Odd Man Rush: Bullpen transforming Royals into contenders

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Philadelphia, PA (SportsNetwork.com) – If the Kansas City Royals’ bullpen trio of Greg Holland, Kelvin Herrera and Wade Davis could somehow transform themselves into a single entity, there is a good chance this mega arm would find itself in discussions for the American League MVP.

As it stands, the award goes to the most valuable player, as in a singular life-form judged to be the most outstanding player in baseball for their respective league.

So no, unless Holland, Herrera and Davis contact Michael Bay and have him go all out in morphing them into some sort of CGI blockbuster, there is a safe bet that the Royals won’t see their first MVP recipient since George Brett in 1980.

But what the Royals may instead bring home is the franchise’s first postseason berth since winning it all in 1985.

Sometimes it is better to win the Oscar than be that year’s highest grossing film.

Heading into play on Friday, the Royals found themselves a game up on Detroit for first place in the AL Central crown. And while the Tigers can mash with the best of them and have more Cy Young winners in their rotations than should be allowed, the Royals have found success with consistent solid pitching from innings 1-9.

That is certainly true in the final three innings thanks to the Royals’ three amigos. That group has helped Kansas City see a magic number of four.

When the Royals reach at least four runs in a game, they are 62-9.

Kansas City has it down to a script, one so simple it makes anything put out by Chuck Lorre seem like the second coming of Shakespeare.

Act I often begins in the seventh inning with the entrance of right-hander Kelvin Herrera, a young 24-year-old just trying to make it under the bright lights.

Call Herrera the Tom Hanks of Kansas City’s bullpen. The start of his career was pretty solid work, but 2014 has been his “Big.” Herrera currently has a scoreless innings streak of 26 2/3 frames spanning his last 27 outings.

That is the second-longest active streak in baseball trailing only — pan screen for the big reveal — Davis.

Herrera’s teammate has not allowed a run in 28 consecutive innings and the righty has yielded just one run over his past 51 1/3 innings dating back to April 26 for a ridiculous ERA of 0.18.

Davis has had his struggles in the past as a starter, first with the Rays and then last year with Kansas City after coming over as an afterthought in the James Shields trade.

In 88 starts, he is 31-32 with a 4.57 earned run average compared to 13-3 with a 1.58 ERA in 121 relief appearances.

It’s safe to say that when Davis begins a game on the mound, he is more Matthew McConughey in “The Wedding Planner,” but morphs into “Dallas Buyers Club” McConaughey out of the bullpen.

Then there is Holland, who looks as if he is ready for a Harrison Ford, Star Wars/Indiana Jones string of success as a closer.

Holland has been selected to back-to-back All-Star Games and last season closed 47 games with a 1.21 ERA.

For his sequel season, the 28-year-old has notched a 1.60 ERA in 59 games this year with an AL-high 42 saves. He has just two blown saves on the year and one in his last 36 chances.

So while the Royals’ version of the Godfather trilogy probably won’t win many personal awards at the end of the season, there is a good chance they have the Royals ready for “lights, camera, action” come October.

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