Offense Struggles Again

Game Date: June 4, 2007
Devil Rays 4, Royals 2 / Box Score
WP: Shields (5-0), LP: Meche (3-5), SV: Reyes (14)
Royal Home Runs: Buck 2 (10)
Royals Record: 21-37

Gil Meche pitched his 10th quality start of the season this afternoon, but he lost his fifth game. Other than John Buck, who had two solo home runs, the Royals managed just four hits.

If you look up and down our line up today, not one player has a batting average over .288. Some have averages that are just downright pathetic for this stage of the season, namely:

• Alex Gordon (.172)
• Emil Brown (.221)
• Ryan Shealy (.219)

Throw in the fact that David DeJesus is hitting .256 and Mike Sweeney is at a paltry .243 and it's no wonder we are struggling to score runs.

Check out where the Royals rank in comparison to the other 29 teams so far this season in these hitting categories:

Category	Totals	Rank
Runs	213	27th
Hits	483	22nd
HR	40	26th (tied)
RBI	212	27th
AVG	.248	27th
OBP	.317	25th
SLG	.380	25th
OPS	.698	26th
BB	170	25th (tied)
K	402	6th worse

You might think our offense couldn't be worse than last season, but it is. Here's were we finished the 2006 season in the same offensive categories listed above:

Category	Totals	Rank
Runs	757	20th
Hits	1515	13th
HR	124	30th
RBI	718	19th (tied)
AVG	.271	12th
OBP	.332	19th
SLG	.411	28th
OPS	.743	26th
BB	474	24th (tied)
K	1040	19th worse

So, we finally got our pitching headed in the right direction and our offense declined greatly. Maybe it's because guys are pressing. Maybe a couple of them shouldn't even be in the major leagues (Alex Gordon, Ryan Shealy). I don't think bringing Billy Butler up to play DH is the answer, but we do have a couple of options we might consider in Omaha.

• Mike Aviles, Omaha's 26 year-old third baseman, is hitting .326. The Royals are committed to Gordon for the long term, and I understand that, but at some point you have to send the guy down and let him find his swing again--much like we did with Mark Teahen last year. Aviles isn't the swiftest fielder (he has nine errors), but he drives in runs (29 RBI) and hits for average. He should be able to fill the gap until Gordon makes his way back to the big leagues. For the record, I don't expect this to happen.
  

• Craig Brazell, Omaha's 27 year-old first baseman, is hitting .315 with 13 HR and 25 RBI. Why not give him a shot until Shealy gets going? Or why not give Justin Huber a chance for a month or so? He's only hitting .265 in Omaha, but he has 23 RBI. And surely with Billy Butler taking over the DH spot in the years to come, we need to find out whether Huber can hold his own in the major leagues at first base.

Tomorrow night, the Royals begin a new series in Cleveland. Jorge De La Rosa (4-5, 4.97) goes against C.C. Sabathia (8-1, 3.78). De La Rosa is 1-1 in his career against the Indians with a 10.13 ERA. Sabathia is 11-6 against the Royals with a 3.34 ERA.