The Royal Treatment: Finding value in Kansas City

The more things change, the more things stay the same and the Kansas City Royals are no exception. In a season when teams like the Florida Marlins and Tampa Bay Rays sit atop their respective divisions, the Royals find themselves in an all familiar spot.

Nobody ever said being a Kansas City Royals fan was easy. For the fourth time in as many seasons the Royals have lost at least 10 games in a row and find themselves mired in the longest losing streak in the majors this season.

The Royals have dropped 11 games in a row, scoring 2 runs or fewer in 7 of those losses and dropping their last nine games as a pup since being no hit at Boston by John Lester on May 19th. They are hitting just .145 against lefties the last 10 games and .246 overall. If you let Jose Guillen tell it, the Royals are just a bunch of kids who don’t know how to win. I didn’t know that Jose Guillen was the premier authority on winning considering he didn’t do much help the Nats or Mariners win in his most recent stops.

Sharp bettors are able to make a living playing against or with streaks like this. Let’s say you faded the Royals during their 11 game losing streaks, you would be up a healthy 11.82 units. In fact, the Royals are one of the worst bets in baseball costing their backers -9.22 units overall.

Home or road it doesn’t matter. The Royals are just 10-15 at home on the season and 11-18 on the road. What looked like the strength of the Royals team has been anything but recently. The Royals strong pitching to start the season has come back down to earth and they find themselves ranked 25th in the majors with a 4.59 ERA. Starter Gil Meche is among the league leaders in losses with 7 on the season.

And as odds makers drain the value out of the Royals on the moneyline, one angle to consider is the Royals on the runline. Of the Royals 33 losses just 6 have been by one run. The Royals are 23-31 on the runline -12.75 units. The o/u is a solid 21-33 on the year in Royals games, a reflection of the Royals struggle to score runs and live up to expectations.

If you missed the train leave the station and haven’t been able to capitalize on the Royals misfortune, don’t worry. With 108 games left in the Royals season, there will be plenty of opportunity to pad your bankroll when the Royals take the field. Good luck to all.