(Photo by John McCoy/Getty Images)
As it stands now, the KC Royals will likely enter spring training next February, and then the regular season, the same way they did this year—with an unsettled starting rotation marked by uncertainty, inconsistency, and instability.
Manager Mike Matheny recently expanded his five-man rotation to six, but it’s a baseball sextet composed of hurlers capable of pitching superbly, or terribly, on any given night. Carlos Hernandez and Daniel Lynch are presently the best of the bunch, Brad Keller, and Kris Bubic are improving but still unpredictable, Brady Singer’s brilliance flashes but is fleeting (he still resists the changeup) and, despite sharing the club lead in wins (eight) with Keller, Mike Minor has been largely disappointing in the first year of his two-year contract.