We knew it was coming, there had to be a correction to the market, and it came this weekend in the form of the Texas Rangers. The Royals had been living on the edge of a nice ride that saw them make late inning comebacks, get shutouts from Bruce Chen and turn Melky Cabrera in to a hero (twice). I would like to say that we just came up against a team on a roll and there was nothing we could do about it, but the Rangers were without their All Star closer and last year's MVP, not to mention the first two games were against suspect starting pitchers. However, the Royals were swept and now they're off to Cleveland, still battling for first but now tied with Detroit for second on our way down, not up.
My bad
As soon as I offer up some praise in my last post to Bruce Chen and Jeff Francis they go out get knocked around by Texas. I guess I should have waited until after they came across a team comprised of top to bottom power hitters to give them any words of approval. I know Billy Butler doesn't miss Zack Greinke but it was nice having at least one starter in your rotation who didn't make you hold your breath with every pitch. The entire starting rotation is comprised of pitchers who make you nervous when they take the mound against any team other than the Seattle Mariners. Everyone knew going into the season that this could be an area of concern, not that one series in Texas with the wind blowing out should lead you to believe that Francis and Chen's days are over, but their ERAs are heading north.
The new Gordon = Scott Posednik?
I think it is great that Alex Gordon is finally putting together a good stretch of hitting but with just the one HR it makes me a little worried about the air being sucked out of that .360 average in a hurry. Remember last year when Posednik was leading the league in hitting? Personally I would rather see him hitting .260 with 5 HRs, but that's just me. Maybe he has finally channeled the spirit of George Brett that he has always been looking for and he'll be a .320, 40 2Bs type of guy for the next 15 years, I just had him pegged as a 30 HR hopeful. That being said, I'm still curious to see his numbers come May 1st, hopefully he can tack on a few more HRs before the end of the month and get on a nice 25-30 HR pace.
He can do this but not that...
The foursome of Chris Getz, Wilson Betemit, Kila and Mike Aviles is a collection of players who all have big time deficiencies and therefore find themselves battling amongst one another for playing time. It was beautiful to see Aviles drill two HRs today, but for what ever reason, a once decent major league shortstop is incapable of playing a passable 2B or 3B. There is no reason that he shouldn't be a decent second baseman. He could be something like an overachieving Ricky Weeks, but as long as Getz keeps poking a few singles here and there, stealing a few bases and looking ('looking' being the key word) the part of a good defensive 2B, Ned is forced to give him the position until other teams start using a fifth infielder. Thankfully Kila finally uncorked another HR (a bomb at that) in Texas and earned the chance to prove that he is going to be our Adam Dunn (or Carlos Pena). Wilson does look improved from last year in the field, but he also looks like he should spend most of his time DHing and we're covered at that position for a while, so again he finds himself as probably our second best hitter (behind Butler) but stuck in position limbo. Personally I hope (and believe) that at some point Getz will be hitting around .250 with a .300 slugging average and at that point Ned will no longer be able to kid himself and Mike will take over the 2B job.
The Royals will head to Cleveland and get a chance to put all of that "resiliency" talk to the test. If they're still in second place by the time they come home to face the Twins the Royals should consider themselves in good shape because all of the signs point to an impending stretch of baseball that sees them come back to earth.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Passing grade
The pesky Royals used their patented late inning heroics luck to steal a series split from the equally lucky-to-date Cleveland Indians in the two teams' early season battle for first place. This was not a well played series, and most likely the weather had something to do with this, but it was a pretty fun match-up - if only for Royals and Indians fans - even though these teams may not both be in first place come September. I think the real question is not will they be able to hang on and win the division but will one of these teams finish 3rd or even 2nd in the AL Central? My prediction is that yes, this is a very real possibility, and with the combination of the poor play of the Twins, Sox or Tigers and the improved Indians and Royals we will see one of the two hang around in 3rd place (or better). They both seem to have some nice pieces and more importantly their secondary players are no longer vapid drains on the team's overall performance and in fact slightly better the team as a whole. Overall the Royals get a passing grade for their recent home stand and now are ready to set sail on their first extended road trip and one that will be the biggest test to date. But at least they won't have to deal with Monsoon season in KC.
Patience darlin...
Once again the Royals used the recently discovered WALK to propel both of their late inning rallies during the last game of the Indians series that saw them comeback despite missing many early opportunities against the dominant Josh Tomlin (?). Unfortunately, the Indians had already demonstrated how to use this strategy during the first game that saw our bullpen walk seven and blow a great start from Kyle Davies (got to capitalize when that happens!). We're still waiting to see more HRs, but for now it is nice to see a team not waving at every slider in the dirt that comes their way (a lá Olivo, Betancourt, Guillen, Jacobs, Buck et al) and actually make the opposing pitcher break a sweat on the mound.
Macdougal or Soria???
