tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64633992413567490922024-03-12T19:00:56.536-05:00Tangled Up In (Royal) Blue"They said our lives together sure was gonna be rough..."Darinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07466110985286682805noreply@blogger.comBlogger125125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463399241356749092.post-27631658643480509872012-05-08T21:10:00.002-05:002012-05-08T21:10:48.521-05:00A Major AnnouncementI have been given a tremendous opportunity! I have been invited to join Clint Scoles, Greg Schaum, David Lesky, and the rest of the gang at <a href="http://pinetarpress.com/">pinetarpress.com</a>. I will be blogging at least once a week there, and probably pitching in on some of their game recaps and maybe some other stuff.<br />
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I want to thank all of you for reading my stuff. When I started this blog four years ago, I wondered if anyone would ever read it, but I had something to say, so I went ahead with it. Thank you for finding my little corner of the internet, and I hope you will follow me to my new home. Pine Tar Press has lots of good stuff, especially if you want to keep track of the Royals' minor leagues and draft prospects, but we've got lots of good stuff on the major league team, too.Darinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07466110985286682805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463399241356749092.post-23242265226931634062012-05-06T21:10:00.000-05:002012-05-06T21:10:00.973-05:00Beyond Here Lies Nothin'...but the mountains of the past.<br />
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">(From "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'," Together Through Life)</span><br />
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It's time to state the obvious: Luke Hochevar has no business in the starting rotation of a team trying to make it to the postseason. I hate to say it, because we have all seen the flashes of brilliance, and I also hate to say it because confronting this truth head-on makes me realize how far the Royals really are from being a playoff-caliber team.<br />
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After Hochevar got hammered again in today's game against the Yankees, I spent the rest of the afternoon looking through his game logs on baseball-reference.com. We all know Hochevar is prone to disastrous big innings, which is part of the frustration many Royals fans feel towards him. But when you take time to write it down, it's amazing how consistently Hochevar has this problem.<br />
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For my little study, I checked how many times Luke gave up four or more runs in an inning. Obviously, pitchers will give up runs, but a 1- or 2-run inning isn't that bad. You could argue a 3-run inning is pretty bad, but it happens. But a 4-run inning, or worse, is really awful. It almost certainly will include walks and extra-base hits, meaning a pitcher has command issues (either losing the strike zone or leaving everything up) and is giving up plenty of hard-hit balls. In other words, it can't normally be chalked up to bad luck. I included innings with unearned runs on the theory that the pitcher needs to be able to work around those. But really, the vast majority of these big innings were all on Hochevar.<br />
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In 2008, Hochevar's first chance in the rotation, he made 22 starts and allowed six big innings:<br />
4/22 @ Oakland, a 5-run fourth inning<br />
5/19 @ Boston, a 5-run third inning (only 2 runs were earned; this was Jon Lester's no-hitter)<br />
5/24 @ Toronto, a 4-run first inning<br />
7/1 @ Baltimore, a 4-run third inning<br />
7/6 @ Tampa Bay, a 4-run third inning<br />
7/21 vs. Detroit, a 5-run third inning<br />
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OK, he was a rookie on a bad team; maybe a year's experience would help. Nope. In 2009 he made 25 starts and allowed nine big innings:<br />
5/12 @ Oakland, a 7-run second inning<br />
6/18 vs. Arizona, a 4-run third inning<br />
7/30 @ Baltimore, a 4-run fifth inning<br />
8/9 vs. Oakland, a 4-run second inning<br />
8/31 @ Oakland, a 5-run third inning (the 2009 A's finished ninth in the league in runs scored, by the way)<br />
9/6 vs. Anaheim, a 4-run second inning<br />
9/23 vs. Boston, a 6-run fifth inning<br />
9/28 @ New York, a 5-run seventh inning (Hochevar did not record an out in this inning; I was struck by how many of the innings on this list were innings Hochevar completed)<br />
10/4 @ Minnesota, a 4-run first inning<br />
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Well, maybe two years in the majors will help him. Nope, in 2010 Hochevar made 17 starts and allowed four big innings:<br />
4/29 @ Tampa Bay, a 5-run second inning<br />
4/29 @ Tampa Bay, a 4-run third inning (yep, he pulled off two big innings in one game!)<br />
5/9 @ Texas, a 4-run third inning<br />
5/15 @ Chicago, a 4-run seventh inning<br />
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A sprained elbow cut Hochevar's 2010 season short, but when he returned that September, he avoided the big inning in his five starts.<br />
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Finally, in 2011, Hochevar had a decent season. But the first half of the year was more of the same:<br />
4/5 vs. Chicago, a 4-run first inning<br />
4/20 vs. Cleveland, a 4-run sixth inning<br />
5/25 @ Baltimore, an 8-run fourth inning (in some ways, this was the quintessential Hochevar start: three scoreless innings, then the 8-run meltdown, then three perfect innings)<br />
7/3 @ Colorado, a 5-run fifth inning<br />
7/9 vs. Detroit, a 4-run fourth inning<br />
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As we all know, Hochevar was impressive after the 2011 All-Star Break, putting up a 3.52 ERA in 12 starts. It looked like he perhaps had turned a corner. That is, until the home opener this year, when Hochevar allowed seven runs in the first inning. Now he has followed that up with a 5-run first inning against Detroit on May 1, and today's 6-run third inning against the Yankees.<br />
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So, Hochevar has 102 career starts, and in 26 of those, he has had one inning where he allowed four or more runs, plus the one start where he did it twice. In other words, one out of every four Luke Hochevar starts features a monster inning for the other team!<br />
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You just can't win with a guy like that starting every fifth day. Not only does an inning like that put your team in a hole, it often destroys your bullpen. Look how many of those innings came early in a game--this is not a guy who runs out of gas late and gets hamered, this is a guy who can't make it out of the third inning on a regular basis. The Royals already feel compelled to carry two long relievers in their 8-man bullpen. This is ridiculous, since it also serves to limit the bench (the Royals only have three reserve position players available in this setup), so Ned Yost really has to be careful about pinch-hitting or pinch-running. In turn, this affects the lineup--it's no wonder Jeff Francoeur keeps batting fifth no matter how badly he's going, Yost is trying to keep from bunching up his left-handed and right-handed hitters for late-game matchups.<br />
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In the short-term, I don't know what the Royals can do. I wouldn't be surprised if they figure out a way to put Hochevar on the disabled list before his next scheduled start. I'm no Luis Mendoza fan, but he could fill in. Also, they could try some of their options at Omaha: Everett Teaford and Nate Adcock have both shown some promise at the major-league level, and Ryan Verdugo has a 2.87 ERA in his first 31 innings at AAA.<br />
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The Royals might also take a look at the free-agent options. Cot's Baseball Contracts (<a href="http://www.baseballprospectus.com/compensation/cots/">http://www.baseballprospectus.com/compensation/cots/</a>) lists pitchers who are currently unsigned. Most of them are unsigned for a reason, but perhaps a stopgap replacement could be found there. The Royals were able to come up with a decent starter in Felipe Paulino with good scouting; perhaps they can repeat that and find a replacement on the waiver wire or even in a trade.<br />
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In the long-term, this is an obvious area of concern for the Royals' championship window. Here we are six years into the Dayton Moore era, and we've got one system-developed starting pitcher (Danny Duffy) in the majors to show for it. Granted, Duffy has looked quite good at times this season, but he can't do it alone. Meanwhile, the organization's top pitching prospects struggle at Omaha (Mike Montgomery has a 4.98 ERA) or at Northwest Arkansas (Noel Arguelles, 7.52 ERA; Chris Dwyer, 7.46 ERA). About the only prospect trending up is Jake Odorizzi, and he too is at Northwest Arkansas. He's probably not going to be in the majors until next year, and of course he will likely need time to make an impact here.<br />
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If the Royals are serious about contending next year, they are going to need a major upgrade to the starting rotation. As far as I'm concerned, auditions for Hochevar's spot begin now. As long as Hochevar is starting every fifth day, it's going to be difficult to take the Royals' playoff aspirations seriously.Darinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07466110985286682805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463399241356749092.post-32446481965574502652012-04-23T22:05:00.000-05:002012-04-23T22:05:55.292-05:00We Might Work Too Hard...to have it too fast and too much/And anyone can fill his life up/With things he can see but he just cannot touch<br />
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">(from "Dear Landlord," John Wesley Harding)</span></div>
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Eleven. Freaking. Losses. In a row.</div>
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The obvious question is, are the Royals really this bad? Short answer: no. Long answer: as presently constructed, no, but they really are not very good.</div>
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I base the short answer on the fact that no team can play .200 baseball for very long. Over a full season, that is a 32-130 record, or 10 games worse than the '62 Mets, the gold standard for awful baseball teams. While it is possible that some team someday will be worse than that, this Royals team isn't close to that bad, talent-wise. That Mets team was a collection of castoffs, has-beens and never-would-bes. Unless the entire industry has been wrong about several members of the Royals, KC looks to have more talent than that. When your team is caught in a long losing streak, it certainly can feel like they will never win again, but this team is going to win a lot more than 32 games. Really. I promise.<br />
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However. With all the injuries, and with some questionable personnel decisions (yes, I'm beating the Giavotella drum again here), the current roster really isn't that great. If anything, this streak has shown just how razor-thin the margin is for the Royals. I would argue that while they haven't exactly played well this season, they have really had a chance in every game except maybe two or three. Yet it just hasn't worked out.<br />
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I've wondered several times already this season how much this team misses Salvador Perez. Not just offensively (Humberto Quintero has contributed enough offensively to offset Salvador's absence, but that's not going to last), but defensively and especially when a pitcher gets in trouble (see the Cleveland series, where each starter gave up one monster inning). In Perez' debut last year, Tampa Bay scored five runs in the 9th to pull out a win (you might remember that game). Almost a week later, the Yankees put up a 5-spot against the Royals with Perez behind the plate. The rest of the season, no team scored that many in one inning against the Royals when Salvador was catching. There is no stat to quantify it, but pitchers seem to love throwing to Perez, and he seems to have an ability to calm them down in tough situations. But without him, Royals pitchers gave up more 5-run (or more) innings in one weekend against Cleveland than they did in 39 games with him.<br />
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Elsewhere, not having Lorenzo Cain in the lineup hurts, too. I like Mitch Maier, but I don't think he hits well enough to play every day. Unfortunately, I am definitely not sold on Jason Bourgeois as anything more than a slightly better hitting version of Jarrod Dyson. I'm pretty sure Cain is better offensively than both of them, and definitely sure he's better defensively.<br />
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Meanwhile, having Johnny Giavotella at Omaha is just silly. I don't buy for a minute that he can vastly improve defensively there but somehow can't do that in the majors. To be fair, Yuniesky Betancourt really has hit pretty well so far, and he even has three walks! But you can't convince me he's any better defensively than Gio, and both of them would be better offensive options than Chris Getz.<br />
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One more injury that has hurt is Felipe Paulino's forearm strain, which opened a rotation spot for Luis Mendoza. I have no problem with them giving Mendoza a chance, based on his strong year for Omaha last year and his excellent spring training this year. But three strikeouts in 13 innings isn't going to cut it (small sample size alert, of course).<br />
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So what can the Royals do? Paulino and Cain should be back in the next couple of weeks; that will help. Also, and it's not really an answer, but at some point the Royals' luck will turn around. They came into Monday's game ranked 8th in the AL in on-base percentage and 7th in slugging, yet 13th in runs. That can last for two weeks, but not for a whole season. Eventually some of those baserunners and some of those extra-base hits will happen in the same inning. Also in the bad-luck category: how about 17 double plays in 13 games? Last year, the Royals hit into 121 double plays, or .75 per game. The 1.31 double plays per game so far this year is probably also not going to last.<br />
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While they wait, they can actually do some things to help themselves. This team is working too hard to score runs. By that I mean, they need to quit giving away outs on the bases and with sacrifice bunts. So far, the Royals have been caught stealing eight times and picked off another five. Throw in four sacrifice bunts and that's over half a game's worth of outs! I understand the Royals want to be aggressive, and they still are not a team that will hit lots of home runs, so they're inclined to run. But for crying out loud, could they be a little smarter or more selective? Everyone in the league knows they're going to run, it seems like. Even though many of them are struggling, the Royals <i>do</i> have good hitters. Maybe they could just see if a rally develops through line drives once in a while.<br />
