Mid Season Breakdown I

The Offence

Well here we are halfway through the 2007 season and the Royals are still sitting in the cellar of the AL Central, but since the beginning of the season this team has really improved. We all knew the Royals would struggle in the difficult AL Central and they have, but no Royals fan in their right mind expected a pennant run. To consider this season a success the Royals just need to get better...that's it, just get better. So far this season they Royals have done just that. Each month so far this year the team has improved.

Overall 38-50 .431
April 8-18 .307
May 11-17 .392
June 15-12 .555
July 4-3 .571 (inc.)

Each month of the season, the Royals have dramatically improved their winning percentage and are now on pace to win 72 games this season whereas at the end of April the Royals were on pace to lose 112 games. Let's hope they continue the winning trend, but it'll be tough with 14 different series against other AL Central teams, 3 series against the Yankees and 1 more against Boston.

Another big item for the Royals besides just winning some games was the improvement of the young generation of Royals...

Stat Table: Batting Average/On Base Percentage/Homeruns/RBI

...(if you click on the table it will get larger)

The overall improvement of the entire teams batting is remarkable from the beginning of the season to the mid-point.

Mid-Season Awards

Most Improved: Alex Gordon, struggled mightily in the beginning, but has started to find his stroke and has improved every month...especially June

Best Power: John Buck, but since he has started hitting more homeruns his batting average has gone way down

Most Consistent: Mark Teahen, still hitting .282 even though he has struck out an astounding 81 times this year. His power numbers are down, but still leads the team in RBI

The Catalyst: David DeJesus, this guy is a player. Look at his on base percentage, .365. Even though he doesn't steal enough bases to lead off, the Royals couldn't have a better leadoff hitter.

Biggest Surprise: Joey Gathright, has only been with the big league club for a month .353 BA and a .450 OBP, he deserves more playing time and is getting it.

Biggest Disappointment: Ryan Shealy. His numbers are paltry and is in danger of losing his job

Player to Watch: Billy Butler, the kid can hit. The ball off his bat, even on groundouts, just has the sound of thunder. He is starting to become comfortable and you can see the transformation. With Sweeney on the DL for the next 6 weeks, the kids going to get a chance and I don't think he will let us down.

The second half of the season should be fun to watch. Hopefully the young Royals continue to improve and will carry this upward trend into the second half and then on into next year...

On Thursday the mid-season pitchers report

-b