Last year the Kansas City Royals were the surprise of April. The team jumped out to an 18-11 start and led the American League Central by 3 games. The Royals then had some injury problems and faltered for the rest of the way, never contending after June 1st.
Kansas City hasn't been to the post-season since 1985 and has lost at least 93 games in seven of their last nine seasons. Let's take a look at who they have this year and what their win total is projected to be.
Pitching
Zach Greinke was amazing last year in earning the AL Cy Young Award. He posted a 2.16 ERA, which was the lowest since Pedro Martinez's 1.74 in 2000.
You can't count on much else past Greinke though, as Gil Meche was 6-10 with a 5.09 ERA. Brian Bannister is the No. 3 starter and came back from a 9-16 record and 5.76 ERA in 2008 to go 7-12 with a 4.73 ERA in 2009. Luke Hochevar has had ERA's of 5.51 and 6.55 the past two seasons and Kyle Davies was 8-9 with a 5.27 ERA a year ago.
The bullpen does have a quality closer in Joakim Soria to close out games and he has 72 saves the past two years. Juan Cruz and Kyle Farnsworth are the set-up guys, but they leave quite a bit to be desired.
Lineup
Jason Kendell was brought in to help the pitching staff more than produce runs. He hasn't hit past .250 the past three years to go with non-existent power.
Billy Butler was the bright spot of the lineup with a .301 average, 23 home runs, and 93 RBI's.
Kansas City does have some depth in the middle of the infield, with Chris Getz and Yuniesky Betancourt starting and Alberto Callaspo and Mike Aviles filling in behind them. Alex Gordon needs to live up to the hype this year after battling injuries a year ago.
Scott Podsednik and Rick Ankiel are two new faces in the outfield to team up with David DeJesus. Jose Guillen will also play a little outfield and will be the team's DH.
Prediction
The MLB odds show this team projected for 71.5 wins, but I'm taking the UNDER. You can read more reasons why in my 2010 Kansas City Royals predictions article. If you want game-by-game analysis this summer then take a look at the daily baseball picks posted at our site.
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