Kansas City Royals

The inevitable crowning is finally upon us. With a 10-4 win over the Seattle Mariners on Thursday, the Kansas City Royals clinched their first AL Central championship and first division title overall since their 1985 World Series run.

Mike Moustakas drove in three runs, and Johnny Cueto gave up three earned runs over seven innings of work to help the Royals clinch the division.

MLB shared the final out and the subsequent celebration:

.@MLB’s first division winners of 2015. #OwnOctoberhttp://t.co/wHQuxLSpwnhttps://t.co/ekIToFfJaa

— MLB (@MLB) September 25, 2015

Chris Fickett of the Kansas City Star captured the moment the team streamed onto the field in triumph:

https://twitter.com/ChrisFickett/status/647252844676943872

ESPN Stats & Info pointed out the 2015 season marks the first time the Royals made back-to-back postseasons since 1984-85. Given that timeframe, it should come as no surprise they were ready to party, as Baseball Tonight highlighted:

When you end the longest division title drought in baseball... (via @Royals) pic.twitter.com/AzkRgYBb8t

— Baseball Tonight (@BBTN) September 25, 2015

Fox Sports Kansas City shared more of the celebration that spilled from the field to the locker room:

Champions! #TakeTheCrown #ForeverRoyalhttps://t.co/x03H8XwBrg

— FanDuel Sports Network Kansas City (@FanDuelSN_KC) September 25, 2015

Pop those bottles! #TakeTheCrown #ForeverRoyalhttps://t.co/3rSHUrodwA

— FanDuel Sports Network Kansas City (@FanDuelSN_KC) September 25, 2015

Manager Ned Yost put the length of time between division crowns into context, per Matthew DeFranks of Sports Radio 810 in Kansas City: "Like 25 of these guys weren’t even born the last time the Royals won a division."

With Kansas City galloping well ahead of the Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins, Thursday's ceremony has been weeks in the making. The Royals were poised to clinch the division at some point during their final homestand of the season, which allowed the team to take a peek at the postseason. 

"It's certainly a different feeling," general manager Dayton Moore said, per Jeff Deters of the Topeka Capital-Journal. "Last year we were fighting for everything, and we still are. No one is going to give you anything in this game. You've got to go take it and earn it every single night. It's very challenging to win a Major League Baseball game. But in the same mindset, you think a little bit into the future on what certain matchups might be if we are in the playoffs."

Dan Plesac of MLB Network offered his congratulations:

#Royals R your 2015 AL Central champs ! Well done .... Big fan of @Royals GM Dayton Moore.

— Dan Plesac (@Plesac19) September 25, 2015

Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star looked toward the inevitable party:   

The Royals win, 10-4. They are 89-63. Kansas City has clinched its first-ever American League Central crown. Bottles will be popped.

— Andy McCullough (@ByMcCullough) September 25, 2015

Bleacher Report's Scott Miller pointed at the team's doubters:

Congratulations to the #KCRoyals on their first division title since 1985. So much for the non-believers this spring. Great work.

— Scott Miller (@ScottMillerBbl) September 25, 2015

With their playoff spot clinched, the Royals can now concentrate on landing home-field advantage throughout the AL playoffs. They are two games ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays through Thursday, which means there won't be time to sit players out down the stretch. Both teams have looming intradivisional matchups, so it'll be up to East and Central teams to help decide the top overall seed.

Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports noted it's up to Kansas City to decide where postseason games will be played:

For the first time in 30 years, the Kansas City Royals have won their division. Royals control their destiny for home field through October.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) September 25, 2015

While clinching home-field advantage would prove helpful, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports noted this team has the right formula to win in any location:

congrats to the royals, deserving division champs. they've got the formula down: youth, defense, pen, chemistry

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) September 25, 2015

If the Royals keep their lead, they'll host the winner of the wild-card matchup, which is looking increasingly like a battle between the New York Yankees and Houston Astros. Houston and New York have both taken four of their six matchups against Kansas City during the regular season.