Maybe by becoming a pacifist and dropping the Mexicutioner nick-name Joakim Soria has become more willing to allow people to reach base against him, but as a Royals fan I can say that we prefer to see the old Soria back and not rely on bases-loaded line drives to get us out of jams. Mike Macdougal is currently in copyright infringement talks with his lawyer as Joakim is pulling his best Macdougal early in the year. Let's just hope that it's a weather related/early season blip and not something we're going to have to bear through all year long, I'm not sure I can take it anymore.
Not another apology
The PBR has already issued one official apology to Bruce Chen and now both he and Jeff Francis are pitching like they actually read my previous comments about their prospects for success in the Royals' starting rotation. So far they've been good, I can't say anything else, as of right now I'm happy they are on my team. Official apologies aren't due until after the season, but I'm already starting to draft theirs. Is it luck, left-handedness or real talent? The jury is still out, with Francis it's really more of an injury risk thing and Chen is just a mystery, but right now I'll bet the Yankees would love to have overpaid for either one of these guys. It would have taken about two months of AJ Burnett's salary to get them both for the year.
Straight talkin...
Everyone should go and listen to Billy Butler talking trash during a radio interview that changed my whole perspective on the guy (kind of). He is about as articulate as...well... a 25 year-old baseball player, but the fact that he did not hesitate to dump on Zack Greinke and other unnamed former teammates is pretty surprising. He also indirectly said that he doesn't pay attention to the things Ned Yost says after games, which might actually make him smarter than I thought. I had Billy pegged as Mr. Jolly, but he may actually have some A-hole in him and for a someone trying to hit a baseball every night that is a good thing. Then again, he also spent his birthday dining with Jeff Francouer, with whom he has been a teammate for about 3 months, so hopefully other people actually get along with him too.
If you had set a passing grade for how you would have liked for the Royals to play during the last home stand, I would say that they pretty much nailed it. Not too fancy, a little lucky, but good results in the end. Surprise, surprise, three weeks into the season and you're still happy to be a Royals fan.
Patience darlin...
Once again the Royals used the recently discovered WALK to propel both of their late inning rallies during the last game of the Indians series that saw them comeback despite missing many early opportunities against the dominant Josh Tomlin (?). Unfortunately, the Indians had already demonstrated how to use this strategy during the first game that saw our bullpen walk seven and blow a great start from Kyle Davies (got to capitalize when that happens!). We're still waiting to see more HRs, but for now it is nice to see a team not waving at every slider in the dirt that comes their way (a lá Olivo, Betancourt, Guillen, Jacobs, Buck et al) and actually make the opposing pitcher break a sweat on the mound.
Macdougal or Soria???
Maybe by becoming a pacifist and dropping the Mexicutioner nick-name Joakim Soria has become more willing to allow people to reach base against him, but as a Royals fan I can say that we prefer to see the old Soria back and not rely on bases-loaded line drives to get us out of jams. Mike Macdougal is currently in copyright infringement talks with his lawyer as Joakim is pulling his best Macdougal early in the year. Let's just hope that it's a weather related/early season blip and not something we're going to have to bear through all year long, I'm not sure I can take it anymore.
Not another apology
The PBR has already issued one official apology to Bruce Chen and now both he and Jeff Francis are pitching like they actually read my previous comments about their prospects for success in the Royals' starting rotation. So far they've been good, I can't say anything else, as of right now I'm happy they are on my team. Official apologies aren't due until after the season, but I'm already starting to draft theirs. Is it luck, left-handedness or real talent? The jury is still out, with Francis it's really more of an injury risk thing and Chen is just a mystery, but right now I'll bet the Yankees would love to have overpaid for either one of these guys. It would have taken about two months of AJ Burnett's salary to get them both for the year.
Straight talkin...
Everyone should go and listen to Billy Butler talking trash during a radio interview that changed my whole perspective on the guy (kind of). He is about as articulate as...well... a 25 year-old baseball player, but the fact that he did not hesitate to dump on Zack Greinke and other unnamed former teammates is pretty surprising. He also indirectly said that he doesn't pay attention to the things Ned Yost says after games, which might actually make him smarter than I thought. I had Billy pegged as Mr. Jolly, but he may actually have some A-hole in him and for a someone trying to hit a baseball every night that is a good thing. Then again, he also spent his birthday dining with Jeff Francouer, with whom he has been a teammate for about 3 months, so hopefully other people actually get along with him too.
If you had set a passing grade for how you would have liked for the Royals to play during the last home stand, I would say that they pretty much nailed it. Not too fancy, a little lucky, but good results in the end. Surprise, surprise, three weeks into the season and you're still happy to be a Royals fan.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
1st Place Battle: Royals vs. Indians???
