After 81 games, the longest active playoff drought in the 4 major sports looks like it may finally come to an end. The Royals have the best record at 50-31. But things havent been as good as they should have.
Injuries continue to haunt the team. After losing Mike Moustakas in April. Lorenzo Cain went down with a broken arm in late May and is expected to miss 2-3 months. Danny Duffy and Jarrod Dyson both went on the 15 Day DL in early June. With the team employing a 4 man rotation the Duffy injury wasnt a big deal. Lorenzo Cain was an issue though. Jimmy Paredes was the only outfielder playing well in AAA. But the team needed a player who could hit lefties. After looking through the free agents Juan Pierre was signed to a 1 year deal.
James Shields has been a monster this year at 14-0 with a 2.55 ERA in 137.2 Innings. Thanks to the 4 man rotation he is on pace for the most wins since since 1952 and the most innings pitched since 1988. Jason Vargas has been almost as good despite his 7-5 record. He has 2.79 ERA and has only walked 28 in 129 innings. Aaron Crow has been great in the pen. In 20 games he has a 1.05 ERA giving up just 3 runs. Greg Holland continues to be one of. If not the best closer in baseball. 22 saves in 25 attempts.
Alex Gordon continues to be the best hitter on the team. .334 AVG with 9 HR 23 doubles 5 triples and 41 RBI. That along with being the best defensive Left Fielder in baseball. He should be in the MVP talk. But D doesn't matter in that award apparently. Placido Polanco has been very good filling in for Moose. Polanco is hitting .283 and leading the AL in the 3B Gold Glove race. Juan Pierre has been fantastic in his short time filling in for Lorenzo Cain. In 15 games he has a .348 AVG with 16 hits and a .423 OBP.
Kyle Zimmer went 7-2 with a 2.37 ERA and 116 K's to just 24 walks in AA Northwest Arkansas. He was called up to AAA Omaha on June 12th. In 4 games he is 2-1 with a 1.80 ERA and 32 K's to just 6 walks. If he continues pitching this well. The plan is to have him up around the trade deadline. We may try and move Jeremy Guthrie to another team. Or we could move to a 5 man rotation.
<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /><link href="http://dynasties.operationsports.com/css/osdyn.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></head><body><table cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1" class="osdyn" width="425"><tr class="masthead_alt"><td bgcolor="#0F4871" colspan="6"><span style="color:#FFF">MLB Standings - Updated: Jun 29, 2014</span></td></tr><tr class="stathead"><td width="45%">AL EAST</td><td align="right" width="11%">W</td><td align="right" width="11%">L</td><td align="right" width="11%">GB</td><td align="right" width="11%">RS</td><td align="right" width="11%">RA</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Yankees</td><td align="right">47</td><td align="right">33</td><td align="right" class="active">-</td><td align="right">344</td><td align="right">322</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>Blue Jays</td><td align="right">46</td><td align="right">37</td><td align="right" class="active">2.5</td><td align="right">394</td><td align="right">368</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Rays</td><td align="right">41</td><td align="right">42</td><td align="right" class="active">7.5</td><td align="right">353</td><td align="right">324</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>Red Sox</td><td align="right">40</td><td align="right">41</td><td align="right" class="active">7.5</td><td align="right">377</td><td align="right">353</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Orioles</td><td align="right">30</td><td align="right">50</td><td align="right" class="active">17</td><td align="right">307</td><td align="right">361</td></tr><tr class="stathead"><td width="45%">AL CENTRAL</td><td align="right" width="11%">W</td><td align="right" width="11%">L</td><td align="right" width="11%">GB</td><td align="right" width="11%">RS</td><td align="right" width="11%">RA</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Royals</td><td align="right">50</td><td align="right">31</td><td align="right" class="active"></td><td align="right">345</td><td align="right">265</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>Tigers</td><td align="right">45</td><td align="right">35</td><td align="right" class="active">4.5</td><td align="right">365</td><td align="right">296</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Indians</td><td align="right">42</td><td align="right">40</td><td align="right" class="active">8.5</td><td align="right">335</td><td align="right">352</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>White Sox</td><td align="right">39</td><td align="right">44</td><td align="right" class="active">12</td><td align="right">342</td><td align="right">376</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Twins</td><td align="right">34</td><td align="right">46</td><td align="right" class="active">15.5</td><td align="right">301</td><td align="right">370</td></tr><tr class="stathead"><td width="45%">AL WEST</td><td align="right" width="11%">W</td><td align="right" width="11%">L</td><td align="right" width="11%">GB</td><td align="right" width="11%">RS</td><td align="right" width="11%">RA</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>A's</td><td align="right">47</td><td align="right">33</td><td align="right" class="active"></td><td align="right">361</td><td align="right">309</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>Rangers</td><td align="right">45</td><td align="right">35</td><td align="right" class="active">2</td><td align="right">368</td><td align="right">337</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Mariners</td><td align="right">42</td><td align="right">39</td><td align="right" class="active">5.5</td><td align="right">358</td><td align="right">362</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>Astros</td><td align="right">40</td><td