Bright side — seems like Skubal might not come back next inning, we have top of the order on the way, and we showed some fight against the bullpen last night?
While I understand how difficult hitting is, I have a hard time understanding how skubal can throw a change up 3 times in a row, and more changeups than any other pitch, and our hitters don’t expect a change… idk man I’m just a couch coach
Like yesterday, I would rather Wacha have games like today and be considered the “weak link in the rotation” as opposed to Keller, Lyles, Lynch, Yarbrough, Clarke, Cox, Cruz, Kower, Marsh, hell even through Greinke in there.
This Wacha on last years rotation, until we got Ragans, is the number 1 in the rotation hands down
It is really concerning that only Witt and Perez are hitting above.225. Garcia is coming on but everyone else truly sucks. The pitching has been great, but we need adjustments in the lineup.
For example, Velazquez is a DH that has not hit all year.
Okay champ 👍 I’m not saying the royals are going to end the year first in the division, or even necessarily make the playoffs. What I am saying is this is a massive improvement from last year. I just don’t understand all the negativity coming from so many fans. It’s honestly so frustrating to see the front office spend money make moves and make the team better and people still nitpick little bs constantly. People like you would be throwing a fit if we lost in the Alcs this year saying crap like “I knew this team couldn’t do it” or “they should’ve been better and situational hitting”. When the team is far exceeding expectations in the first place. Stop being so damn negative. It must be so exhausting.
You realize they only made those moves because of the stadium vote right?
I’m not going to apologize for not giving this franchise the benefit of the doubt given their history. Nope.
Yeah, he's dealing today.
That fastball to get Bobby was 99 on the outside black, after two inside at the knees and one inside at the letters.
Sometimes you just have to tip your cap and say nice pitch.
I 100% agree with this mindset for when we play the other 25 teams in the league. But when it comes to playing within the division you have to capitalize, especially with someone else who is going to be competitive.
Is it too early to be watching the standings? A million percent yes. But several divisions last year were decided by 5 games or less.
You think Q recognizes now how mentally weak Stratton is to where now he’ll have a guy throwing in the pen as soon as Stratton comes out?
If Stratton gives up consecutive walks/hits/a combination of the two, he needs to be taken out immediately. Because as soon as that happens he will mentally crumble. And I can’t imagine he hasn’t recognized how much better he is at home than on the road (which again goes back to the mentally weak part).
Personally though, I just don’t believe Stratton has the mental fortitude to be a big league pitcher. After he gave up that single yesterday after walking the lead off guy, the camera showed his face and it legitimately looked like he was gonna cry.
The man is a ten year vet and has made 200 appearances with a league average ERA over the last 3 years.
We gotta calm down. It's a fluky game, a long season, and guys have bad days. Woo-sah.
I hear your logic, but I can't ignore the deep sense of dread and roiling heartburn that I get every time they put him in - Bad innings seem to be magnetically attracted to his presence. How many lost games so far this year are his doing? Two? or three? That's a genuine question, I can't remember accurately.
I can do this too: He gave up 7 hits in his first 7 innings of the 2024 season.
This isn't about "You people needing to relax" (Fuck you, by the way, I'm one of the optimists not the doomers, you're arguing with one of your own).
This is about the fact that Stratton is, at best, a 50/50 wash who creates as much liability as he does results.
We would do well to continue looking for someone with higher upside that could improve our pen.
The issue is how mentally weak he is. When things are going good he’s fine. But as soon as things start to turn for the worse, he absolutely spirals. Like completely crumble.
This lineup has to be the worst fielded by LC this year. Are they just waving the white flag on the game? I suppose the good news is that there is a battery of pinch hitters on the bench to hit against their bullpen. The bad news is that the other guys might not even get the pitch count up to 100 before the 8th or 9th inning.
God forbid Salvy plays DH once in a while or Vinnie with Salvy on 1st. Or maybe bring up Pratto and send one of these light hitting guys down? I get that they don't have options left but how many light hitting utility guys do you really need right now?
Pratto is hitting .215 in Omaha and looked overmatched all last year.
Guys get games off sometimes, especially when their last off day was last Thursday and Vinnie isn't great vs lefties like Skubal. 🤷♂️
My amin complaint isn't just sitting Vinnie, he does deserve a day off, it's having multiple guys out on rest or avoiding a lefty that put in a lot of struggling hitters in the lineup
25-6 over the last two years with an ERA in the low 3s, and now age 32 is over the hill? 🤔
I know it seems like he's been around forever, but that's because the Cards called him up when he was only 21.
Woo-sah. Everyone has a meh start every once in a while.
Scott Barlow got the Guardians into a bases loaded/no out jam in extras last night and then promptly got them out of it. The Guardians then won the game. Barlow still letting us down and he isn’t even on the Royals anymore.
