The Royals suffered a five game losing streak to head into the All Star Break, leaving them at 47-51 and five games back from the AL Central lead. Big decisions will need to be made in the second half of the month to stop the season drifting away from the Royals.
The Royals had three All-Stars, all home grown players -
Jeremy Rogerson (1st time All Star),
Billy Mumaugh (2nd) and
Jimmy Goodman (1st) getting the call with Goodman starting in Right Field. The American League won the game 9-1, although the Kansas City players did not make the best impression, going 0-5 between them.
The multiple All-Star bats reflect a hitting corps that many would rank as the best in the American League, with top three rankings across the board except in home runs (10th), walks (9th), base running (13th and 15th), and, very frustratingly, runs scored (6th).
The challenge has been in the pitching with the bullpen an uncharacteristic 7th and the defence the worst of the Stewart era, 7th and 5th for defensive efficiency and zone rating respectively.
Jimmy Goodman is the pick of the hitters, and with 61 RBIs he is on track for his first 100 RBI season.
Mason Barnett leads the starting rotation pitchers for ERA (3.77) although
Mike Hoffer can consider himself unluck as his FIP (3.42) is over two runs lower than his ERA (5.96).