Seth Lugo looks ready for October | Kansas City Royals Podcast

Lugo Seth Lugo might have had his best start of 2024 let's dive into it in this edition of lockon Royals you are locked on Royals your daily Kansas City Royals podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day you are tuning to another edition of lockon Royals and the lockon podcast Network as always I'm your host Jack Johnson and you can find me on Twitter re Johnny j15 that's jny j15 you also can find us on wherever you get your podcast that can be Spotify Apple podcast Amazon music Google podcast Ron Odyssey and we're on YouTube just be sure to hit that follow button and subscribe if you're a first time listener and you want to know a little bit more about me and this show I am based here in Kansas City I work at sports radio 810 whb doing some hosting some co-hosting and a little bit of producing in as well but when it comes to this podcast when you click on this link you know that you're going to be getting 30 straight minutes of Royals baseball now Today's Show is brought to you by FanDuel now through September 22nd all FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get a three-week free trial of NFL Sunday Ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV visit fanduel.com to get started today while I'm recording this in the moments after the Royals shut out the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium 5 to nothing they get a dazzling start from Seth Lugo I had the recap over on Royals review so there was a lot of things going on right up until the final pitch of that game but we've got so much to talk about from this impressive victory for the Royals not only for what it means in 2024 at least the regular season of 2024 but maybe a look into what we might get here next month in this exact same stadium maybe with an identical pitching matchup of Lugo vers strowman but tonight after coming off of a I don't want to see an absolute or say an absolute Downer of a game on Monday it wasn't good I mean James MacArthur blows the game we talked about it all yesterday and why M quatero went to James mccarthur but this was a another great opportunity for Seth Lugo to show why he's not slowing down he's not running out of gas because of the inning workload right he's nearing 200 I believe if he gets Innings next go around he will be at 200 Innings and he's still got probably three more starts in him let's all be honest there so he'll probably Eclipse 200 Innings unless he doesn't work that deep into the game but let's all be honest here this is as good as Seth Lugo has looked all season long in his last three starts all three coming against playoff teams he throws seven Innings a one-run ball against Houston he throws seven Innings of one-run ball against Cleveland and seven shutout Innings of against that lineup tonight that has Juan stto that has Aaron judge that has glaber Torres John Carlos Stanton Austin Wells the list goes on and on and on that's a damn good Yankees team and a damn good offense and Seth Lugo made him look like the white socks tonight 10ks no walks the Royals pitching staff in general not only was great tonight they've been great for the last five games that's their third shutout and their last five victories again wins against playoff teams this late end the season I can't say enough by how impressive that is but I go back to a postgame interview that Seth Lugo had maybe it was after the Minnesota game I'm drawing a blank on the this the next start that Seth Lugo made after he got bombed in Minnesota but I want to say this postgame interview was after the Minnesota game and he was asked Point Blank do you feel like you're wearing down you feel like the inning workload is getting to you do you've never thrown this many innings before in a Big League season you've been a reliever the majority of your season how is it affecting you you said I I feel fine I don't feel tired I feel ready to go and suddenly he starts going on a tear again and I think this is more impressive than what Seth luga was giving the Royals back in April and May it was great for Lugo to get off to a start like that but this is the playoff push this is the gauntlet and Seth Lugo three straight times now has gone seven Innings of one run or fewer and not in favorable ballparks as well with the exception of Kaufman Stadium he throws seven Innings a one-run ball against Houston at minute made in seven Innings of no no run ball against the Yankees at Yankee Stadium and he's racking up strikeouts he unfortunately gets no offensive help in the game against the Astros because framber Valdez throw seven no hit Innings when Seth Lou goes pitching almost just as well and keep in mind that home run I I believe he gave up to Ben gaml was a home run in like two ballparks and one of them being minute made so a little bit of bad luck involved in there and then you go to the Cleveland start the only run the Guardians scored off Lugo was a bloop opposite field single a little number by Jose Ramirez and to me that has been this this perfect I guess description of Seth Lugo in 2024 that he is somebody that if you get to him if you really start knocking him around a little bit of bad luck involved at least from Seth lugo's perspective from the other offense it's good luck involved you know Squibb the ball off the end of the bat you know maybe getting squeezed a little bit the last time Lugo had faced the Yankees he didn't pitch that well but he got squeezed pleased and Carlos rhon was phenomenal against the Royals lineup so he hasn't always gotten the Run support but now you get to this point in the season and it really doesn't matter if you only give him one or two runs these last three starts have been in my opinion the best three starts that Seth Lugo has had