Of course, being an underdog is nothing new to this Royals roster. A year ago, it would have seemed impossible that the small-ball outfit would make a run at an American League championship and narrowly miss out on raising a banner. This year's version is far different, featuring a number of All-Stars and high-profile midseason acquisitions meant to complete the title push.

Step 1 is now complete. We'll see if these Royals have the same October magic as their predecessors in a couple of weeks.

The Kansas City Royals bullpen will be short-handed, as closer Greg Holland is out for the season with an elbow injury. Holland underwent Tommy John surgery in Los Angeles on Oct. 2, according to Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star.

Continue for updates. 

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Davis Takes Over as Closer

Thursday, Sept. 24

On Sept. 22, manager Ned Yost announced Wade Davis will serve as the closer in Holland's absence, per Flanagan.

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How Holland's Injury Impacts Royals

It's been clear for some time that something is wrong with Holland. The right-hander averaged at least 95.8 mph with his fastball from 2012 to 201414 and had a 1.88 ERA with 284 strikeouts in 196.1 innings. But he hasn't been as dominant this season, as he's compiled a 3.83 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 44.2 innings.

Along with those regressed stats, ESPN Stats & Info noted Sept. 19 that Holland's fastball velocity this month is the worst of his career:

Greg Holland average fastball velocity this season:

April-August: 93.8
September: 90.7<<

Would be lowest in any month of his career.

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) September 19, 2015

The good news is Davis can fill any role out of the bullpen, sporting a tidy 0.86 ERA with 70 strikeouts and 31 hits allowed in 61.2 innings this season. 

However, losing Holland should concern Kansas City fans heading into the postseason. The Royals bullpen—specifically the trio of Holland, Davis and Kelvin Herrera—was the team's biggest asset en route to its World Series appearance in 2014. 

Without one part of the three-headed monster pitching, the Royals could be more vulnerable than they have looked at any point during the regular season.

Stats courtesy of FanGraphs.

The veneer of invincibility that struck fear and intimidation into so many opponents has faded, and it has been replaced by a sense, real or perceived, of vulnerability.

Sometimes that's all it takes to lose the advantage.

The Kansas City Royals bullpen, specifically the once-dominant three at the back end, is now vulnerable. This was the group that virtually carried the Royals into the World Series last season, making it tolerable for the team to have a rotation that pumped fear into the hearts of no postseason opponent.

That was left to the three-headed relief monster of seventh-inning guy Kelvin Herrera, setup man Wade Davis and closer Greg Holland. But over this second half of the season, there have been chinks in what was once viewed as an impenetrable part of the team, and that could have devastating effects on the Royals' run at another American League pennant.

The problem came to light once again Friday night when Holland allowed two runs to the Detroit Tigers in the 12th inning, blowing his fifth save and pumping his ERA to 6.00 over his last 14 appearances (12 innings).

The #Royals appear to have a closer issue.

— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) September 19, 2015

"I've never not trusted you," Royals manager Ned Yost said he told Holland last week, per Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star. "I'm not going to start now."

That was before Holland's fastball velocity was in the 80s and he walked a guy, allowed a hit and threw a wild pitch while saving a game against the Cleveland Indians last Tuesday. That prompted a slightly different tune.

"Being fair, Holly's velocity has dropped," Yost told reporters. "But he's always been a guy who has done it. Until he proves he can't do it, he's going to get the opportunity to do it. He's earned it, over the years."

But…

"If it gets to be an issue, we'll evaluate it," Yost added. "It hasn't become an issue yet. People want to get nervous because he's throwing 90 or 91 mph. That's fine. But right now, it really hasn't become an issue. If it does, we'll evaluate it."

Holland threw a clean inning two days later for his 32nd save, but then came Friday's debacle in which he issued a bases-loaded walk and the walk-off hit. That obviously brought on questions about Holland's role, ones Yost was not willing to answer.