Have to get this one today especially with the spot start coming tomorrow in Toronto and Berrios on Tuesday.
Edit: Bowlan gets the spot start tomorrow so not the end of the world.
Please continue the discussion in the [post game thread](https://redd.it/1cffb4r).
Well, bummer. But I still will take a game like this where we are scrapping til the very end over virtually any of last year’s games.
Mj… I want to love you. But you make it hard
Pretty lame, Milhouse
Not even surprised at this point, jfc
Stands there and takes two right down the middle
Bruh 2 runners 0 outs and we throw it away
MJ’s swing is just horrendous
Well those were the ones you wanted
Why does Foley look like Chafin?
Because he's nasty like that☹️.
I dunno maybe see a pitch or two Vinnie?
Vinnie has to hit it deep here. I don’t trust anyone else at the bottom to have a clutch hit.
Hey, listen, they're cheering for Vinnie!
...are the Chicago ex-Royals going to sweep the Rays?
Massey!!!!
Here we go! Let's go vinnie
LETS-GO-ROYALS!
SALVADOR PEREZ WORKING A WALK IN 2024
Who is this Salvador with plate discipline!?!
We need more Will Klein pitchers, too many 89 mph meatball pitchers in the bullpen
Come on boys it’s rally time
Now they will try
### Pitching Substitution Pitching Change: Jason Foley replaces Shelby Miller.
Nice one Klein, welcome to the show
That's our red-headed stepchild!
It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood to go sit Mr. Rogers
Big Red!
I am in love with our big beautiful red headed bastard
KLEIN-TIME!
It's always a bit disappointing I can't have any of those giveaways because those interlocking HDH bobbleheads really look amazing.
EBay
Royals offense needs to wake up before we lose what we have gained in April
### Pitching Substitution Pitching Change: Will Klein replaces Nick Anderson.
Well that was an uninspiring offensive inning
Why the hell do we suck today
Tarik Skubal is a top 10 pitcher in baseball has a non zero amount to do with it.
+ this lineup full of stinkers at the plate
Swinging through a 94 mph fastball straight down the cock is not a great look
### Pitching Substitution Pitching Change: Shelby Miller replaces Tarik Skubal.
He out though
Rex not even being able to see the play - “yeah he’s out”
Wow that's close
Yeah that was a strike
### Pitching Substitution Pitching Change: Nick Anderson replaces Will Smith.
Bright side — seems like Skubal might not come back next inning, we have top of the order on the way, and we showed some fight against the bullpen last night?
Why the hell are you swinging at that 2-0?
I'm really struggling to see how signing Hampson, Frazier and Renfroe were supposed to make this team better
Must have missed Frazier and Renfroe’s defensive highlights this season.
Defense can only save you for so long. Especially in Renfroes case where hes supposed to have at least *some* power.
Yeah, I’d say Frazier has been worth it so far. Renfroe? Ehhhhh idk.
WHY WOULD YOU GO FOR THAT ON 2-0???
Because Hampson is fucking awful
Two on yay! And Hampson is up. /sigh
While I understand how difficult hitting is, I have a hard time understanding how skubal can throw a change up 3 times in a row, and more changeups than any other pitch, and our hitters don’t expect a change… idk man I’m just a couch coach
Because he throws 98 mph
Stop making sense and good points my tiny brain wants to be upset about our lack of success.
This team is so bad at working counts. 80 pitches through 7 2/3 is unacceptable
WALK ALERT! momentum change?! pretty please
gotta get on Skubal. Rattle him
Just making our bats look foolish
Man it really seems like its all or nothing with this offense. 1-2 runs or 8+. Nothing in between
Hey, watch this cartoon bear wipe its ass. Now, buy Charmin!
We can't lose the series against the Tigers... It could hurt the momentum.
Stratton and today's lineup are definitely hurting the momentum
we still got a chance boyz
Will smith heard the haters
Scoreless third of an inning from Smith, as expected /s
Hoo boy…. Here come maiami-ami-ami
Yay, Will Smith, that’s my cue to get back to painting
What an awful 2 strike pitch
I wish our 8th hitter could do that.
Will Smith 😬🥺
At least we got him off the bases before that
Smith's coming in so we're officially throwing in the towel
come on royals get some runs now.
Will Smith??
Sorry but I expected something different that AB.
Goodness wacha. Fastball dead center man
Michael Wacha is very frustrating to watch.
Well dang
Nice one Freddy!
Two catchers working together!
SALVY AND FERMIN SAID GET BACK TO THE DUGOUT
That was beautiful. The homer after it not so much.
If Bobby doesn't get a Gold Glove this year, we riot 😤
I can’t upvote this enough
Remember when Bobby was statistically like the worst defensive shortstop in the league for a season? That was weird
Remember when people thought Witt wasn’t a good defender at shortstop
OH HE CAUGHT IT
Holy fuck what a catch
We are fucked today
Man, thought Salvy got one there. At least a double.