for the Royals I remember the start in Anaheim against the Angels when he had what was that 12 strikeouts the start he had against Detroit in which he had double digit strikeouts those were fine those were great let's put into perspective what these last three starts have been and who they've been against and where the Royals were now leth Lugo was the stopper for the losing streak they lost seven in a row they were going into that series finale against Cleveland and the offense didn't really give him much again until Tommy fam's three-run home run tonight you know the the offense is getting base runners on against Marcus strowman but they don't really break through until the third inning when Bobby Wood Jr and Salvador Perez driving a of runs then it's two nothing and he's still cruising nobody's getting on base against him I believe he had sat down I think 17 in a row after the leadoff single which was a bloop single by gabber Torres and then Gaber Torres snapped that streak with another bloop single he gave up three hits tonight three singles no damage whatsoever Juan SoDo and Aaron judge didn't get on base I was going to say hitless but we got to factor in that he didn't walk him either nobody in the bullpen not Chris boo not John triber walked Juan sto or Aaron judge in fact JN triber struck out Juan SoDo and then got Aaron judge to have a Lazy Fly ball to right field so that's the difference tonight completely eliminated Juan stto and Aaron judge and I think there was one at bat in this game that I looked at and I said okay yeah Seth lugo's going six shutout tonight seven shut out and it was a little bit later on into his outing so I don't want to act like I'm some Guru here and I predicted it in the first inning it was when he attacked Juan stto with a runner on base and it was a three-run game so one bad pitch in a bad spot and Juan stto has cut this lead to one and you're trusting this Bullpen once again to get you 10 to 12 outs to win this game at Yankee Stadium don't feel too good about that but Juan stto last night wasn't really pitched to I think he had two or three walks I know for a fact twoo I'm trying to think if there was a third walk in there the Royals weren't thrown in many strikes they didn't want to get burned by Juan stto and Seth Lugo gets the ball after glaber Torres snaps his long long streak there of retiring 16 or 17 in a row and he's going out of the stretch again so that can throw you off a little bit and he goes strike one strike two and the third pitch was right down the middle and Juan stto flyed out and I had to wonder in that moment if Seth or if Juan SoDo flew out to left field by the way because he wasn't expecting Seth Lugo to give him three hitable pitches there's not many pitchers out there that will just attack Juan stto like he's a nine-hole hitter I mean they were well located pitch one pitch two were very well located it was a uh I believe a curveball it might have been a slider on the first pitch and then it was that cutter right in on the hands you know right on on the border of the top left corner of the zone and then pitch number three was a fast ball right down the middle and Juan soda was late and popped it up to MJ Melendez in left field and I immediately went to the the pitch tracks again because I thought I was not seeing that correctly I mean 94 right down the middle and lo and behold it was 94 right down the middle and I think Juan SoDo was laate on it because he wasn't expecting that type of pitch in an 02 count he's Juan SoDo for God's sakes you're not going to give him three straight strikes yet Seth Lugo did and that's when went okay I don't think the Yankees have any idea what pitch he's throwing they don't look comfortable up there hence the 10 strikeouts that he had and they weren't barreling him up there were no hard outs in that game very soft contact from a Yankees lineup that is known for hard contact that is known for driving the ball out of the yard for putting up 10 runs on your Bullpen like it felt like they did last night but Seth luga was the aggressor and the Royals couldn't have gotten a better gift in September than Seth luga returning to form because now you look at a best of three which we talked about last night if Cole Reagan goes out tomorrow and he wins this series for the Royals yeah it's great for the regular season you're getting one step closer to locking in that number two wild card spot or still making a push for the division it's all fine and dandy but then you're looking at three guys you can throw in a playoff series Reagan Lugo and Waka that are redh hot right now I would guarantee you every single team in the American League is going I don't want to face that I can have confidence in my lineup I would much rather face a rotation that has depleted guys in it they are out of gas or they are calling somebody up to fill that spot I mean the twins got unlucky with Joe Ryan going on the injured list the Guardians got unlucky back in April with Shane Bieber going on the injured list the Royals had Michael lenzen go on the injured list and Michael walk a few times go on the injured list or actually see it was one time but he did miss his first start that was supposed to be in that first series against Minnesota because he got hit by a comebacker at the very tail end of spring training I always want to count that as an injured list stin it was not it was one injured list stin when he had the comebacker that hit his foot so two comebackers a sideline Michael Walker for a little bit of time but that front three in the rotation has been phenomenal and keep in mind when Lorenzen who the Royals believe can get back on track this weekend get back up to Kansas City as early as that you got Brady singer Michael lenzen and Alec marshu can throw out of the