Royals end first half on fitting note: a loss

Holy moly, that was pathetic.

That game. That month. That half. That all of it. 30-61 at the All Star Break. They are on pace to be the worst team in the history of the franchise.

The Royals lost to the Washington Nationals, 5-2, to lose yet another series. They put together a nice comeback only to immediately poop it all away. It took like, three hours to climb back to even ground, and then in the span of approximately eight seconds, Jake Diekman took a match to it and set it ablaze.

It was 2-0, Washington, until the eighth inning, when Adalberto Mondesi and Alex Gordon came through with two-out RBI hits. Gordon narrowly missed a go-ahead homer when he whacked a double off the right-field wall. Momentum was on their side, and the Royals headed into the bottom of the eighth with the game completely reset.

Then in came Jake Diekman. Remember in May when we thought he was good? The clock has struck midnight on that experiment, as he came in and gave up three hits. He also committed an error when he forgot he was the one responsible for chasing a ball hit right back to him. His ERA is 5.20. He’s like, the most trustworthy piece in the bullpen and he’s absolutely horrible.

And the best part was when the Royals, who are once again 30-61 - SIXTY ONE LOSSES, almost threw out a guy at home in the eighth inning and Ryan Lefebvre was all, “aww shucks, they’ve been so close so many times!!!” I think I can speak for the entire fanbase when I say that we are so collectively sick of this organization’s upbeat nonsense. They’re the second worst team in baseball, on pace to lose 115 games, and the PR voices of the organization are all “well let’s look at the positive - it was close!”

The organization is an incompetent mess. Lucas Duda is still getting playing time. The general manager, who is in his 13th season, has absolutely no idea how to put a roster together. The manager goes braindead when he enters NL parks. The hitters, save for like, three guys, can’t hit. The pitching staff is terrible. They’re getting worse. Spare me the “well they need some time to rebuild!” stuff. We’ve all seen successful rebuilds around major league baseball. We also all know the Royals are not executing a successful one.

The broadcast also spent the entire afternoon talking about positives from the first half of a season in which the Royals have won 32% of their games, like when the team toasted Whit Merrifield for breaking the hit streak record back in April. Remember that? When they lost 9 games in a row and then had champagne and cake in the locker room?

Bubba Starling should sue this organization. Lucas Duda, who has as many home runs as Zack Greinke does (in 47 more at bats), is still taking playing time away from players like him in the minors.

Let me make some suggestions. Here’s what I would do if I took over the team effective immediately.

I’d cut Lucas Duda yesterday. I’d leave Billy Hamilton in D.C. I’d get Starling up here and play him every single day. I’d play Whit Merrifield at the position he actually is supposed to play. I’d stop giving 25% of my outfielder roster space to Terrance Gore. I’d instead give that spot to Brett Philips. I’d also put Wily Peralta, Kevin McCarthy, Scott Barlow, and every other horrendous reliever on this roster and throw them down a well, and I’d pick literally anyone else in my organization to pitch relief innings.

Seriously. They’re 30-61. Let the young guys play. Remember when they did that last year for the last two months and they actually started doing better?

The first half mercifully comes to a close with only the Orioles boasting a worse record than the Royals. When second-half play opens up on Friday night, Kansas City draws the Detroit Tigers for a three-game set at the K. Enjoy your break.