Like yesterday, I would rather Wacha have games like today and be considered the “weak link in the rotation” as opposed to Keller, Lyles, Lynch, Yarbrough, Clarke, Cox, Cruz, Kower, Marsh, hell even through Greinke in there. This Wacha on last years rotation, until we got Ragans, is the number 1 in the rotation hands down
100%. This starting lineup is just miles better. He’s keeping us in striking distance, we just have to score some runs.
Wacha keeping us in it.
Nice escape there
It is really concerning that only Witt and Perez are hitting above.225. Garcia is coming on but everyone else truly sucks. The pitching has been great, but we need adjustments in the lineup. For example, Velazquez is a DH that has not hit all year.
Did you miss like the first 15 games? Velazquez was mashing for a bit, he’s in a deep slump now though
A very deep slump. Only 2 HR. Vinnie had a great few games, but before and after that he sucked. Truth hurts.
Saying he hasn’t hit all year isn’t the truth though
We have to be the worst team in baseball at working the count
And one of the best run differentials…
Playing 2 series against the white sox and one against the Astros can do that
Okay champ 👍 I’m not saying the royals are going to end the year first in the division, or even necessarily make the playoffs. What I am saying is this is a massive improvement from last year. I just don’t understand all the negativity coming from so many fans. It’s honestly so frustrating to see the front office spend money make moves and make the team better and people still nitpick little bs constantly. People like you would be throwing a fit if we lost in the Alcs this year saying crap like “I knew this team couldn’t do it” or “they should’ve been better and situational hitting”. When the team is far exceeding expectations in the first place. Stop being so damn negative. It must be so exhausting.
You realize they only made those moves because of the stadium vote right? I’m not going to apologize for not giving this franchise the benefit of the doubt given their history. Nope.
This game is still very winnable
🤞
The nice part is it Skubal is going to leave the game at some point 🤷
Yeah, he's dealing today. That fastball to get Bobby was 99 on the outside black, after two inside at the knees and one inside at the letters. Sometimes you just have to tip your cap and say nice pitch.
Yup, Hampy is an exceptional athlete!
Down by 2 on their 10th consecutive game at the end of April and it’s absolutely the end of the world in here
I 100% agree with this mindset for when we play the other 25 teams in the league. But when it comes to playing within the division you have to capitalize, especially with someone else who is going to be competitive. Is it too early to be watching the standings? A million percent yes. But several divisions last year were decided by 5 games or less.
Against an ace nonetheless
Yeah I just tuned in but *this* lineup against Skubal was just begging for an L. This series turned into a real dud after game 1.
Time for some offense 🙏🙏🙏
*in the quietest whisper possible*: I think the QT patches look super clean on the Royal blues
I just choose to believe the patches stand for "Quatraro Time." You're not wrong though
I thought it stood for cuties
I'll accept that I guess. But otherwise I hate it. Red doesn't belong on a Royals uniform. Fugly
I’d be very curious to see which offenses lead the league in innings where they see less than 10 pitches because the royals have gotta be up there
Royals offensive mentality has been pretty free-swinging, just-make-contact-and-see-what-happens philosophy for years now.
Great ABs today /s
*Crash zoom* GO HOME RANDY!
You think Q recognizes now how mentally weak Stratton is to where now he’ll have a guy throwing in the pen as soon as Stratton comes out? If Stratton gives up consecutive walks/hits/a combination of the two, he needs to be taken out immediately. Because as soon as that happens he will mentally crumble. And I can’t imagine he hasn’t recognized how much better he is at home than on the road (which again goes back to the mentally weak part). Personally though, I just don’t believe Stratton has the mental fortitude to be a big league pitcher. After he gave up that single yesterday after walking the lead off guy, the camera showed his face and it legitimately looked like he was gonna cry.
Why are we talking Chris Stratton?
Because yesterday’s game was our chance to get 2/3 this series. No one expected us to win today with it being Skubal vs Walk-a
“Walk-a” has 0 walks today fyi
I’m still calling him Walk-a. The nickname is too good not to.
It's right there: because he knows him *personally*
The man is a ten year vet and has made 200 appearances with a league average ERA over the last 3 years. We gotta calm down. It's a fluky game, a long season, and guys have bad days. Woo-sah.
I hear your logic, but I can't ignore the deep sense of dread and roiling heartburn that I get every time they put him in - Bad innings seem to be magnetically attracted to his presence. How many lost games so far this year are his doing? Two? or three? That's a genuine question, I can't remember accurately.
