The Royals faced off against a couple of quality starting pitchers in this series against the Rays. They won against Drew Rasmussen and Shane McClanahan to open the four-game set. Then they almost got no-hit by Casey Legumina and Ian Seymour. To be fair, Seymour is a good lefty and we know those dudes can give this team trouble. Only a Craig Kimbrel ninth inning appearance saved them from ignominy. To paraphrase John Sterling: That’s baseball, readers.

Despite the Jac Caglianone June breakout, and as hot as Nick Loftin has been since he’s become, by necessity, a regular starter, and Carter Jensen’s hitting streak be damned, a Royals lineup light on Bobby Witt Jr., Maikel Garcia and Vinnie Pasquantino has skirted the edge of no-hit danger of late. It’s not quite as lightweight as, say, the Chicago White Sox circa 2024, but close enough.

Even though just three outs separated the Royals from being the latest team to succumb to a combined no-no, I felt a wave of calm when Kimbrel found his way into the bullpen. A zen-like state. And wouldn’t you know, Jensen was the guy who finally broke through, found a way to stay hot, hammering a first-pitch elevated four-seamer.

Thank you, very much.

In one swing, Jensen cracked the no-hitter, the shutout and extended his hitting streak to 16 games. No big deal…Jensen is hitting .344/.389/.641 over that span with four home runs, seven doubles and 14 RBI. Actually, that is a big deal. The added benefit is that he’s been the leadoff hitter in 12 of those games. No wonder the offense seems to be on a roll.

Now when we look back at the schedule at the end of the season, this game will look just like your run of the mill 13-2 rout. That’s good because this game was wretched. Seth Lugo left pitches offspeed pitches in the middle of the plate and the bats didn’t post. The Royals fell behind early and then never challenged. What is there to analyze? If it’s not working, it’s not working.

When the Royals acquired Matt Strahm last winter, did you think that by midseason the optimal way to use him was in a 7-0 game in the sixth inning?

Don’t answer that question.

Maybe it was the low leverage, but that inning was the best Strahm has looked, maybe all season. He threw 15 pitches, 11 stirkes and pitched a clean frame.

Meanwhile, Tyler Tolbert looks like he’s been in the Royals bullpen all year.

The Bobby Witt Jr. Watch continues as he sat for the sixth day in a row. At this point, I have no idea whey the team didn’t use the IL so they could have a full bench. He’s winning the pregame drill, apparently.

From MLB.com:

Witt went through on-field drills prior to each of the team's four games against the Rays, often while wearing a knee brace. Witt said on Wednesday that his knee has "been better every day." When manager Matt Quatraro was asked Thursday if Witt will be in the lineup for Friday's series opener against the White Sox, he said, "That's my hope, yes."

The whole episode is just kind of weird. Less aggravating when the Royals offense is actually clicking. As we saw on Thursday in St. Petersburg, that's not going to happen for forever. They will always need a healthy Witt in their lineup.

The Athletic published their first iteration of what they call their Trade Deadline Big Board, a ranking of players most likely to be dealt as we approach the August 3 deadline. I suppose that it’s relevant to your interests that they rank Kris Bubic at number 26 and Matt Strahm checks in at 48.

For Strahm:

Following three really strong years in Philadelphia, Strahm has had a horrendous start to his time with Kansas City. The ERA is over six, the FIP is over seven, and basically any peripheral stat has moved in the wrong direction. His velocity is down a tick for the second straight year, and his strikeout rate has plunged by 10 percentage points. It’s barely half of what it was in 2024 with the Phillies.

Golly, who could resist a review like that?

I suppose someone desperate for left-handed relief help could take a flyer on Strahm, but I cannot imagine there would be a...let’s say robust market for his services. He has about $2 million remaining on his contract so I suppose someone could sacrifice an A-ball pitcher for the right to watch some baseball's leave the yard. Although if he can string together a run of appearances like he had on Thursday, that would boost his value.

On Bubic:

The Royals' lefty was a great story after converting from relief to put up a pristine ERA in over 100 innings in 2025, but he’s struggled to stay on the mound this year. He’s coming back from shoulder and elbow issues and will have to at least demonstrate that those joints are working.

Ahhhh, yes. The health bugaboo.

Bubic is a more interesting option for a contender in either the rotation or, more likely, relief. On the 15-day IL with elbow impingement, he was pulled from his rehab assignment after a disaster start a couple of weeks ago where he experienced shoulder soreness in the aftermath. He threw a two inning bullpen session last weekend and was cleared to travel back to Omaha for another round of rehab outings. His first appearance came on Wednesday where he threw a three up and three down first inning. Bubic threw just eight pitches, six for strikes. He will throw two innings in his next outing, scheduled for June 27.

Central Issues

Just one other game with an AL Central team on Thursday.

Astros 2
Tigers 1

Detroit starter Troy Melton was perfect through 5.1. Then, Taylor Trammell took him deep. Meanwhile, Houston starter Tatsuya Imai, who has struggled for most of the season, was fantastic over six innings, striking out 10 while allowing just two hits and one walk. The Astros added an insurance run in the ninth which came in handy when Dillon Dingler hit a home run with one out in their half of the inning.

The Twins got swept by the Dodgers this week and are still 6-4 over their last 10 and sitting halfway between the top and the bottom. I still have no idea how this is happening and it remains a painful reminder of how sideways this season has gone for the Royals.