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Another thing that might help is picking a lineup and sticking with it. A manager's natural tendency is to tinker when things aren't going well, but I think most players would prefer to know where they will be batting every night. Some of the problem here is due to the best candidates for the number two spot being hurt (Cain) or in Omaha (Giavotella). But that's no reason to run Getz or Yuni out there in that spot, or worse, the leadoff spot. I wouldn't mind seeing Maier (fairly patient hitter) or even Alcides Escobar (quietly putting together a good season so far) there behind Alex Gordon. So far it seems like Ned Yost has been putting his lineups together based on what he's afraid the other team will do in the 8th inning, rather than just trying to go out and score some runs.<br />
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I know, this is not a lot of fun right now for any of us. I don't think we (or the Royals) should panic. Make personnel changes, sure. There are still 146 games left. Despite the "Our Time" slogan that looks increasingly stupid with each loss, this was not a contending team, unless everything went right. That went out the window with Salvador Perez' knee injury and the injuries that followed. Obviously, contention is a pipe dream right now, and even a .500 record is unlikely--they would have to go 78-68 the rest of the way just for that. Heck, my prediction of 78 wins is probably toast already. Let's just get a win and get on with our lives, and let's hope that win comes tomorrow night.</div>Darinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07466110985286682805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463399241356749092.post-2006982946106018162012-04-10T20:32:00.004-05:002012-04-10T20:32:41.457-05:00Let's Talk About RexI know, some of you are already sick of hearing Rex Hudler. Others are already sick of hearing about Rex Hudler. If that's you, well, thank you for stopping by. If not, let's talk about <i>the</i> hot-button issue with Royals fans right now, more so than Getz-over-Gio, lineups that don't include Alex Gordon or Mike Moustakas, or Ned Yost's bullpen usage.<br />
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I am moving into the camp that likes Hudler. Well, maybe "like" isn't the right word. "Tolerate" might be a better choice. The first couple of televised games I saw, I was not a fan at all. But I do think he's getting better.<br />
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I can understand why many Royals fans have been up in arms about Hudler. First off, he's not Frank White. I don't know how much this factors in, but I believe it is a part of it. I've already <a href="http://tangledupinroyalblue.blogspot.com/2011/12/youre-idiot-babe.html" target="_blank">weighed in</a> on how I felt about the Royals firing White. I don't believe White was the best color commentator in the world, but he was familiar to us viewers. Also, it just seems wrong that this franchise looks to be on the verge of contending, and White won't be around to see it, apparently. The fact that he managed some of these players in the minors just adds to that feeling of injustice.<br />
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Going from White to Hudler has also been whiplash-inducing. They seem to be complete opposites in personality. This is what bothers me most about Hudler. The beautiful thing about baseball is that there are quiet moments, times to think and reflect (frankly, this is something the Kauffman Stadium operations staff needs to remember, too). So far, Hudler doesn't seem to understand that, instead preferring to talk seemingly non-stop. In fact, during the opening game in Anaheim, I found myself tuning him out, vaguely sensing a droning noise at times rather than a color commentator.<br />
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I do think Hudler is getting a bit better in this regard. Or maybe I just notice it less. Either way, this is where Hudler's broadcast partner, be it Ryan Lefebvre or Steve Physioc, comes in. They need to be better at reining Hudler in. Part of this problem is chemistry--Lefebvre seems to have no idea how to work with Hurricane Hudler, while Physioc seems to do better after working with him in Anaheim for so long.<br />
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I don't have any broadcast journalism experience (my journalism minor in college was all on the print side), but I'm sure it's a tough job. There is the thinnest line of all, whether to treat your audience like they know nothing or to assume they know a lot. And of course, you can't please everyone. But in general, the best color guys find a way to pass along the little nuances that make baseball great. I feel like we haven't really found out whether Hudler can do that or not. That may be partially obscured by his fondness for weird sayings. I understand that's part of his personality, but I wouldn't mind if he cut back on those a little bit and instead focused a little more on teaching.<br />
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I was not a Hudler fan at first, but when I hear him doing interviews or talking on a pre- or post-game show, I can tell he is just an enthusiastic person and a huge baseball fan. Really, there are much worse traits a person could have. He will take some getting used to, and it may take most if not all of this season, but I think eventually Royals fans will like Hudler. The bottom line is, if the Royals are winning, people will want to watch, and people will associate those good memories with Hudler, at least to a point. In the meantime, I hope Hudler will learn to calm down a bit, let the game speak for itself sometimes, and better communicate some insights to us viewers.Darinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07466110985286682805noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463399241356749092.post-6349774362825386322012-04-05T21:15:00.000-05:002012-04-05T21:15:00.741-05:00The 2012 Royals: The Bullpen<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Hard to believe Opening Day is upon us, but it's true. Here's a look at the bullpen for the Royals heading into the season.</i></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Where the Royals' <a href="http://tangledupinroyalblue.blogspot.com/2012/04/2012-royals-starting-rotation.html" target="_blank">rotation</a> is full of questions, the bullpen looks to be full of answers. This group looks to be the deepest on the team. Want proof? Consider Louis Coleman, who had a 2.87 ERA, 64 Ks, 26 BBs and only allowed 44 hits in 59 2/3 innings pitched. One bad spring, and he's in Omaha to start the season. And this is a group that is without Blake Wood and Joakim Soria.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Speaking of Soria, it looks like his closer job will be handled by Jonathan Broxton most of the time, and Greg Holland the rest of the time. I'm perfectly fine with this arrangement. The Royals are unlikely to push Broxton too hard, as he had an elbow injury last year. While the concept of a closer is overrated, it doesn't hurt to have someone who's been successful at it. Meanwhile, Holland will probably get a few save chances here and there, which I like for three reasons: I have complete confidence he's good enough to handle it, it will be good experience for him down the road in case Soria doesn't come back, and there's a good chance he'll pitch in higher-leverage situations than Broxton a lot.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">While Holland will be the primary setup man, I expect Aaron Crow to be used in that role sometimes, too. That's All-Star Aaron Crow to you. It's true Crow had a bad second half last year, but he still had a decent year overall: 2.76 ERA, 55 hits, 65 Ks, 31 BBs in 62 innings. My only concern with Crow is that at some point, the Royals need to give him a chance to be a starting pitcher. It's not necessarily easy to find good relievers, but it's easier than finding good starters. I have doubts about Crow's ability to be a good starter based on his minor league struggles, but the Royals really need to find out for sure. This is a first-round pick we're talking about here, and you don't draft those guys to be relievers normally. If it doesn't work out, he can always go back to the bullpen. I'm not holding my breath, but I believe trying Crow in the rotation would be the best thing to do.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Every bullpen needs a good lefty, and the Royals look to have two. Jose Mijares is more of a lefty specialist, but he's been quite good at it. Or he was until last year, anyway, when apparently his control deserted him. Still, you have to think the two solid years before last year are more the norm. If not, Everett Teaford may get more chances in the lefty specialist role. Right now, Teaford looks like more of a long reliever. I would hate for Teaford to get pigeonholed as a lefty specialist because I think he has a chance to be a decent starter.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">That leaves Kelvin Herrera and Tim Collins. Herrera only pitched in two games for the Royals last year, but had an outstanding year in the minors, so good that he climbed all the way to the majors after starting the year in Class A. But he is still a rookie, so I wouldn't look for him to get put in too many key situations. That's OK, he can get acclimated to the majors and get some work in low-leverage situations. I imagine he will be the first reliever sent out when Wood or Felipe Paulino are ready to come back from their injuries, though. Collins' biggest issue is control--if he cuts down on his 48 walks from last year, he could have a very good year. He's still young enough (22) that you have to think his control will improve. It's funny, the narrative on Collins is that, although he is a lefty, he struggles against left-handed hitters. Yet if you look at his splits from last year, lefties had a lower batting average (.221 to .210) and much lower slugging percentage (.353 to .305) than righties. Yet Collins walked more left-handers than he struck out (29 to 27). That trend was reversed against right-handed hitters, with 33 strikeouts and 19 walks. I really have no idea what to make of this--it could be small sample size, or just a young pitcher not entirely trusting his stuff. It will be interesting to see if he can continue having some success against lefties this year.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">Like I said when discussing the starting rotation, this bullpen is good enough that if the starters can keep the Royals in games for 6-7 innings, the team can be successful. Even without Soria, I have a lot of confidence in this bullpen.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Up next: real, actual baseball. Enjoy it, everyone!</i></span></span></div>Darinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07466110985286682805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463399241356749092.post-43552217844134083042012-04-04T22:07:00.005-05:002012-04-04T22:07:43.696-05:00The 2012 Royals: The Starting Rotation<i>Hard to believe Opening Day is upon us, but it's true. Here's a look at the starting rotation for the Royals heading into the season.</i><br />
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Let's be honest, the starting rotation is the biggest group of question marks on the Royals' roster as we head into the 2012 season. The good news is that I am not convinced they are all that bad.<br />
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People seem to forget, last year at this time many expected the Royals to have a historically bad rotation. That group was Luke Hochevar, Jeff Francis, Kyle Davies, Bruce Chen, and Sean O'Sullivan at the start of the year. Now look, only two of those guys are back. I would argue that Jonathan Sanchez, Danny Duffy and Luis Mendoza are all upgrades over the 2011 rotation.<br />
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Of course, this is by no means an outstanding group. There are reasons to be concerned about all these guys.<br />
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Let's start with Chen, since he has been designated the Opening Day starter. Personally, I would have picked Hochevar, but whatever. Without a true ace, the order probably doesn't matter much, and will matter even less as the season unfolds. Chen basically gets by with smoke and mirrors, except he really doesn't have that much smoke left at age 34. At this point, he is the proverbial crafty lefty. He doesn't strike out many (97 in 155 innings last year), but he doesn't walk many. Rather, he lets them hit it and depends on his defense. Sometimes this backfires and the opponent piles up the hits and runs, but in his last two seasons, it has worked more often than not. The good news for Chen is that he allows fly balls more often than not, and the Royals <a href="http://tangledupinroyalblue.blogspot.com/2012/03/2012-royals-outfielders.html" target="_blank">outfield</a> with Lorenzo Cain should be even better at tracking those down than they were last year. Of course, the best thing a pitcher can do to get outs is pile up strikeouts, but I feel good about Chen's ability to continue being successful with his game plan.<br />
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I would have picked Hochevar for the top of the rotation based on his success after the All-Star Break last year. We had seen flashes of brilliance from Hochevar before, but that was his longest stretch of sustained success to date. A very mediocre pitcher suddenly turned into a top-of-the-rotation guy (6-3, 3.52 ERA, 66 hits, 68 Ks, 24 BBs and a 1.13 WHIP in 79 1/3 innings). It wasn't Justin Verlander, but it was pretty good. If the light bulb has indeed come on for Luke, the Royals will be in good shape. The biggest concern facing this wave of young talent is that the hitters seem to be way ahead of the pitchers. It would be extremely helpful for one of the previous generation of pitchers to become a rotation anchor.<br />
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Speaking of the light bulb coming on, I think the Royals took a flier on Sanchez to see if it would happen for him this year. The problem with Sanchez has always been his control--even in his best major league season (2010), he led the National League in walks. Now, spring training stats are pretty much worthless, but Sanchez did only walk 6 batters in 11 1/3 innings this spring. That's a little more in line with his walk rate from 2010 than his rate from 2011. I'm a little worried about Sanchez switching to the tougher American League and leaving the pitchers haven of San Francisco's AT&T Park, but his upside is quite good--he should get lots of strikeouts, and he is more of a ground ball pitcher, which is good news for someone with Alcides Escobar behind him.<br />
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One year ago, Luis Mendoza was merely organizational filler. One altered delivery later, he was the Pacific Coast League's pitcher of the year and part of a major league rotation. I admit, I did not think Mendoza could sustain his success, but he pitched well for the Royals in two September starts and kept right on rolling in spring training. He has definitely earned a chance to see if he can do it for the long-term. I don't know what to expect from Mendoza, but his strikeout rate improved as the season went on last year at Omaha, and he had a very good strikeout ratio in the spring. If that keeps up, he probably will be successful.<br />