From the title you know it's still very, very early in the baseball season, but this series just may offer us a glimpse at the coming power shift in the AL Central as the Royals and Indians are getting younger and more talented while the Sox, Tigers and Twins get older and take more trips to the DL. Unfortunately, the Royals couldn't quite pull off the sweep over the struggling Mariners, but taking the series 3-1 was a good indicator that there is still some gas in the tank of this early season stretch of good baseball. Now Cleveland comes to town even hotter than the Royals and will offer a slightly more challenging lineup than the one that just came to town featuring the fearsome Adam Kennedy DH-ing and hitting cleanup one night and the deadly Ryan Langerhans hitting in the 3-hole on the next night. I'll bet Kyle Davies is peeved he didn't get to pitch during that series and lower his ERA like the rest of the starting rotation. Seattle was a test to see if the Royals could take their turn kicking a team while they're down, but the Tribe will give us a chance to see how we fair against another up-and-coming team that might form the basis of the battle for the AL Central over the next few years. Here's what we saw and hope to continue seeing...
D-FENCE!
Eventually Alcides Escobar will have to get his OBP & SLG% above .300, but for now his amazing defensive exploits will do. He put on a stellar clinic of just what a shortstop with real range can do for a team and it's pitchers; every time he makes one of those ESPN Web Gems, that's exactly one less jam our pitchers have to get out of, and with a young bullpen and an unproven starting rotation that doesn't get many strikeouts this is a big, big help. All around there can't be too many complaints about the outfield; Gordon looks comfortable with a plus arm, the trimmed down Melky is tolerable in center and Francouer's arm might actually be just as impressive as Escobar's range (I'm thinking of the double play in Minnesota that almost ripped off Billy's arm). All in all they've been above average and that's about all we can expect until they have a CF with Escobar-like range to compliment whomever ends up at the corners over the next few years. As for the catcher position, does anyone miss Kendall's mad pitch blocking skills? This is one of those things that makes you rub your eyes a little bit and wonder if our defense really is good or is it just a mirage? It's been a long time since we could even pretend that our defense was major league caliber.
The battle rages on...
Who's on 3rd? With Aviles snapping out of an early season funk and Betemit continuing to prove that his bat is for real, the lineup card is getting tougher and tougher to fill out for Yost. Chris Getz has started to come back to earth a little bit and will eventually have to hit something other than seeing-eye singles because he has yet to prove that the value in his glove outweighs his inability to get the ball over the fence or even over an outfielders head and the time might be coming to try out Aviles at second again. At this point Wilson's bat has to be in the line-up and right now it's really more of a question mark as to who will finish the season at 2B because we know who's going to be at 3B. Kila is still getting his walks, but the homers are lagging behind and it would be nice for him get on a hot steak so as to make it a Aviles vs. Getz battle and not a revolving door of opposing pitcher match-ups. Still this has yet to become anything more than a case everyone playing well, i.e. a good thing.
Nit Picking Ned
It's hard to complain when you're playing well, but Ned's vision of how to manage a game is starting to get a little blurry. Today's bullpen management was a bit of head scratcher; can anyone answer the question of why he chose to use all of our best relievers (Jeffress, Collins and Crow) in yesterday's 7-0 blowout and today with the game tied and runners on we had to see the newly recalled Blake Wood? I don't think there is a great explanation for that and predictably Blake came in and showed exactly why he didn't make the team out of spring training. I'm starting to see way, way too many bunts as well, this is a classic sign of overmanagement and regardless of the situation, there are very few times in the game when a bunt is called for, let alone anytime someone leads-off with a single, please just let them swing the bats Yosty. Thankfully it appears that his full court press running game has died down a little bit, there is no reason that Billy Bulter needs to be attempting a stolen base and there is little reason that Wilson Betemit should have two more stolen bases than he has compiled in the last three years combined. I can just picture it now, Billy coming out of the game with a pulled hammy because Ned wanted surprise every one with his new found speed, the guy is a professional DH for a reason.
Right now things are still going in the right direction for the Royals, but Cleveland should provide us with a good early season litmus test as to the quality of the 2011 team.
D-FENCE!
Eventually Alcides Escobar will have to get his OBP & SLG% above .300, but for now his amazing defensive exploits will do. He put on a stellar clinic of just what a shortstop with real range can do for a team and it's pitchers; every time he makes one of those ESPN Web Gems, that's exactly one less jam our pitchers have to get out of, and with a young bullpen and an unproven starting rotation that doesn't get many strikeouts this is a big, big help. All around there can't be too many complaints about the outfield; Gordon looks comfortable with a plus arm, the trimmed down Melky is tolerable in center and Francouer's arm might actually be just as impressive as Escobar's range (I'm thinking of the double play in Minnesota that almost ripped off Billy's arm). All in all they've been above average and that's about all we can expect until they have a CF with Escobar-like range to compliment whomever ends up at the corners over the next few years. As for the catcher position, does anyone miss Kendall's mad pitch blocking skills? This is one of those things that makes you rub your eyes a little bit and wonder if our defense really is good or is it just a mirage? It's been a long time since we could even pretend that our defense was major league caliber.
The battle rages on...
