Royals POSTCAST: Royals LOSE, 5-0 | Kansas City FAILS to Take SHOWDOWN Against Detroit Tigers

Royals POSTCAST: Royals LOSE, 5-0 | Kansas City FAILS to Take SHOWDOWN Against Detroit Tigers

[Music] This is the Royals Post Cast, your instant game reaction for the Kansas City Royals, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome in to the Royals Postcast, your go-to spot for live postgame reaction to every single Royals game this season. I’m your host Chance Lebo and you can follow me on Twitter, Chance Lebo. That is right by my name tag. That’s Chance and then Lie Ebau. If you can’t make a show live, don’t worry. These episodes will be uploaded for you to listen to on demand wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you for making the Locked on Royals podcast or the Royals postcast your first listen of the day and your go-to place for Royals reaction. Before we get started, remember to subscribe to the channel and turn on our notifications so you get an alert whenever we go live and whenever Jack posts a video. Thanks so much for joining the show and feel free to join our live chat. Let me know your thoughts on the game and I’ll do my best to get to some comments. Obviously, some people already getting in here early in today’s episode because a really rough game today for the Royals. They lose five to nothing. Terrick Scooel does what he’s really done all season, all the last two seasons in my opinion, the best pitcher in all of baseball. I think that he’s a really tough guy to uh to counter with. Um the Royals did get I don’t want to say the best of him, but they beat him earlier this season in Kansas City. So, you had that history against him. Michael Waka pitched really well against the Tigers in their first home matchup when they played the K. That was the last Royals game that I’ve been to. Um, and Michael Waka just did not have good stuff today. He was really, really bad today. Uncharacteristic Michael Waka game. Absolutely falls apart in the fifth inning on a day where the Royals, you know, not really on a day, but in a season where the Royals need more than just four and two/3s. They need pitchers to not only get out of the fifth inning, but get out of the sixth inning. And Michael Locka couldn’t even give them four and two third give them five innings. Um and he’s led the team in innings this season. Uh Mruro doing his best to save the day going to the bullpen, but it proved to be too little too late because on a day where Teroo’s pitching, you can’t really afford to give up more than maybe two runs and the Tigers bullpen is really really good. They’ve been really good since the Tigers have been hot. So, um, obviously a disappointing position for the Royals to be in tonight as they lose five to nothing to the, uh, to the Tigers. Uh, they lose two out of three in the series. They fall back to three games out of the wildard race and the mountain gets a bit steeper. I mean, Jack has talked about it that you’re while you’re still only three games out of a wild card spot. They’ve been three games out of a wild card spot for a week and a half now and they have not made up any games. And the simple fact of the matter is that they’re running out of time. I mean, they there’s not an infinite amount of games that get played in a season. They play 162 and they starting tomorrow have a month left of baseball and they have to have a much bigger sense of urgency if they plan ha on having anything going on in October other than a trip to Cabo. So, um, let’s talk about it. We’ll talk about the offense because Terrick Scuba was fantastic today. This is what you’ll be talking about. The offense as a whole. Um the lineup that was thrown out there today was uh not exactly a fan favorite. I think it was probably a fan least favorite if I’m being quite frank. Um you have Gritic in the five hole, Nick Loftton hitting six with his 196 average. Luke Meley hitting seventh. Michael Massie still in the lineup and he actually had one of their four hits today. And then Tyler Tolbert, for some odd reason, continues to be playing center field. He’s not a good center fielder. He’s not a good center fielder. He’s not a good second baseman, left fielder, right fielder. He’s not a good base runner. He is not a good hitter. Don’t understand why he’s in the lineup. And I don’t want to I don’t want to come on and feel like I’m attacking one player over and over and over again. But you cannot continue to employ Tyler Bleeping Tolbert and consider yourself a competitive baseball team. You cannot have October dreams if you employ him and play him and start him more than two times a week, more than once a week even. I I mean even there I I just don’t understand how you can put him in a position to be the failure that he has been. You did not have any expectations for him this season. While Dyron Blanco has not played very well this season at the major league level uh or in AAA and has not been able to stay healthy, um he’s a much better alternative. Tyler Tolbert, man, we we’ve been told that this kid’s fast. That that’s kind of the selling point that we’ve seen with Tyler Tol. He’s really fast, guys. He’s like 77th percentile on sprint uh in sprint speed according to Savant. There’s like six guys