Hot Hot Heat

After winning six in a row, the Royals are now just 1.5 games out of first in the AL Central and currently sit just 0.5 games behind the Yankees for the second Wild Card spot. The season, as any rational person knew when the meltdown was happening, is far from over. The Royals are still very much alive and kicking and if they stay the team they are right now, rather than what they were the previous 2-3 weeks, then this summer and fall are going to be a lot of fun. Coincidentally, I'm writing about the team again. It turns out that it's a lot more fun to write about a winning team than a losing one. I suppose it isn't even that. Dumpster fires are also fun to write about, but the Royals were merely mediocre rather than terrible. It's just very exciting that they are playing good baseball again.

The only real question right now is whether we can sustain the success of late or not. We play the Tigers four games this week and if we win the series, we would be in first place in the division. That would be an exceptional turn around from where we were two weeks ago.

If you're really looking for things to analyze, the return of Danny Valencia should be coming soon and that will mean something for Mike Moustakas. Moose has actually been hitting well recently and I would be a little sad to see him lose his starting job again without doing anything wrong. However, a few 0-4 nights in a row and I'm sure I would be more than happy to see Valencia playing third. I suppose that Valencia hasn't actually been all that great for us this year anyway, so if Moose can even be an average or slightly below average third baseman rather than a complete train wreck then I would prefer that he continue to see the majority of the ABs at third.

The final thing that we need to start thinking about is potential trades for the home stretch. I think that if the Royals are within two games of the division and in the thick of the wild card then they need to consider selling off some pieces to upgrade at third or RF. I'm not sure who would be available or who they would have to get rid of, but this will certainly have to be addressed if the Royals hope to contend for the playoffs in what many think, but I largely disagree, will be there best chance at the postseason.