Who's on 3rd? With Aviles snapping out of an early season funk and Betemit continuing to prove that his bat is for real, the lineup card is getting tougher and tougher to fill out for Yost. Chris Getz has started to come back to earth a little bit and will eventually have to hit something other than seeing-eye singles because he has yet to prove that the value in his glove outweighs his inability to get the ball over the fence or even over an outfielders head and the time might be coming to try out Aviles at second again. At this point Wilson's bat has to be in the line-up and right now it's really more of a question mark as to who will finish the season at 2B because we know who's going to be at 3B. Kila is still getting his walks, but the homers are lagging behind and it would be nice for him get on a hot steak so as to make it a Aviles vs. Getz battle and not a revolving door of opposing pitcher match-ups. Still this has yet to become anything more than a case everyone playing well, i.e. a good thing.
Nit Picking Ned
It's hard to complain when you're playing well, but Ned's vision of how to manage a game is starting to get a little blurry. Today's bullpen management was a bit of head scratcher; can anyone answer the question of why he chose to use all of our best relievers (Jeffress, Collins and Crow) in yesterday's 7-0 blowout and today with the game tied and runners on we had to see the newly recalled Blake Wood? I don't think there is a great explanation for that and predictably Blake came in and showed exactly why he didn't make the team out of spring training. I'm starting to see way, way too many bunts as well, this is a classic sign of overmanagement and regardless of the situation, there are very few times in the game when a bunt is called for, let alone anytime someone leads-off with a single, please just let them swing the bats Yosty. Thankfully it appears that his full court press running game has died down a little bit, there is no reason that Billy Bulter needs to be attempting a stolen base and there is little reason that Wilson Betemit should have two more stolen bases than he has compiled in the last three years combined. I can just picture it now, Billy coming out of the game with a pulled hammy because Ned wanted surprise every one with his new found speed, the guy is a professional DH for a reason.
Right now things are still going in the right direction for the Royals, but Cleveland should provide us with a good early season litmus test as to the quality of the 2011 team.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
A real test
Seattle comes to town this weekend as perhaps the most pathetic organization in baseball and the test for the Royals will be to prove that yes they are even more pathetic than us (despite others assertions). They’re offense is so pathetic that trading to get Yuniesky Betancourt back would provide them with a substantial offensive upgrade. As the Royals come off of a road trip that saw them go 3-2, we get to see how good the M’s offense can make our starting pitching staff look; because if any team can make Chen and O’Sullivan look good it’s these guys. Here’s what else to look for when your dominant Royals return to beautiful Kauffman Stadium (I’m pleading for fans to actually show-up).
Aviles is back and the battle is on…
As others have already pointed out, there is an actual battle taking place among a group of Royals’ position players. This is not your typical Royals-of-the-past logjam of players who are indistinguishably bad, this is a real legitimate case where four players are actually deserving of only three spots, who can name the last time we’ve seen this? After Mike’s performance yesterday, how do you pick between Getzie, Mikey, Betty and Kily (Yosty just loves to tack this on to every players’ name - he’s such a baseball coach)? As long as Getz keeps hitting singles and drawing a few walks, he seems like the best option at second given the Royals’ new run-and-gun approach, but as soon as the singles stop falling he should definitely get a rest against any southpaw. Between Wilson and Mike, one of them will eventually have to prove that they are capable of fielding and throwing a baseball better than a high school player, but the truth is sooner or later it won’t matter and Mike Moustakas will be your everyday 3rd basemen and Aviles will be a professional back-up (not a bad life) and Wilson will have to hope someone needs a bat going into the playoffs. As for Kila, Yost has thankfully done enough to make us believe that he really does prefer the “young guys” and will stick with them until they fail miserably, not to mention Billy has continually proven that he does not belong in the field with a glove on his hand.
Irish beats Italian (for now)
We all knew that sooner or later Shaun O’Sullivan was going to get another chance to be a 5th starter. This chance will now come on Friday, and if he can’t keep Seattle’s offense under three runs then we should probably just let him go. Apparently Vinnie had himself a tough time down in Omaha the other night and necessitated the Royals delaying the timeline to see if we actually netted anything from the DeJesus trade other than Jeff Francouer. If either one of these guys has consecutive years in the majors where they make 30+ starts you can have the gross income from the Powder Blue Room.
Do we really have a middle-of-the-order?
This question continues to persist in my mind and will not be fully answered until game 162 has come to an end and Alex AND Billy both have and OPS of over .800. Then I might start believing, but for now I’m not holding my breath. Not since the days of Dye & Sweeney (Beltran and Ibanez too) have we had what you would actually consider a real middle of the order and this is one of the things fueling this early season steak of well played baseball and making us look like a respectable team.
This long four-game weekend series against a team that has fallen as far as possible will provide the Royals with the perfect opportunity to showcase that they are not that (Seattle) bad.
