The last time we met here for one of my recaps, the Royals had just won the second of two straight games against the Detroit Tigers. It was the third consecutive weekend that the Royals had won the first games of a weekend series, and the first two weekends ended in a sweep. Things looked very, very bright.
Now we come together and the Royals have lost four in a row. They have moved from second place in the AL Central and a wild card spot to the bottom of the AL Central and 2.5 games out of a wild card spot. The vibrations are bad. Battlefield Earth bad. game of Thrones bad ending
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lady web bad.
I’m not here to tell you that vibes aren’t or shouldn’t be bad. what i am I’m here to tell you that, somehow, the Royals are less than 3 wins away from a playoff spot at the middle – or maybe the end! – of his second set of awful Vibrations in the first third of the season. It’s less that the Royals need to immediately trade all moderately valuable players and more that we all need to take a damn break. Maybe you don’t want to take a break from baseball. Good news! It’s rivalry weekend in baseball, which means all games except the nationals are available for free on MLB.TV this weekend. If you absolutely must watch some baseball but find that the Royals are ruining your mood, go watch any other team. They will be here when you are ready to return. Maybe they’ll even play better again.
Some of us, of course, get paid to watch this team. And yes, sometimes that feels like a cheat code. But weeks like this show why it’s not just about easy money. I’m not asking for any sympathy for all of you, I’m just saying, if you’ve ever thought how silly it is to be paid even the small amount I get paid to watch baseball, remember that I also have to watch really horrible baseball.
OK. Let’s go to the game.
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Michael Wacha will take the mound. He was also the pitcher the last time the Royals won, so that seems like a good omen. And, frankly, it’s been fantastic this year. He is the seventh most valuable pitcher in the American League according to bWAR. (fWAR doesn’t like him either because he’s not getting strikeouts. Still, he, Seth Lugo and Kris Bubic are all in the top 25 in AL fWAR.) Nothing is guaranteed in baseball, but having 2026 Michael Wacha on the mound feels like a good thing.
The Cardinals will counterattack, fortunately, with a righty in Dustin May. May was a top 20 MLB prospect when he debuted in 2019, but he never came close to living up to that hype. He’s been hurt badly and hasn’t been remotely effective since last year. That has continued into this season. He faced the Royals twice last year, once with the Dodgers and once with the Red Sox. He allowed a total of 7 runs in 7.2 innings. The Red Sox lost, although Noah Cameron had a bad game against the Dodgers, and the Royals lost that 5-4. If the Royals lose tonight, it seems unlikely it will be because Dustin May finally started taking them out.
Lineups
The Royals are fielding the usual vRHP lineup. I have nothing to say about it that I haven’t said before. And honestly, as much as Sal shouldn’t be in the clean room spot, the Royals have won a lot of games with him in that spot this year when their pitchers have done their job. So I guess it doesn’t matter enough to have a cow lying around.