More Positivity

Joakim Soria in June:

• (9 games): 11 IP, 3H, 2BB, 11K, 0ER

That beautiful to see, and what I've mentioned a couple of times before may just be coming true for the Royals -- any hope they could have of trading Soria and getting the value they would've gotten if they traded him over the offseason would come from letting him close, and praying he comes back to form. While the Chicago Cubs aren't exactly an offensive juggernaut, Soria still mowed them down pretty well last night.

Of course, it could be that the Royals intend on keeping Soria (hint: they probably shouldn't), in which case it's nice to see that the first couple of months was likely a fluke.

Besides that, I was very encouraged by Danny Duffy's start -- only a couple of strikeouts and he gave up a couple of solo home runs, but still, it was a well-pitched game. He kept his pitch count under control all night and only gave up one walk. The strikeouts will happen, but he'll have to figure out how to achieve that balance between the number of pitches he's throwing and missing bats.

I also liked the dual 1-for-3 with a walk games by Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas, although I cringed at the trio of pop-outs in foul territory they threw in there. Still...that's a good day at the plate overall.

More things that made me smile:

• Alcides Escobar continues to rip. One of the two hits he had yesterday wasn't exactly awe-inspiring, but the triple he had wasn't a cheapie at all -- it was smoked into the gap in right-center, which is exactly the type of hit he wasn't getting prior to his smoking hot June OPS of .861.
• Greg Holland continues to quietly mow down opposing hitters. While I would prefer Aaron Crow to be considered as a candidate to be a starter, between Crow, Holland, and Louis Coleman, the Royals definitely have the arms capable of sliding into the closer and setup roles should Soria be traded.

No real feeling of why this would be, but I'm starting to look for the Royals to score more consistently. While they're not totally a punch-and-judy club (they lead the AL in triples and are currently 2nd in doubles), they've still hit the 4th least amount of homers in the American League. Now that we're into Summer, I'm thinking we'll probably start seeing a few more fly over the fences for the Royals.

...that means that a few more for the other teams, too, but remember, this is another positive post. Focus!