If you have been paying attention to the boxscores of the Kansas City Royals this spring, no doubt you have to be impressed with the Royals 14-6-1 record thus far. For a little perspective, I have went back and looked at the some recent spring stats to look for any comparisons we may draw:
Records
2011- 14-6-1 +53 run ratio
2010- 14-13 +6 run ratio (67-95 regular season)
2009- 18-14 +23 run ratio (65-97 regular season)
2008- 16-14 +3 run ratio (75-87 regular season)
2007- 11-18 -13 run ratio (69-93 regular season)
At first glance you may be surprised Kansas City has actually fared pretty well in spring training since 2008. What that means however is just that, it's spring training. Records doesn't always correlate to what will happen in the regular season.
What does intrigue me though is Kansas City having such a disparity this spring in run ratio. Believe it or not, Kansas City led all teams in runs scored last season, as they are doing so far again this season. However, Royals pitching was quite bad in the spring last year, allowing the third most runs during spring training. Fast forward to this season and the Royals are just one of three Cactus League teams that have given up fewer than 100 runs this spring.
While I hope the offense continues to progress, let's all hope the large +53 run ratio the Royals have put up thus far really does mean the Royals are close to turning the corner in all phases of the game. 2012 is still the year to look forward to as a Royals fan, but don't discount 2011 just yet.