on the team that are faster than him, including Mike Ystreky. And he’s not a good base runner when he’s on the field. So, he’s not a good base runner. He’s not as fast as it’s advertised. He is not a good hitter. He’s not a good fielder. He cost them a run again today with a stupid play in center field. Um, and honestly, let’s just be honest. I don’t I don’t think that the blame only goes on Tyler Tolbert. Nick Loftton, what the bleep are you doing? I mean, get the heck out of the way. There’s no reason for Nick Loftton to even be close to that play as a left fielder. You’re not Alex Gordon. You don’t need to be making that play. It’s almost as frustrating of a play in Nick Lothman’s case as it would be or as it was two weeks ago or maybe it was three weeks ago. That’s been a long time since the John Ray play in left field in Minnesota. Just a stupid decision. You You put yourself in a stupid position. I mean, I’d say this blame is 75% on Tolbert. What the heck is Nick Loftton doing in that position in the first place? Get out of the way. Do you You have been playing professional baseball for five years now. You have played baseball for about 20 years of your life. Do you not understand fly ball priority? The center fielder is making a play. And not only is he a bad center fielder, but he is not comfortable in center field. whatsoever and you get in his way, you force him to second guessess himself and the ball flies into the grass. That is just so so stupid. I I’m so tired of seeing both of those guys the lineup whether it’s in left field, second base, center field. Don’t want to see him in the lineup at all. And I’ve defended Mature to a certain point, but I’m getting to my breaking point. I don’t care at this point that they are right-handed and they’re facing a left-handed pitcher. Terco is an excellent pitcher. I would love for you in Machurro to give me any numbers in which ma in which Terrick Scooel has any sort of disadvantage at any position this season. He’s been fantastic all season long. And instead of going out there and saying, you know what, to heck with it, we’re going to throw out our best nine because that’s all we could counter with against the best pitcher in baseball. They throw out a bunch of Joe Schmos and a bunch of guys that are platoon hitters who shouldn’t be in the lineup in the first place, shouldn’t be dawning a major league uniform. And we see them just absolutely pee down their leg against one of the best pitchers in baseball. I mean, this is a I I understand they are what I mean, they they’re now 70 and 67, still three games out of a playoff spot at this point. I I just don’t understand. I I getting so frustrated because the team refuses to learn from their mistakes. And that’s in my opinion the sign of bad coaching, bad management. And I’m not saying that he’s a bad manager. I I agree with I’d say 70% of what Matt Catro does on a day-to-day basis, but you continue to make the same mistakes that you made in May, the same mistakes that cost the entire season in June. And you wonder why we’re sitting here on August 31st, three games out of a playoff spot, getting it shoved up your you know what, by the Tigers for the eenth time this season. It’s just extremely frustrating. I think they end the season at four and nine against the Tigers at at the intent at the uh at the end of the season. I think this is their last match up with the Tigers. Thank god they have an off day tomorrow. Thank God. But once again, they just have not shown a lick of energy. You know, you return home after an off day, you’d think they’d have a little bit of juice. They didn’t. They they they failed to do really anything whatsoever in the entire series against the Tigers. yet another frustrating series against Detroit. And honestly, I I’m just kind of out on, you know, trying to talk myself into whether this team can be a postseason team. I understand it’s a, you know, negative way to think about it, but man, I I just don’t understand why this team is even I I the fact that they’re even in the playoff race, it’s a testament to how bad the American League is this year. There are a lot of teams that are worse than the Royals and for that reason it’s it’s a shock. Um it’s it’s incredible that they’re in this position that they are right now. Um but I know I went a little bit long in that first segment. When we come back we’ll get to a question regarding the roster expansion tomorrow and we’ll also get to Michael Waka’s outing because it was not good. That’ll be coming up next here on the Royals postcast. Hey Royals fans, are you still paying full price for gas? Stop leaving money behind. Get real cash back every time you fill up with the free upside app. Simply download the free upside app in the App Store or Google Play Store right now and start earning cash back at the pump today. Use my limited time promo code season and get an extra 25 cents back per gallon on your first fill up. You can even make up to $300 a year from just buying the gas you already needed. At first, I thought it was too good to be true, but it’s totally legit. Real people are getting paid just to make their daily commutes, and you can, too. Plus, you can cash out anytime to your bank account, PayPal, or an e gift