Comeback Kids

As you can see I gave the title to this post about four seconds of thought, but really that is about as much time as we should put in to believing that the Royals current four game last at-bat win streak will continue. There, I gave my early season enthusiasm a stern talking to and now I'm back to my good old eternally doubting Royals fan self. But I want soooooooo badly to believe, so how should we stop ourselves from being deluded into thinking that this will continue:

#1 Starting pitching: With the exception of Jeff Francis' first start there is nothing good you can say for the starting rotation. If I knew that we were going to see Mike Montgomery next month or Aaron Crow was on the verge of being moved from the pen to the starting rotation then I might hold out some hope. However, Hochever-Francis-Davies-Chen with a splash of Vinny and O'Sullivan doesn't quite do it for me. Oh and by-the-way, we felt the need to sign Jeff Suppan, and no it's not because he wanted to retire with Sweeney, someone please explain this one to me.  

#2 Matt Treanor: Of all the unsustainable hot starts to this year, his play has to be the most likely to deflate in a hurry. I'm sure back-up catchers always get these streaks of a few games where it appears that they might actually just have needed a chance all these years and your team has stumbled on to a gem. Then all of a sudden it's obvious why they have spent their 20s riding in minor league buses, eating at KFC and spending their hard earned bucks at Scores Rapid City.

#3 Middle of the order: Right now you might put the Royals 2-6 up against anyone in baseball, and as much as I think they are a vastly improved and likeable group, they're not going to hang with Pedroia-Crawford-Youkilis-Gonzalez-Ortiz for the entire season. And given our starting five they would have to be those guys in order to win this year.

I can honestly say that these last four games have been the most fun I've had watching the Royals since Lima Time, but unfortunately the only way I know how to react is with extreme pessimism (it's just being a Royals fan). However, if I can put on my honorary doctorate in sports psychology for a second, this team does feel like they have something of a spirit and is not quite the paycheck cashing bunch we've seen for a few years. The best thing I can say about these games is that they are games old Royals teams would have never won. Out slugging the Chi Sox, haven't seen that before. Beating-up on the other team's bullpen, no that usually happens to our guys. Hitting home-runs and showing some patience, not the Royals I remember. Using a bad base running play and some great defense to hold a lead, no that does not sound familiar.

This team is better in so many ways to past teams that we've seen trotted out on opening day, but just how much better? Only the next 157 games will tell.