bullpen if one of those guys doesn't go deep into the game but right now I got no reason to believe they can't go deep into the game Seth lugo's red hot Cole Reagan is red hot and Michael wal is red hot there are no three guys I would rather have starting a best of three series against the Yankees Baltimore Houston whoever it may be maybe it's Cleveland if Houston can Lea frog them in the seating race but to me that's who you want out there and Seth Lugo continues to cement that fact we'll take our first break of the show when we come back 34y old Salvador Perez gets to 100 RBIs on the season yet again let's dive into his ridiculous season next on lockdown Royals you are tuning to lockdown Royals on the lockon podcast Network I'm your host Jack Johnson and you can find me on Twitter Rex at Johnny j15 team want to give a shout out to our first sponsor today in game time I know that the regular season is winding down and you're thinking about maybe going out to that Series against the Giants I'll be out for two of them my brother's a Giants fan so we're going to go to a handful of those games the next home stand the Tigers will be coming into town they got a playoff spot on the line you got NFL football this Sunday Chiefs and Bengals at Arrowhead Stadium KU is looking to bounce back after the loss to Illinois they got UNLV at Children's Mercy Park no better time to go to game time and buy your tickets look at some of the deals they have out there I got my notifications on so they alert me when some ticket prices have dropped and I can go check in on those I've been checking in all week long to see what deals I can get but that is the place that I go to to buy my ticket so download the game time app create an account and use code lock. MLB for $20 off on your first purchase those terms apply so again create an account and redeem code locked on MLB for $20 off download game time today what time is it it is game time I think in this 2024 magical run Salvy and I do want to call out something real quick I think that my official record prediction back in March it would have been a couple of days maybe a week or two before opening day I think I said 80 and 82 that was my official prediction I thought they'd be in it all the way up until September and I said that would be fine well the Royals after tonight's win against the New York Yankees five to nothing are 80 and66 on the season they are one win away from tying the 2016 squads win total they tied the 2017 squads win total tonight they need two more wins in the next 16 games to have their first winning season in nine years but we all know that's not the focus here right we all know that they are focused on getting to 90 wins right finding a way to win 10 of the last 16 and having one of if not the greatest single season turnaround in Major League Baseball history there are a lot bigger things at hand here than just getting your first winning season the Royals know they're going to be having their first winning season and hopefully as early as this weekend but Salvador Perez got to experience this and I I think that there was no more deserving player on this roster and maybe nobody else in baseball that deserved a season like this Salvador re stuck it out in some awful years and I'd imagine there were times last year when Kaufman stadium was empty and this team was 44 and 102 and probably well before that this team was was out of it or the 2023 team was out of it a few weeks into April and Salvador Perez though he loves the game of baseball had to have been thinking in his mind here we go again it is nearly a decade since I got to play in October and I know there's Talent here but I've been told that so many years after some of my best friends left now Lorenzo Kane leaves Kansas City immediately goes to the postseason Eric osmer goes to San Diego gets paid handsomely and is surrounded by just a young core of talent that reminded him of the Royals and the Padres had their own SU successes and Eric hoser didn't have the greatest end to his career but he's a World Series champion he's a Royals Legend and he still got to experience good baseball Better Baseball than what Salvador Perez got alidi Escobar had some opportunities but didn't really get the the chance Mike mustakas did right he comes back to the Royals in eight team same with Escobar but you know alides Escobar goes to the Nationals I I think it was or I can't remember where Escobar ended up going right after the Royals but mustakis gets traded to Milwaukee in a playoff push he gets to experience that Alex Gordon stays around a little bit longer but then retires know there were guys that got their opportunity and didn't have to wait this long to experience October baseball game to experience soldout crowds Royal soldout crowds and having this playoff push and you can tell how much he's enjoying it these MLB Network segments the fans embracing him and and baseball Embraces Salvador Perez they see how much of an icon he is how much he loves the sport and how loyal he's been I can't say that every player out there wouldn't you know look at an opportunity like Salvador Perez had and just wanted to leave back in 2018 or 2019 hey this is this is going to be a long rebuild I don't want to be a part of and I don't want to waste years of my Prime playing on teams that are not going to be winning baseball teams he decided to stick it out he stuck it out through a 100 loss season in 2018 he stuck it out through a 100 loss season in 2019 and I understand he got hurt in one of those years and didn't play but he's still in the clubhouse he's in the Dugout watching this happen covid year he's dealing with other complications has a great year but it's a shortened year not a typical baseball year 2021 right the the Resurgence comes he has that