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Finally, Danny Duffy. One of the joys of last season was watching various young position players reach the majors and succeed to varying degrees. But Duffy was the only starting pitcher we got to experience that with. I'm excited to see him continue developing as a major-leaguer. Like Sanchez, Duffy's big problem is control. Unlike Sanchez, Duffy is only 23 and there is more reason to expect his control to improve.<br />
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Yes, this rotation has question marks. I suppose the good news is that, for the most part, we are now hoping pitchers who have more talent and upside will put it together, rather than Davies and O'Sullivan and a retread like Francis. It's not much, but it is a little progress. The other good news, which I will discuss in the next post, is that the bullpen looks really good. And the offense should also be good, so if the starters can just keep the team in games, pitch 6-7 solid innings, the Royals will have a chance to win.<br />
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<i>Up next: the bullpen</i>Darinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07466110985286682805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463399241356749092.post-34659351748440297022012-04-03T20:20:00.000-05:002012-04-03T20:24:02.462-05:00The 2012 Royals: The Catchers<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px; text-align: left;"><i>Hard to believe Opening Day is this week, but it's true. Here's a look at the catcher situation for the Royals heading into the season.</i></span>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 20px; text-align: left;">I already touched on the Salvador Perez injury a little </span><a href="http://tangledupinroyalblue.blogspot.com/2012/03/catching-up-again.html" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 20px; text-align: left;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif; line-height: 20px; text-align: left;">, but I don't think it can be overstated how much it hurts the Royals and their chances, however slight, to contend this year. It really puts the Royals at a disadvantage, especially compared to the other teams in the AL Central. Detroit (Alex Avila), Minnesota (Joe Mauer), Cleveland (Carlos Santana) and even Chicago (A.J. Pierzynski, no matter how much you despise him) are all ahead of the Royals' current situation, with Brayan Pena and Humberto Quintero splitting time until Perez is healthy again.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">I believe if you looked up "indefatigable" in the dictionary, you would find a picture of Brayan Pena. Just in his time with the Royals, he has outlasted John Buck, Miguel Olivo, Jason Kendall, and Matt Treanor. This despite not being particularly gifted defensively, or even offensively. That's not to say he doesn't have his merits. Catcher defense is especially hard to quantify, but I do think his defensive shortcomings have been exaggerated somewhat. He has thrown out would-be base stealers at a better than league average rate all three seasons he's been a Royal. And he's not a great hitter, but he's not a complete embarrassment--he did post a 100 OPS+ in 2009, although that has dropped to 76 and 72 the last two years. So he could be adequate as a backup catcher, but starting him most of the time is a disadvantage for the Royals.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">On the other hand, Humberto Quintero has a reputation as an excellent defensive catcher, but cannot hit a lick. Here's a guy who has compiled a lifetime OPS+ of 58, in the National League. That is terrible. For comparison, Jason Kendall's legendary 201o season with the Royals produced a 71 OPS+. And Quintero's 6 walks in 272 plate appearances last year (hitting 8th in an NL lineup, mind you) makes Yuniesky Betancourt look like Ted Williams when it comes to plate discipline. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">The best-case scenario for the Royals here is that the best part of Pena's game and Quintero's game can somehow mesh and form a decent replacement until Perez is back. Essentially, the Royals need to tread water until then.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><i>Up next: the starting rotation</i></span></span></div>Darinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07466110985286682805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463399241356749092.post-67379911165321800362012-03-31T18:10:00.000-05:002012-03-31T18:10:01.012-05:00The 2012 Royals: The Outfielders<i>Hard to believe Opening Day is next week, but it's true. Here's a look at the outfield situation for the Royals heading into the season.</i>
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That was a pleasant coincidence. I sat down to start this post last night and the first thing I saw online was news of Alex Gordon's contract extension. A hearty round of applause to Dayton Moore and the Royals for this move. It is a slightly risky contract at the back end; the Royals could be on the hook for $12.5 million for a 32-year-old outfielder in 2016 (that's a player option year for Gordon), which means there is at least a chance they will be paying a lot of money to a player in his decline phase. I don't expect that to be the case--by all accounts, Gordon is a hard worker, he's in great shape, and is extremely talented. Those traits should help him maintain his performance level for years to come. But there is always the unstoppable passage of time to erode skills and slow down reactions. Still, the Royals should be getting a bargain for the next few years, so it evens out.<br />
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For this year, Gordon will be a key player in the Royals' lineup. Although he is not the prototypical leadoff hitter, I love having him hit there. With the strong top of the lineup behind him, Gordon should see plenty of fastballs, and he has enough power to dispatch some of them with extreme prejudice.<br />
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My main concern with Gordon is that last year, he hit .358 on balls in play (BABIP). Most players average a BABIP around .300, so there is a strong possibility that Gordon will have some bad hitting luck this year. On the other hand, Gordon hits mostly fly balls, and with his power and the large outfield in his home park, he might not be as susceptible as some others to that regression. Still, it seems unlikely he will bat .303 again, so he will need to walk more to keep that excellent .376 on-base percentage intact. I expect the slugging percentage (.502 in 2011) to remain strong, though. And, of course, we can't forget that Gordon is the reigning Gold Glove winner in left field. Gold Gloves can be overrated, but it's obvious Gordon is a tremendous defender. With his contributions on both sides of the ball, I think a case can be made that Alex Gordon is the best left fielder in the American League.<br />
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The Royal I'm most excited to see this year is Lorenzo Cain, who will take over center field from Melky Cabrera. Despite Cain's tremendous spring training numbers, I don't expect him to totally replace Cabrera's offense. Then again, I wouldn't have expected Cabrera to duplicate that performance again. Even if Cain doesn't quite equal Cabrera offensively, he should be a defensive upgrade. And I do think he will provide a decent amount of offense. He's finally getting his chance at age 26 (OK, he doesn't turn 26 until April 13), and I believe he will take advantage.<br />
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It's hard to believe that a year ago, we were dreading a full season of Jeff Francoeur in right field (and yes, perhaps there is a lesson there for us Yuni/Getz haters). Now we are hoping he can come close to duplicating an outstanding 2011 season. I think it will be difficult for him to do so, but I don't expect a sharp dropoff. The good news is that Frenchy has had an excellent season before (in 2007, he had a higher on-base percentage, but hit for less power). So I think we can rule out last year being a fluke. However, like Gordon, Francoeur had a higher-than-expected BABIP, so a little regression is likely. As always with Francoeur, the key will be if he can maintain some semblance of plate discipline. Even last year, he only drew 37 walks in 656 plate appearances. At this point, I think we can just expect Francoeur to always be a free swinger, but if he can at least keep the walk rate up to that (admittedly low) level, he'll likely hit well enough to be valuable.<br />
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After last year, I sort of wonder if I should even mention the backup outfielders. In 2011, Gordon played 151 games, Francoeur played 153, and Cabrera played 155. Poor Mitch Maier was on the roster all year and only had 113 plate appearances! However, the Royals were so fortunate to avoid injuries last year that you have to expect that there will at least be a sprained ankle or something this season. In that case, I feel like Maier is a capable replacement for the short term. I wouldn't want him starting most of the time, but Maier is a useful bench player. He can play all three outfield spots, has a decent arm, can pinch-run, bats left-handed, and is even the emergency catcher (he was drafted as a catcher, if you didn't know).<br />
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With the Opening Day roster basically set now, it looks like Jason Bourgeois will also be a backup outfielder. I think he's going to have the Jarrod Dyson role this year--pinch-runner extraordinaire. Bourgeois is probably a better hitter than Dyson, though, so he might get to play a little more.<br />
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<i>Up next: the catchers</i>Darinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07466110985286682805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463399241356749092.post-21008927789277617192012-03-28T21:02:00.000-05:002012-03-28T21:02:00.474-05:00The 2012 Royals: The Infielders<i>Hard to believe Opening Day is next week, but it's true. Here's a look at the infield situation for the Royals heading into the season.</i><br />
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Quick, who were the starting infielders for the Royals on Opening Day 2011? I'll give you a minute.<br />
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OK, pencils down. If you guessed Kila Ka'aihue, Chris Getz, Alcides Escobar, and Mike Aviles, you win! Oddly, what with 2011 being a year of massive change at the major-league level, there's a good chance two of those players will start on Opening Day this year. That's great in one case, and disheartening in the other. More on that in a moment.<br />
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The linchpin of the Royals' 2012 infield, and possibly the entire lineup, is at first base. If you're not excited to see a full season of Eric Hosmer, I do feel sorry for you. Only 22 and primed to start on Opening Day, bat cleanup, and star in the Royals' promo campaign, Hosmer is on his way to stardom. He hit 19 homers in 128 games last year, but I think now that he's adjusted to big league life, he has a shot at 30 homers. It will probably be closer to 25, but regardless, he will be a big part of the Royals' offense. He does need to improve his walk rate some (only 34 in 563 plate appearances), especially as pitchers around the AL will work him carefully. But that's part of the learning process.<br />
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Second base has already been a spot for controversy this spring. The demotion of Johnny Giavotella means we'll see Getz (and probably lots of Yuniesky Betancourt!) at second base to begin the season. If you just look at some numbers, this move seems at least defensible. After all, Getz got on base at a better rate than Gio last year, .313 to .273. And their spring training numbers are almost identical, so why not go with the better defensive player?<br />
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Here's the thing. Getting on base is important. Hitting for power is more important. And Getz just can't compete with Giavotella there. In 307 career games, Getz has a total of 42 extra-base hits. Giavotella played 46 games last year and got 15 extra-base hits. That rate would give Gio 98 extra-base hits in the same number of games. And Gio has already caught Getz in career homers at 2 each.<br />
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Defensive statistics are somewhat unreliable. But if you look at the career numbers (which can help even out some of the sample size consistencies of looking at just one year of defensive stats), it is plain that Getz is basically an average second baseman. For example, Getz has a career Ultimate Zone Rating of 5.2 as a second baseman, and a UZR/150 (simply UZR per 150 games) of 3.0. Dustin Pedroia is at 41.5 and 9.6, respectively. Remember, this stat has nothing to do with offense.<br />
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It is likely that Getz is a better defensive player than Giavotella. It's hard to imagine him being so much better defensively that he offsets Gio's advantage on offense. With a team that's light on starting pitching, the Royals' best hope is to put up as many runs as possible early in games and depend on what looks to be a strong bullpen. And while Gio didn't put up outstanding numbers last year, he has hit well at every minor league level. And we know he was playing hurt at the major-league level last year--he had surgery to repair a labral tear in his hip after the season ended. Who knows if that affected his hitting?<br />
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It's a nice thought that the Royals will contend this year. But it isn't likely. With that in mind, the Royals really should continue doing what they did last year: let the young players play. We know what Chris Getz is and what he can do (stories about him driving the ball better in spring training strike me as bunk. First, it's Arizona; the ball should carry better there. Second, so far he has 1 double in 32 at-bats. No triples, no homers. Sounds like a VAST improvement to me). Let's find out if Giavotella is part of the solution or not.<br />
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The good news is that I expect Giavotella to go to Omaha, put up something like the .871 OPS he did last year, and be back in the majors in May when Getz is hitting .250 with no power. Let's just hope the lack of offensive production at second base hasn't completely destroyed the season by then.<br />
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Moving on to shortstop...that position is in good hands (literally) with Alcides Escobar. Just like second base, the Royals will need a step forward offensively from the shortstop position if they hope to contend. Royals shortstops (of course, that was mostly Escobar) only managed a .626 OPS, worst for any position on the team (for the record, Escobar's was .633).<br />
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On the other hand, Escobar is such a good defender that it almost makes up for the lack of offense. If the Royals had Giavotella hitting well at second base and Salvador Perez contributing offensively at catcher, they probably could live with Escobar's production from last year, given his defensive work. But until that happens, I'd like to see more offense from Alcides. An on-base percentage topping .300 would be a good start.<br />
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Third base is another intriguing spot. A year ago now, pretty much everyone expected Mike Moustakas to be the first hot prospect to make an impact for the Royals. But Moose started a bit slowly at Omaha, Hosmer started off on fire, and ultimately Hosmer made it to the majors first.<br />
