Beating Bad Teams

Following a brutal road trip the Royals came home to nest on the Orioles and Twins and have proven one thing; they can beat bad teams. For once we are not the bad team, there are other teams that are worse and this is a hard pill to swallow for a born Royals doubter. However, being better than the bad teams is something I'm feeling good about. We may not stay around .500 level for the whole season, but not suffering through a long season of getting beat by those bad teams and continually being slaughtered by good teams makes MLB TV worth the money. We might actually be a decent team like...the Oakland A's, who just happen to be coming to town to provide the Royals with another gauge to test the flukiness of their start to the 2011 season.

Who's on First?

Well, now we have the answer to that question; Mr. Eric Hosmer is the first in a long line of talented young bucks to make his way from Omaha to KC Mo. and will not be wasting any time by starting Friday vs. the A's. I wish I could be more excited about this, the guy is one of the best hitting prospects in the game and is projected to man first base for the next several years, but I almost feel like it is a marketing gimmick to bring in more fan excitement and put people in the stands. Also, you have to feel like Kila got shafted and will either never play in the majors again or be great somewhere else, forever taunting the Royals. The Royals problems do not stem from a lack of offense (or defense at first), the best thing we can hope for is that Hosmer starts hitting when someone else stops (Alex, Frenchy, Wilson) and thus keeps the Royals offensive machine rolling. Because as of right now, WE HAVE SCORED MORE RUNS THAN THE YANKEES! So it's not as if Kila was somehow holding us back by not hitting and we still have the same problem finding playing time for Betemit and Aviles - it is now apparent to me that Yostie will never give up on Getzie - and the real key is going to be finding a top of the line starting pitcher if this run can last. As for Billy Butler, he may never step foot on the field again, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but it still must be difficult for a very good player to be so bluntly told that his glove is of no use. In the end this is a very good thing, however for some reason I just can't love it right now, but talk to me in a week after he hits lights-out.

I've been Chen-ed again

I might have to start a brand new blog solely dedicated to trying to answer the question of Bruce Chen. Is he terrible? Is he GREAT? Is he just average or slightly below? I think the answer is that on any given night he can be any one of those things and I should probably get used to the show, enjoy the good and say "I told you so" when the bad comes. He may actually be getting close to earning the proverbial "soft-tossing lefty" title that seems to somehow baffle hitters who should otherwise know better than to chase his Crisco/Vasaline splitter/slider/cutter junk ball. He is our default Ace right now - meaning he is a solid #4 on a good pitching staff - who continually defies the odds and if he's our Jamie Moyer then let it be.

Parle Vu Jeff?

Is the unbreakable Steve Balboni record of 36 HRs in trouble? With 8 HRs on May 6th Frenchy certainly has as good a shot as anyone. It hasn't been since 2000 when Jermaine Dye hit 33 that anyone has put up a 3 with a second digit behind it in HR totals for a Royals player, so for die hard Royals fans this record brings about McGwire/Sosa vs. Hank Aaron fervor. I'm still taking the under on Frenchy, not that I'm totally discounting his hot start, but I feel it's more likely for a Royals player to break DiMaggio's hit streak than for the Balboni record to fall.

Good offense vs. Good pitching, Bad pitching vs. Bad offense = Oakland vs. KC

Taking two of three from the A's might impress me more than anything the Royals have done this season because I still don't feel that I've seen the team score 5 runs off of a good pitcher or win a well played series. They've destroyed bullpens, scored greasy unearned runs and had good swings against bad pitching, but I feel like this would be earning our wins. The A's have the best pitching staff in the league and the Royals have the best offense, one of these things is for real. This should actually be the most exciting series played in KC in quite some time; DeJesus reunion time, the Hosmer cometh, the Royals playing well, it all adds up to good clean family fun.