The Kansas City Royals made back to back appearances in the World Series last decade, falling to the even-year San Francisco Giants in 2014 before hanging the banner themselves a year later. They limped to a meager 81-81 record in 2016, and haven’t seen a winning record since.
That’s until this year, however, as the emergence of young superstar shortstop Bobby Witt, Jr. paired with a shrewdly revamped pitching staff has them 66-55 and the current owners of an American League Wild Card spot.
The Royals and the Cincinnati Reds have some pretty similar parallels, all told.