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A look at Moustakas's overall line from last year is a little concerning: just .263/.309/.367 with 5 homers in 89 games. But a .283/.324/.343 line in August and a sizzling .352/.380/.560 line with 4 homers in September makes me think that Moustakas will be a good hitter this year. I don't think 20 homers and a .750 OPS is out of the question, and that would be quite helpful.<br />
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At this point, the backup infielders look to be Billy Butler and Yuniesky Betancourt. Of course, Butler isn't really a backup, but he won't play first very much, I'm sure. It always amazes me how underrated Butler is offensively, even by Royals fans. No, he doesn't hit as many home runs as you might think he would. Yes, he is slow and grounds into double plays. But he has put up OPS numbers well above .800 three years in a row, and a check of his most similar hitters through age 25 at baseball-reference.com shows names like John Olerud, Kent Hrbek and Keith Hernandez. In other words, you can definitely win a championship with a bat like that in the lineup (yes, all those guys were defensive contributors, too). And while it seems like Country Breakfast has been around forever, he won't turn 26 until mid-April. Theoretically, he should still get better.<br />
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If you read this blog regularly, you know how I feel about Yuni. I still don't agree with the Royals' decision to bring him in as a utility player, but as long as he has a Royals uniform on, I will hope he does well (that goes for Getz, too). I just don't expect him to. My best hope is that the Royals will pick their spots to play him and he will only have 200 or so at-bats. My fear is that the Royals won't be able to help themselves and Yuni will get almost a starter's number of at-bats. I don't think this offense is good enough to have Betancourt, Getz, Escobar and Quintero playing regularly.<br />
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<i>Up next: the outfielders</i>Darinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07466110985286682805noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463399241356749092.post-81374357753165586252012-03-21T22:05:00.006-05:002012-03-21T22:10:18.456-05:00Tomorrow Is Never What It's Supposed To Be<div><span >(from "Don't Fall Apart On Me Tonight," <i>Infidels</i>)</span> </div><div style="font-size: 100%; "><span style="font-size: 100%; "><br /></span></div><div style="font-size: 100%; "><span style="font-size: 100%; ">It's easy to say now, but back in January when the Royals announced the "Our Time" slogan for this season, I was a little worried. I didn't think it was a bad slogan, just a bit presumptuous. My first thought was that if I were a Detroit Tigers fan, I'd be laughing my butt off at that. But even more than that, it seemed to me like it was tempting fate just a little bit. Like any Royals fan, I was excited for this season, although my heart liked the team's chances a lot more than my head did.</span></div><div style="font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; ">Despite the emphasis on statistical analysis these days (an emphasis I definitely support), there are things that can't be quantified. Things like...whatever you want to call it: karma, reaping what you sow, or just getting what's coming to you. And a franchise with one winning season in the last 17 proclaiming that they are going to win right now seems more than a little hubristic to me.</div><div style="font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; ">Obviously, I can't say that a slogan caused the rash of injuries that has befallen the Royals in spring training so far. After last year's basically injury-free campaign, they were probably due to have a major injury or two this year. But it's a little concerning that the season is two weeks away and the Royals are already down two catchers and a closer.</div><div style="font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; ">Joakim Soria's (probable) impending Tommy John surgery will get the most attention around baseball, but Salvador Perez's torn knee ligament and the possibility he could miss three months is a bigger deal to me. Between Jonathan Broxton and Greg Holland, I think the Royals can cover for the loss of Soria pretty easily. Closer is an overrated position, but Broxton has experience there and Holland was quite good last year (and has been excellent this spring, too). Heck, it might be helpful for the future if Holland gets some experience closing games this year.</div><div style="font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; ">The injury to Perez really hurts. Here's a player whom the Royals thought so highly of that just a few weeks ago, they signed him to a five-year contract after only 39 major-league games. For someone so young , he certainly seems to have the full respect of the pitching staff and the coaches. It's hard to replace someone like that, even if it's only for three months.</div><div style="font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; ">The Royals proved how hard it is by trading for Humberto Quintero and outfielder Jason Bourgeois on Tuesday. Quintero has a reputation as a good defensive catcher, but he can't hit at all. He'll split time with Brayan Pena until Perez is back. Pena can hit a little but isn't much defensively, but even if the Royals combined the best attributes of both, I don't think they would match what Perez can do. To me, that puts a serious dent in "Our Time."</div><div style="font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; ">The addition of Bourgeois is a little puzzling to me. Here's a 30-year-old outfielder who can run well, play all three outfield positions (and has played second base, too!), doesn't walk much, and put up an 89 OPS+ last year. I think the Royals already have that guy, and his name is Mitch Maier (and Maier has the advantage of batting left-handed, too). When you compare their career numbers, it's hard to see how Bourgeois has any advantage over Maier:</div><div style="font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; ">Bourgeois: 192 games, .262/.307/.324, 2 HRs, 22 RBI, 46 SB</div><div style="font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; ">Maier: 328 games, .253/.332/.346, 8 HR, 86 RBI, 13 SB</div><div style="font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; ">It will be interesting to see if the Royals view Bourgeois as an alternative to Maier, or if the consider him organizational depth. He probably is ahead of Jarrod Dyson in the pecking order, but it's hard to see how he's clearly better than Maier. He likely has more foot speed, which is always nice in Kauffman Stadium's spacious outfield, but Maier seems to be a better hitter. It is possible the Royals could keep both and only have Yuniesky Betancourt as a backup infielder.</div><div style="font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; "><br /></div><div style="font-size: 100%; font-style: normal; ">In the meantime, we have to hope that the injury bug moves on from Surprise. The Royals already faced an uphill battle to win the division before this rash of injuries, so the possibility of it really being "Our Time" was small to begin with. Any more injuries to key players could be the end of that idea before the season even begins.</div>Darinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07466110985286682805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463399241356749092.post-69474858121422063262012-03-03T11:45:00.001-06:002012-03-03T11:45:00.640-06:00Catching Up (Again)Yep, I'm still here. Although this coming season is the most-anticipated Royals season since at least 2004, it certainly seemed like this winter sped by (perhaps not having massive snowfalls like the last couple of winters helped). Anyway, with spring training underway and Opening Day right around the corner, let's discuss some of the offseason Royals news.<div><br /></div><div>-Yuniesky Betancourt</div><div>I couldn't summon the strength to write about this when it happened, I think. It appears that the Royals just can't quit Yuniesky Betancourt. On the bright side, it's only one year and $2 million. Hey, it's not my money. And he obviously won't be starting at shortstop very often, unless the unthinkable happens and Alcides Escobar gets hurt. But the idea of Yuni as a defensive replacement at a position he's never played in the majors (third base) or played sparingly seven years ago (second base) is concerning at best. <span style="font-size: 100%; ">My main concern is that Johnny Giavotella gets off to a slow start with the bat, the Royals pull the plug on him after a month, and we're treated to Yuni starting at second base for 130 games. At that point, I might prefer Chris Getz. It probably won't happen, but we've seen the Royals do plenty of dumb things through the years.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: 100%; "><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 100%; ">-Jose Mijares</span></div><div><span style="font-size: 100%; ">This was an under-the-radar signing, but a good one, I think. The Royals did have a solid bullpen last year, but one weakness was the lack of a lefty reliever who could get lefty hitters out. I like Tim Collins and think he has a good chance to be a useful reliever in the future, but if the Royals intend to contend this year, they needed an upgrade in the LOOGY (Left-handed One Out GuY, if you didn't know) department. Mijares should provide that.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: 100%; "><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 100%; ">-Salvador Perez</span></div><div>Signing Perez to a contract extension after only 39 major league games might seem risky, but the terms of this contract are so favorable to the Royals there is almost no risk. But don't feel bad for Perez--he's 21 and set to make at least $7 million over the next 5 years. The good news for the Royals is that even if Perez never really hits, he is good enough defensively to be worth the money. The better news for the Royals is that, if things go according to plan, they have cost certainty at the catcher position for years to come. Since the Royals will always be on a budget, it's nice to know what the starting catcher will be making in, say, 2016. And the best news for the Royals actually happened on the other side of the state, when Yadier Molina signed a 5-year, $75 million contract extension.</div><div><br /></div><div>I don't pretend to know if Perez will hit as well as Molina. I will say this: as a 21-year-old rookie in 2004, Molina hit .267/.329/.356 in 151 plate appearances. Last year, as a 21-year-old rookie, Perez hit .331/.361/.473. I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin'. I actually don't expect Perez to hit that well for a full season (indeed, Molina's offense declined for two straight years before bouncing back), but he's probably going to hit a few homers just because he's a big, strong guy. And at a premium defensive position, he's very good already. If and when the Royals are winners, I think Perez is going to play a large part.</div>Darinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07466110985286682805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463399241356749092.post-23696062243444675222011-12-02T21:20:00.001-06:002011-12-02T21:20:00.686-06:00You're An Idiot, Babe...it's a a wonder that you still know how to breathe<div><span class="Apple-style-span" >(From "Idiot Wind," <i>Blood On The Tracks</i>)</span></div><div><br /></div><div>I try not to write in anger. But today's news that Fox Sports Kansas City fired Frank White from their TV broadcasts really infuriates me.</div><div><br /></div><div>For whatever reason, at the same time as the Royals improve on the field, they are doing a terrible job in the public relations department. So far this offseason, they have irritated their fans by cancelling the annual FanFest event and then followed that up by firing possibly the most popular player in Royals history. Sure, it was technically FSKC firing him, but obviously if the Royals wanted him on TV next year, he'd be on TV.</div><div><br /></div><div>White told 610's Nick Wright that he was fired for being "too negative" about the team. This is a load of horsepucky, and frankly the Royals should be ashamed. First, I have a hard time remembering when White was overly critical of the team. Second, I WANT my color analyst to be negative when it is warranted. You know, I believe the Royals have smart fans. Sure, reading the comments on their Facebook page after a trade sometimes makes me wonder about that, but the fans I know personally and/or interact with on Twitter are not dumb. We know if the team is not playing well, and simply hiring a broadcaster to tell us otherwise is not going to work. It annoys me that the Royals apparently don't think we're smart enough to see through that. Of course, they've had Ryan Lefebvre around for years trying to convince us that Tony Pena Jr. and Yuniesky Betancourt were major league shortstops, so perhaps I should be used to it by now. It doesn't mean I have to like it, though.</div><div><br /></div><div>Honestly, I don't believe Frank White is a great broadcaster. Obviously, he knows the game. I always wished he would be a little more open to the new stats that are out there, but I'm certainly not surprised that a former player who worked for the Royals wouldn't be very open to sabermetrics. But he was hardly the worst analyst out there.</div><div><br /></div><div>Beyond that, though, he's Frank White. That name means something in Kansas City. He's from here, he literally helped build Kauffman Stadium, and he was a key part of the glory years. And now the Royals have essentially chased him away. Is there no one at 1 Royal Way who could not see that this move would enrage the vast majority of the fanbase? If I didn't know better, I'd say the Royals were TRYING to antagonize their fans.</div><div><br /></div><div>The FanFest cancellation was based on the flimsiest of excuses: we can't handle that and the All-Star Game preparations, too. So far, the Royals haven't even bothered giving their side of the story on Frank White. They might not ever do that (which might be their best PR move--anything they say is likely to anger people even more).</div><div><br /></div><div>Frankly, I expect this kind of PR idiocy from the Chiefs, because they seem to believe they are still the franchise they were in the 1990s, making the playoffs every year and filling Arrowhead. That arrogance can lead to lots of dumb decisions. But the Royals, who have no playoff appearances in 26 long years, and who have even sniffed contention maybe five times in that stretch, should be doing whatever they can to keep their fans happy. And lately, it seems like they have forgotten that.</div>Darinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07466110985286682805noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463399241356749092.post-60460220364431181732011-11-29T21:00:00.001-06:002011-11-29T21:00:00.803-06:00Trading Soria<div>Should the Royals trade Joakim Soria?</div><div><br /></div>It's a question I've actually been pondering for a while. At the end of the 2011 season, I expected Soria to be in the Royals' bullpen come Opening Day 2012. I would have been shocked, frankly, if he were even mentioned as a trade possibility.