The Royals are in 4th place in the A.L. Central with a 39-49 record which has them 10.5 games behind the White Sox. But the Royals are 27-26 under manager Ned Yost’s guidance. There has been good and bad for the Royals so far this season and here’s a quick look at the surprises and disappointments:

Pleasant Surprises: 29-year old 2B/SS Mike Aviles was outstanding in 2008 as a rookie for the Royals. He hurt his elbow early in 2009 and he played pretty bad before shutting it down and having surgery. Aviles has come back strong for the Royals in 2010. Aviles has played in 55 games this year and he is 64 of 210 (.305 avg, .718 OPS) with 29 runs scored, 2 homers and 14 RBIs. 30-year old lefty swinging outfielder David DeJesus is having a career year for the Royals. DeJesus has played in 85 games for the Royals this year and he is 107 of 328 (.326 avg, .855 OPS) with 45 runs scored, 5 homers 36 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. 34-year old righty reliever Kyle Farnsworth is pitching some of the best baseball of his major league career right now. He has pitched in 30 games (0 starts) for the Royals and he is 2-0 with a 2.41 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. 33-year old lefty Bruce Chen started the 2010 season in the minors but he’s in the starting rotation right now. Chen has pitched in 18 games (8 starts) for the Royals this year and he is 5-3 with 1 save, a 3.81 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP.

Disappointments: 26-year old lefty swinging 2B Chris Getz was brought in over the winter in a trade with the White Sox with the idea of him starting for the Royals. He quickly lost the job because of his poor bat and injuries. Getz has played in 39 games for the Royals this year and he is 26 of 112 (.232 avg, .569 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 10 RBIs and 8 stolen bases. 30-year old lefty swinging CF Rick Ankiel was brought in as a free agent to start for the Royals but he has missed most of the year due to injury. Ankiel has played in 19 games for the Royals this season and he is 13 of 62 (.210 avg, .695 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 3 homers and 9 RBIs. 26-year old 3B Alex Gordon was injured early this season and he lost his starting job to Alberto Callaspo. Gordon has played in only 12 games for the Royals this season and he is 6 of 31 (.194 avg, .665 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 1 homer and 1 RBI. 31-year old righty starting pitcher Gil Meche has pitched pretty awful this season and he’s currently on the D.L. Meche has started 9 games for the Royals this year and he is 0-4 with a 6.66 ERA and a 1.85 WHIP.

The Royals are in 4th place in the A.L. Central with a 5-7 record which has them 3.5 games behind the Twins. The Royals have been outscored 71-63 this season. The Royals need to start getting better pitching because they have been scoring more than enough runs to be winning more games than they have. The Royals travel to Toronto for a 4-game series and then they return home to play three games with the Twins.

The Royals only could muster 1 win over the weekend against the Red Sox and they are tied for last in the A.L. Central with the Indians & White Sox with a 2-4 record. The Royals have been outscored 36-23 this season as they are having big time bullpen problems and they aren’t scoring enough runs. The Royals hit the road this week playing three games at Detroit starting today and then they travel to Minnesota over the weekend for a 3-gamer. Hopefully the Royals get some runs this week and the pen can hold some leads.

The Royals were 1-2 against the Tigers getting outscored 17-10. The offense and the bullpen sabotaged the fact that the Royals should have been 2-1 in this series. The Royals really need to play small ball because they can’t just stand still and beat teams up with the offense they have put together. At the same time the Royals need the starting pitchers to work deep into games due to the lack of decent bullpen pitchers outside of closer Joakim Soria.

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.