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Moustakas done for season after ACL injury

Having a championship ring on your finger must give you a sense of composure and certainly less pressure. You don’t hear rumblings of fans as much. The coaches and management are all at ease. However, hearing the news that third basemen Mike Moustakas is done for the season is no doubt a major gut punch. Triple-A outfielder Brett Eibner will take his place on the roster. This is not good news obvoisly. Coming off a break out season, “Moose” was off to another hot start with seven home runs in the first 27 games. Last year he hit .284 with 22 home runs and 82 RBI’s and earned a spot in the All-Star game. But, while the injury is devasting hope is not lost. You won’t see rational fans freak out or the front office of the Royals start to clean house. Winning the World Series makes this news easier to swallow. Imagine if the Royals lost to the Astros in last year’s ALDS. Media and fans would be calling this “our year” and make it urgent to win a championship. Having Moustakas and Gordon go down on one play would send fans off the cliff. You would hear stuff like Kansas City is cursed. The team would have an immense amount of pressure to win a championship, especially in this short window the Royals have before their core becomes free agents in 2018. With this latest news it makes it more paramount that the role players not only play up to their potential but maybe better. With Moose gone, there is a power outage in the lineup that needs to be filled. We’ll have to see if Brett Eibner can ease the pain of losing an All-Star. Eibner was having a good season with the Storm Chasers in Triple-A hitting .309 with 10 homers. Last year he hit .303 with 18 homers and 81 RBI’s, so this is a guy who deserves a spot on the major league roster. The Royals will also need Kendrys Morales to start hitting like he can ASAP, Paulo Orlando and Jarrod Dyson to be steady and Alex Gordon to come back strong and provide some pop in the middle of the order. While not impossible, making it back to the World Series just became more of a hurdle, but if we’ve learned anything from the Royals we know that they won’t quit and give up on the season.