It was just a little over a decade ago that the Kansas City Royals sunk to a club-record 19-game losing streak. The worst skid in the game in 17 years. They would go on to lose 106 games, also the worst in team history. Fast forward 10 years, and the Royals are the defending World Series Champions.
The Kansas City Royals Postseason Chances are Steadily Improving
This season has proved to be a much taller task for Kansas City. They looked dead in the water just over three weeks ago, sitting seven games under .500, but a 17-4 run since has re-kindled their postseason chances in a huge way. The boys in blue have found success on the road in the last two series, winning four out of six games, taking two of three in Miami and Boston. Both the Marlins and the Red Sox are above .500 teams and could very well be playoff bound come October. Suddenly, the Royals have found themselves just a game back of the second place Detroit Tigers in the AL Central and just three back of the second Wild Card slot in the American League.
It appears the Royals aren’t ready for their run to come to an end as they take aim at a third straight postseason appearance. The rest of the schedule is looking favorably upon them with 20 of their final 32 games coming at home, where they are 40-21 this season. The Royals are getting more and more national attention on a daily basis now it seems. Buster Olney of ESPN said that Baseball Prospectus had the Royals starting the day with a 6.3% chance to make the wild card. Now, Baseball Prospectus states the Royals have a 2.5 % chance to win the division and an 9.3% chance to take one of the two Wild Card slots. But then again, numbers certainly haven’t got in the way of the Royals’ success the last two years. The team carries a kind of energy and perseverance that numbers just cant quantify.
Royal Schedule
The Royals will face 15 teams above and 17 teams below .500 during the remainder of the schedule. The Royals will now take on the New York Yankees at home for a three-game series. The Yankees certainly haven’t given up on their postseason aspirations either, they are only one game behind the Royals in the wild card hunt. The next 12 games against above .500 teams will come against the Cleveland Indians for six and the Tigers for six. The 17 games against below .500 teams are against the Minnesota Twins for six, the Chicago White Sox for seven and the Oakland A’s for four games. The schedule doesn’t look too menacing for the Kansas City to have a legitimate chance of returning to the playoffs for the third year in a row.
Royals beat the Red Sox, 10-4. They have won seven straight series and 17 of 21. Raul Mondesi had a moment. KC is 68-62 — 3 out of WC2.
— Rustin Dodd (@rustindodd) August 29, 2016
KANSAS CITY, MO – AUGUST 9: Matt Strahm #64 of the Kansas City Royals throws in the seventh inning against the Chicago White Sox at Kauffman Stadium on August 9, 2016 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)
