It took Milwaukee Ned some time, but finally he delivered a solid Hilman-esque quote that had me talking to my imaginary Royals fan friend that lives inside my head and sympathizes with me. Regarding the abrupt elevation of Jason Kendall to the two-hole Ned had this to say:
“I like the way it balances our lineup,” Yost said. “It gives us a better look down at the bottom when you have Yuni (Betancourt) hitting ninth, Mitch Maier hitting eighth and Aviles hitting seventh.
“It gives you more offensive production in the bottom of the order. And Jason is just a natural fit in the two-hole. I don’t see any reason why I’d change it.”
“Hitting in the two spot, especially behind a base-stealer like (Scott) Podsednik, you’ve got to be more patient. So it takes away from Mike’s strengths a little bit, and it fits right into Jason’s (strengths).”
Yes, Ned that all important bottom of the order production is what has been holding the Royals back all along. Usually, the thinking is that you give your best hitters the most chances to hit, i.e. batting them higher, however Ned likes to engineer pop from the bottom of the order by putting one of our best hitters there. He also offers the explanation that Mike is not letting Scott Posednik steal enough bases by swinging the bat and that Kendall's only-swing-when-you-must approach is tailor made for the two-hole which is there only to allow the all important S Pods to run rampant on the base paths. My logic goes something like this; we should be building our offense around Aviles and not Posednik, but what do I know I'll just keep talking to myself while Pods and Kendall drive our offense.
Grienke makes me hurt so bad, it's just painful to keep watching this. Grienke's start last night was the culmination of a string of bad ones for him and now there just seems to be no explanation and one of the few exciting days in the life of a disturbed Royals fan is slowly fading.
Bruce Chen is starting again, Gil Meche is toast and if the Royals had just sucked a little bit more in 2008 it could have been Saint Stephen Strasberg starting instead of Chen. While that last bit was just for fun, seriously there is no one who deserves a start more than Bruce Chen??? Hasn't he proven that he is no longer a starting pitcher, if I did my homework before writing this article I could probably name at least 30 pitchers more deserving of a "spot" start than B. Chen but as it is I'll just throw out Robison Tejada, Kyle Farnsworth (why not he doesn't do anything else), Edgar Osuna, Bryan Bullington, Brayan Pena (I realize he's our back-up catcher but I would be ecstatic just to see his smiling face on the field for a change). I can't think of any name I would like to see out there less than Chen.
Wilson F-ing Betemit!!! While Alex Gordon is down in Omaha treating minor league pitching like he were back with the Cornhuskers using a metal bat, we get the message from Dayton Moore that Alex will not be up anytime soon and that Ned likes the versatility of Betemit (for double-switches during interleague play!?!). Aren't Willie Bloomquist and Chris Getz versatile enough? What planet do we live on? Alex Gordon, has it come this far? The Getz/Callaspo-move to the outfield wasn't punishment enough, now Wilson Betemit gets the call up over you.
While I have to say that I really have nothing against Kendall, Chen, Posednik or Betemit these are just things symptomatic of what bad teams do. Kendall and Posednik don't dictate our offense, players like Aviles do. Bruce Chen doesn't get the nod in favor of a dozen other capable younger players and just because Wilson Betemit plays a lot of positions doesn't mean he gets called up in favor of Alex Gordon. It just doesn't make sense.
Serenity NOW, Serenity NOW, Serenity NOW, Serenity NOW, Serenity NOW, Serenity NOW!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment