KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ Chris Young. Dillon Gee. Brian Flynn.
Next?
The vast, black hole that is the Royals' fifth starter spot collected another name on Tuesday in a 7-3 loss to Cleveland. One night after a rousing, cathartic comeback against the first-place Indians, Kansas City saw its momentum blunted in a dull and systematic loss at Kauffman Stadium.
It was brutally hot. It was a feeble performance. And it was over quickly.
The offense mounted little against Indians starter Danny Salazar. The hopes were doused early after a less-than-pleasing outing from Brian Flynn, the latest man to assume the de facto title of No. 5 starter. As the night began on Tuesday, the 26-year-old Flynn was making his first major league start since Aug. 7, 2014. He lasted just 21/3 innings, allowing three runs before Royals manager Ned Yost turned to long reliever Gee.
Sitting inside his office on Monday afternoon, Yost had said that the Royals simply wanted to see Flynn, a 6-foot-7 lefty, in a starter's role. As the night ended on Tuesday, the Royals fell to 47-46 overall, eight games behind the Indians in the American League Central. They were no closer to solving their deep-rooted problems at the back end of their rotation.
Young has imploded after a strong performance in 2015. Gee has been exposed as a starter while offering workmanlike numbers in the bullpen. And now, if you add in Flynn's performance _ combining the starts of the three men who have rounded out the rotation _ the result is this: A combined 7.10 ERA in 811/3 innings.
The Royals, of course, are not alone in their need for starting pitchers. All across baseball, even contenders are searching for arms to fill out their rotations. But the Royals' situation has been more disastrous than most, a possible contender crippled by the back end of its rotation.
Perhaps it was appropriate then, that the Royals revealed on Tuesday that top prospect Kyle Zimmer would miss the rest of the 2016 season after being diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome, a rare neurological disorder. When the season began, club officials viewed Zimmer as a possible mid-season option, a reinforcement if their rotation faltered. On Tuesday night, as the club cycled through its latest starting pitcher, the alternate options were few.
Cleveland first base Mike Napoli opened the scoring with a two-run blast to left field in the top of the first. The Indians would control the game for the rest of the night.
Hours earlier, Yost had sat inside his office as the Royals prepared to hit batting practice on the field. The heat index topped 105, and a reporter asked about the decision to hit outside in the brutal heat.
"It's the middle of September, man," Yost said. "Time to go."
Six hours later, the Royals were stuck with another loss, still spinning their wheels around .500.