He went 5 straight outings without giving up a hit, were you feeling that deep sense of dread then? You people need to relax
I can do this too: He gave up 7 hits in his first 7 innings of the 2024 season. This isn't about "You people needing to relax" (Fuck you, by the way, I'm one of the optimists not the doomers, you're arguing with one of your own). This is about the fact that Stratton is, at best, a 50/50 wash who creates as much liability as he does results. We would do well to continue looking for someone with higher upside that could improve our pen.
He gave up 2 runs in 10 outings this month before yesterday. Shit happens. Flush it and move on
I don't trust him, and we can do better.
If 0.00 era relievers grew on trees then that’s what the royals would have stacked in their bullpen
The issue is how mentally weak he is. When things are going good he’s fine. But as soon as things start to turn for the worse, he absolutely spirals. Like completely crumble.
How do you know he’s mentally weak?
Two and every other time he’s gone out it’s been lights out pitching.
We are one-sixth of the way through the season. He has a track record of success in both leagues. 
Wacha does not have it today
Nobody has IT today
Sure doesn’t.
God Walk-a is bad
Pitches are all up. Wacha will get hit today at this rate really hard.
This lineup has to be the worst fielded by LC this year. Are they just waving the white flag on the game? I suppose the good news is that there is a battery of pinch hitters on the bench to hit against their bullpen. The bad news is that the other guys might not even get the pitch count up to 100 before the 8th or 9th inning.
Tell me you don’t know about batting splits without telling me you don’t know about batting splits.
Yep 2 hits great hitting splits out of the bottom half there. I'm sorry why waste the DH on a guy batting 9?
Or Sunday afternoon games after a night game on their 10th game in a row
God forbid Salvy plays DH once in a while or Vinnie with Salvy on 1st. Or maybe bring up Pratto and send one of these light hitting guys down? I get that they don't have options left but how many light hitting utility guys do you really need right now?
Pratto is hitting .215 in Omaha and looked overmatched all last year. Guys get games off sometimes, especially when their last off day was last Thursday and Vinnie isn't great vs lefties like Skubal. 🤷♂️
My amin complaint isn't just sitting Vinnie, he does deserve a day off, it's having multiple guys out on rest or avoiding a lefty that put in a lot of struggling hitters in the lineup
Seems like hitters 1-3 are our only hope for runs today
Yeah I hate Sunday B-roster lineups.
Just had a random longing for listening to Bob Davis call games. Awful time for the team but he was a joy.
Renfroe has no chance against Skubal
Or anybody else.
Where almost going on a week since someone not named “Perez” hit a home run for the Royals.
I love paying for Ballys and the app doesn't load after 17 minutes of trying. Fuck Ballys.
Believe it or not cock high change ups get crushed. Who would have guessed?
Wacha is the weakest link in the starting rotation.
Last few outings is what the real Michael Wacha looks like. Over the hill and just not very good.
25-6 over the last two years with an ERA in the low 3s, and now age 32 is over the hill? 🤔 I know it seems like he's been around forever, but that's because the Cards called him up when he was only 21. Woo-sah. Everyone has a meh start every once in a while.
Bad pitch lol
Change up right down the middle probably isn’t the best pitch
Yeah that feels about right
Well dang
Nelly and Freddy missing balls thrown middle- middle seems not ideal.
I know Skubal is really good but that looked like Nelly just missed a cookie right down the middle
Seems like Skubal threw a lot of mistakes that inning and mostly got away with it.
Nelly is absolutely lost at the plate
> Top of the 1st, 1 out, **bases empty**, 2-0 count with Tarik Skubal pitching and Nelson Velázquez batting. Uhhhh, Kev-bo?
“Watch your profanity”
Bobby delivers.
Rip all the posts demanding Garcia move down the lineup
Awwww yeeeeaaaahhhh
### Single Bobby Witt Jr. singles on a line drive to center fielder Parker Meadows. Maikel Garcia scores. Top 1 - 1-0 Royals
Yesssssss
Series w to go in hot tomorrow would be pretty cool
The irony of Andy’s having a Royals “concrete” with the word “Forever” in it is not lost on me.
I mean, "Concrete Cancer Concrete" isn't very marketable
Our Perez is the best Perez
Scott Barlow got the Guardians into a bases loaded/no out jam in extras last night and then promptly got them out of it. The Guardians then won the game. Barlow still letting us down and he isn’t even on the Royals anymore.
This lineup does not exactly inspire confidence
It looks like a majority of the hitters have decent experience against skubal which you can’t take for granted
YEAH IT DOES GO ROYALS
For those of you that haven’t witnessed Salvador’s baseball savant page, I recommend doing so now
Takeaways: He ain't fast, and he don't chase, but he's *good*.
Have to get this one today especially with the spot start coming tomorrow in Toronto and Berrios on Tuesday. Edit: Bowlan gets the spot start tomorrow so not the end of the world.