incredible season Royals aren't any good they're 74 and 88 or was it 72 and 90 somewhere in in between there 2022 he sticks it out again he has one of his worst career years they lose 97 games and then last year I mean I couldn't imagine being out there every single day and you know that you're kind of reaching the the Twilight of your career he's no spring chicken anymore and that team loses more than any team you would ever been a part of going all the way back to 2011 2012 2013 106 losses Salvador Perez has to endure and there was a point in time at the trade deadline we all thought this could be it and a lot of us Royals fans felt like they're still going to be losing baseball games for the next two to three years and a lot of them they're not really close the farm systems not there we didn't know if the Royals would spend money they had had a couple of bright spots with Bobby Whit Jr and Cole Reagan but they were still a long ways off and then this off season happens and you felt like JJ bolo and John shman were rewarding the Royals fan base but also rewarding Salvador Perez and giving him this opportunity and it's one thing to ride the coattails and be along for the ride I think Salvador Perez would be happy if if he was a backup catcher and Freddy fine had taken his spot and you you couldn't really play salv anymore he still be happy being able to experience this once or twice a week when playing in a game but he's having in my opinion the best season of his career I really do believe that I've had this debate before and I understand the 48 home run season and the 120 plus RBI season was unmatched you look at that and you'd say by Far and Away his best year but I also go back to the fact that those games playoff wise didn't matter they mattered to mold some of the young players the Royals still have today but they were not meaningful playoff games Salvador Perez tonight getting his 100th RBI of the year at Yankee Stadium in a playoff push against a team you might see in October that's Elite stuff man and he was four for four yesterday he opens the series six for six he's got more walks than he ever has in his career he's hitting for average this year he's got a high OBP I mean this is a completely different Salvador PR than what we're used to but not really at the same time he is more deserving than any player in baseball that will get to experience the postseason because of what he had to write it out I know there will be people responding and saying oh what about this player in this spot or this player in this spot Salvador Perez should have been playing in the postseason not long after 2015 had wrapped up that six 16 team should have had another shot that 17 team should have had another shot and if the Royals were truly committed to winning in 18 19 20 21 20 they could have had another year like this they didn't want to really spend the money they thought they had to rebuild through the system again and JJ bolo and John Sherman came in and they brought in the right pieces and those right pieces have led to one of the most extraordinary Seasons that baseball has ever seen and glad to see that not only is Salvador as a part of it but he is contributing at the highest level this is as good as he has ever looked in a Royals uniform my opinion if you disagree feel free to let me know in the comments either on Twitter or on YouTube okay we're going to take our final break of the show but before we do that thank you for making locked on Royals your first listen today for your second listen enjoy the locked on MLB podcast host Pat Sullivan AKA soes here daily to provide National expertise with his trademark humor to help you get ready for the MLB playoffs here in the dog days of summer prepare for the fall classic with suy who has it all covered every single day on lockdown MLB available on YouTube or wherever you get your podcast part of the lockdown podcast Network your team every day when we come back the gauntlet part two ends tomorrow what can we make about that 20 game stretch and I have some words of encouragement for fans out there and more so praise for a team that had to endure a lot in those 20 games well that next on lockon Royals you are tuning to lockon Royals and the lockon podcast Network I'm your host Jack Johnson and you can find me on Twitter orx at Johnny j15 our last SP sponsor we want to give a shout out to is our title sponsor in FanDuel you have heard us lot talk a lot about FanDuel America's number one sports book well we have something a little different for you now through September 22nd all FanDuel customers can bet $5 and get a three-week free trial of NFL Sunday ticket from YouTube and YouTube TV then with a YouTube TV base plan you'll be able to watch every regular season Sunday afternoon out of Market game all you need is a Google account and a current form of payment and you can cancel at any time just visit fanduel.com and download America's number one Sportsbook and tomorrow it'll be Cole Reagan's on the bump for Kansas City if you're wanting to put some money down I would strongly recommend taking the over and the strikeout total if Seth Lugo can get 10 against that lineup feel like Cole Riggins can pretty much do the same and add to his 200 plus strikeout season in Kanas City but do so over at FanDuel I think tomorrow will be a big Gauntlet II exhale moment for a lot of Royals fans because these last 20 games which will wrap up tomorrow and I'm going to call it Gauntlet part two I feel like I've called it that before because the Royals had a gauntlet earlier in the year it was the end of May and bled into June and that was a moment that defined their 2024 season as well but this was the true defining measure of the 2024 Royals team and why I believe they're going to be headed to the postseason