After a dismal start, Kansas City found an unlikely spark.
The Kansas City Royals started the season with the worst record in baseball and one of the worst bullpens in the league.
From March 27 to April 24, the bullpen had a combined 5.15 ERA over 80.1 innings, along with 49 walks, 82 strikeouts, 46 earned runs, five blown saves, a 5.18 FIP, -0.5 WAR, and a 2-8 record.
But on April 24, everything changed, and it started with a viral meme: “John Pork.”
TikTok creator TheAlexStudio is known for showing players custom, absurd baseball cards, and it has made its way to Kansas City with a Royals themed “John Pork” card, which the bullpen taped up inside their bullpen after TikTok creator dropped it into their bullpen.
Since then, the Royals’ bullpen has been dominant. From April 24 on, they’ve posted a 1.42 ERA over 37.2 innings, with 18 walks, 33 strikeouts, just seven earned runs, one blown save, a 3.05 FIP, 0.6 WAR, and a 4–1 record.
But it hasn’t just been the bullpen, the offense has started to come around as well.
From March 27 to April 24, the Royals batted .229 with 22 home runs, 83 RBIs, a .305 OBP, .362 slugging percentage, and a .668 OPS.
Since the introduction of “John Pork,” the offense has come alive, hitting .266 with, 37 XBH, 15 home runs, 62 RBIs, a .348 OBP, .452 slugging percentage, and a .800 OPS, while going 9-3.
That stretch includes a three game sweep of the Angels, a win over the A’s, a statement sweep in a three game series against a playoff-contending Mariners, and two wins against the division leading Guardians.
Baseball has always been a sport full of quirky superstitions, from rally caps and mustaches to animals or even insects like the Royals’ famous “Rally Mantis.”
Now, while the likelihood that “John Pork” actually being the reason for this turnaround is slim, it may not be not zero. More realistically, this is a talented team that was bound to figure things out over the course of a long season. It just happened at one of the funniest, and most ironic times.
Regardless of the reason, the Royals have turned things around at the right time against strong competition. They now sit at 17–20, just a game and a half back in the division, and and are half a game back of a wild card spot.
The only question now is whether they can keep it going.