Royals' Kendrys Morales: Woes at the plate continue Wednesday

Morales, who started his 27th consecutive game to begin the 2016 season Wednesday, went 0-for-4 with a strikeout in a losing effort against Washington.

Analysis:

The Royals are off Thursday, which may leave Morales in the mix for all three games of the team's weekend series against Cleveland, but he's likely on track for a day off in the near future if his month-long slump continues. For the season, Morales is hitting .200/.248/.310 with two homers and eight RBI, a far cry from his .290/.362/.485 line that included 22 long balls and 106 RBI a year ago. In addition to the diminished line, Morales has posted a 22.0 percent strikeout thus far, after fanning at a 16.1 percent clip last season. Moreover, he's also walking less frequently (5.7 percent) after reaching a career-high 9.1 percent walk rate in 2015.