card for Amazon and other brands. Don’t let this offer drive on by. Download the free upside app now using my limited time promo code season for a limited time 25 p 25 cent per gallon bonus. That’s promo code season. Offers vary by user and location. Go to upside.com for free terms and conditions. Today’s episode is also brought to you by FanDuel. The NFL season is almost here and FanDuel is making sure you’re ready for kickoff with can’t miss offer. Right now, new customers can bet just $5 and if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. I love using FanDuel because it fits however you like to bet. Player props, building a same game parlay, or even jumping in live as the action unfolds. It’s quick, easy, and the best way to add a little bit more energy to Sundays and Saturdays. So, are you ready to play? Download the FanDuel app now by visiting fanduel.com to get started. That’s fanduel.com to place your first $5 bet. Today’s episode is also brought to you by Prize Pick. So, are you ready to play? Download the FanDuel or sorry, uh, Prize Picks is the simplest and fastest way to get in on the action. Just pick more or less on two to six player projections and you can turn your takes into real prizes all in less than 60 seconds. I’ve been playing prize picks lately and it’s such a fun way to stay locked in for the season. And the best part, even if one of your picks misses, prize picks invented the flex play so you can still double your money. Download the prize pix app today and use code locked on MLB to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. That’s code locked on MLB for $50 in lineups after your first $ five dollar play. Prize picks. It’s good to be right. All right, let’s uh let’s talk about Michael Waka. Um Jaylen talked about in the comments Waka was off to a great start and then just totally collapsed. Um Jaylen, you could copy and paste that comment and put it under any of our videos we’ve done after a Michael Waka start. Yet again, Michael Wonka just I don’t know if it’s he’s not mentally tough enough to battle through more than two times through the order, but that guy for some reason maybe he was exhausted from, you know, nights with a newborn. Congratulations to Michael Waka on officially uh being a boy dad. Congratulations to him. But he came back today and he just looked really poor. He just looked really, really bad today. Um command just putrid. um he just refuses to respond to adversity whatsoever. And I mean, it’s just extremely frustrating to see them be put in this position because Michael Walka somehow someway, despite being unable to get into the sixth inning and darn near every single start he’s made this season, he’s the team leader in uh in innings this season. And I I don’t understand how that’s even a remote possibility. Um he’s been uh for my money I know he’s been good at times but a lot of those numbers are propped up by starts against some pretty bad teams and Michael Walka give him you got to give him credit at sometimes he’ll just turn in a seven ining shutout performance but time and time again as we’ve seen this season he is unable to respond to adversity runners on means runners score. Um the ball does not stay in the yard against him. He just cannot get guys out with his slider and there’s obviously a lack of confidence in him from the managerial staff. Matro just doesn’t seem to have much confidence in him. Michael Walka today got yanked at 71 pitches. 71 pitches and 52 of them were strikes, but the command was off because he just didn’t have good command in the zone. While he threw 52 strikes on 71 pitches, wasn’t hitting spots, too many balls over the middle of the plate, and he gets tagged today. I mean, like everybody said, he was good through four innings and then just collapses. I don’t know if it’s just a mental hurdle that he has to get through that maybe he just doesn’t like throwing out of the stretch, but for some reason there’s just no there’s no there’s such a failure on his part to respond when his back is up against the wall. I mean, I think that Michael Locka would be the worst pitcher out of the bullpen. Uh, and this is just a hypo, he just wouldn’t be a pitcher that could throw out of the bullpen because he just fails every single time he is tasked with coming in with any kind of threatening with any kind of offense threatening him. He just fails every single time. And I I just get so frustrated with him because you would think in what what is this for him? Year 14 in the league. You would think at this point he would understand how to get out of jams, how to get a ground ball every once in a while, but for some reason it is just too tall of a task for him and the rest of this pitching staff to pitch with runners on base and to get out of innings. It’s over and over and over again. It’s not just Waka, it’s Lorenzan, it’s Luga, it’s Cameron recently. I mean, Cameron’s actually been pretty solid at being able to get out of jams, but for some reason, there is some mental block that this team gets into where they just cannot seem to pitch with runners on and they cannot seem to manage base runners. I just cannot understand what is going on with with Michael Waka. It’s increasingly frustrating wa watching him