Coming Up Short

Another of the stories that needs to be remembered in analyzing a lost opportunity is Mike Sweeney’s injury. Sweeney remains the Royals’ best player, and he was batting around his usual numbers — .321/.540/.440 — when he went down in June. He’s more than that, though; for the season, Sweeney batted .363/.579/.459 with men on base, .398/.648/.493 with men in scoring position, .339/.431/.429 in the late innings of a close game. But after returning from the DL, Sweeney (while relegated to DHing) batted just .260/.379/.325 the rest of the way. In a race that was airtight until the last 2-3 weeks, that’s a significant blow.