Yost, as a manager with the Milwaukee Brewers and the Royals, has always been loyal to his players and will fiercely defend them to the media when they are struggling. He proved that to be true again after Holland's showing against the Tigers.

"I'm done talking about Greg right now," Yost snapped at reporters, choosing not to address the elephant tucked into the corner of the manager's office. "I'm done talking about Greg tonight."

If Yost is done using him at any point, the Royals have an excellent replacement.

Wade Davis is arguably the best reliever in baseball this season. He leads all qualified arms with a 0.88 ERA, is second with a 91.1 percent strand rate and is eighth in FanGraphs wins above replacement, although he is only that low in the strikeout-centric formula because his 10.22 strikeouts per nine innings rank 37th in the majors among relievers.

Davis, an All-Star this year and owner of a 0.63 ERA in 14.1 postseason innings last year, also has not allowed an earned run in his last 14 outings. He's struck out 17 in that span.

For now, Holland's role remains the same. But he is far from the closer he was over the past two seasons, when he saved 93 games with a 1.32 ERA, 1.59 FIP and 13.4 strikeouts per nine innings with an average fastball velocity of 96 mph, according to Baseball Info Solutions (h/t FanGraphs). During last postseason, Holland was absolutely filthy, allowing one run in 11 innings and striking out 15 hitters.

This year, Holland's velocity has dropped to under 94 mph and even further down as of late. He has a 3.83 ERA and is striking out 9.9 hitters per nine. His strikeout-to-walk ratio has dropped dramatically to a career-low 1.88 from 5.08 over the previous two seasons.

Holland is not alone in these struggles, though. Herrera, a dominant bullpen arm at times in his career, was great in 2014. He had a 1.41 ERA and in the playoffs allowed three runs in 15 innings (1.80 ERA) and struck out 16.

He started out this year in the same form. In his first 55.1 innings, Herrera had a 1.95 ERA, and opponents hit .181 against him. But in his last 10 outings, starting on Aug. 22, the 25-year-old right-hander has a 7.71 ERA with eight earned runs allowed in 9.1 innings. The majority of that damage came in back-to-back outings on Sept. 11 and 14 when he surrendered three earned runs in each, but since then, Herrera has had consecutive scoreless innings without allowing a run, though he did give up a hit and a walk Friday.

Whatever happens between now and Game 1 of the American League Division Series for the Royals, the fact is that the bullpen's immaculate facade has cracked, aside from Davis. Holland and Herrera have had their skin pulled back, and instead of robotic parts, there are human ones.

That is enough to strip the Royals of their intimidation factor in October. And unless their questionable starting pitching steps up next month or both relievers return to last season's form, that could be enough to cost the team late-inning losses when it can least afford them.

All quotes, unless otherwise specified, have been acquired firsthand by Anthony Witrado. Follow Anthony on Twitter @awitrado and talk baseball here.

While most sports fans were focused on the second week of the NFL season, Kendrys Morales had himself a day, picking up three solo home runs and a triple in the Kansas City Royals' 10-3 win over the Detroit Tigers.

According to ESPN Stats & Info, the last Royals player with at least three home runs in a game was Danny Tartabull on July 6, 1991. The 32-year-old Morales also set the franchise record for most total bases in a game (15), per CBS Sports MLB.

Joel Goldberg of Fox Sports Kansas City also unearthed this fun stat:

Kendrys Morales' 2 homers mean Royals have three 20 HR hitters in a season for 1st time since 2002 when Beltran, Ibanez & Sweeney did it

— Joel Goldberg (@goldbergkc) September 20, 2015

Morales' first home run came as he led off the top of the third inning. His high fly to right gave Kansas City an early 3-0 lead. He got the Royals on the board again in the fourth with an opposite field shot over the left-field wall.    

Tigers reliever Jose Valdez managed to limit Morales to only three bases following a stand-up triple to right-center in the sixth, but Jeff Ferrell wasn't quite so lucky as Morales collected his third home run:

Grantland's Rany Jazayerli was disappointed Morales didn't get one more shot in the ninth inning; he was one batter away from a sixth plate appearance:

Come on Hos. Give Kendrys a chance for history.