Aviles is back and the battle is on…
As others have already pointed out, there is an actual battle taking place among a group of Royals’ position players. This is not your typical Royals-of-the-past logjam of players who are indistinguishably bad, this is a real legitimate case where four players are actually deserving of only three spots, who can name the last time we’ve seen this? After Mike’s performance yesterday, how do you pick between Getzie, Mikey, Betty and Kily (Yosty just loves to tack this on to every players’ name - he’s such a baseball coach)? As long as Getz keeps hitting singles and drawing a few walks, he seems like the best option at second given the Royals’ new run-and-gun approach, but as soon as the singles stop falling he should definitely get a rest against any southpaw. Between Wilson and Mike, one of them will eventually have to prove that they are capable of fielding and throwing a baseball better than a high school player, but the truth is sooner or later it won’t matter and Mike Moustakas will be your everyday 3rd basemen and Aviles will be a professional back-up (not a bad life) and Wilson will have to hope someone needs a bat going into the playoffs. As for Kila, Yost has thankfully done enough to make us believe that he really does prefer the “young guys” and will stick with them until they fail miserably, not to mention Billy has continually proven that he does not belong in the field with a glove on his hand.
Irish beats Italian (for now)
We all knew that sooner or later Shaun O’Sullivan was going to get another chance to be a 5th starter. This chance will now come on Friday, and if he can’t keep Seattle’s offense under three runs then we should probably just let him go. Apparently Vinnie had himself a tough time down in Omaha the other night and necessitated the Royals delaying the timeline to see if we actually netted anything from the DeJesus trade other than Jeff Francouer. If either one of these guys has consecutive years in the majors where they make 30+ starts you can have the gross income from the Powder Blue Room.
Do we really have a middle-of-the-order?
This question continues to persist in my mind and will not be fully answered until game 162 has come to an end and Alex AND Billy both have and OPS of over .800. Then I might start believing, but for now I’m not holding my breath. Not since the days of Dye & Sweeney (Beltran and Ibanez too) have we had what you would actually consider a real middle of the order and this is one of the things fueling this early season steak of well played baseball and making us look like a respectable team.
This long four-game weekend series against a team that has fallen as far as possible will provide the Royals with the perfect opportunity to showcase that they are not that (Seattle) bad.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Comeback Kids
As you can see I gave the title to this post about four seconds of thought, but really that is about as much time as we should put in to believing that the Royals current four game last at-bat win streak will continue. There, I gave my early season enthusiasm a stern talking to and now I'm back to my good old eternally doubting Royals fan self. But I want soooooooo badly to believe, so how should we stop ourselves from being deluded into thinking that this will continue:
#1 Starting pitching: With the exception of Jeff Francis' first start there is nothing good you can say for the starting rotation. If I knew that we were going to see Mike Montgomery next month or Aaron Crow was on the verge of being moved from the pen to the starting rotation then I might hold out some hope. However, Hochever-Francis-Davies-Chen with a splash of Vinny and O'Sullivan doesn't quite do it for me. Oh and by-the-way, we felt the need to sign Jeff Suppan, and no it's not because he wanted to retire with Sweeney, someone please explain this one to me.
#2 Matt Treanor: Of all the unsustainable hot starts to this year, his play has to be the most likely to deflate in a hurry. I'm sure back-up catchers always get these streaks of a few games where it appears that they might actually just have needed a chance all these years and your team has stumbled on to a gem. Then all of a sudden it's obvious why they have spent their 20s riding in minor league buses, eating at KFC and spending their hard earned bucks at Scores Rapid City.
#3 Middle of the order: Right now you might put the Royals 2-6 up against anyone in baseball, and as much as I think they are a vastly improved and likeable group, they're not going to hang with Pedroia-Crawford-Youkilis-Gonzalez-Ortiz for the entire season. And given our starting five they would have to be those guys in order to win this year.
I can honestly say that these last four games have been the most fun I've had watching the Royals since Lima Time, but unfortunately the only way I know how to react is with extreme pessimism (it's just being a Royals fan). However, if I can put on my honorary doctorate in sports psychology for a second, this team does feel like they have something of a spirit and is not quite the paycheck cashing bunch we've seen for a few years. The best thing I can say about these games is that they are games old Royals teams would have never won. Out slugging the Chi Sox, haven't seen that before. Beating-up on the other team's bullpen, no that usually happens to our guys. Hitting home-runs and showing some patience, not the Royals I remember. Using a bad base running play and some great defense to hold a lead, no that does not sound familiar.
This team is better in so many ways to past teams that we've seen trotted out on opening day, but just how much better? Only the next 157 games will tell.
#1 Starting pitching: With the exception of Jeff Francis' first start there is nothing good you can say for the starting rotation. If I knew that we were going to see Mike Montgomery next month or Aaron Crow was on the verge of being moved from the pen to the starting rotation then I might hold out some hope. However, Hochever-Francis-Davies-Chen with a splash of Vinny and O'Sullivan doesn't quite do it for me. Oh and by-the-way, we felt the need to sign Jeff Suppan, and no it's not because he wanted to retire with Sweeney, someone please explain this one to me.