<div><br /></div><div>That was before Jonathan Papelbon signed with the Phillies for 4 years and $50 million. And then Joe Nathan, one day after turning 37, signed with the Rangers for 2 years and $14.5 million. Suddenly the market for proven closers looks ridiculous. With limited free-agent options remaining, some teams might be very interested in Soria.</div><div><br /></div><div>The particulars of Soria's contract ($6 million in 2012, club options for 2013 and 2014 at $8 million and $8.75 million, respectively) make him affordable for most teams, and the buyouts on those club options ($750,000 for each option) make him a lower risk. And yes, he struggled last year, but if he has indeed shelved the cutter he was experimenting with, he could easily get back to his All-Star form.</div><div><br /></div><div>Don't get me wrong, I love Joakim Soria. There's no one I'd rather have on the mound as the Royals try to clinch the division next year (why not dream a little?). But closers can be found easily, a lot easier than a top starting pitcher or a power-hitting corner outfielder. Heck, look at the Royals' history: their best closer ever (Dan Quisenberry) wasn't even drafted. Their second-best closer (Jeff Montgomery) was stolen in a trade with the Reds. And Soria was a Rule 5 draft pick. Almost any failed starting pitcher can be a decent closer. And with the group of young pitchers the Royals had in the bullpen last year, they have options if they move Soria.</div><div><br /></div><div>The first option would probably be Greg Holland, who was really the Royals' most effective reliever last year. I could easily see him as an effective closer. Also, the Royals added another option today by signing Jonathan Broxton. The 27-year-old had success as a reliever for the Dodgers for six seasons before an injury curtailed his 2011 season. The Royals say they will use him as a setup man for Soria, but he could certainly slide into the closer role if Soria were unavailable.</div><div><br /></div><div>Given that, I think the Royals should certainly explore trading Soria. They shouldn't trade him just to trade him, but they should definitely listen to any offers. And they shouldn't be afraid to try to fill their rotation needs by trading him.</div><div><br /></div><div>I know there was a Twitter rumor today about trading Soria to Toronto for Colby Rasmus. It looks like that has been denied by Dayton Moore as I write this, and I'm kind of glad. I'd still like to see Lorenzo Cain get a chance; I think he's better defensively than Rasmus and that is important in Kauffman Stadium.</div><div><br /></div><div>But if the Royals can trade Soria for a good starting pitcher, they should definitely do it. I would miss him. But I think it would make the team better, and that's the most important consideration.</div>Darinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07466110985286682805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463399241356749092.post-34270536188374540472011-11-07T21:01:00.001-06:002011-11-07T21:02:00.493-06:00Stick With Me Baby, Stick With Me Anyhow...things should start to get interestin' right about now<div><span class="Apple-style-span" >(From "Mississippi," <i>Love And Theft</i>)</span></div><div><br /></div><div>The Royals are developing a habit of making surprising trades, the kind of trades you don't hear about until they have been completed. That is certainly true of today's trade of Melky Cabrera to San Francisco for left-handed starter Jonathan Sanchez and a minor-leaguer, left-hander Ryan Verdugo. There was certainly speculation about the Royals and Sanchez, but I didn't think any deal would happen this soon, or that it would involve Cabrera.</div><div><br /></div><div>The more I think about this trade, the better I feel about it. Cabrera was certainly a vital part of the Royals' offense last season, but I think the Royals have upgraded their rotation here, and received a potentially useful bullpen arm for the future. Meanwhile, this apparently means Lorenzo Cain will finally get his chance in Kansas City, which should upgrade the defense.</div><div><br /></div><div>I think the Royals did a great job of selling high on Cabrera. Melky's 121 OPS+ in 2011 was by far his career high. He did turn 27 during the 2011 season, so it is possible he could have several more good years. On the other hand, if you just looked at his career numbers without knowing his age, you would certainly notice that his 2011 season was unusual. I would have expected a couple more nice years from Cabrera, but probably not as good as he was this year. </div><div><br /></div><div>Meanwhile, Sanchez will turn 29 in less than two weeks. He has been in the majors for six seasons and was a member of the Giants' rotation when they won the World Series in 2010. Coincidentally, 2010 was his best season, although he was decent in 2009. The problem with Sanchez has always been control; for his career, he averages 4.8 walks per 9 innings pitched. For comparison's sake, Danny Duffy averaged 4.4 walks per 9 IP in 2011, and he was by far the wildest starter on the team. The good news about Sanchez is that he gets lots of strikeouts: he averages 9.4 per 9 IP for his career. So the strikeout to walk ratio is almost 2:1, which is pretty good. </div><div><br /></div><div>In my mind, any loss the Royals suffer on offense should be offset by Cain's superior defense, unless Cain is just a total disaster at the plate. Meanwhile, Sanchez should slide nicely into the 2 or 3 spot of the Royals' rotation, depending on other moves before Opening Day. He is almost certainly an upgrade over Jeff Francis, and probably over Bruce Chen (I do fear this is the end of Chen's time as a Royal; re-signing him would give the Royals three lefties with Mike Montgomery also knocking on the door).</div><div><br /></div><div>The best part to me is that the Royals were able to upgrade their rotation and defense without parting with any prospects. So they still have the ability to make a major trade for pitching if they so choose. On the downside, Sanchez can be a free agent after the 2012 season, so it is possible he will be a Royal for only one year. But overall, I like this deal and I like the Royals' aggressiveness in making it.</div>Darinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07466110985286682805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463399241356749092.post-59650692963284231582011-10-26T21:45:00.000-05:002011-10-26T21:45:00.850-05:00Dave Eiland, Difference Maker?I think we all understand this offseason is a crossroads of sorts for the Royals. The right personnel moves can augment the young talent on the roster and put them in position to contend in 2012, while the wrong moves could potentially make us all wait a couple more years.<br /><div><br /></div><div>So the first big move the team made was adding Dave Eiland as pitching coach, replacing the fired Bob McClure.</div><div><br /></div><div>I liked McClure, but it is amazing to me he lasted as long as he did as the Royals' pitching coach. Six years with one team is a long tenure for any coach, especially a team that lost as often as the Royals did in that time. When you consider that McClure survived not one, but two managerial changes, it's even more surprising. But I suspect the message had gotten stale. The Royals have led the AL in walks allowed two of the past three years. Changing that will be Eiland's biggest challenge.</div><div><br /></div><div>So, what is Eiland's background? Drafted by the Yankees in the 7th round of the 1987 draft, he made his major league debut the next season at the age of 22. I suppose that could be a useful experience when the Royals' promising young pitchers start reaching the majors.</div><div><br /></div><div>After bouncing between the majors and the Yankees' farm system for four seasons, Eiland moved on to San Diego, back to the Yankees, and finally to expansion-era Tampa Bay before finishing up his career in 2002. Fashioning a major-league career out of what he told the Kansas City Star was "a little bit south of mediocre" stuff, Eiland had to learn how to prepare and be a pitcher, not just a thrower.</div><div><br /></div><div>Eiland then began his coaching career in the Yankees' minor leagues, finally becoming the major-league pitching coach in 2008. He held that job through the 2010 season before the Yankees fired him. Eiland spent the 2011 season in the Tampa Bay front office.</div><div><br /></div><div>The 2007 Yankees had an ERA+ of 101, meaning they were slightly above league-average. They improved to a 104 in 2008 and 108 in 2009 before a slight dropoff to 106 in 2010. Also, the Yankees' walk and strikeout rates did improve over 2007 during Eiland's tenure:</div><div><br /></div><div>2007: 3.6 BB/9, 6.3 K/9, 1.75 K/BB</div><div>2008: 3.1 BB/9, 7.1 K/9, 2.33 K/BB</div><div>2009: 3.6 BB/9, 7.8 K/9, 2.20 K/BB</div><div>2010: 3.4 BB/9, 7.2 K/9, 2.14 K/BB</div><div><br /></div><div>Now the downside: the Yanks' 2011 numbers were better in all three of those categories than in 2010 (3.1 BB/9, 7.5 K/9, 2.41 K/BB). But if Eiland can help the Royals improve their 2011 numbers (3.5 BB/9, 6.7 K/9, 1.94 K/BB) at the same rate, the Royals could certainly contend in 2012.</div><div><br /></div><div>Of course, the thing Eiland can't control is what he is given to work with. There is a big difference between coaching CC Sabathia and, say, Danny Duffy. It will be up to Dayton Moore and the farm system to give Eiland talent to work with.</div><div><br /></div><div>In my opinion, Eiland's most important task will be working with Luke Hochevar. We saw a much-improved Hochevar in the second half of the season, but let's be honest: Hochevar has shown flashes of brilliance before. It's unlikely he will ever be an ace, but if he can be an above-average starter, a bona fide number 2 starter, he will be a key piece of the Royals' rotation.</div><div><br /></div><div>Other big projects for Eiland: getting Aaron Crow back on track and getting Tim Collins and Danny Duffy to improve their control. I have my doubts about Crow as a starter, although there is certainly no harm in giving him a shot to make the rotation in spring training. But even if he returns to a relief role, the Royals need him to be first-half Aaron Crow. Collins could be a valuable 7th-inning guy, maybe even a setup guy in a pinch, but he averaged 6.4 walks per 9 innings pitched in 2011. You just can't let a guy that wild pitch in the late innings. I think Duffy can be a middle of the rotation guy, but he too needs better control--100 pitches in 5 innings isn't going to cut it.</div>Darinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07466110985286682805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463399241356749092.post-53064081516345357242011-10-02T22:50:00.001-05:002011-10-03T22:46:22.675-05:00And The Corner Sign Says It's Closing Time...so I'll bid farewell and be down the road<div><span class="Apple-style-span" >(From "Restless Farewell,"<i> The Times They Are A-Changin'</i>)</span></div><div><br /></div><div>With the curtain pulled down on the Royals' 2011 campaign, it's time to look back at the last six months and also look ahead a bit to 2012. </div><div><br /></div><div>Like many of you, I wanted the season to go on a while longer. We are all used to looking forward to the end of the season sometime around August 1, if not sooner, but this year was a little different. For me, the interesting part of the season really began on August 10, when the Royals called up Salvador Perez, completing the lineup they would basically use for the rest of the year and the lineup that will likely take the field on Opening Day 2012:</div><div><br /></div><div>Salvador Perez C</div><div>Eric Hosmer 1B</div><div>Johnny Giavotella 2B</div><div>Alcides Escobar SS</div><div>Mike Moustakas 3B</div><div>Alex Gordon LF</div><div>Melky Cabrera CF</div><div>Jeff Francoeur RF</div><div>Billy Butler DH</div><div><br /></div><div>That is probably the most solid everday lineup the Royals have run out there since...I don't know, 2003? Heck, I'd take the catcher and most of that infield over the 2003 team. Anyway, it's been a while since we've seen a lineup where it's enjoyable to watch at least 7 or 8 of the guys hit (I love Escobar's defense of course, but when he's struggling at the plate, it's especially difficult to watch. However, he's not here for his bat--we just have to hope that he'll at least throw in an empty .250 batting average in the future).</div><div><br /></div><div>But for all the excitement for 2012 in the Royals' fanbase, that lineup only went 22-24 to close out the season. I think there certainly is reason to be excited, but I wouldn't expect a playoff appearance in 2012 unless several things go right. Yes, the Royals played well in September (15-10). They were 18-8 in September 2008, and what did that get us in 2009? The 2012 Royals will almost certainly be better than the 2009 version, but I don't know that they will be as good as we are hoping.</div><div><br /></div><div>On the bright side, in those 46 games the Royals outscored their opponents 225-207. Over a full season, that would equate to an 87-75 record. But that was fueled in large part by a .297 team batting average in those 46 games. I don't think that's sustainable for six months. The .792 OPS they put up might be sustainable, but the team will need to take more walks to keep that number high. And this is still the Royals--they tied for 11th in the league in walks this season.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm sorry if this comes across as pessimistic. Believe me, I'm as excited as anyone to see these guys continue to grow and develop next year. I just don't want to start thinking playoffs quite yet, when there is still so much improvement that needs to take place.</div><div><br /></div><div>For the Royals to truly contend next year, the first thing that needs to happen is an upgrade to the rotation. Part of the fun this year was seeing Danny Duffy develop, Felipe Paulino come off the scrap heap to strike out nearly a batter per inning, and Luke Hochevar to tease us with a solid second half. Those three will almost certainly all be back for 2012, and I wouldn't mind it if the Royals brought Bruce Chen back for another year of crafty leftiness. There's nothing wrong with this group, it just needs a guy who is clearly THE guy. Unfortunately, the free-agent market is weak this offseason, so the Royals' best bet is a trade. Who they should trade for is a separate post entirely, however.</div><div><br /></div><div>Any contention in 2012 will also depend on the outfield of Gordon, Cabrera and Francoeur at least approaching the offensive numbers they put up this year. While none of them are at an age where you would expect a big decline in numbers, Gordon and Cabrera both had years quite a bit better than any previous season in their careers. Frenchy's 2011 was his best full season so far, but at least comparable to what he did in a half-season his rookie year and again in a half-season with the Mets. If you add up the trio's OPS+ numbers, you get a total of 380. The Royals will likely need something approaching that from the three of them next year, as the rest of the lineup is so young that there is no guarantee they will produce at the same level or even improve.</div><div><br /></div><div>Right now, with a whole offseason of moves ahead of us, if I had to guess, I'd say the Royals will have a 2012 much like Cleveland's 2011: hang around 1st place for a while before tapering off and finishing around .500. Which would be a fun season and one I could live with at this point.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the meantime, I have a few ideas for some offbeat offseason posts, and of course I will be around to opine on whatever moves the Royals make. Opening Day 2012 seems like a long ways away, but I think it will be here before we know it.</div>Darinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07466110985286682805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463399241356749092.post-86182215235243877072011-09-02T22:35:00.001-05:002011-09-02T22:36:06.568-05:00My Batting Practice With The Stars (And Jerry Terrell)I think the moment when it became real to me, when I realized that what was about to happen would be one of the most memorable experiences of my life, was when I was standing on the right field foul line at Kauffman Stadium. Looking up at all those seats, the Rivals sports bar, and that huge scoreboard, it hit me. I was about to do something that would be far different from any baseball experience of my life.<div>
