The Royals were not expected to be all that competitive this season, but they have underperformed even the most pessimistic projections by dropping 13 of their first 16 games to begin the year. It is the worst start to a season after 16 games since the 2012 seasons, when they began 3-14 in a season where they would eventually win just 72 games.
The bullpen’s woes have been well-documented, but the lineup has been pretty poor as well. Mike Moustakas and Lucas Duda are the only two hitters with a positive offensive WAR, according to Fangraphs, and have pretty much dragged the offense across the plate to score what few runs they have scraped together.