— Rany Jazayerli (@jazayerli) September 20, 2015

Hitting three home runs in the same game is undoubtedly a major feat, but Bruce Schoenfeld of Travel and Leisure magazine highlighted an even more impressive accomplishment from Morales' stat line:

Kendrys Morales has 3 HRs and a triple today--and only three RBIs. Not easy to do that.

— Bruce Schoenfeld (@bruceschoenfeld) September 20, 2015

Sunday's game further enforces how shrewd an acquisition the veteran designated hitter was for the Royals in the offseason. As Baseball Prospectus' Matt Sussman joked, it's not as if Kansas City received a ton of praise when the deal first happened:

We all laughed at the Kendrys Morales signing as good baseball opinion havers

— suss-- 🥌 (@suss2hyphens) September 20, 2015

Tigers manager Brad Ausmus had already been on the receiving end of Morales' offense enough to know how much he has helped his team, per ESPN.com's Katie Strang:

Second home run of the day for Kansas City's Kendrys Morales. Brad Ausmus said before series he might have been most underrated signing

— Katie Strang (@KatieJStrang) September 20, 2015

Although this year's Royals team isn't quite so anemic when it comes to power, it was still 22nd in isolated power (.142) and 12th in weighted on-base average (.318), per FanGraphs, entering Sunday. Morales has done his part, ranking third on the team in home runs (18) and first in runs batted in (102).

The Royals are one of the best teams in the American League, but they could run into trouble matching the Toronto Blue Jays blow for blow in the postseason—should the two meet—if they couldn't count on Morales delivering timely hits.

How he performs will go some way in setting Kansas City's playoff ceiling.

A strong starting rotation is normally a necessity for any team with hopes of winning the World Series. Just ask the San Francisco Giants, who rode Madison Bumgarner to the 2014 World Series championship.

Bumgarner was terrific in both of his starts and returned as a reliever in Game 7 on just two days’ rest to throw five scoreless innings and help the Giants win their third title in five years.

The team that watched Bumgarner and his teammates celebrate from the losing dugout were the Kansas City Royals.

The Royals came close to winning their first championship since 1985 with strong defense and an electric bullpen, but their starting pitching left a lot to be desired.

Fast forward a little less than a year later, and the Royals have a commanding lead in the American League Central Division and have the second-best record in baseball. In July, the front office shocked the baseball world when they pulled off a trade for Johnny Cueto from the Cincinnati Reds.

The club gave up a trio of prospects for the pending free agent. The move was made with the expectation that Cueto would provide the team with something it lacked during its 2014 postseason run: an ace to anchor the rotation.

To this point, he’s been a total flop in a Kansas City uniform. It’s critical for the right-hander to figure things out because he’s an integral piece if the Royals hope to win a World Series championship.

What’s wrong with Johnny?

The Royals need Cueto to pitch the way he did before he was dealt to Kansas City. In 19 starts with the Reds, the righty had a 2.62 ERA with 120 strikeouts and a 0.934 WHIP in 130.2 innings pitched. Since the trade, the 29-year-old is 2-6 with a 5.43 ERA and 1.420 WHIP in nine starts, according to Baseball Reference.

Johnny Cueto's last 5 starts have not been very Cueto-like. #WhipAround #Royals pic.twitter.com/aoHaMkfoC4

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) September 14, 2015

Things have gotten worse as of late. As Fox Sports indicates, Cueto has struggled mightily in his last five starts. He’s 0-5 with a 9.57 ERA and a 1.97 WHIP while serving up eight home runs.

He was acquired to finally give the Royals a top front-line starter, but he’s in danger of pitching himself out of the team’s postseason rotation.

The organization insists it isn’t a health issue, and trainer Nick Kenney tells Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star that Cueto is working hard to figure things out.

