The Royals are currently in last place in the A.L. Central with a 37-54 record which has them 11.5 games behind the Tigers. They are also 18 games behind the Yankees in the Wild Card Race. That being said, the Royals are starting to use younger players who have big upsides so they are going to be a fun team to watch in the 2nd half of the season. I do think they will make some small trades but I don’t see a firesale as the Royals are improving on the field despite their record. Here is a look at the players making the biggest impact so far this year:

Team MVP: This is a close call but I’m going with 26-year old switch-hitting CF Melky Cabrera. He was signed as a free agent over the winter to a relatively small contract which he has exceeded big time so far this year. He beat out top prospect Lorenzo Cain in spring training for the starting CF job and he has never looked back. Cabrera has played in 88 games for the Royals so far this year and he is 112 for 382 (.293 avg, .787 OPS) with 55 runs scored, 11 homers, 51 RBIs and 12 stolen bases.

Biggest Surprise: 27-year old lefty swinging former top prospect Alex Gordon never lived up to expectations until this year. The former 3B is now the starting LF for the Royals and he has been playing well the whole season. Gordon has played in 87 games for the Royals so far this year and he is 106 for 354 (.299 avg, .850 OPS) with 50 runs scored, 11 homers, 50 RBIs and 6 stolen bases. Gordon’s sudden rise has really got the Royals’ smiling.

Biggest Disappointment: 27-year old righty starting pitcher Kyle Davies might just be the worst starting pitcher in all of baseball. I swear he must have some dirt on someone in the organization because he is downright awful. Davies has started 11 games for the Royals so far this year and he is 1-8 with a 7.74 ERA and a 1.92 WHIP. He has given up 74 hits and has walked 22 batters in his first 50 innings this year….which is pathetic. The Royals should just cut him and be done with him.

The Kansas City Royals are in first place in the A.L. Central as they took three out of four games from the Angels in K.C. over the weekend. Matt Treanor and Kila Ka’aihue both hit walk off homers to win games for the Royals last weekend. The Royals won with offense this weekend as they cranked six homers and they stole 9 bases as Ned Yost has his team playing really aggressive. Yost needs to keep the pedal to the metal to make up for being overmatched talent wise on most nights.

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.