align="right">42</td><td align="right" class="active">8</td><td align="right">304</td><td align="right">355</td></tr><tr class="stathead"><td width="45%">NL EAST</td><td align="right" width="11%">W</td><td align="right" width="11%">L</td><td align="right" width="11%">GB</td><td align="right" width="11%">RS</td><td align="right" width="11%">RA</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Braves</td><td align="right">49</td><td align="right">32</td><td align="right" class="active"></td><td align="right">327</td><td align="right">254</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>Nationals</td><td align="right">48</td><td align="right">33</td><td align="right" class="active">1</td><td align="right">346</td><td align="right">269</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Mets</td><td align="right">42</td><td align="right">39</td><td align="right" class="active">7</td><td align="right">334</td><td align="right">311</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>Phillies</td><td align="right">34</td><td align="right">47</td><td align="right" class="active">15</td><td align="right">280</td><td align="right">357</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Marlins</td><td align="right">29</td><td align="right">53</td><td align="right" class="active">20.5</td><td align="right">273</td><td align="right">376</td></tr><tr class="stathead"><td width="45%">NL CENTRAL</td><td align="right" width="11%">W</td><td align="right" width="11%">L</td><td align="right" width="11%">GB</td><td align="right" width="11%">RS</td><td align="right" width="11%">RA</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Pirates</td><td align="right">44</td><td align="right">37</td><td align="right" class="active"></td><td align="right">336</td><td align="right">344</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>Brewers</td><td align="right">44</td><td align="right">39</td><td align="right" class="active">1</td><td align="right">335</td><td align="right">302</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Reds</td><td align="right">41</td><td align="right">40</td><td align="right" class="active">3</td><td align="right">303</td><td align="right">274</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>Cardinals</td><td align="right">38</td><td align="right">45</td><td align="right" class="active">7</td><td align="right">292</td><td align="right">315</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Cubs</td><td align="right">37</td><td align="right">44</td><td align="right" class="active">7</td><td align="right">308</td><td align="right">330</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>Angels</td><td align="right">25</td><td align="right">55</td><td align="right" class="active">22</td><td align="right">293</td><td align="right">367</td></tr><tr class="stathead"><td width="45%">NL WEST</td><td align="right" width="11%">W</td><td align="right" width="11%">L</td><td align="right" width="11%">GB</td><td align="right" width="11%">RS</td><td align="right" width="11%">RA</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Dodgers</td><td align="right">49</td><td align="right">34</td><td align="right" class="active"></td><td align="right">355</td><td align="right">299</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>Padres</td><td align="right">42</td><td align="right">39</td><td align="right" class="active">6</td><td align="right">347</td><td align="right">314</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Rockies</td><td align="right">40</td><td align="right">42</td><td align="right" class="active">8.5</td><td align="right">305</td><td align="right">332</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>Diamondbacks</td><td align="right">38</td><td align="right">45</td><td align="right" class="active">11</td><td align="right">323</td><td align="right">368</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Giants</td><td align="right">33</td><td align="right">49</td><td align="right" class="active">15.5</td><td align="right">291</td><td align="right">340</td></tr></table></body></html>
<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /><link href="http://dynasties.operationsports.com/css/osdyn.css" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"></head><body><table cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1" class="osdyn" width="575"><tr class="masthead_alt"><td bgcolor="#0020C2" colspan="15"><span style="color:#FFFFFF">2014 Kansas City Royals - 81 Games Stats - Hitting</span></td></tr><tr class="stathead"><td width="23%">NAME</td><td align="right" width="5%">AB</td><td align="right" width="5%">R</td><td align="right" width="5%">H</td><td align="right" width="5%">2B</td><td align="right" width="5%">3B</td><td align="right" width="5%">HR</td><td align="right" width="6%">RBI</td><td align="right" width="5%">BB</td><td align="right" width="5%">SO</td><td align="right" width="5%">SB</td><td align="right" width="5%">CS</td><td align="right" width="7%">BA</td><td align="right" width="7%">OBP</td><td align="right" width="7%">SLG</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Alcides Escobar</td><td align="right">320</td><td align="right">26</td><td align="right">74</td><td align="right">12</td><td align="right">1</td><td align="right">1</td><td align="right">30</td><td align="right">23</td><td align="right">47</td><td align="right">7</td><td align="right">3</td><td align="right">.231</td><td align="right">.282</td><td align="right">.284</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>Nori Aoki</td><td align="right">318</td><td align="right">38</td><td align="right">82</td><td align="right">12</td><td align="right">7</td><td align="right">7</td><td align="right">38</td><td align="right">30</td><td align="right">32</td><td align="right">10</td><td align="right">6</td><td align="right">.258</td><td align="right">.325</td><td align="right">.406</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Billy Butler</td><td