The Royals have closed the gap to 1.5 G heading into the All Star break and confidence is returning that this could be a record breaking season in Kansas City.
To bolster that confidence the Royals have nine players selected to the All-Star Game, three pitchers and six position players, including a whole outfield.
Braden Montalbano and T.J. Nooks earn their first All-Star selections as Royals, third and second overall respectively while Luis Danys Rhodes earns his 10th, and 7th as a Royal.
Nelson Saiz earns a 3rd selection in a row, Juan Montelongo a second and there is a rookie All Star in David de Anda. In the outfield, A.J. Terry is a first time All-Star, while Mike Gronkiewicz has a second as he backs up his rookie year. Bobby Nickelberry rounds out the selections with his 7th.
SP Braden Montalbano (KC) - 7-2, 2.89 ERA, 93.1 IP, 1.00 WHIP, 10.9 K/9, 3.0 WAR
SP T.J. Nooks (KC) - 12-1, 3.22 ERA, 109.0 IP, 1.10 WHIP, 9.8 K/9, 4.1 WAR
RP Luis Danys Rhodes (KC) - 6-3, 3.24 ERA, 66.2 IP, 0.94 WHIP, 8.4 K/9, 1.8 WAR
C Nelson Saiz (KC) - .274/.379/.517, 288 AB, 16 HR, 138 wRC+, 3.1 WAR
2B Juan Montelongo (KC)* - .298/.379/.486, 329 AB, 13 HR, 5 SB, 133 wRC+, 3.6 WAR
3B David de Anda (KC) - .288/.351/.562, 260 AB, 17 HR, 8 SB, 143 wRC+, 2.6 WAR
LF A.J. Terry (KC) - .294/.354/.535, 316 AB, 19 HR, 15 SB, 137 wRC+, 2.9 WAR
CF Mike Gronkiewicz (KC)* - .304/.391/.512, 342 AB, 16 HR, 26 SB, 144 wRC+, 4.8 WAR
RF Bobby Nickelberry (KC)* - .300/.355/.517, 333 AB, 18 HR, 131 wRC+, 2.7 WAR
There are three former Royals picked, including two from 2049 in Luis Aceves and Cason Willard. Aceves is flourishing in New York, slugging .608 and already with 35 HRs.
1B Luis Aceves (NYY) - .278/.366/.608, 367 AB, 35 HR, 9 SB, 161 wRC+, 3.3 WAR
LF Mike Thomas (TOR)* - .297/.419/.519, 212 AB, 10 HR, 17 SB, 150 wRC+, 2.7 WAR (Injured)
SP Cason Willard (SF) - 7-8, 3.80 ERA, 125.2 IP, 1.20 WHIP, 8.9 K/9, 2.1 WAR
The game doesn’t go well for Royals batters as they go 0-12 with 7 Ks.
Rhodes is almost as poor, with a 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 1 K stat line but Nooks pitches a clean inning, with 2 Ks.
It’s a strong batting line up in 2050 with only the utility infielders really struggling, as Chad Hart, Branson Huot, and Steve Katzin all have a wRC+ below 100. There is nobody with off the chart numbers, just a whole team of hitters doing their jobs.
The obvious weak spot of the Royals this season is their starting pitching behind Montalbano and Nooks. Benton Geldart has been slightly better than league average by FIP- and is worth 1.3 WAR, as is Rob Cope but Ben Lane may be coming to the end of his time with his 107 FIP- and 1.4 HR/9 rating. Danny Mueller has been very poor with a 148 FIP- and negative WAR value but had scoreless outings in his two starts before the All Star break and has age on his side if the Royals feel patient.
In the bullpen, there isn’t quite the story of dominance as in previous years and Mike Krebs may be pitching himself to a reset in Omaha but in general there aren’t too many concerns.
Heading into the All Star break, the perfect end to July would be one elite LHP bullpen arm, and two elite starters, one LHP and one RHP.