Royals Rumblings - News for September 24, 2024

24.09.2024 15:00

Royals Review

Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images

How’s your morale?

Vahe Gregorian tried to gauge the clubhouse mood in the midst of a seven-game losing streak.

“Just really there’s no other option other than keep going,” Massey said, adding, “We still control our own destiny. That’s the way we’ve got to look at it.

“Obviously, there’s two mindsets we could take. That one or the other one (downward). So we’ve just got to be mentally tough and play through it.”

Nearby a few minutes later, Witt echoed the point: The focus has to be entirely on the days ahead and what’s in reach, instead of being pulled down by a bad week of todays. “That’s all you can do,” he said, later adding, “Be where your feet are.”

David Lesky writes this week hasn’t been good for his mental health, but that the team still has a good shot.

I’ll bring up sequencing once again, though. If you tell a fan six months ago today that the Royals are going to be in a playoff position with six games to play, they’re ecstatic. For example, you’d be thrilled if they were 39-48 on July 4 and then 55-63 on August 10 and somehow were sitting at 82-74 in a playoff position. Oh, that’s the Tigers, who are on the run of a lifetime. Perspective is just a funny thing. Tigers fans are over the moon, while Royals fans are looking for the nearest cliff. It’s just interesting. It’s not wrong to be worried for Royals fans, just to be clear. It’s interesting, though.

Craig Brown suggests how the Royals should fill out the lineup card this week.

Leadoff would be Maikel Garcia. No, he’s not the solution. Neither is Pham. But when the offense was firing in the first half of the season, Garcia was at the top. Try to recapture some of that mojo.

Second and third would be Witt and Salvy Perez.

I’d put Gurriel in the cleanup spot. He’s looked surprisingly sharp since joining the team. Gurriel has hit .333/.415/.394. He’s not going to give you that cleanup power, but he’s a guy who can put together a decent plate appearance as illustrated by his almost 15 percent walk rate.

Matt Snyder at CBS Sports asks if the Royals could really blow this.

Witt has only been “good” or even “very good” instead of MVP-caliber, too, and that has had an impact. From June 30-Aug. 27, Witt hit .416/.467/.774 with 17 doubles, three triples, 15 homers, 41 RBI and 50 runs in 48 games. In the 23 games since, he’s hit .261/.340/.500 with six doubles, five homers, 14 RBI and 11 runs.

The point is, he needs to be the one carrying this offense with so many players not hitting and this just hasn’t been enough to compensate.

By no means am I blaming Witt. He’s one of the main reasons the Royals are in playoff position. He just either needs to go back to being off-the-charts ridiculous or else his teammates need to step up and contribute.

Kevin O’Brien at Royals Reporter wonders if the team should have taken a different approach upon Vinnie Pasquantino’s injury.

Matthew Robinson at Farm to Fountains notes panic is setting in.

The Mariners beat the Astros to keep their Wild Card hopes alive.

The Phillies clinch their first NL East title since 2011.

Longtime Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon will retire after the season.

The Tigers call up top pitching prospect Jackson Jobe.

Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen is out for the year.

Athletics owner John Fisher issued a letter to fans as his team departs Oakland.

Marlins manager Skip Schumaker seems unlikely to return next year.

Fans will finally get to see Shohei Ohtani in a post-season.

Sports Illustrated lists their All-Rookie team.

No team will win 100 games this year, why is there so much parity?