#2 Matt Treanor: Of all the unsustainable hot starts to this year, his play has to be the most likely to deflate in a hurry. I'm sure back-up catchers always get these streaks of a few games where it appears that they might actually just have needed a chance all these years and your team has stumbled on to a gem. Then all of a sudden it's obvious why they have spent their 20s riding in minor league buses, eating at KFC and spending their hard earned bucks at Scores Rapid City.
#3 Middle of the order: Right now you might put the Royals 2-6 up against anyone in baseball, and as much as I think they are a vastly improved and likeable group, they're not going to hang with Pedroia-Crawford-Youkilis-Gonzalez-Ortiz for the entire season. And given our starting five they would have to be those guys in order to win this year.
I can honestly say that these last four games have been the most fun I've had watching the Royals since Lima Time, but unfortunately the only way I know how to react is with extreme pessimism (it's just being a Royals fan). However, if I can put on my honorary doctorate in sports psychology for a second, this team does feel like they have something of a spirit and is not quite the paycheck cashing bunch we've seen for a few years. The best thing I can say about these games is that they are games old Royals teams would have never won. Out slugging the Chi Sox, haven't seen that before. Beating-up on the other team's bullpen, no that usually happens to our guys. Hitting home-runs and showing some patience, not the Royals I remember. Using a bad base running play and some great defense to hold a lead, no that does not sound familiar.
This team is better in so many ways to past teams that we've seen trotted out on opening day, but just how much better? Only the next 157 games will tell.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
The Royals won something
Everyone to the fountains on the Plaza, the Royals have taken the division crown! Yes, it's the Cactus League title, but it is something. I'm speechless, there are tears in my eyes and I always knew this day would come!
The PBR is going to go out on a limb here by saying that the Royals won't suck this year. Instead of reiterating the the slogan of 2011 is a transition year, the prospects are coming and the future is getting closer, I'm going to say that March 29, 2011 has marked a new day in Royals history. On Thursday the season will begin and I have hope, not your typical we just signed Jose Guillen hope, but real verifiable hope. I'm not going to analyze this thing to death, but what I feel is real and this caps a wave of things going the Royals way. First everyone calls our prospects the bestiest ever, then we only do minimally damaging/almost positive things during the offseason and this week was just too much; Mike Sweeney retired as a Royal (zero sarcasm) and we won the division crown. I never liked Sweeney, but someone actually admitted in front of the whole world that they liked being a Royal and want that sentiment to be immortalized. Thanks Mike, you are officially absolved of all previous PBR criticism and through your perseverance have made it to our good side.
Maybe its just the giddiness I feel for the start of a new baseball season, and I'm sure that there will be an unending amount of things to make fun of during the regular season, but this is one article that is Hallmark approved pure family fun. A flurry of moves ending spring training has given us a bullpen that is almost devoid of oldish-not-quite-washed-up relievers (typical Royals), a line-up that for the first time in years I actually approve of and leaves me with no justifiable managerial complaints.
This will all change throughout the year, and I may regret writing this when I wake-up in the morning, but why not enjoy being a Royals fan for the briefest of moments?
The PBR is going to go out on a limb here by saying that the Royals won't suck this year. Instead of reiterating the the slogan of 2011 is a transition year, the prospects are coming and the future is getting closer, I'm going to say that March 29, 2011 has marked a new day in Royals history. On Thursday the season will begin and I have hope, not your typical we just signed Jose Guillen hope, but real verifiable hope. I'm not going to analyze this thing to death, but what I feel is real and this caps a wave of things going the Royals way. First everyone calls our prospects the bestiest ever, then we only do minimally damaging/almost positive things during the offseason and this week was just too much; Mike Sweeney retired as a Royal (zero sarcasm) and we won the division crown. I never liked Sweeney, but someone actually admitted in front of the whole world that they liked being a Royal and want that sentiment to be immortalized. Thanks Mike, you are officially absolved of all previous PBR criticism and through your perseverance have made it to our good side.
Maybe its just the giddiness I feel for the start of a new baseball season, and I'm sure that there will be an unending amount of things to make fun of during the regular season, but this is one article that is Hallmark approved pure family fun. A flurry of moves ending spring training has given us a bullpen that is almost devoid of oldish-not-quite-washed-up relievers (typical Royals), a line-up that for the first time in years I actually approve of and leaves me with no justifiable managerial complaints.
This will all change throughout the year, and I may regret writing this when I wake-up in the morning, but why not enjoy being a Royals fan for the briefest of moments?
Sunday, March 20, 2011
It's only Spring Training, but.....
Okay first off we must make the standard set of disclaimers which are inevitably repeated spring after spring; these stats are meaningless, you can't expect them to continue, golf balls and HRs go further in Arizona, the Royals will not be battling for first place and Melky Cabrera will not hit .500.
