Royals Twitter, at one point, was literally the only source of joy in my life. A collection of dry, sarcastic, miserable human beings who would watch every game of a 72-win season. Voluntarily. A bunch of masochists and sickos. But with this self-inflicted pain and torment came some of the best content to ever grace the timelines of KC social media. Welcome to Royals Twitter’s Greatest Hits.
Today’s selection is easily one of the best running jokes in this quaint, psychotic niche of the internet. For whatever reason, the Royals signed Chris Young in 2015 to cover the back end of the rotation and give the Royals some long relief depth as the year prior, Jeremy fucking Guthrie started Game Seven of the World Series (and pitched adequately, mind you).
Chris Young was nothing special when he came to KC. He was a journeyman with a career ERA in the high threes and pitch-to-contact stuff that Dayton Moore just had to have. The acquisition was met with cynicism, but Chris Young would enamor himself to Royals fans, being a phenomenal back end starter and ultimately absolutely #shoving in Game One of the 2015 World Series where he threw three perfect frames in extra innings.
He often gets buried behind Wade Davis, Kelvin Herrera, Edinson Volquez, Yordano Ventura, Danny Duffy and Johnny Cueto, but the fact of the matter was that Chris Young was a damn near perfect match for the defensively dominant 2015 squad.
The unfortunate reality is that he was then given a three-year deal after the 2015 season. He absolutely stunk and was eventually bought out. Whatever. The man deserved his payday.
We love you, Dad.