“This guy’s never come off the mound,” Kenney told McCullough. “He’s never skipped a bullpen. He’s never done any of that stuff. And all you do is you work with him on a daily basis. We put our hands on him each and every day. There’s been no indication, in regards to the work that’s we’ve done with him, that shows us that he is.”

ESPN's Buster Olney tweeted out a video of the Baseball Tonight analysts discussing Cueto’s recent struggles. They point out that Cueto’s location is the source of his issues. The analysts questioned whether or not Cueto will start Game 1 of the American League Division Series if he doesn’t bounce back quickly, but Tim Kurkjian said that the club’s other options aren’t much better.

The Baseball Tonight crew examines the recent struggles of the Royals' starting pitchers, including Johnny Cueto.http://t.co/MfuqQr2GuI

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) September 15, 2015

As the video shows, the entire rotation has been putrid in September. They have a combined 6.50 ERA, according to Baseball Tonight. Kansas City lost eight of its past 11 games.

Here’s a look at the starters' ERAs this month:

• Cueto: 9.39 ERA
• Yordano Ventura: 4.50 ERA
• Edinson Volquez: 7.20 ERA
• Kris Medlen: 6.94 ERA
• Danny Duffy: 4.50 ERA

Despite acquiring Cueto, the team’s starting pitching is even worse than it was in 2014. The club’s ERA among starters was 3.60 in 2014, and they averaged 6.08 innings. Currently, the Royals rank No. 21 in Major League Baseball with a 4.40 ERA and average just 5.65 innings per start, according to Fan Graphs.

#Royals postseason rotation decision will be fascinating. Johnny Cueto has the worst ERA of any KC starter over the last month.

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) September 16, 2015

As Jon Morosi of FOX Sports tweets, the Royals have a tough decision to make if Cueto’s struggles ensue over the next couple of weeks.

If the Royals can’t figure out his issues, the team won’t make it far in the playoffs even with a deep bullpen and strong defense.

Follow Chris Hauler on Twitter

Kansas City Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas' breakout 2015 season hit a new high on Saturday against the Baltimore Orioles as he went 3-for-5 with two home runs and a career-high nine RBI in a 14-6 victory.

In addition to Moustakas setting a new single-game benchmark for runs driven in, Joel Goldberg of Fox Sports Kansas City noted the other marks the 27-year-old broke or tied:

Mike Moustakas 9-RBI day a Royals record. Numerous were tied for club mark w/7. The 9 ties Edwin Encarnacion for most in MLB game this year

— Joel Goldberg (@goldbergkc) September 12, 2015

Here was the blast that allowed Moustakas to hit the nine-RBI mark, via MLB.com:

Even though Moustakas and the Royals will have more opportunities to create lasting moments in October during the postseason, this game against the Orioles is a stellar way to cap what has been a dramatic turnaround that dates back to last year's playoff run. 

For instance, per Carrington Harrison, Moustakas' nine RBI on Saturday were more than he had in three different months last season:        

Fun stat: Mike Moustakas has more RBI's today (9) than he has in May (5), August (7) and Sept/Oct (5) of last year.

— Carrington Harrison (@cdotharrison) September 12, 2015

Things were so bad for Moustakas early in 2014 that the Royals sent him down to Triple-A in May. He did return at the start of June but never rebounded to save his slash line.

Season	AB	AVG	OBP	SLG
2014	457	.212	.271	.361
2015	472	.284	.347	.460

In April, Moustakas told Matthew DeFranks of Fox Sports Kansas City that the struggles early in his career helped him to make swing adjustments leading to the much-improved results this year:

I took my lumps. I took my bumps, my bruises. It's just kind of what happens in baseball. You're not always going to have success in this game. You go 3 for 10, you're considered a Hall of Famer in your career. Just trying to put all that in perspective. I was young. I wanted to do so good when I first got up here. Now, it's just all about the team.

