The Royals have claimed 23-year old first baseman Wes Bankston off waivers from the Devil Rays.  Bankston had an off season in AAA for the D-Rays, but he was ranked as the #22 rated prospect in their system before the season started by Baseball America.  Bankston played in 104 games for AAA Durham and he was 93 for 390 (.238 avg, .700 OPS) with 46 runs, 15 homers and 59 RBIs.  This was a good high reward/low risk move for the Royals.

Zack Greinke has been outstanding in the 2nd half of the season for the Royals.  He has pitched in 21 games (5 starts) in the 2nd half of the season and he is 2-2 with a 2.54 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP.  Greinke’s overall numbers are also looking good for the 2007 season.  He has now worked in 50 games (12 starts) for the Royals this season and he is 6-6 with 1 save, a 3.88 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP.  In 109 innings this season, Greinke has allowed 113 hits, walked 34 batters and whiffed 90.  The Royals are now 65-85 on the season which has them in 4th place in the A.L. Central, 23.5 games behind the Indians and only 1/2 a game better than the White Sox.

The Royals had been playing pretty good baseball most of the second half of the season but they have now lost 7 games in a row and they are only 1.5 games ahead of the White Sox for 4th place in the American League Central.  The Royals need to get their bats going if they want to improve on their 62-82 record and stay out of the basement.

In the off-season the Royals traded for veteran Jason LaRue to push John Buck for the starting job.  It appeared to spur Buck in the first half of the season but he has been downright awful in the 2nd half.  Buck has played in 37 games since the All-Star Break and he is 25 for 116 (.216 avg, .647 OPS) with 11 runs scored, 3 homers and 18 RBIs.  For the season, Buck has played in 99 games and he is hitting .234 (.787 OPS) with 39 runs scored, 18 homers and 47 RBIs.  LaRue has been even worse than Buck.  In 20 games since the All-Star Break, LaRue is 4 for 57 (.070 avg, .320 OPS) with 2 runs scored, 1 homer and 3 RBIs.  LaRue has now played in 60 games this season and he is hitting .146 (.511 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 4 homers and 13 RBIs.  The Royals should do themselves a huge favor and get two new catchers for the 2008 season.

The Royals’ offense has issues but the pitching staff has really improved this season.  The Royals are 62-75 this season which has them in 4th place in the American League Central, 17 games behind the Cleveland Indians.  Three pitchers added in the off-season are the foundation of a good pitching staff in the future for the Royals.  Free-agent signee Gil Meche should have a much better record based on how he has pitched but he hasn’t gotten much run support this season.  He is 7-12 this season despite having a nice 3.85 ERA.  Brian Bannister was brought in with a trade with the New York Mets and he has been outstanding this season as he is 12-7 with a 3.16 ERA.  Rule 5 Draft Pick Joakim Soria has been outstanding all season for the Royals as he is now their full-time closer after the trade of Octavio Dotel to the Braves.  Soria is 1-3 with 14 saves and a 2.61 ERA this season.  David DeJesus has been steady again this season with the bat and the mitt for the Royals.  He is hitting .269 with 94 runs scored, 6 homers and 54 RBIs.  Rookie Alex Gordon is having a great second half of the season to improve his overall numbers.  He is now hitting .252 with 14 homers, 54 RBIs and 14 stolen bases.