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The Royals just finished one of the worst offensive months in recent baseball history

All the ways the lineup sucked in June.

By Max Rieper
MLB: Kansas City Royals at Seattle Mariners Lindsey Wasson-USA TODAY Sports

I don’t think this is breaking news at this point, but the Royals offense is terrible. They have scored just 3.47 runs-per-game, easily the worst in all of baseball, including all 15 National League teams which have pitchers hit on a regular basis. They are last in all of baseball in slugging, second-to-last in on-base percentage, and last in home runs. They have drawn fewer walks than everyone but the White Sox, and are dead last in OPS with men on base.

The offense has been poor all season, but in June, the team took it to a new low. The Royals, as a team, hit .193/.253/.303 in the month of June. Three pitchers with at least 50 plate appearances last year hit better than that.

Nine players with 20 plate appearances or more hit under .200 for the month. Drew Butera went 1-for-16. Alcides Escobar hit .115/.163/.184, one of the worst-hitting months by any regular in Royals history.

Worst hitting month by a Royals regular

Player Split Year GS PA BA OBP SLG OPS
Player Split Year GS PA BA OBP SLG OPS
Tony Pena August 2007 23 81 .128 .160 .141 .302
Angel Salazar June 1987 28 93 .143 .152 .154 .306
Jose Lind May 1993 21 75 .160 .160 .173 .333
Alcides Escobar June 2018 26 92 .115 .163 .184 .347
Tony Pena May 2008 23 79 .156 .177 .182 .359
Freddie Patek May 1979 20 72 .159 .171 .188 .360
Freddie Patek Sept/Oct 1972 27 98 .138 .216 .161 .377
Tony Pena April/March 2008 23 81 .156 .175 .208 .383
Tom Goodwin April/March 1997 22 96 .143 .209 .179 .387
Neifi Perez June 2002 27 119 .184 .186 .202 .388

This just in, Tony Pena, Jr. was a lousy hitter.

But let’s not put this all on Escobar, the entire team stunk at hitting last month. Since 1969, only five teams that had 20 games in a month have scored fewer runs per game.

Fewest runs/game in a month since 1969 (min. 20 games)

Team Month Year G OPS R R/G
Team Month Year G OPS R R/G
MON April/March 2004 24 .552 45 1.88
TEX Sept/Oct 1972 29 .473 57 1.97
CAL May 1969 27 .566 58 2.15
NYM July 1972 26 .528 57 2.19
SDP June 2014 27 .492 60 2.22
KCR June 2018 26 .556 58 2.23
DET April/March 2003 24 .512 55 2.29
SDP July 1976 30 .568 69 2.30
CAL August 1971 27 .592 63 2.33
SDP July 1971 29 .568 68 2.34

And things didn’t get any better in the first game of July - they lost 1-0 to the Mariners, a game in which they managed just two hits.

Ah well, maybe August is their month?

We knew the offense would struggle to score runs, but they are now on pace to score just 562 runs, by far the fewest in franchise history in a full season, and their 3.47 runs-per-game is lower than the franchise record of 3.60 set in their inaugural season of 1969, a year without a designated hitter.

Is there anyone to blame for this ineptitude? The team has fired the hitting coach before when the offense has struggled, but hitting instructor Terry Bradshaw has been on the job for just a few months, so it seems premature to hold him accountable for this mess. And really, there aren’t too many bats that are hitting worse than expected aside from Salvador Perez. Most of these guys are what they are - lousy hitters.

Unfortunately this pop-gun offense is just part of the rebuild process, as the team tries to flush out aging veterans at the end of their career and sort out young players who may or may not be Major League material. But boy is is hard to watch.

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