<br /></div><div>This was the Royals Alumni Batting Practice, and it was truly amazing. I received this opportunity as an early birthday present from my dad and stepmom. I found out a couple of weeks before the Aug. 27 event that I would be participating, but the nervousness didn't really start until the drive over to the stadium that morning. It was more of a first-day-of-school nervousness, because my only goal was to hit one ball out of the infield and, in general, not embarrass myself. After all, I probably hadn't swung a bat at a baseball since high school, or possibly college. Sure, there had been plenty of slow-pitch softball, but that's not quite the same.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>There are very few reasons to be awake at 6:30 on a Saturday morning, but this was certainly a good one. We arrived at the stadium about 7:30, a good 15 minutes before we were supposed to be there, but we were hardly alone. I think most of the participants were already there. We went inside the stadium, which was a rather unusual experience, as the place was quiet and almost eerily still. We proceeded into the Diamond Club and took the elevators down to the Crown Club.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>You can see the Crown Club seats on TV every night--they're the ones directly behind home plate. But I really did not know there was a restaurant behind those seats, under the stands. The Royals provided a continental breakfast for those of us participating in the batting practice, and soon Fred White, former Royals radio broadcaster, introduced the alumni who would be joining us:</div><div>
<br /></div><div><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/a/aikenwi01.shtml">Willie Aikens</a></div><div><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/b/blumaja01.shtml">Jamie Bluma</a></div><div><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/e/eisenji01.shtml">Jim Eisenreich</a></div><div><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/f/fitzmal01.shtml">Al Fitzmorris</a></div><div><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/l/leonade01.shtml">Dennis Leonard</a></div><div><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/maybejo01.shtml">John Mayberry</a></div><div><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/mcraebr01.shtml">Brian McRae</a></div><div><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/m/myersro02.shtml">Rod Myers</a></div><div><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/sedlash01.shtml">Shawn Sedlacek</a></div><div><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/terreje01.shtml">Jerry Terrell</a></div><div><a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/wilsowi02.shtml">Willie Wilson</a></div><div>
<br /></div><div>At last, it was time to head out to the field. Fred White read off our group assignments--there were four groups, with eight or nine of us in each group. I was happy to hear that my group would not be hitting first--I wanted to get some of the butterflies out of my system before I got in the cage.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Before there would be any hitting, though, we all gathered on the right-field foul line. Under the direction of former Royals trainers Paul McGannon and Nick Swartz, we jogged across the outfield and gathered in left field for some stretching.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>An observation related to the Royals: That outfield is HUGE. I mean, you can tell it's big when you sit in the stands or even watching on TV. But when you're out there, you get a new appreciation for just how much room is out there. Now I would love to see the Royals trade Melky Cabrera for starting pitching and bring up Lorenzo Cain. I just don't think Melky can adequately cover all that ground, particularly when Alex Gordon and Jeff Francoeur aren't really above-average rangewise. They are good outfielders, but I don't think they can make up for Melky's lack of range.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Anyway, the first group headed to the batting cage, and we proceeded to center field to catch some fungoes. While Jamie Bluma hit to us, Willie Wilson alternately encouraged us, coached us, and entertained us with stories from his playing days. Since I didn't identify myself as a blogger, I don't feel like I should repeat the stories, but they were entertaining. As a long-time Royals fan, it makes me happy to see Wilson involved with the Royals and seemingly at peace with his place in Royals history. When he played for the Royals, it always seemed like he was a little surly (of course, given the much more limited media coverage in those days, that is just the impression I had). And then the Royals let him go, and I'm sure he felt like he could still play (and he would </div><div>have three more decent seasons).</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Before we got to hit on the field, we were allowed to head to the batting cages behind the Royals dugout. If you didn't know, there are two batting cages back there where players can go to take extra swings during the game, or if the weather is bad, the entire team may take batting practice there before a game. John Mayberry and Willie Aikens were kind enough to pitch to us--well, it was more of a short toss. From behind screens about 10 feet away, they threw baseball after baseball to us underhanded. It was so good to see Aikens involved with this sort of thing after all he's been through.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Finally, it was time to go out and hit. But first, I had to take care of the blister that had developed on my left hand while I was in the batting cage. Nick Swartz was kind enough to fish a bandage out of his bag of supplies, plus put some tape on the bandage to keep it on. I know the blogging community wasn't always kind to him, but I had no complaints. I will be sure to invest in some batting gloves if I am lucky enough to do this again, though.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>As we clustered around the batting cage, I had my first exposure to a treasure of man, Jerry Terrell. I have to admit, I knew very little about him before I got home from this event and looked him up on baseball-reference.com. In fact, I thought he was a backup outfielder, when he was actually a utility infielder. He gave me an impromptu hitting lesson on staying loose while batting, holding a bat between his palms and swinging hard, not closing his hands around the bat until the imagined moment of impact. Armed with this newfound knowledge and confident after smacking line drives all over the batting cage, I stepped in for my turn at bat.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Brian McRae was pitching to our group. Apparently B-Mac likes to throw inside, and hard. I was having trouble getting my hands around fast enough to do much. But somewhere in there, I did hit a couple out of the infield. But those 10 swings were a blur.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Each member of the group got 10 swings, then a second round of five swings, then a third round of two swings. In between turns, we were entertained and encouraged by Jerry Terrell. He is the nicest man you could hope to meet, and quite a storyteller, too. After five minutes, I felt like I'd known him for years, which is why I feel comfortable teasing him (on the off-chance he would read this) with the headline of this post. Really, meeting him and hearing his stories was one of the highlights of the day. I think he could probably make a decent living selling an hour of his time to hear him tell stories--personally, I would love to hear what it was like to be a Royal in the late '70s.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>After we hit, it was time to go back out and field for the next two groups. After I'd been in the outfield for a while, Fred White ambled over to the small group I was with. If you're my age, you grew up with Fred and Denny Matthews, and in those days, not nearly as many games were televised. So Denny and Fred were THE way to follow the Royals. So it was cool to talk baseball with Fred for a few minutes.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>It didn't take long before it was my group's turn to hit again. This time, our pitcher was Al Fitzmorris. Brian McRae was all business on the mound, but as you might expect, Fitzmorris was a little less serious. One member of our group smacked a couple of line drives, and Fitzmorris said, "Big deal, everyone did that against me!"</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Alas, I did not. I think I was a little tired and swinging a little slow. I even swung at one pitch that was at least neck-high, which was not one of my finer moments. I never was much of a hitter, but I always did have a good eye. So that session wasn't as successful as the first one.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Back out on the field, I got to meet and have a little conversation with one of my all-time favorite Royals, Jim Eisenreich. I'm happy to report that he is as nice in person as I hoped he would be. I don't know what he does with his time now, but he obviously spends a decent amount of time working out. He looks like he could still play!</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Soon our day was at an end. There was time for some pictures with the Royals alums (see below) and it was over. We gathered our things and walked up the stadium steps to ground level, with memories for a lifetime.</div><div>
<br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmtiDzqqBIK3exB-gjQtwp6ExmcCTxJG5Vn8J-zU5UBz9_yWpUES5i_hIPKHQZnnHvy6LWPep1B4Ix9eJb4KHTDeL9R4L461P80ss44OjHOWtFYNGYeuR1C1qSrwfHAY6FYStjCCD9sCYh/s1600/DSCN0602.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmtiDzqqBIK3exB-gjQtwp6ExmcCTxJG5Vn8J-zU5UBz9_yWpUES5i_hIPKHQZnnHvy6LWPep1B4Ix9eJb4KHTDeL9R4L461P80ss44OjHOWtFYNGYeuR1C1qSrwfHAY6FYStjCCD9sCYh/s400/DSCN0602.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647968333045910786" style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></a></div><div>
<br /></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" >Taking my cuts in the batting cage</span></i></div><div>
<br /></div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE-Ec6hH3w8ECSTijd_jNNmh4w-etDdtaHroQQBQLkTYsONP9leYR2CktDubXJhAY4PtdyD02nvoeoEXjxvjFC0VsLbKpotb_rEFIMmbwhbALIW5MMrRiOsoUTL-KrPjqGJCj95wfZqmwI/s1600/DSCN0646.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE-Ec6hH3w8ECSTijd_jNNmh4w-etDdtaHroQQBQLkTYsONP9leYR2CktDubXJhAY4PtdyD02nvoeoEXjxvjFC0VsLbKpotb_rEFIMmbwhbALIW5MMrRiOsoUTL-KrPjqGJCj95wfZqmwI/s400/DSCN0646.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647969312952562978" style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></a>
<br /></div><div>
<br /></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" >Jim Eisenreich and Jerry Terrell with your humble correspondent. I told you Jerry was a cut-up.</span></i></div><div>
<br /></div><div> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEE_hyTon9mlPsALhq0b2T7L8JGEaXxUFgU6kuZwOfRDWw3aMKl71Ebo8g2BbBENIYzDMVcBNFQyMK22OAtC7wEK33Bom0QGqms7K3J5NmUUWT15ck_WCWhfgvsPc2bURbrEBZIgZmWiS6/s1600/DSCN0649.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEE_hyTon9mlPsALhq0b2T7L8JGEaXxUFgU6kuZwOfRDWw3aMKl71Ebo8g2BbBENIYzDMVcBNFQyMK22OAtC7wEK33Bom0QGqms7K3J5NmUUWT15ck_WCWhfgvsPc2bURbrEBZIgZmWiS6/s400/DSCN0649.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5647970419991707298" style="cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></a></div><div>
<br /></div><div><i><span class="Apple-style-span" >Two great first basemen (John Mayberry and Willie Aikens). Oh yeah, and some doofus.</span></i></div>Darinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07466110985286682805noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463399241356749092.post-7802792056972464912011-08-23T20:11:00.004-05:002011-08-23T21:03:57.480-05:00The Joakim Soria Drinking GameIf you like to follow along on Twitter during Royals games (and why wouldn't you?), you probably know about the <a href="http://www.ramblingmorons.com/?p=206">Kyle Davies Drinking Game</a> (hat tip to @fakenedyost). Well, since Kyle is no longer with us, it's time for a new drinking game. And who better to inspire this game then the man who pitches when the game is on the line?<div>
<br /></div><div>Now, before Soria turned into a mere mortal this season, this wouldn't have been much of a game. But since he has struggled for pretty much the whole 2011 season, we've got to do something to calm the nerves any time he tries to protect a lead.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>So, here are the rules:</div><div>
<br /></div><div>1. Before Soria comes in, take one drink if the Royals are ahead by three runs, two drinks if they are ahead by two runs, and three drinks if the lead is one run. The tighter the game, the more alcohol is needed.</div><div>2. Also, take one drink for each runner the Royals left on base in their previous inning. Insurance runs? Who needs 'em?</div><div>3. Leadoff walk. Drink.</div><div>4. Bloop hit. Drink.</div><div>5. Ground ball through the infield. Drink.</div><div>6. Soria gets the first out. One drink of water.</div><div>6. Soria's famous rainbow curve misses the strike zone by a foot. Drink one shot. Since Soria is Mexican, I recommend a good tequila.</div><div>7. Line drive just foul up the right- or left-field line. Drink.</div><div>8. Soria's famous rainbow curve bounces in the dirt. Drink one shot.</div><div>9. Fly ball to the warning track. Drink.</div><div>10. Tying run reaches scoring position. Two drinks.</div><div>11. Winning/go-ahead run reaches scoring position. Three drinks.</div><div>12. Soria gets the second out. Two drinks of water.</div><div>13. If one run scores: if it is not the tying or winning run, take one drink. If it is the tying run, finish your beer. If it is the winning run, finish your beer and spike the remote control.</div><div>14. If a second run scores: if it is not the tying or winning run, take two drinks. If it is the tying run, finish your beer. If it is the winning run, finish your beer and spike the remote control.</div><div>15. If a third run scores: finish your beer and spike the remote control. Get on Twitter and wonder why Greg Holland couldn't have just stayed in the damn game.</div><div>16. If Soria manages to close out the game: break out the champagne! One glass to celebrate.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Any suggestions for extra rules?</div>Darinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07466110985286682805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463399241356749092.post-57790264906786505292011-08-18T21:55:00.001-05:002011-08-18T21:55:00.396-05:00Pick Up Your Money And Pack Up Your Tent...you ain't going nowhere.<div><span class="Apple-style-span" >(From "You Ain't Going Nowhere," <i>The Basement Tapes</i>)</span></div><div>
