Coming into today's game against the Astros, the Royals offense has hit an abysmal .234 with a .292 OBP as a team. If they maintain this throughout the rest of the season, they will set a club record low, "besting" the 1969 squad. That year, their inaugural season, the expansion Royals hit .240 with a .309 OBP. The team is currently being brought down by terrible seasons from Alcides Escobar and Alex Gordon. Escobar thus far has hit .179 with a .204 OBP while Gordon has fared slightly better with a .173 average and a .287 OBP. Since the lowering of the pitchers mound in 1969, Escobar and Gordon have the two lowest qualifying OPS's for a season at .430 and .490 respectively. Gordons batting average would qualify for the 9th worst since 1901 and Escobar's would be the 12th worst. Escobar's OBP would be the 6th worst since 1901. Of the 5 players ahead of him, the latest season is 1909 so he would have the worst since the Deadball Era. To add insult to injury, neither of those two players have hit a HR so far this season. The Royals should see their team batting stats rise if Gordon and Escobar break out of their slumps. However if they don't and the rest of the team slumps, they risk having the title of the single worst offensive season by any team ever, currently held by the 1888 Washington Nationals with a .207 average. The AL worst for batting average is currently .212 held by the 1911 Chicago White Sox.
*Stats from http://www.baseball-reference.com/
