By Adam Gardner | June 1, 2026
It’s just impossible for things to get better for the Kansas City Royals.
Swept by the New York Yankees at home last week, the Royals had Thursday off before a 10-game road swing.
I made the argument that Thursday would be the perfect time for the Royals organization to make a change. The team was/is underperforming, it was an off day with a long stretch of games was coming up.
Kansas City did not make any changes on Thursday, though. And it turns out nothing changed on the field either, as the Royals were swept by the Texas Rangers.
The weekend series had everything you didn’t want to see as a Royals fan. The offense was inept on Friday, Lucas Erceg blew his second-straight save opportunity on Saturday, then they fell behind early and never got back in it on Sunday.
It’s six-straight losses for the Royals and if that sounds familiar, it should. Check this out:
Baseball is a game of numbers. There are counting stats, averages, records, and years that stand out. And when thinking of years, specifically for the Royals, you never want the team to be compared to 2004-2006. The fact that this year’s team has matched something only the 2006 version of the Royals has done is very sad.
That 2006 team finished 62-100, good for a .383 winning percentage. This years Royals are currently sitting at a .373 winning percentage. Again, it’s just sad to watch.
Disappointing May
What started so hot flamed out in spectacular fashion. The Royals opened the month of May with five-straight wins and were 7-2 in their first nine games of the month.
They have closed out the month going 3-16 since that strong start. I checked my math three times to make sure I counted correctly, because that’s so bad it didn’t seem like it could be real. But it is all too real.
The month of June doomed the 2025 version of the Royals. This year’s edition didn’t make us wait that long into the season before crushing our spirits.
Friday’s loss
Friday was ugly. Stephen Kolek started on the bump coming off a complete game shutout over the Mariners the weekend prior, but was touched for 6 runs in 5 innings of work, though only 4 of those runs were earned.
That’s because the Royals defense committed two errors. When a team isn’t hitting well, it’s important to play sound baseball – errors don’t help that.
KC never threatened after falling behind 4-0. In fact, the Royals didn’t score until the ninth inning, meaning they went 23-straight innings without scoring a run which dated back to Bobby Witt Jr.’s third-inning home run in their 15-1 loss to the Yankees on Tuesday.
Saturday’s catastrophe
Royals hitters actually showed up in Saturday’s game. They fell behind 3-0 but scored 4 runs in the seventh inning and 2 runs in the eighth inning to take a 6-3 lead.
The bullpen gave up a run in the bottom of the eighth but Carter Jensen made a diving play from his catcher’s position to end the inning with the Royals up 6-4. Jensen also homered, so he was fired up and the team was primed to snap its losing streak.
But that didn’t happen. Lucas Erceg gave up a solo home run to the first batter he faced in his save attempt, and then gave up a pair of infield singles. The tying run scored on a hit by the next batter, and the Rangers winning run scored on a hit by the ensuing batter.
Five hits, three runs, no outs – that’s Erceg’s line from the game. He has now given up 8 runs in his last three outings. He hasn’t recorded a single walk in that period, either, but he’s given up 13 hits.
Royals manager Matt Quatraro is in a tough spot when it comes to the bullpen. He clearly can’t trust Erceg in tough situations right now. Matt Strahm is thankfully back from the Injured List but only Daniel Lynch IV has been impressive. The other relivers have ranged from OK to really bad.
To make matters worse, Maikel Garcia injured his hamstring in the game. He didn’t play Sunday but the Royals said they aren’t putting him on the IL. Garcia hasn’t lived up to his production from 2025 but he’s still an important piece for a struggling Royals lineup.
Sunday’s final whimper
The sweep was finalized fairly quickly yesterday afternoon. The Rangers liked their 4-run first-inning outburst on Friday so much that they did it again on Sunday afternoon. The Royals were down 6-0 before they finally got some offense going late in the game, but an RBI single by Lane Thomas and 2-run homer by Michael Massey weren’t enough to overcome 12 strikeouts.
KC again did a poor job hitting with runners in scoring position as they left 10 runners on base. (check stats for that).
Now what?
The Royals continue to fade behind the American League Central leaders in Cleveland and Chicago. They are 15 games under .500 and it’s June 1.
You know what’s crazy, though? KC is actually just 6.5 games back for the final Wild Card spot. That’s how bad the American League has been this season. The Royals have 103 games left to erase a 6.5 game deficit.
Granted, there are several teams between the Royals and that final spot, but while the season feels like it’s completely over and the team has no pulse, there is still a chance.
That would be crazy, right?
Forgotten Royal: David DeJesus
Poor David DeJesus. Talk about a guy stuck in a bad situation. I mentioned earlier that teams don’t want to be compared to the 2004-2006 Royals – David was on those Royals teams.
DeJesus was one of the bright spots on those spectacularly bad teams. The left-handed outfielder was drafted by the Royals in 2000 out of Rutgers University and made his MLB debut in 2003, appearing in 12 games.
While the team struggled around him, DeJesus found a way to be a productive ballplayer. He accumulated 4.4 WAR in 2005 in 122 games with an OPS+ of 114 (100 is league average each season).
He followed that up with a 3.0 WAR in 2006 in 119 games.
DeJesus wasn’t a power hitter, slugging 99 home runs in a 13-year career, and he wasn’t Tom Goodwin-like fast, stealing 66 bases and getting caught 62 times. But he added something that most players on those Royals teams didn’t – good, steady baseball.
His last season with KC came in 2010 when he played in just 91 games but picked up 1.9 WAR and had an OPS+ of 127.
David’s time in KC came to an end in November of 2010 as he was traded to the Oakland A’s for Vin Mazzaro and Justin Marks. If you’re curious how that trade worked out for the Royals, just know that I won’t be writing “Forgotten Royals” pieces on those two players.
Other than his cup of coffee with the 2003 team, DeJesus was never part of a Royals team that won more than 75 games. In fact, 2008’s 75-87 team was the only KC team he played for that even reached 70 wins.
I always like to look back and see the range of random players my old favorites played with. DeJesus was part of a 2004 team with Royals legend (for all the wrong reasons) Ken Harvey, but finished up his time in KC sharing the field with Billy Butler and Alex Gordon.
DeJesus finished up his career playing for an assortment of teams including the A’s, Tampa Bay Rays, Chicago Cubs, Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Angels. Somewhat poetically, his final season came in 2015 – the year the Royals won the World Series.
It was almost as if he could finally rest once the Royals did something that his own KC teams could never dream of.
DeJesus accumulated 18.1 WAR with Kansas City. He hit .289 in KC blue, had a .360 on-base percentage, and slugged .427 for a .787 OPS. His time as a Royal ended with an OPS+ of 108, meaning he was a little above average.
He was never the Kansas City All Star representative, but he was always appreciated. It was a pleasure whenever steady DDJ took the field in a Royals uniform because we fans knew there was a professional baseball player on our side.
Thank you, David DeJesus, for providing Royals fans a solid, steady presence during some very dark times.
