New Royals General Manager Dayton Moore received a sweet welcome to his new job. There was the press conference held in the Crown Club at Kauffman Stadium. Then, there was the 16-12 victory by the players to show Moore what they can do. He probably loved his first day on the job. Let’s hope love isn’t blind.
The rare offensive explosion did little to show Moore what’s really in store. It’s not by happenchance the Royals have the worst record in the majors this season. They just aren’t very good. Here’s how bad…
Pitcher Runelvys Hernandez started seven games for the Royals this year. So far, he is 1-4 with a 7.44 ERA. Hernandez’s lack of production prompted Kansas City to demote him to the minors. Thursday, Hernandez started for the AAA Omaha Royals. He took the loss in the game allowing four runs on 12 hits in six innings. He’s 2-3 when pitching for Omaha with a 6.99 ERA.
In the same game, at least five players in the starting lineup for Omaha have appeared in the lineup for the Royals this year. That’s more than half the lineup filled with major leaguers and they still lost the game 5-3 to Oklahoma. Those five players combined to go 1-17 at the plate.
Maybe, that’s why they were all playing minor league ball, but they were in the big leagues at point this year.
Back at Kauffman Stadium, the Royals are putting up record numbers. They’re 15-43 and are threatening to break the major league record for losses in a season. The latest win snapped a franchise record tying nine game home losing streak. They’ve already tied and set records for consecutive road losses to start a season at 12 earlier this year.
Moore will have plenty of mess to clean up, but he does carry a decent resume. He’s spent the last 12 years as an assistant in Atlanta where he watched over the Braves’ scouting and player development. The Braves have won their division every year for over a decade with one World Series title.