align="right">313</td><td align="right">38</td><td align="right">86</td><td align="right">9</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">9</td><td align="right">48</td><td align="right">29</td><td align="right">48</td><td align="right">1</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">.275</td><td align="right">.336</td><td align="right">.390</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>Omar Infante</td><td align="right">297</td><td align="right">.32</td><td align="right">70</td><td align="right">14</td><td align="right">1</td><td align="right">7</td><td align="right">40</td><td align="right">22</td><td align="right">47</td><td align="right">4</td><td align="right">1</td><td align="right">.236</td><td align="right">.291</td><td align="right">.360</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Alex Gordon</td><td align="right">290</td><td align="right">50</td><td align="right">97</td><td align="right">23</td><td align="right">5</td><td align="right">9</td><td align="right">41</td><td align="right">26</td><td align="right">51</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">.334</td><td align="right">.390</td><td align="right">.541</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>Eric Hosmer</td><td align="right">289</td><td align="right">38</td><td align="right">74</td><td align="right">10</td><td align="right">1</td><td align="right">13</td><td align="right">39</td><td align="right">38</td><td align="right">62</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">4</td><td align="right">.256</td><td align="right">.354</td><td align="right">.433</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Salvador Perez</td><td align="right">251</td><td align="right">28</td><td align="right">67</td><td align="right">14</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">11</td><td align="right">31</td><td align="right">26</td><td align="right">27</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">.267</td><td align="right">.335</td><td align="right">.454</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>Placido Polanco</td><td align="right">166</td><td align="right">15</td><td align="right">47</td><td align="right">7</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">1</td><td align="right">16</td><td align="right">12</td><td align="right">14</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">.283</td><td align="right">.335</td><td align="right">.343</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Lorenzo Cain</td><td align="right">159</td><td align="right">25</td><td align="right">40</td><td align="right">5</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">16</td><td align="right">19</td><td align="right">38</td><td align="right">8</td><td align="right">1</td><td align="right">.252</td><td align="right">.331</td><td align="right">.321</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>Danny Valencia</td><td align="right">101</td><td align="right">14</td><td align="right">24</td><td align="right">4</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">11</td><td align="right">11</td><td align="right">12</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">1</td><td align="right">.238</td><td align="right">.319</td><td align="right">.337</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Jarrod Dyson</td><td align="right">87</td><td align="right">18</td><td align="right">23</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">1</td><td align="right">6</td><td align="right">13</td><td align="right">14</td><td align="right">12</td><td align="right">4</td><td align="right">.264</td><td align="right">.359</td><td align="right">.368</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>Mike Moustakas</td><td align="right">64</td><td align="right">6</td><td align="right">11</td><td align="right">4</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">8</td><td align="right">8</td><td align="right">7</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">.172</td><td align="right">.260</td><td align="right">.328</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Bretty Hayes</td><td align="right">55</td><td align="right">9</td><td align="right">19</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">4</td><td align="right">6</td><td align="right">3</td><td align="right">10</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">.345</td><td align="right">.379</td><td align="right">.564</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>Juan Pierre</td><td align="right">46</td><td align="right">4</td><td align="right">16</td><td align="right">3</td><td align="right">3</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">5</td><td align="right">4</td><td align="right">7</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">.348</td><td align="right">.423</td><td align="right">.543</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>TEAM</td><td align="right">2802</td><td align="right">345</td><td align="right">742</td><td align="right">119</td><td align="right">21</td><td align="right">69</td><td align="right">342</td><td align="right">266</td><td align="right">434</td><td align="right">48</td><td align="right">25</td><td align="right">.264</td><td align="right">.330</td><td align="right">.395</td></tr></table><table cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1" class="osdyn spacer" width="575"><tr class="masthead_alt"><td bgcolor="#0020C2" colspan="16"><span style="color:#FFFFFF">2014 Kansas City Royals - 81 Games Stats - Pitching</span></td></tr><tr class="stathead"><td width="22%">NAME</td><td align="right" width="4%">GP</td><td align="right" width="4%">GS</td><td align="right" width="4%">W</td><td align="right" width="4%">L</td><td align="right" width="5%">SV</td><td align="right" width="5%">QS</td><td align="right" width="6%">HLD</td><td align="right" width="7%">IP</td><td align="right" width="5%">H</td><td align="right" width="5%">ER</td><td align="right" width="5%">HR</td><td