Royals 'Panic Meter' On Yankees Blowout, Cole Ragans Injury, More

What's going on with the Kansas City Royals?

This Royals team has had exactly three good weeks this season, going on a memorable 16-2 stretch against mostly inferior opponents. They're now 34-34 overall, 3-6 in June, and their Opening Day starter Cole Ragans is back on the injured list for a second time.

There's a lot to potentially be concerned about, so perhaps it would be helpful to separate out some of those concerns. We're officially introducing the Royals Panic Meter (trademark pending) to rank the negative trends surrounding this Kansas City team.

Royals drop first two games of series to New York Yankees - 7/10

You'd like to say two regular-season games don't mean much, and in a sense, you'd be correct. But this Yankees team came to Kauffman Stadium in October and quickly dispatched the Royals in two games to end their season. Now, they've come right back and won a pair of stress-free games.

The Royals have learned two things about this Yankees team--there are no free outs in the lineup, but you still can't let Aaron Judge beat you. Judge has nearly 900 feet worth of home runs in this series, but the other Yankees hitters have 21 hits combined.

If these two teams see each other again in October, the Yankees will be hefty, hefty favorites. But the Royals also have to get there first.

Kris Bubic gives up five earned runs on Wednesday - 3/10

Bubic has been phenomenal this year, but he got roughed up for the first time in a while on Wednesday. And with Ragans suffering a rotator cuff strain (more on that later), the Royals need Bubic to carry their rotation more than ever.

However, one bad start is rarely reason to panic, and Bubic got hosed by a bad call on what should have been strike three to Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the second inning. Chisholm walked, Bubic got the next two batters out, and then, after the inning should have been over with only one run scored, the Yankees pushed an additional four across the plate.

Bubic, who might well be an All-Star, will be fine. But the Royals have bigger fish to fry...

Ragans going on the injured list - 8/10

The groin strain wasn't all that concerning. But rotator cuffs can be much more serious business, and it feels as if Ragans coming back as soon as his 15-day minimum stint expires is highly unlikely.

Though he had a 5.18 ERA in his first 10 starts of the year, Ragans was still a strikeout machine (76 punchouts in 48 2/3 innings), and everyone expected him to round into the ace form that netted him a top-five Cy Young Award finish last year.

Now, the Royals have to operate as if they can't count on anything from Ragans until at least the second half. And that's a scary thought, because there aren't too many other players on the roster who can single-handedly win them a game.

Royals are .500 in mid-June - 7/10

There are still 94 games left in this season. The Royals can certainly get hot again, but they don't have another truly soft stretch of schedule on the horizon like the one that helped them catch fire in late April.

After a while, you are what the stats say you are, and this Royals offense has been a bottom-five group in the majors. Whether it's Bobby Witt Jr. reaching another level, Salvador Perez starting to get some good luck, or Jac Caglianone becoming a star right away, something has to change to spark the bats.

This can still be a positive season for Kansas City, but so far, it's been a step in the wrong direction.

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