Making Moose's effort even more impressive is all nine of his RBI came in the last four innings. He hit a two-run single in the top of the sixth, a grand slam in the top of the seventh and a three-run home run in the top of the ninth. 

According to Pete Grathoff of the Kansas City Star, Moustakas is the sixth player over the last decade with at least nine RBI. He also noted the player with the most RBI in a game during that span is Garret Anderson, who had 10 with the Los Angeles Angels in 2007. 

Kansas City has virtually been on cruise control this season, jumping out to a huge lead in the American League Central and only riding out the string until it officially earns a playoff berth. 

After reaching the World Series last October, Moustakas' offensive emergence adds another dynamic to a Royals team that's outstanding defensively and loaded in the back end of the bullpen.

Moustakas may not have another day like Saturday in his career, but his breakout game and season certainly make Kansas City look like it will be making another deep run in October.  

A chickenpox outbreak in the Royals clubhouse left Kansas City Royals outfielder Alex Rios and relief pitcher Kelvin Herrera out of the lineup for what was expected to be at least two weeks, per Andy McCullough of the Kansas City Star on Sept. 1.

However, Rios returned to the clubhouse on Sept. 7. 

Continue for updates.

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Rios 'Back to Normal,' Herrera Still Recovering 

Monday, Sept. 7

Rios said he never had the symptoms of chickenpox, just the bumps, and they are now crusted over, according to Matthew DeFranks 810AM in Kansas City. 

According to the Associated Press (h/t ESPN), on Sept. 3, "Royals manager Ned Yost said Herrera and Rios were both recovering quickly and that they could come to the ballpark early Friday for a workout. They would be sure to leave before the rest of the team arrived to start a three-game series against the White Sox."

“A child might have a couple hundred lesions,” Rafael Harpaz, a medical epidemiologist from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told McCullough. “An adult might have over 500. The likelihood that they’ll end up getting pneumonia is much higher. That’s pretty rare in children. So there’s a number of complications that are more common in adults than in children."

Rios, 34, is hitting .253/.288/.333 with two home runs and 22 RBI this season. His illness will be somewhat offset by the return of Alex Gordon, who had been out since July with a strained groin. 

Herrera is 4-2 with a 2.12 ERA and 0.99 WHIP this season but is far more replaceable. With its September call-ups, Kansas City has more arms on the roster than at any other point this season, so losing a reliever—even a talented one—hasn't been a crushing blow.

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.

The Kansas City Royals added outfield depth Monday before the stretch run of the 2015 season in the form of Jonny Gomes, announced the team.     

The Royals announced they received Gomes in exchange for minor league infielder Luis Valenzuela. Jon Heyman of CBS Sports noted the Royals also received cash. Gomes is eligible to play in the postseason, and Bob Fescoe of 610 Sports Radio in Kansas City, Missouri, pointed out there is room on the 40-man roster for the outfielder, so the Royals don’t need to make a corresponding move.

Valenzuela is 22 years old and boasts a .364 batting average with four home runs and 23 RBI in the minors this season, per MiLB.com.

Gomes started his career in 2003 with the Tampa Bay Rays and played six seasons before moving to the Cincinnati Reds, Washington Nationals, Oakland Athletics, Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves. He sports a .223 average, seven home runs and 22 RBI for the Braves this year, although his average is .247 against left-handed pitching.

Five of his six homers also came against southpaws. 

Gomes numbers do not jump off the page, but Dan Szymborski of ESPN pointed to the upside from Kansas City’s perspective:

Gomes doesn't really have much value, but having an emergency option handy still not a bad idea.

— Dan Szymborski (@DSzymborski) September 1, 2015

Gomes is still a veteran presence in the locker room with postseason appearances on his resume. The Royals can use him as a spot starter against lefties if they need to rest a starter before the playoffs or in timely pinch-hitting opportunities down the stretch.

Kansas City sat atop the American League Central by a commanding 13 games entering play Monday and is a virtual lock to reach the postseason and compete for a second straight trip to the World Series.

