it takes in the clutch. Jeffries, Crow and Collins have all been outstanding to this point. Crow has even made some of us wonder if and when he will get a crack at the starting rotation. Soria has been Soria going 6 for 6 in save opportunities last month.