adminThis isn’t what they paid $22 billion for.
The Kansas City Royals, who won the World Series in 2015, are currently in last place in the American League Central with a record of 20 wins and 54 losses. They’re not far behind the Oakland Athletics (19-56), who have the worst winning percentage in the entire major leagues.
One of the reasons Kansas City is struggling so badly is because of their starting pitching. Kansas City signed right-hander Jordan Lyles, 32, to a two-year, $17 million deal in free agency before the season. While Liles isn’t exactly an ace, he’s still a quality starter who went 12-11 with a 4.42 ERA in 179 innings for the Baltimore Orioles last year.
However, Liles has already tied his record of 11 losses from last year. Most shocking of all, he’s a zero-win pitcher. In all 15 games he’s started, Liles is 0-11 with a 6.72 ERA in 85⅔ innings pitched. Kansas City has lost all 15 of his starts. Unsurprisingly, his 11 losses are currently tied for the most in the league and he is mathematically on pace for 24.
In his most recent start, on April 20, Riles pitched six innings of three-run ball against the Detroit Tigers to earn his first Quality Start (QS) of the season, but was unable to get the win as his team fell 4-6.
MLB.com noted that “Kansas City has not won a game in 15 starts by Riles since the start of the season. That hasn’t happened in the live ball era since 1920.”온라인바카라
Still, there’s hope. Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro said, “I thought he pitched well and had his stuff on point.” It’s unclear when he’ll get that first win, but if he can continue his strong performance in Detroit, he’ll be able to get out of the “0-0” column.