There is nothing wrong with adding an experienced outfielder on the end of the bench with previous October baseball under his belt with marquee games looming.

It's hard to know what you're supposed to call a comeback anymore. But with Yordano Ventura, the term is sounding more and more appropriate.

It was only a couple of weeks ago that the Kansas City Royals demoted their 24-year-old fireballer down to the minors for the express purpose of clearing up a classic case of bad pitching. That didn't end up lasting long thanks to an injury to Jason Vargas, but the message was clear: The Royals didn't view Ventura as a guy who could help a starting rotation that needed help.

Well, now look at him.

Ventura made his 21st start of 2015 on Thursday afternoon against the Baltimore Orioles at Kauffman Stadium, and it saw him lead the Royals to a 5-3 victory with six shutout innings. He walked four, but also allowed only two hits and struck out a career-high 11.

Courtesy of the Royals, here's a brief tease:

.@YordanoVentura looked like an Ace in today’s dominant outing. http://t.co/sPfUn0tF6N #ForeverRoyal pic.twitter.com/hYCxOcqRW6

— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) August 28, 2015

A brief tease doesn't tell the whole story, but in this case it sums it up quite well. As Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports observed, Ventura looked more dominant on Thursday than he had at any point all season:

Haven't seen Yordano Ventura's stuff this good all year. Sitting 97-99, hit 100 10 times, devastating curve, great change. 9 Ks in 4 IP.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) August 27, 2015

Given the way he's been going lately, you could swear Ventura was building toward a performance like this. He was also strong in his three prior starts, and all told has allowed just three earned runs while striking out 32 over 25 innings in his last four outings.

Like that, an ERA that stood at a wretched 5.19 at the time of Ventura's demotion is down to 4.41. Certainly, he looks a lot more like the guy who got everyone all hyped up with a 3.20 ERA as a rookie in 2014.

And for the Royals, this couldn't be happening at a better time.

You don't get to 78-49 like the Royals have with a long list of weaknesses. But though their list has indeed been quite short, the one weakness they've had all along has had trouble hiding. Their starting pitching hasn't been great for the most part, posting just a 4.27 ERA.

Of course, things are more hopeful now than they were a couple of weeks ago.

The trade for Johnny Cueto brought the arrival of a tried-and-true ace, the kind of thing that tends to come in handy in October. But if one dominant starter is good for October, two are better. And the way Ventura is pitching, you can't help but wonder if the Royals have found their No. 2.

His results can speak for themselves, but the more pressing matter is how those results have come about. To this end, the answer could relate directly to Cueto's arrival.

"I believe Johnny has had an impact on Ventura in the last three or four starts," Royals skipper Ned Yost told Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com. "I know that [pitching coach] Dave Eiland doesn't tell him anything different than Johnny Cueto does. But sometimes when you hear something enough times from your pitching coach, but then you hear it from a teammate, it sinks in. Cueto definitely has had an impact."

Regarding what exactly has gone from Cueto's mouth to Ventura's ear, well, none of us are flies on the wall, so we can't really know. Darn.

But good news! With some effort, it's not overly difficult to trace Ventura's hot pitching down to some tangible improvements.

In cases like these, one's mind immediately turns to the pitcher's mechanics. And if we use Brooks Baseball to look at how Ventura's release point has progressed in 2015, it looks as though he's achieved greater consistency in his last few starts:

What you're looking at is a portrait of a guy whose arm slot has been utterly inconsistent. Whereas Ventura was quite consistent in 2014, his release point has been raising and lowering on pretty much a start-to-start basis in 2015.

Up until recently, that is. Starting on August 11 against the Detroit Tigers, Ventura embarked on a three-start stretch where his release point barely moved from the 5.8-6.1 foot range. And according to the raw PITCHf/x data at Brooks Baseball, he was in that range once again on Thursday.

As for how Ventura has benefited from this apparent mechanical consistency, it would appear that we can at least narrow things down to a tidy "More stuff!" narrative.