Unless you were the most casual, uninformed, gullible KC Royals fan you probably don't expect them to continue their spring training domination into the regular season, but is it really that meaningless. When looked at from a whole the answer is clearly yes, but there are always individual performances which might give you a window into what they might do during the regular season. As an example let's look at last year's spring training along side this year's; last year the Royals signed two veteran, experienced, stop-gap outfielders who had very little appeal to anyone else in the league, promised them starting positions and indirectly told Mitch Maier that he was not worthy. Fast forward one year and the Royals have done virtually the same thing, Scott Posednik & Rick Ankiel beget Melky and Frenchy. Last year Scotty Pods was hot in spring training and Ankiel was injured and struck out a lot, in the regular season Posednik carried that over had a nice first half and was traded, while Slick Rick continued to be hurt and strike out a lot during his brief career as a KC Royal. This spring Melky is hitting and Frency is not, in fact they are basically standing on opposite sides of the Grand Canyon. Will this continue into the 2011 regular season? Would it surprise you if it did? For me it wouldn't, the odds that both of them have some sort of resurgent, career saving year are pretty low. But Melky hitting a glass half full .300 and Frenchy toiling away in the depths of the low .200s with a modicum of power, yes that is believable.
Alex Gordon and Kila Ka'aihue seem to have formed the Royals version of the Odd Couple. Polar opposite backgrounds and routes to their current status as major league players, but here they stand with Babe Ruth minor league resumes and a lot left to prove in the bigs. Yet again they are both proving that if Major League pitching consisted of veterans on rehab assignments, players who throw 92 with no other pitches, and those pitchers who either get way too much of the plate or just can't find their spots - basically if they could hit against the Royals current starting rotation - they would be two of the best players in the league. However, we are still waiting for them to show that, but given their play in spring training it does offer hope that at least one of the two should put together a pretty decent year. And if they both continue to prove otherwise, no worries because now the Royals do have other people who can step in (eventually). These are the two closest things the Royals have had to Money Ball type players in a long time and if they turn into a poorman's version of Adam Dunn and J.D. Drew, the Royals might actually score a few runs this year without having to hit three consecutive singles.
Despite signing two starters late in the offseason and trading for another, the Royals still don't have any starting pitcher who is remotely discernible from the next. Except for those rookies who still need another year of "seasoning" in the minors. On a positive note Mike Montgomery is still on the roster in spring and may have moved up is arrival time-table, which would be awesome, since we lost a Cy Young winner from our rotation and need someone who isn't at best a #3 starter (on the Royals). I honestly have more faith in Alex Gordon becoming our best hitter than I do Luke Hochevar establishing himself as a #1, even on the Royals where your competition is Kyle Davies, Bruce Chen, Jeff Francis, Corned Beef & Cabbage O'Sullivan and Spaghetti & Meatballs Mazzaro. Aaron Crow has also proven that he still might, just maybe, with a little luck, be a decent starting pitcher. Personally, I would rather see him try to pitch on opening day than any of the other six #5 (on winning teams) starting pitchers we'll start the year with. But, if he is this year's Hosmer or Moutsakas (ie big bounce-back year in the minors) then we could see him as soon as one of the indistinguishable six either gets hurt or is sporting a plus 6.00 ERA.
Caring about who makes up the Royals bullpen after Soria, Tejada and (hopefully) Tim Collins is essentially like picking the 8 vs. 9 seed game in your bracket; flip a coin, move on and hope for a Butler. It seems to be the consensus that this will be a big improvement from last year, but that should be tempered by the fact that if you pitched the staff of the Powder Blue Room behind Soria, Tejada and Collins, it would be an improvement on last year's pen that came out of spring training. Not to mention that Trey Hilman's patented bullpen management strategies were historically bad and Yost, Slugger, the bat boy or a Magic 8-ball could choose a better way of setting-up the Royals' pen. That being said the youthful infusion is nice to see.
There is actually one spring training roster spot battle that is worth getting somewhat interested in, and that is what appears to be the last OF spot which will either be Jarrod Dyson or Gregor Blanco (according to the KC Star). Raise your hand if you have any interest in seeing Gregor Blanco play one inning for the Royals this year. Not that I have any bones to pick with Blanco, but he will always be exactly what he is, Atlanta didn't give him to us by accident, he really has hit his ceiling. And Dyson doesn't need more ABs in the minors, he can run really fast, this particular skill doesn't require "seasoning" and is best put to use as often as possible. Dyson will probably never be a major league hitter but as Billy Butler's designated pinch runner and late inning Melky defensive sub he fits the bill perfectly. And seeing him get one start a week will be much more valuable than having Blanco take the Sunday afternoon start in CF. Our CF of the future is clearly Lorenzo Cain at this point and this means that Dyson has almost no chance of beating him out or proving his worth unless he starts the season on the team and plays so well during his limited action that the Royals have to take a look at him, which has infinitely more value than giving those looks to Blanco. This decision would further prove that the Royals are fully on the young homegrown player bandwagon and are starting to take some risks as opposed always playing it safe.
