2nd Week Recap for Kansas City Royals

Since my 1st week recap of the season, the Royals have gone from 4-4 to 10-9. They've managed to go from an ugly, struggling offense to one that has shown what they can do when properly performing on all cylinders. They did lose center fielder Lorenzo Cain to the 15-day DL with a grade 1 groin strain. At this time last season, the Royals were at 10-7 and held a 1 game lead in the AL Central. The next objective is to close out this month above .500 and play better baseball in May. Do not repeat May 2013 when the team when 8-20. In their last 11 games this season, the Royals have managed to get swept at Minnesota, sweep the Astros in Houston, and take 2 out of 3 at home against Minnesota. They're in the middle of a four game series at Cleveland. Cleveland took the first game despite a Royals offense that hit .342. The Royals showed the true force of their offense in Game 2 as they defeated the Indians behind excellent pitching and a functional offense. James Shields, the ace of the pitching staff, threw six innings, allowed 2 runs (1 earned), walked one, and struck out 9 (21 in his last two starts) on 106 pitches. The bullpen threw three scoreless innings, two by Danny Duffy and one by Aaron Crow. The offense fed off of each other and clicked like a timely, well designed clock. Yes, I did just say that.

Let me throw some numbers at you. The No. 1, 8, and 9 hitters combined for 4 BB and 4 H. Eric Hosmer, the essential power hitter for the Royals in the No. 3 hole, went 4-for-5 with 2 doubles, 3 runs scored, 1 RBI, and 0 SO. He is now batting .311 on the season with a .754 OPS. Billy Butler showed his true form with an RBI double that bounced off the top of the wall following a Hosmer double. Alex Gordon got into the scoring late with a 2-run double in the ninth. This is what you want from your 3-4-5 hitters; a combined .538 BA (7-for-13) for a game. Despite Salvador Perez's skid at the plate, No. 7 hitter Mike Moustakas behind Perez got the offense going with a 3-run laser shot to right. He has really picked up his game after starting off the season with nothing at all. 4 of the 8 runs for the Royals came with 2-outs, something that lacked for most of the season so far. Alcides Escobar has been the hottest hitter for the Royals in the last week. He stole his 3rd base of the season, boosted his BA to .317 with 2 hits, and continues to put on a highlight reel at shortstop. In the game alone, the Royals hit .342 (13-for-38) and had a .958 OPS. That is the offense that is continually need to win. Keep it up guys. You have even more potential.

2nd Week Royals Offensive MVP:Hands down, Alcides Escobar has been an offensive machine in the last week and a half. Since the team was 4-4 to start off the season, Escobar has managed to raise his BA from .185 to .317. In his last 11 games, Escobar has batted .416 (15-for-36) with 9 R, 5 RBI, 3 walks (in last 3 games), and struck out 8 times (4 in first 8 games). Lets not forget he is batting ninth. Ninth! He has a 5-game hitting streak right now. Atta boy Esky, keep it up.

2nd Week Royals Dominant Pitcher:Jason Vargas has exceeded many expectations according to 610 Sports Radio KC. I don't think anyone expected him to start off the season like this. But more power to him, just another reason why we went after him. In his last two starts, he has 14 IP (7 innings for both starts), given up 12 H, walked 4, struck out 8, allowed 1 homerun, and combined for a 1.44 ERA. He was unlucky with his loss at Minnesota where he gave up 2 runs but the bullpen mustered it and the team lost 4-3. In his second start at home against Minnesota, it was a different story. 7 IP, 7 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO, and he lowered his ERA to 1.24 (3rd in the AL). The team gave him more run support with 5 runs. Kudos to Vargas.

The Royals upcoming schedule includes the finishing of a four game series at Cleveland, three games at Baltimore, and 6 games at home (3 against Toronto and 3 against Detroit).

*All statistics are from www.baseball-reference.com*

(@DSEnick_brown32)