Nedmentum is Lost; Royals Look Anemic in Chicago

Well so much for Nedmentum.

The Royals followed up a pretty impressive homestand against the TWO MOST IMPORTANT TEAMS IN BASEBALL ACCORDING TO ESPN with a markedly uninspired offensive effort in Chicago. Felipe pitched well enough over five innings, but the wheels began to wobble in the sixth and Ned again probably left a pitcher in a batter or two too long. He has an amazing feel for that now.

The Royals collected just five feeble hits off Gavin Floyd and two relievers. They did manage to bunch their hits together, twice loading the bases. But the team was decidedly un-clutch, with Alcides grounding into a force-out in the second, Humberto following up with a comebacker to the pitcher, and Billy striking out with juiced bags in the eighth. The Royals went down 1-2-3 six times tonight and were shutout for the third time this year.

I know we like to focus on how groin-grabbingly bad the starting pitching is, but let's not overlook how disappointing the offense has been. We know Hosmer and Frenchy are majorly struggling, and we're getting empty averages out of center field and second base, with pretty much no production from catcher. The Royals came into this game ranked tenth in the league in runs scored per game. They are now averaging 3.84 runs per game, which puts the team on a pace for 622 runs scored, which would be the fewest this franchise has scored since 1992. Now I know bats are cold in April and heat up in July, but I'm just saying there is a bit of reason to be concerned.

The Royals are now 2-9 in series openers, so its nice they let opposing fans know they suck right away.