<br /></div><div>"You" in this case being Jeff <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Francoeur</span>. And he ain't going nowhere for at least two years after signing a contract extension with the Royals.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>The move was announced this morning, and although this is an incredibly busy time at work for me, I tried to follow the discussion on Twitter. Frankly, I was taken aback by the hate for this move, especially before we even knew the financial details.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Now that we do know the details--$13.5 million over two years--it's easier to pass judgement on this deal. And my judgement is: this deal is not awful, but I wouldn't call myself a fan.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>When the Royals signed Frenchy over the winter, I actually thought it was a decent addition. Now that we're 75% of the way through the season, it's obvious that it was a terrific addition. A 119 OPS+, a gun for a right arm, and yes, leadership--Francoeur has been a valuable player for the Royals this year. Of course, my hope when the Royals signed him was that he would play well and then be traded to fill a position of need.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>However, a couple of things have changed since then. First, the Royals have evidently decided they can compete in the AL Central in 2012. Second, some of the bloom has come off the Wil Myers prospect rose.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>As I've said before, I do think the Royals can compete next year. Obviously, the starting pitching will have to have considerable improvement, whether through trade, free agent signing, or simply having one of the talented young relievers in the bullpen adapt quickly to starting next year. Or having Mike Montgomery somehow overcome a disappointing 2011 season and contribute. At any rate, if you plan on contending, it's nice to have a right fielder on pace for roughly 20 homers, 45 doubles, 88 RBI, 25 stolen bases and 16 outfield assists.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>It's especially nice when you don't have an apparent successor ready in the minor leagues. With all the talent that has come up to the majors this year, Wil Myers is probably the top position player prospect left in the farm system. After he raked at Class A Wilmington last year (in what is normally a terrible hitters' park), it seemed like he would be ready for the majors soon. But now, in a terrific hitters' park in Northwest Arkansas, Myers is...well, not struggling. But not doing outstanding, either. His OPS is .727, which is not bad but not really setting the world on fire. Most concerning is his lack of power; he only has 5 homers in 82 games coming in to tonight's games. That was a good week for Mike Moustakas as a Natural. This isn't meant to say that Myers is a bust. He's still just 20 and having a decent year at Double-A. He just doesn't look like he will be ready for the majors until 2013 now.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Faced with these developments, the Royals are obviously betting that Francoeur will overcome his historical pattern of starting off well for a team and then struggling. There is certainly a chance that this pattern will continue next year. I do think this is about as good a season as he is capable of. And if he falls off a lot, this contract will look terrible. If he falls off a little, it looks underwhelming. If he somehow continues this level of production, then it probably is about right. And there's my concern: I feel like the Royals overpaid slightly for a player who is having a very good season and has a decent chance of never being this good again. Then again, if the total dollars had been in the $11-12 million range, I would think that was fair. That is why I'm not that upset about it.</div>Darinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07466110985286682805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463399241356749092.post-12615676766965421422011-08-14T21:45:00.001-05:002011-08-14T21:45:00.353-05:00Catching UpEven an uneventful trade deadline helped make the last two weeks very eventful for the Royals franchise. If first-round draft pick Bubba Starling signs before tomorrow night's deadline, as is generally expected, we may look back on the past two weeks as the timeframe where the 2012-2018 Royals took shape.<div>
<br /></div><div>By essentially standing pat at the deadline, the Royals basically committed to having one or both of Melky Cabrera and Jeff Francoeur in the outfield next year. Cabrera will almost certainly be there, and I'd say Frenchy probably will be too. Even if he turns down his part of the mutual option for 2012 in his contract, I bet the Royals will do just about anything to re-sign him.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>The Royals did add one potential piece of the puzzle by shipping Mike Aviles to Boston for Yamaico Navarro. I like this trade--Navarro will probably end up as a utility infielder who can hit a little bit. In short, a younger, probably more talented version of Aviles. Heck, if Mike Moustakas can't figure out major league pitching, Navarro might be a stopgap at third base for a while. I still believe Moustakas will learn to hit, but it's getting harder to believe that each day he goes 0-4.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>A few days later, the Royals finally called up second baseman Johnny Giavotella. This move was long overdue, but whatever. I'd rather a prospect prove he has conquered the minor leagues than have that prospect called up too soon (like Moustakas almost certainly was). With this move, the Royals appear to have their infield set for the better part of the next decade. This should excite even the most casual Royals fan: the probable 2012 Opening Day infield, with their age next April 1:</div><div>
<br /></div><div>1B Eric Hosmer, age 22. Under team control through 2017 season.</div><div>2B Johnny Giavotella, age 24. Under team control through 2017 season.</div><div>SS Alcides Escobar, age 25. Under team control through 2016 season.</div><div>3B Mike Moustakas, age 23. Under team control through 2017 season.</div><div>DH/1B Billy Butler, age 25. Under team control through 2015 season (team option for 2o15).</div><div>2B/SS/3B Yamaico Navarro, age 24. Under team control through 2016 season.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>Throw in the catching duo of Salvador Perez (age 21, under team control through 2017) and Manny Pina (age 24, under team control through 2017) and you have a strong core of players that should learn to play at the major league level together, and hopefully win together.</div><div>
<br /></div><div>The next step is getting Bubba Starling in the fold. I would think that he will go ahead and take the Royals' money rather than wait around for his chance to play quarterback at Nebraska. We won't have to wait long to find out--the deadline for him to sign is tomorrow night. There is a decent chance Starling will flame out, but if he is able to harness his considerable ability, the Royals will have a star in the outfield in short time.</div>Darinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07466110985286682805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463399241356749092.post-85115557850089807852011-07-28T21:00:00.001-05:002011-07-28T21:00:01.515-05:00March Me Away To The Station...I'm off to some far-distant land.<div><span class="Apple-style-span">(From "Little Maggie," <i>Good As I Been To You</i>)</span></div><div><br /></div><div>With the trade deadline coming up Sunday, the Royals are in a unique position. It's one you don't normally see for a team roughly 20 games under .500. Normally when you are that bad, you need help anywhere you can get it. But in the Royals' case, with so many young players on the major league roster and many more waiting in the wings, KC can afford to be picky if they decide to make some moves. </div><div><br /></div><div>The Royals appear to be set at pretty much each defensive position, if not for this year, then for 2012 and beyond. Presumably they will pull the trigger on Johnny Giavotella at some point and he will be starting at second base next year, and today's promotion of Salvador Perez to Omaha makes me think he will be given every opportunity to win the starting catcher spot next spring.</div><div><br /></div><div>Given that, Dayton Moore's focus the next few days and in the offseason has to be fixing a starting rotation that has ranged from mediocre to downright awful this season. Plus, there is a good chance they will need two new starters to fill out the rotation before next season. I feel like the Royals can compete for a division title next year in the normally weak AL Central, but only with a serious upgrade to the rotation. Moore's secondary objective should be solving the outfield logjam that is likely to result whenever Lorenzo Cain is deemed worthy of a spot on the major-league roster.</div><div><br /></div><div>As a bonus, the Royals have plenty of prospects at all levels of the minor leagues now. Also, with this year's payroll at $38 million and change, there is plenty of room to add payroll. For once in recent Royals history, money is no object. Or shouldn't be, anyway.</div><div><br /></div><div>Perusing the list of potential free agent pitchers this winter, it looks like a pretty thin class. Normally, big name free agents wouldn't even consider signing with the Royals. But I think players know what's going on with this organization and would at least consider coming here now. If there were plenty of big names available, I'd say the Royals would have a chance of signing one. But the limited star power in this particular class certainly hurts their chances. So any upgrade will probably have to come via trade, whether it's this week or in the offseason.</div><div><br /></div><div>If it were up to me, I would be looking to trade for major league pitchers or pitching prospects who are ready to make the majors next year. I would certainly be looking to trade either Jeff Francoeur or Melky Cabrera. Or both, if I got enough return. I like both Frenchy and Melky, and both have played well here. But there is no guarantee the Royals can bring Frenchy back next season, and there is no guarantee Melky will hit as well next year. While it's true Cabrera is only 26 and theoretically entering his prime years, it is also true he has never had an offensive season this good. So I wouldn't feel locked in to bringing him back.</div><div><br /></div><div>Beyond those two, I would be willing to listen to offers for anyone. While the Royals can afford to be picky, they shouldn't feel like any player is untouchable. The flip side of having a low payroll is that nobody on this team has a contract that would be untradeable. That should help the Royals get a better return if they trade someone on the major-league roster.</div><div><br /></div><div>So KC is in a good position to trade a Joakim Soria or a Billy Butler, if that is what it takes to get a good starting pitcher. Of course I like Soria and Butler and would like them to stay, but I would like the Royals to win, too. And in Soria's case, I feel like he can be replaced by Aaron Crow or one of the other promising young relievers. Butler would be more difficult to replace--I'm not sure Clint Robinson is up to it, and the next really big hitting prospect in the system is Wil Myers, still in Class AA ball.</div><div><br /></div><div>This trade deadline, and really the offseason, are going to be very important times for this franchise. You can only hoard so many prospects, and the payroll is unlikely to be this low again for some time. Smart, aggressive trades can set this team up for contention over the next several years.</div>Darinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07466110985286682805noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463399241356749092.post-16238738779483093472011-07-16T12:51:00.001-05:002011-07-16T12:51:09.686-05:00Anger ManagementThink back to last Sunday's Royals game, the last one before the All-Star Break. In the bottom of the ninth, with the Royals down by one run, Eric Hosmer tried to steal third. It was a close play, but I thought he was safe when it happened. Replays didn't prove it, but it certainly looked like there was a good chance Hosmer was safe. So instead of the tying run being on third with one out, there was no one on with two out. Hosmer argued (well, questioned might be a better word) briefly with the umpire as he got up. He insisted to the media after the game that he was safe.<div><br /></div><div><div>I know lots of people didn't care for this gamble. Personally, I didn't have a problem with it. The Royals have obviously put an emphasis on stolen bases and baserunning as keys to their offense this year. While we can debate the merits of that strategy, I can't fault them for sticking to their guns in a game situation.</div><div><br /></div><div>No, my problem with the play was that Ned Yost didn't even go out and argue the call. Now, it's true that manager-umpire arguments are mostly exercises in futility. But I think there is value in a manager sticking up for his players, particularly young players.</div><div><br /></div><div>Tactics matter, but many times a manager has little or no effect on the outcome of a game. However, a manager can help his team every day by psychological means. I'm a stats kind of guy--I believe they can tell us a lot about who is actually a valuable player, who is overrated, where a guy is best suited to play in the field, and so on. But stats have never, and probably never will, tell us about the human aspect of the game.</div><div><br /></div><div>Given that, I feel a manager can really help boost his team's confidence by standing up for them when they are on the wrong end of a bad call. It's just human nature to perform better when you know the boss has your back.</div><div><br /></div><div>If I may switch sports...not to disappoint MU or K-State fans reading this, but I am a KU fan. And I'm one of those rare KU fans who cares as much about the football team as I do about the basketball team. And I believe with all my heart that Mark Mangino's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bd_IVRTsGsk">comments</a> after a horrible</div><div>offensive pass interference call cost the Jayhawks a game against Texas in 2004 helped make KU football competitive, at least for a few years. Starting the week after that game, KU went 39-21 until the end of Mangino's tenure. And many players pointed to that press conference as a turning point for the program.</div><div><br /></div><div>Go watch the video I linked--fast-forward to the 3:40 mark for Mangino's postgame comments. It's commonly referred to as a rant, but watching it it's apparent that Mangino knows exactly what he's doing--sending a message to the league, the officials, and especially his own players that KU football would no longer be a pushover.