Random Royals notes

We are a win and a loss away from an epic post by your's truly where I (semi) apologize to Dayton Moore.

-- Thanks to this post All-Star break hot stretch, the Royals run differential on the season has moved to the positive side. Even after last night's debacle, they are at +19 on the year.

-- Their run differential translates to a 57-53 Pythag, which is also their current record through 110 games.

-- Here's the AL Central by run differential per game:

Detroit - +1.3
Cleveland - +0.4
Kansas City - +0.2
Minnesota - -0.6
Chicago - -0.7

Interesting how that works.

Here's the bigger issue. Other than the Tigers, no team in the American League has a run differential greater than one. Every team has flaws, some more serious than others. Detroit just seems to have fewer flaws than any other team in the league. If you're still dreaming post season, you'd better be aiming for the Wild Card. The Tigers are just too good a team to catch.

-- As of Wednesday morning, the Royals playoff odds stand at 3.2 percent, according to Baseball Prospectus.

-- Here are the playoff odds for teams battling for the second wild card spot:

Texas - 73.4%
Cleveland - 38.6%
Baltimore - 20.1%
Kansas City - 3.2%
New York - 1.9%

I figure second place in the East will qualify, so that leaves one other team. The Rangers currently lead the race for second best non-division winning team.

This is progress. The Royals have been hovering under three percent since the break. They have cracked that barrier and have passed the Yankees. Now, they just need to figure out how to pass the other three teams in front of them.

-- Salvador Perez is hoping to participate in light workouts today. Concussions are serious business. However, I can't help but think the backup depth at catcher will be exposed as the week rolls on. That's kind of what happens when you lose a key player like Perez for any extended period of time.