align="right" width="5%">BB</td><td align="right" width="5%">SO</td><td align="right" width="8%">WHIP</td><td align="right" width="6%">ERA</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>James Shields</td><td align="right">19</td><td align="right">19</td><td align="right">14</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">15</td><td align="right">3</td><td align="right">137.2</td><td align="right">107</td><td align="right">39</td><td align="right">10</td><td align="right">54</td><td align="right">110</td><td align="right">1.17</td><td align="right">2.55</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>Jason Vargas</td><td align="right">19</td><td align="right">19</td><td align="right">7</td><td align="right">5</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">14</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">129</td><td align="right">110</td><td align="right">40</td><td align="right">7</td><td align="right">28</td><td align="right">67</td><td align="right">1.07</td><td align="right">2.79</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Jeremy Guthrie</td><td align="right">18</td><td align="right">18</td><td align="right">8</td><td align="right">4</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">9</td><td align="right">1</td><td align="right">118.1</td><td align="right">127</td><td align="right">55</td><td align="right">13</td><td align="right">34</td><td align="right">58</td><td align="right">1.36</td><td align="right">4.18</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>Yordano Ventura</td><td align="right">18</td><td align="right">18</td><td align="right">6</td><td align="right">5</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">12</td><td align="right">1</td><td align="right">116.2</td><td align="right">117</td><td align="right">47</td><td align="right">14</td><td align="right">31</td><td align="right">119</td><td align="right">1.27</td><td align="right">3.63</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Danny Duffy</td><td align="right">8</td><td align="right">6</td><td align="right">1</td><td align="right">1</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">33.1</td><td align="right">32</td><td align="right">13</td><td align="right">3</td><td align="right">13</td><td align="right">27</td><td align="right">1.35</td><td align="right">3.51</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Greg Holland</td><td align="right">25</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">22</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">23.1</td><td align="right">15</td><td align="right">6</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">9</td><td align="right">20</td><td align="right">1.03</td><td align="right">2.31</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>Louis Coleman</td><td align="right">25</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">30.2</td><td align="right">26</td><td align="right">11</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">13</td><td align="right">36</td><td align="right">1.27</td><td align="right">3.23</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Tim Collins</td><td align="right">23</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">5</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">21.2</td><td align="right">27</td><td align="right">15</td><td align="right">4</td><td align="right">8</td><td align="right">17</td><td align="right">1.62</td><td align="right">6.23</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>Luke Hochevar</td><td align="right">22</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">1</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">21</td><td align="right">27</td><td align="right">9</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">9</td><td align="right">33</td><td align="right">1.16</td><td align="right">2.61</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Aaron Crow</td><td align="right">20</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">1</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">25.2</td><td align="right">22</td><td align="right">3</td><td align="right">1</td><td align="right">9</td><td align="right">17</td><td align="right">1.21</td><td align="right">1.05</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>Kelvin Herrera</td><td align="right">19</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">3</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">22.1</td><td align="right">27</td><td align="right">12</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">9</td><td align="right">19</td><td align="right">1.61</td><td align="right">4.84</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>Wade Davis</td><td align="right">16</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">1</td><td align="right">1</td><td align="right">1</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">16</td><td align="right">14</td><td align="right">4</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">5</td><td align="right">16</td><td align="right">1.19</td><td align="right">2.25</td></tr><tr class="oddrow"><td>Bruce Chen</td><td align="right">12</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">1</td><td align="right">1</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">0</td><td align="right">31</td><td align="right">25</td><td align="right">5</td><td align="right">2</td><td align="right">8</td><td align="right">16</td><td align="right">1.06</td><td align="right">1.45</td></tr><tr class="evenrow"><td>TEAM</td><td align="right">81</td><td align="right">81</td><td align="right">50</td><td align="right">31</td><td align="right">25</td><td align="right">52</td><td align="right">9</td><td align="right">742</td><td align="right">685</td><td align="right">263</td><td align="right">61</td><td align="right">232</td><td align="right">558</td><td align="right">1.24</td><td align="right">3.19</td></tr></table></body></html>
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