because it just feels like he is nibbling at the zone. He is so afraid to compete in the strike zone because he’s afraid of getting a ball tagged off within 420 ft that he refuses to pitch in the strike zone. And give credit where I Steven Kick, I almost called him Tyler Kolock, the old Marquette guy, but Steven Colick last night, he was competitive. I mean, he was a dog on the mound, didn’t walk anybody, was in the zone, had no fear whatsoever. So, it’s not a it’s not a philosophy problem because they have guys like him, uh, like Chris Bubich who has really pitched well with runners in scoring position and the entire flipping bullpen does it well as well, but we’ve seen it again from Cole Reagan’s this year as well. I mean, they just cannot for some reason get out of their own way with runners on base. The bullpen can do it. The rest of the pitching staff just can’t. But um it’s increasingly frustrating and I just it every time I turn on the Royals game, it feels like I know what’s coming. Um and for that reason, it’s it’s it’s horrible. Um but I just did I I was looking around at the comments before I went live and I did see this comment. Roster expansion dates are tomorrow. So we will have some players added to the roster and this uh this commenter asked the lineup in Omaha. Oh, sorry. Um they asked um if they have to call up one uh pitcher and one hitter when the rosters expand and that is correct. They can only have 14 uh hitters and 14 pitchers on the roster at a time. There is a maximum or there is a set you have to have 13. It has to be even across the board. You cannot have uh 14 pitchers on the roster unless it’s a double header before September 1st. And you cannot have more than 14 at any point in the season. So there will be a pitcher and a hitter call up tomorrow. Um, I would imagine that it’ll be Linder Avala that gets called up because Stephen Kolic was sent down today. Um, so I would imagine that since he was just sent down, he cannot be called up for I think another 10 days or maybe it’s five, but I would imagine that uh Linder Avala would get to call up today. And I would imagine I it’s 100% it would it’s going to happen. Jack Kaggle will be called up tomorrow because his rehab assignment expires starting tomorrow. So, uh, it will be, uh, Avala and Kags for my money. And I know there’s some people asking for, uh, for, um, Carter Jensen to get called up. I would, uh, I would be surprised if Carter Jensen gets called up. Maybe if they’re out of the playoff race, if they get to with if they get outside of five games out of a playoff spot, maybe we see Carter Jensen, but I really really doubt we see him at any time this season. And um yeah, that that’s just been it’s just been a putrid series. And um as Carson asks, uh not a single series win against the Tigers this year, right? Um yeah, that’s 100% correct. Not a single series win against the Tigers. And uh I don’t know what it is. They just cannot seem to get out of their own way. Um they’ll move to three games out of the wildard spot. And like Jack tweeted tweeted today, they’ve got three home or they’ve got home games against the Angels and the White or the Angels. and I believe the Guardians coming up this week. Um, if I’m not mistaken, no, it’s the Twins. Sorry. Twins and Angels coming up this week at home. The uh the Mariners are on the road all week. So, the Royals have an opportunity to uh maybe gain some ground. I’m not The Mariners have not been great away from home this year, but the Royals also haven’t been great when they’re within striking distance. So, it’s kind of a catch 22. It’s kind of a pick your poison, but man, that was a really, really bad outing from the Royals today. Um, and by all accounts, I don’t think that you could come away impressed with any single player that dawn of the cleats. Maybe you can I mean, Michael Garcia had two doubles. You can give him some credit out of the leadoff spot, continues to hit well out of the leadoff spot. Daniel Lynch gives up two hits. Jonathan Bolan pitched fine. Taylor Clark pitched fine, but I don’t think there’s any player that dawned the the blue or the white and blue today that should go into the clubhouse feeling good about themselves. Similar to how K State yesterday, they pick up a win, but I don’t think anybody that wore that KState uniform that repped the Power Cat, I don’t think anybody can feel good about themselves after that win. But today, the Royals lose dropped two out of three to the Tigers. And once more, they are in a hole heading into uh the rest of the home stand. All right, I appreciate you guys for being here on this Sunday. We would really appreciate it if you like the video, subscribe to the channel, and turn on notifications because we’ll be back on Tuesday. I’ll be back in my home studio. Uh so we’ll be back on Tuesday reacting live to the Royals post game. Uh we’ll be doing another Royals postcast for the Royals and Angels game. We will see you guys shortly here on the Royals Post Cat.

Chance Liebau reacts to the series finale between the Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers. We discuss Michael Wacha’s struggles, Matt Quatraro’s lineup, and the roster expansion.

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