Who Is More Reliable: Royals Relievers Or A Pyromaniac Firefighter?

(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

It may be an asinine question, but between the two given options, I would say the pyromaniac firefighter is more reliable. It is all because this season I have found out the most inaccurately title given in baseball, Royals relief pitching.

I'm not sure on the exact definition of the word relief, but I doubt it involves making me feel nervous, scared, and uneasy.

It all started out the first game of the year when Kyle Farnsworth threw out a perfect home run ball to Jim Thome, who proceeded to hit it out of the park with two runners on. This made the Royals lose their first game and gave Farnsworth an ERA of 27 (three times as much as his $9 million dollar contract.)

The Royals two brightest spots in my opinion are their starting pitching and closer Joakim Soria. However these highlights on the team are not able to be utilized because of the lack of respectable relief pitching.

The first problem the relievers create is not taking advantage of the good outings by starting pitchers. The Royals' starters aside from Zack Greinke may not be the greatest in the league, but they do a good job of keeping it close and giving us a lead... just to have a disappointing relief staff cost us the game.

Greinke is a very likely candidate for the Cy Young so far, but if he wants the award he will need to throw more complete games to ensure the people relieving him won't give up a win he earned. Grienke is the crown jewel of the team, but can not do it single alone.

The next problem the relief pitchers create is not being able to use Joakim Soria. I know this year Soria has endured injuries and hasn't appeared to be himself, but, if he's consistent like in the past, he can be one of the most dominate closers. If the relief pitchers can't set up the opportunity for a save, than Soria just sits useless in the dugout.

I know not all the Royals losses can be pinned solely on the relief pitching, but that is a major problem with the team. Until Kansas City relievers start to actually relieve the team and me, there's no chance the Royals can take the very winnable AL Central.

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