it's not too much of a shock at this point there's 16 games to go they have a five and a half game cushion the Wild Card race and they are closer to the best record in the American League than they are to losing a wild card spot so again if you are superstitious and you want to knock off wood I'll do it for you here I know that you've done that a few times as well and and trying to make sure that none of the jinxes hurt this team but I just have a lot of confidence with where this team is at right now and this Gauntlet this second one for that matter has presented the Royals with a lot of things that they didn't go through back in in April in May and June they dealt with more adversity in these last 20 games than they did in the previous 100 to lose Vinnie pasquantino in Houston that was a defining moment to me uh Lucas Ura getting hurt on that same plane your best Bullpen arm blowing a game like that and the the Wild Card lead dwindles down a little bit you lose ground in the division you get first place in the division for a second then you immediately give it up and you're four and a half games back you bring in three new guys in Tommy Fame Julie guel and and Robbie grman the bullpen has its struggles has its issues the starting rot gets roughed up a little bit there's a seven game losing streak then the starting rotation takes off again there was so much going on in that 20 game stretch that I remember right before that Philly series we said on here this will be it this will tell us if they are going to play in October or they are not and we gave our best case scenarios our worst case scenarios they're N9 and 10 after tonight and you throw a seven game losing streak in there they have a chance tomorrow to take a series in the Bronx and finish 500 against the toughest stretch that really any team in baseball had gone through in the second half this 20 game stretch is what Boston fans Seattle fans Tigers fans twins fans and Guardians fans looked at and either getting a bigger lead on Kansas City City or catching up to Kansas City you know I'm sure Boston fans said that's when it will be that's when we can catch up to the Royals when Seattle said if we can survive long enough just wait till that 20 game stretch that the Royals have and then when that seven game losing streak happens and Vinnie pasquantino goes down the feeling had to be okay they were right this actually is the start of the downfall but the way they responded going back a week ago to win that game against Cleveland to win three in a row against Minnesota who you were trailing by half a game in the standings in both the American League Central and the Wild Card race and then you've split the first two games in New York so a seven game losing streak followed by going five- one to Rebound in the way this team did without one of the most influential players in that Clubhouse that tells you something about them and again as we said last night and I as I think we said on Sunday I don't know how far they make it I don't know when this dream season comes to an end but this team deserves I think a ton of respect for what they have given the fan base how they haven't pointed fingers complained you know made a big deal about stuff that's going on to them or complaining about the 20 game stretch of first place teams and you lose Vinnie pasano oh we lose Michael Len and we lose hunter Harvey never complained about it never had a doomsday approach to anything and here they are 14 games over 500 and they had had that feeling in the clubhouse of people have doubted us people have been waiting for the the downfall here even some fans within our own fan base had waited for the downfall I could go back every single month and pinpoint certain people that messaged me and said this team's bad here's when it happen then the calendar turned over and they were fine then the calendar turned over and they were fine and look I'm not going to tell you how to be a fan I I've kept that very very consistent from the first episode we ever did on this podcast but you can feel pretty good as a fan if you believed from opening day to tonight and hopefully much further into October because I feel like so many times this year not only has the team been tested I think the fan base has been tested do you believe they can come through do you feel like this is a turning point for them they can take this adversity and a lot of people during that seven game losing streak and after Vinnie got hurt thought Yep this is it they're not even going to make the postseason hell I had some people tell me they might not even even finish over 500 but 14 games over 500 16 games to go they have a 5 and a half game cushion over a playoff over the the Red Sox and the Tigers for a playoff spot and they have a two and a half game cushion over the Minnesota Twins they will take on the Yankees tomorrow night Cole Reagan on the bump as Kansas City will look to take the rubber match of that series and then have an off day before heading to one of the most gorgeous ballparks in all baseball at PNC park in Pittsburgh to take on the Pirates but as for us that's going to do it for another edition of lockdown Royals and the lockdown podcast Network I have been your host Jack Johnson and you can always find me on Twitter Rex at Johnny j15 thank you for making lockdown Royals your first listen today now go check out the lockdown MLB podcast prepare for the fall classic with suly who has it all covered every single day you can find the link to lockdown MLB in the description so you don't need to search part of the lockon podcast Network your team every day tomorrow we're going to recap the series finale in New York and take a little sneak peek into that upcoming Series against the Pirates but until then you take it easy Kansas City