Span	Four-Seamer	Two-Seamer
First 17 Starts	96.6	96.6
Next 3 Starts	97.4	97.0
Thursday	99.6	98.7

Ventura was already throwing hard before his last few starts, as his average fastball checked in around 96.5 miles per hour. But he was up over 97 miles per hour in three starts prior to Thursday, and then he tortured the Orioles with even more velocity. His average two-seamer was 98.7 miles per hour, and his average four-seamer sat at 99.6 and touched 101.5. 

This would be a case of Ventura turning the clock back to 2014, when he easily threw harder than any other qualified starter. And while velocity isn't everything, it's definitely something. The more you have, the bigger your margin for error becomes.

In other good news, Ventura isn't even relying as much on his heat. His curveball, in particular, has come roaring to life. 

Before Ventura got hot, he used his curveball less than 20 percent of the time. But in three starts prior to Thursday, it accounted for about 25 percent of his pitches and also 14 of his 21 strikeouts. This pattern of dominance continued against the Orioles. Ventura threw 32 curveballs out of 98 pitches. Nine of those resulted in whiffs. And by my count, his curveball also finished off nine of his 11 strikeouts.

Mind you, this shouldn't be taken to mean that Ventura is completely fixed. You'd think that his improved mechanical consistency would afford him more strikes, but it hasn't. His strike percentage has only gone from 62 percent to 63 percent, and he's walked 12 in his last 25 innings.

But this is OK. It's good enough for now that Ventura is a much more competent and seemingly more confident pitcher than he was in early August, and that it all stems from real improvements. Though they've come in a small sample size, the results should encourage the Royals.

There's plenty of valley left to go between now and the arrival of the postseason. But if Ventura can keep pitching like this, the Royals are going to enter October with a one-two punch nobody will want to face.

Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked.

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The defending American League champion Kansas City Royals have their eyes on a World Series title this season, and they added some experienced pitching depth Sunday that could help them accomplish their goal.

The team announced that it agreed to terms on minor league contracts with left-handed pitcher Wandy Rodriguez and right-handed pitcher Joba Chamberlain.

Rodriguez pitched for the Texas Rangers earlier this season before he was designated for assignment in July. He boasts a 6-4 record, 4.90 ERA and 1.56 WHIP in 15 starts and allowed 10 home runs in 86.1 innings.

While the numbers don’t jump off the page, Mark Polishuk of MLB Trade Rumors thinks the Royals could use Rodriguez for depth purposes:

Though he’ll currently be slated as minor league depth, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Rodriguez promoted to Kansas City’s rotation. Rodriguez’s modest 1.0 fWAR for 2015 tops every Royals starter except for Johnny Cueto and Edinson Volquez, so the lefty could be an option if the Royals want a change from the inconsistent Yordano Ventura or the struggling Jeremy Guthrie.

As for Chamberlain, he is primarily remembered for his seven seasons with the New York Yankees. In 2008, he struck out 118 batters in only 100.1 innings and helped solidify the back end of the bullpen.

Despite his impressive peak in pinstripes, Chamberlain finished with an ERA north of 4.30 in four of his eight seasons and has a 4.09 ERA this year in 30 appearances for the Detroit Tigers. His strikeout numbers are also down (15 in 22 innings this year and 59 in 63 innings last year), and lefties have given him particular trouble in 2015 with a .419 batting average against.

If the Royals do eventually use him at the major league level, expect it to be primarily against right-handers in specified roles. They already have Kelvin Herrera, Greg Holland and Wade Davis anchoring the bullpen, so Chamberlain won’t be counted on in high-leverage situations too often.

The cliche that a team can never have too much pitching is true in a pennant race, and Kansas City likely had that in mind with these signings. If there is an injury or unexpected poor performance in the near future, the Royals have some insurance in these two pitchers. 

Rodriguez and Chamberlain also both have postseason appearances on their resumes, so they should be comfortable pitching in a pennant race.