Time is running out on Kansas City’s quest.
Sitting at 73-71 with 18 games to go, the Royals are three games back of Seattle for the third AL Wild Card seat. Perhaps more importantly, they now trail both Texas and Cleveland — the ground to make up in the W/L columns is enough to thin the odds, but needing to jump three teams makes it a near impossibility.
FanGraphs gives them a 6.4% chance to do so, as of Tuesday morning, and fan sentiment is similarly low.
This extremely scientific poll was taken before KC was walloped in Cleveland by Slade Cecconi and company. Cecconi, who entered Monday’s contest with a 4.78 ERA and 4.92 FIP, casually carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning before Michael Massey broke it up with a single lined into center field.
In 2025, Cecconi owns a first-percentile average exit velocity and hard-hit rate allowed. He’s striking out just 21.6% of opponents while inducing a miniscule 22.5% chase rate.
His fastball makes opposing hitters look like Mike Trout with a .298 average against and .519 slug. He possesses only one pitch (of six) with a positive run value, per Statcast. The other five allow wRC+ of 110 or higher.
What the heck happened here?
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