Royals Continue to Lose vs. Sportsbook Odds, DeJesus Out. The chances of the Kansas City Royals winning vs. the sportsbook odds continue to dwindle. Not only are the Royals trading away some of their talent, one of their best players is out for the year due to an injury. The Royals lost to the New York Yankees last Thursday vs. the online sportsbook baseball odds and in the process they lost one of their best players, outfielder David DeJesus.
Sportsbook odds on the Royals list them as underdogs in most of their games. That figures to continue now that the Royals are without one of their best players. DeJesus tore ligaments in his right thumb in last Thursday’s loss against the Yankees and will miss the rest of the season. He was hitting .318 for Kansas City this season. The Royals have called up Alex Gordon from Triple-A Omaha to take his place. Gordon was the number two pick for the Royals in the 2005 draft but has never lived up to the high expectations the Royals had for him.
DeJesus was hurt when he was trying to make a catch in last Thursday’s game against New York. He slammed into the centerfield wall at Yankees Stadium and just missed catching Derek Jeter’s ball. The ball rolled out of his glove and Jeter ended up getting an inside the park home run. DeJesus completely tore his ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb on the play.
The Royals are already looking to next season since they are out of the playoff race. They traded third baseman Alberto Callaspo last week to the Los Angeles Angels for pitcher Sean O’Sullivan and Will Smith. Callaspo was playing well for the Royals this season but Kansas City is looking to the future and the opportunity to get a pitcher like O’Sullivan was too much for them to pass up.
Kansas City has struggled to score runs this season and without Callaspo and DeJesus it does not figure to get any better vs. the online sportsbook baseball odds. The Royals are 21st in the league in runs per game. And what is shocking about that number is that the Royals lead the league in batting average. They just don’t have any power as they are next to last in the league in home runs.