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm not saying Yost needs to develop a Mangino-like attitude (insert eating joke here), especially given what we know now about Mangino's treatment of players and assistant coaches, which ended up being his downfall. But I do think it would help the Royals if Yost would stand up for his players a little more. </div><div><br /></div><div>I think we all know that young players are not as likely as veterans to get the benefit of the doubt from umpires. It may not be fair, but it's been that way in baseball for decades. When a team is full of young players, the franchise has been irrelevant for almost 20 years now, and a joke for the better part of the last 15 years, it's going to be tough to get the umpires' respect. That's where a veteran manager, who has also played and coached in the majors, can help. I'm not saying Ned Yost should become Bobby Cox, but he has only been ejected once this year and once last year, as best as I can tell (if anybody knows where to find a comprehensive list of manager ejections, please let me know!). All these young players the Royals have? They have enough problems and pressure trying to figure out the game at its highest level. I think it would help them somewhat if Yost were a little more aggressive with the umpires.</div></div>Darinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07466110985286682805noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463399241356749092.post-86112949108957657602011-07-10T17:40:00.001-05:002011-07-10T17:41:09.285-05:00The 2011 Royals: Progress?A year ago, heading into the All-Star Break, the Royals were 39-49. This year, after today's loss, they are 37-54. That doesn't sound like much progress has been made, does it? I have seen and heard this be said many times in the last few weeks as the bottom has fallen out of the 2011 season.<div><br /></div><div>Yet, I feel like this is a better team now than it was a year ago.</div><div><br /></div><div>For one thing, the 2011 Royals are on pace to score 716 runs. Last year, they scored 676. Even better, with offensive numbers down all around the league, this year the Royals are sixth in the AL in runs scored and above the league average. In 2010, the Royals were 10th in the AL in runs scored and 45 runs below the league average. Even better, the Royals are doing this with the youngest offense in all of Major League Baseball, according to baseball-reference.com.</div><div><br /></div><div>That leads me to two key thoughts about the Royals' offense: it should continue to improve over the next few years as players like Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas get more experience, and this offense should get even younger, but better, in the short term whenever Lorenzo Cain (age 25) and Johnny Giavotella (turning 24 tomorrow) are added to the mix.</div><div><br /></div><div>In other good news, all those rookies in the bullpen are having solid years. I like that the Royals are using the bullpen to get a potential starting pitcher like Aaron Crow acclimated to the majors while controlling his innings. And guys that project as relievers in the majors, like a Louis Coleman, are getting to experience success in 6th- and 7th- inning situations. With Joakim Soria apparently back to his normal form, you have to like the Royals' chances for a win if they can get through 5 or 6 innings with a lead.</div><div><br /></div><div>Defensively, this team at least looks better than any Royals team in recent memory. With Alcides Escobar playing a Gold Glove-caliber shortstop, Eric Hosmer showing Gold Glove potential at first base and the outfielders leading the majors in assists, the eye test tells me this is an upgraded defensive team from last year. Oddly enough, though, the Royals rank last in the league in the Defensive Efficiency stat, which is simply a measurement of how many batted balls are turned into outs. Which leads me to the main problem with this year's team...</div><div><br /></div><div>Many expected the 2011 Royals to have the worst starting rotation in baseball history. They haven't been that bad, but they have been awful. Royals starters have won 19 games this year. The relievers have won 18. Royals starters have compiled a 5.13 ERA this year, while the bullpen has a 3.56 ERA (and remember, Vin Mazzaro's amazingly awful <a href="http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/KCA/KCA201105160.shtml">outing</a> in May counts against the bullpen's numbers, even though he's normally a starting pitcher). But the most telling (and damning) statistic about the starters: in 519 1/3 innings pitched, they have 303 strikeouts. In 303 2/3 innings pitched, the relievers have 262 strikeouts.</div><div><br /></div><div>That's right. In 216 more innings, Royals starters have managed to strikeout only 41 more hitters than the relievers. And this is <i>after</i> Felipe Paulino has amassed 42 K's in 43.2 innings. Basically, if the Royals hadn't plucked Paulino off the waiver wire, the strikeout competition would be a dead heat.</div><div><br /></div><div>This ties in to the defensive stats of the team. The fewer strikeouts the pitchers get, the more opposing hitters are putting the ball in play. That doesn't necessarily impact the Defensive Efficiency stat, but it does give more chances for bloopers to fall in, grounders to find a hole, line drives to find a gap, or fly balls to get over the fence. It's nearly impossible to win consistently as a starter when you are striking out only five batters per nine innings pitched. About the only way to do it is to limit your walks, but of course the Royals are failing at that too. KC has given up the second-most walks in the AL, and the bullpen has contributed to that (178 walks by starters, 137 by relievers).</div><div><br /></div><div>The plan on Opening Day was to have a starting rotation of Luke Hochevar, Jeff Francis, Bruce Chen, Kyle Davies and Mazzaro. They have 198 K's in 369 innings. Hochevar in particular is a mystery--for all his faults, he struck out 6.7 hitters per nine innings in 2009, 6.6 last year, but is only at 4.6 this year. Chen and Francis have never been big strikeout guys, but their rates have fallen off a bit, too. Only Davies has maintained his normal rate. Unfortunately, he's also maintained his normal rate of awfulness, too.</div><div><br /></div><div>On the bright side, Paulino and Danny Duffy have both put up good strikeout numbers in their limited time as Royals. Paulino is at 8.4 K's per nine innings, while Duffy has 7.4. In fact, they rank 3rd and 4th on the team in strikeouts (Duffy and Crow are tied at 43). Both of them should expect to be in the rotation next year.</div><div><br /></div><div>Unfortunately, any help from the minor leagues seems to be a ways off. I think we all expected Mike Montgomery to be in the majors by now, but a prolonged bout of wildness at Omaha has kept him in the minors. I'm not too worried--it sounds like his velocity is still there, just the command has been off. After skipping one turn in the rotation, he has had two consecutive good starts. Also, he just turned 22 last week and he's already had a half-season in AAA ball--that's very advanced for his age. If Monty keeps putting together solid outings, I would expect him to be called up in August or September, depending on what moves the Royals make at the July 31 trade deadline.</div><div><br /></div><div>The 2011 Royals are a prime example of how important good starting pitching is. The offense is good enough to win, especially in a weak division like the AL Central (the Royals are second in the division in runs scored, only 10 behind Detroit). The bullpen is solid. In Escobar, Hosmer and Alex Gordon, the Royals have three of the best defensive players in the league at their respective positions. But without starting pitching, they have one of the worst records in the league. Progress has been made, but not in the most important area of any baseball team.</div>Darinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07466110985286682805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463399241356749092.post-70240113732783070652011-06-14T21:30:00.009-05:002011-06-14T22:03:03.016-05:00Omaha<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5YgUNXxeK9_Cw-pD6uAusT7471WTKgIUrAXB7t1ZXKv0agObqnmQoJQL-TZkTofcNeHHhCM5hJ_VccbXkq466Ae7ms1pwPfgZnJ8DS3c7bYMB7bEWI58NkRXvzVYMIfhJhpp4iNLMRWGL/s1600/DSCN0505.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5YgUNXxeK9_Cw-pD6uAusT7471WTKgIUrAXB7t1ZXKv0agObqnmQoJQL-TZkTofcNeHHhCM5hJ_VccbXkq466Ae7ms1pwPfgZnJ8DS3c7bYMB7bEWI58NkRXvzVYMIfhJhpp4iNLMRWGL/s400/DSCN0505.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5618268566382361906" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small; ">A beautiful night at Werner Park</span></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>After the Royals had their <a href="http://tangledupinroyalblue.blogspot.com/2011/04/thoughts-on-futures-game.html">Futures Game</a> earlier this year, The Amazing Michelle and I thought it would be cool to take a short weekend trip to Omaha and check out a couple of games. We planned for a weekend in early June, hoping a) the weather would be good, and b) Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas would still be playing there. Well, we got half of our wishes. Hosmer, of course, has been raking at the major league level for over a month now. And the Royals pulled the trigger on the Moustakas call-up the day before we headed north.</div><div><br /></div><div>However, the nice thing about The Best Farm System Ever is that there are still plenty of prospects at Omaha waiting for their turn in the majors. Also, there's the little matter of the Storm Chasers' shiny new ballpark, Werner Park.</div><div><br /></div><div>We visited Arvest Ballpark, home of the Northwest Arkansas Naturals, a couple of years ago and were impressed by that facility. Werner Park feels very similar. Just like the "new" Kauffman Stadium, it is possible to walk all the way around the ballpark and still see the game. There are some good concession stands, too--we enjoyed the cheeseburgers at the Omaha Steaks stand, although the concession workers seemed a bit overwhelmed by the large crowd (the Friday night game set a Werner Park attendance record, which was broken at the Saturday night game).</div><div><br /></div><div>The games were enjoyable, too. The Storm Chasers were taking on the Oklahoma City RedHawks for the weekend. I am not much of an expert on other teams' farm systems, but I have to admit I had not heard of any of the Oklahoma City players, except for a few pitchers with major league experience and Koby Clemens (yes, Roger's son), who I don't believe is a top prospect.</div><div><br /></div><div>As for Royals prospects, I was most impressed with Johnny Giavotella and Lorenzo Cain. In the two games, Cain went 3-6 with two walks and two doubles, plus made a couple of nice diving catches in center field. Giavotella was 4-8 with two walks and a home run. I guess left field can be a good home run area in Werner Park if the wind is blowing out, but both games were played with more of a cross wind, so I don't think Giavotella's blast was wind-aided. I know the knock on Gio is his defense, but he looked OK to me. He started one nice double play on Saturday night, and almost had another one (frankly, I think the ump blew the call at first base).</div><div><br /></div><div>David Lough had a good night Friday (2-5) and a bad one Saturday (0-5), although he did hit a couple of balls hard in the second game. Clint Robinson was only 2-9 in the two games, although he did hit a home run to right field that definitely got no help from the wind. Anyways, Robinson's numbers for the season are impressive, and I hope he gets a shot at the majors somehow. It will be tough for the Royals to find a place for him with Hosmer and Billy Butler around.</div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD57S7bATlvK24OnEMkGwRg-5766ICyKP5Qk4pdIhZHM-qgHq0fdC55bjdhIsxaBRtibZWbJ98OPxYs4LmE4DvycVx0hIPbqB1q1xiL-WoyX7RtEJafpdERJfF43mtjgCnYJWmgp6fxmHM/s1600/Omaha+002.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD57S7bATlvK24OnEMkGwRg-5766ICyKP5Qk4pdIhZHM-qgHq0fdC55bjdhIsxaBRtibZWbJ98OPxYs4LmE4DvycVx0hIPbqB1q1xiL-WoyX7RtEJafpdERJfF43mtjgCnYJWmgp6fxmHM/s320/Omaha+002.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5618267205407188322" style="cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px; " /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small; ">Johnny Giavotella, ready to hit</span></div><div></div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">If you have a chance to go up to Omaha sometime, I recommend it. We had a great time. And if you don't get there this summer, just remember that next summer there's a good chance Wil Myers and some other prospects will be there. Hmm...this might be an annual event!</div></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">(Photos courtesy of The Amazing Michelle)</div>Darinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07466110985286682805noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6463399241356749092.post-52055474803406379592011-05-15T18:52:00.005-05:002011-05-15T22:12:53.188-05:00A Fast Flyin' Train On A Tornado Track<span class="Apple-style-span" >(from "Last Thoughts On Woody Guthrie," <i>The Bootleg Series, Vol. 1-3</i>)</span><div><br /></div><div>I know bloggers and stat nerds often get tagged with the reputation of being more interested in the numbers of baseball, rather than what the "old media" have tagged as the poetic, beautiful side of the game. Of course, any thinking person knows this is poppycock. There would be no reason to devote this much time and energy to something we didn't care about, and frankly, the statistically inclined would be better off using their considerable talents to make a pile of money on Wall Street.</div><div><br /></div><div>Anyway, this particular blog post <i>is</i> about the poetic, beautiful side of the game. Namely, Jarrod Dyson. That dude is <i>fast</i>!</div><div><br /></div><div>I know that's not earth-shattering news to any Royals fan, but it's fun to talk about. In fact, I'm hard-pressed to think of a Royals position player who has been more fun to watch than...Carlos Beltran, maybe?</div><div><br /></div><div>I will admit, as a slow, fat guy, I have a soft spot for Royals who can run like the wind. I'm a little too young to remember Willie Wilson's prime as a speedster, but I always wanted Gary Thurman, Tom Goodwin and Joey Gathright to succeed. I like to imagine what I could do if I could run like that, just for one day. How much fun it would be, even in a beer-league softball game, to cover ground like that, to feel the wind rushing past your face as you fly down the baseline. Heck, I'd be parking my car at the far ends of parking lots and sprinting for the front doors wherever I was going.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now that I'm older and hopefully wiser, I understand the limitations those guys had, and that Dyson shares with them: a lack of power and a low walk rate once pitchers realize they can challenge these guys and not worry about giving up homers.</div><div><br /></div><div>In a perfect world, Dyson would be in Omaha, getting regular at-bats. The Royals are probably stunting his development some by keeping him in the majors. On the other hand, the Royals are definitely using him in the most judicious way possible while he's in the majors. Rather than just throwing him out there, they are picking their spots and letting his speed work for them at crucial moments in ballgames.</div><div><br /></div><div>Meanwhile, I'm going to just enjoy the show whenever Dyson gets on base. Not only is he blazing fast, he seems to have very good baserunning instincts. And as a guy who was picked in the 50th and final round of the 2006 draft, Dyson is easy to root for. His mere presence in the majors is an example of odds overcome. In the first quarter of this season, the Royals have shown that they will fight, scratch and claw every night, and Dyson is just one Royal who embodies that spirit.</div>Darinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07466110985286682805noreply@blogger.com1