The last two World Series champions have a lot in common.
The 2015 Royals and 2016 Cubs built their rosters from the ground up: drafting wisely, making astute trades and watching a young core grow and blossom together.
The Royals had a near-miss in 2014 when they lost a seven-game World Series to the Giants; the Cubs had their breakthrough season in '15 with 97 wins and a National League Championship Series berth.
The back end of the Royals' bullpen was virtually untouchable in 2015 with Kelvin Herrera, Wade Davis and Greg Holland, while the trade-deadline acquisition of dominant closer Aroldis Chapman last summer became the final piece of the Cubs' 108-year-old puzzle.
Both teams also played great defensively and recognized the Zen of Zobrist — the Royals having acquired Ben Zobrist from the A's at the 2015 trade deadline, the Cubs signing him the following winter.
"It's definitely a similar situation," Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer said. "Build from your farm system, a couple trades to get key guys over. ... That's the beauty of baseball, seeing what you can build throughout your farm system.
"And then these guys get called up and now they're all household names — (Kyle) Schwarber and those guys. If you think about it, only a year or two ago people really didn't know too much about him, or just know he's a big prospect. Now Schwarber is one of the better hitters in this game, so it's fun for baseball."
The Royals and Cubs were built to contend for multiples championships, not just one. That's why the Royals' woeful start this season could serve as a cautionary tale for Cubs fans.
Nothing is promised in baseball, and nothing lasts forever.
The Royals followed their championship season by missing the playoffs in 2016 and have started '17 with the most inept offense in the game, hitting .199 with a major league-low 47 runs scored entering Tuesday's game.
It's early, but the Royals are fortunate to be 7-12 considering how difficult it is to win without scoring runs. After Monday's 12-1 loss to the Sox, their fifth straight, the Royals were last in the majors in average, runs, on-base percentage (.261), slugging percentage (.315) and OPS. They've scored two runs or fewer in eight straight games, a franchise record.
Surprisingly, this is being done with much of the same nucleus from the championship team. The Royals' lineup includes six regulars from the 2015 champions: Hosmer, Lorenzo Cain, Mike Moustakas, Alcides Escobar, Salvador Perez and Alex Gordon. Only Moustakas and Cain have been productive, while Hosmer (.192), Gordon (.178) and Escobar (.182) were all batting under .200.
Hitting coach Dale Sveum, a former Cubs manager, said the problem is easy to detect. In 2015, the Royals were the most difficult team to strike out at 15.9 percent but ranked 18th on Tuesday at 22.1 percent.
"We're swinging out of the zone at a ridiculous rate," Sveum said. "You can talk all you want about anything else. If you don't get a good pitch to hit, you ain't gonna hit. That's the bottom line. We're an aggressive team anyway. We always have been."
If this keeps up, manager Ned Yost will get the blame, because he's Ned Yost. He already has juggled the lineup, so what else can he do to fix the offense?
"Not a lot you can do, but this isn't really mechanical stuff, what's going on here," Sveum said. "It's one thing to be aggressive, but you've got to be aggressive in the strike zone."
This is a veteran team and a tight-knit bunch, but the Royals lost three key members with the untimely death of Yordano Ventura and the trades of clubhouse leaders Jarrod Dyson (Mariners) and Davis (Cubs).
No team can take its success for granted, including the Royals, even though they all believe they have the talent.
"In any sport it's a year-to-year thing," Cain said. "Just because you had a good year before doesn't guarantee you a good year next year. It's all about getting it done on the field. It's not an easy thing to do, to get to the World Series. We were fortunate to get there two years in a row and ended up winning one. We've still got a good team."
Hosmer believes the Royals' window for championships remains open, and no one on the team is panicking over the rough start.
"Once you get to that level, you've proven yourself as a team," he said. "Everybody in here feels that same way — that we should be in the playoffs every single year. We know if we play to our abilities, knowing what we're capable of, then we should be in October baseball."
Naturally, the Royals' recent success has spoiled some fans who have grown accustomed to winning after years of watching also-rans. Cubs fans also are counting on several more years of watching October baseball, based on the young stars under the team's control.
"It's not a bad thing to think that," Sveum said. "It's always an attitude you dream of as an organization. The Yankees have had it for years and years and years. There's no exception to the rule, but the fact of the matter is you still have to perform. It's too bad because our pitching has been so good."
While the Royals attempt to get their groove back, Hosmer said fans have remained supportive. How long before they turn on the team they fell in love with just a few years ago?
"I'm sure they'll be fine," Cain said. "I'm a big Cowboys fan, and I definitely don't like to see when they lose. The playoff game last year was definitely heartbreaking. It's tough to deal with in any sport. No one wants to see their team lose. You know you're going to hear it, so hopefully we can go out and get the job done."
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