Kansas City Royals open 2nd half of season with playoffs on mind and a key homestand

Scott Sharp sat back in the visitors dugout Sunday at Fenway Park and noted how the Major League Baseball calendar has changed through the years.

“The All-Star Break seems to continually shift further into the season,” said Sharp, the Royals’ senior vice president of major league operations. “When we come back, we have 65 games (left in the season).”

The Royals are on the back nine of the Major League Baseball season, and in the thick of the playoff hunt. They have a 52-45 record and are 2 games behind the Red Sox for the third and final Wild Card spot. In the AL Central race, the Royals are seven games back of the Guardians.

The Royals have work to do, but it won’t require heavy lifting to get into a playoff spot and end an eight-year postseason drought.

“Well, we’d like to have a 20-game lead in the division,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said with a sly smile. “But realistically we’ve had a pretty solid first half. We’ve talked a ton about the starting pitching. I think the offense has been overlooked at times. We’ve done a good job of getting the ball in play, putting pressure on guys, using our speed and our baserunning.

“We’re in the middle of a playoff race. You can’t ask for a whole lot more than that.”

The Royals will resume play Friday with a nine-game homestand as the White Sox (27-71 record), Diamondbacks (49-48) and Cubs (47-51) are all coming to Kauffman Stadium. A strong showing could put the Royals in a great spot down the stretch.

FanGraphs shows the Royals have the 13th easiest schedule in the second half of the season. The Red Sox have the most difficult slate and the Guardians’ schedule is the third-hardest.

Another positive coming out of the break: No team in the American League has won more games in their home stadium this season than the Royals (31-18). Only the Phillies have more home victories (37).

“I think we’re in striking distance of where we want to be,” said first baseman Vinnie Pasquantino. “We’re obviously happy that we’re in the race, but we’re not satisfied at this point of the year. Yes, on one hand, we’re happy that we’re in it, but on the other side, we want more. ...

“It’s a nice little homestand. I think it’s our last three-team homestand. So hopefully it’ll be good, especially since we’ve played so good at home this year. Hopefully, we can continue that in the second half of the season. Start the second half strong and see where we’re at.”

The MLB Trade Deadline is July 30 and general manager J.J. Picollo said the Royals will be open to making another deal. On Saturday, they added Nationals reliever Hunter Harvey, who will join the team Friday.

Quatraro routinely brushes aside any comparison to last season’s 106-loss team, but adding players in July has not been the norm in KC. The Royals’ resurgence has veterans excited.

Left-hander Kris Bubic, who returned to the Royals earlier this month after having Tommy John surgery last year, is in his fifth season in the majors. Forget the postseason, the Royals haven’t had a winning record in the Bubic’s previous four years.

Bubic is eager to see what the second half brings.

“Being here the last few years, it hasn’t been like this,” Bubic noted. “Usually by the time we get to the All-Star break, we’re a little bit behind the curve. But this year obviously it’s been different — bringing in some guys this past offseason that have really contributed well so far. So it’s gonna be exciting to play meaningful baseball in the second half.

“It’s something I’m not necessarily used to at the big-league level, but we have a lot of guys here with playoff experience, so they’re gonna be shedding some light. And we’ll take it one day at a time, one game at a time, and kind of look up at the end of the day and we’ll be right there.”