Game XXXVI: Royals at Tigers

What more is there to say? The Royals have lost 10 straight games. This is the 12th time in franchise history that the team has lost at least 10 consecutive games.

Only three of those streaks happened before 2000. And astoundingly, this is three out of four seasons in which the Royals have had a 10-game skid.

This is the 2nd time in franchise history that has occurred, the first between 2005-2008. And no matter how accustomed Kansas City fans become to these streaks, it’s always jarring to see it on paper.

That’s a lot of L’s. On May 1, the Royals were 16-9 and held the best record in baseball. Their +6 run differential suggested they were overperforming a bit, by an estimated three wins. Fast forward less than two weeks later and they have the 22nd best record in baseball with the fourth-worst run differential in the entire league.

If we are being completely honest, neither version of the team is an accurate depiction. They were never the best team in baseball, but they probably aren’t one of the league’s worst either. The question is which version will they be closer to when they inevitably regress to the mean?

I want to give some positivity.

The Royals are 16-19. At this same point last season, they were 13-21. The two seasons prior, they were 12-22 and 11-23, respectively. Unless the Royals go 2005 on us and add nine more games to this streak, they should get back to the mean with their hopes of being a .500 team still intact.

Everything is absolutely terrible right now, to be sure. This is a feeling Kansas City fans are all too familiar with. But things have been worse. If you had to me before the season that the Royals would incur one of its patented 10-game losing streaks and still be 16-19, I’d be thrilled.

With that said, there is a baseball game today and Kansas City has a chance to end this streak. They’ll send Daniel Lynch to the mound, fresh off the worst start of his professional career. In his 2nd career start last Saturday, Lynch gave up eight earned runs on seven hits, recording just two outs in the process.

He’ll be given a golden opportunity to rebound against the worst offense in baseball. On the other side, Kansas City will face 28-year-old righty Spencer Turnbull, who enters today’s contest having given up six earned runs in eight innings of work this month.

Here are your lineups for this afternoon’s matchup.