In other encouraging news, thankfully we will have, at least, a few weeks sans Jason Kendall to start the season.
The Royals are currently playing winning baseball and by the end of April we probably won't be saying the same thing, so Royals fans should be enjoying this spring fling while it lasts. I'm looking forward to the regular season as much as anyone, but I also like seeing the Royals winning box scores. The most interesting thing about spring training is seeing what good things continue and watching other things fall back to reality, and I guess we are about to sort those things out.
Unless you were the most casual, uninformed, gullible KC Royals fan you probably don't expect them to continue their spring training domination into the regular season, but is it really that meaningless. When looked at from a whole the answer is clearly yes, but there are always individual performances which might give you a window into what they might do during the regular season. As an example let's look at last year's spring training along side this year's; last year the Royals signed two veteran, experienced, stop-gap outfielders who had very little appeal to anyone else in the league, promised them starting positions and indirectly told Mitch Maier that he was not worthy. Fast forward one year and the Royals have done virtually the same thing, Scott Posednik & Rick Ankiel beget Melky and Frenchy. Last year Scotty Pods was hot in spring training and Ankiel was injured and struck out a lot, in the regular season Posednik carried that over had a nice first half and was traded, while Slick Rick continued to be hurt and strike out a lot during his brief career as a KC Royal. This spring Melky is hitting and Frency is not, in fact they are basically standing on opposite sides of the Grand Canyon. Will this continue into the 2011 regular season? Would it surprise you if it did? For me it wouldn't, the odds that both of them have some sort of resurgent, career saving year are pretty low. But Melky hitting a glass half full .300 and Frenchy toiling away in the depths of the low .200s with a modicum of power, yes that is believable.
Alex Gordon and Kila Ka'aihue seem to have formed the Royals version of the Odd Couple. Polar opposite backgrounds and routes to their current status as major league players, but here they stand with Babe Ruth minor league resumes and a lot left to prove in the bigs. Yet again they are both proving that if Major League pitching consisted of veterans on rehab assignments, players who throw 92 with no other pitches, and those pitchers who either get way too much of the plate or just can't find their spots - basically if they could hit against the Royals current starting rotation - they would be two of the best players in the league. However, we are still waiting for them to show that, but given their play in spring training it does offer hope that at least one of the two should put together a pretty decent year. And if they both continue to prove otherwise, no worries because now the Royals do have other people who can step in (eventually). These are the two closest things the Royals have had to Money Ball type players in a long time and if they turn into a poorman's version of Adam Dunn and J.D. Drew, the Royals might actually score a few runs this year without having to hit three consecutive singles.
Despite signing two starters late in the offseason and trading for another, the Royals still don't have any starting pitcher who is remotely discernible from the next. Except for those rookies who still need another year of "seasoning" in the minors. On a positive note Mike Montgomery is still on the roster in spring and may have moved up is arrival time-table, which would be awesome, since we lost a Cy Young winner from our rotation and need someone who isn't at best a #3 starter (on the Royals). I honestly have more faith in Alex Gordon becoming our best hitter than I do Luke Hochevar establishing himself as a #1, even on the Royals where your competition is Kyle Davies, Bruce Chen, Jeff Francis, Corned Beef & Cabbage O'Sullivan and Spaghetti & Meatballs Mazzaro. Aaron Crow has also proven that he still might, just maybe, with a little luck, be a decent starting pitcher. Personally, I would rather see him try to pitch on opening day than any of the other six #5 (on winning teams) starting pitchers we'll start the year with. But, if he is this year's Hosmer or Moutsakas (ie big bounce-back year in the minors) then we could see him as soon as one of the indistinguishable six either gets hurt or is sporting a plus 6.00 ERA.
Caring about who makes up the Royals bullpen after Soria, Tejada and (hopefully) Tim Collins is essentially like picking the 8 vs. 9 seed game in your bracket; flip a coin, move on and hope for a Butler. It seems to be the consensus that this will be a big improvement from last year, but that should be tempered by the fact that if you pitched the staff of the Powder Blue Room behind Soria, Tejada and Collins, it would be an improvement on last year's pen that came out of spring training. Not to mention that Trey Hilman's patented bullpen management strategies were historically bad and Yost, Slugger, the bat boy or a Magic 8-ball could choose a better way of setting-up the Royals' pen. That being said the youthful infusion is nice to see.
There is actually one spring training roster spot battle that is worth getting somewhat interested in, and that is what appears to be the last OF spot which will either be Jarrod Dyson or Gregor Blanco (according to the KC Star). Raise your hand if you have any interest in seeing Gregor Blanco play one inning for the Royals this year. Not that I have any bones to pick with Blanco, but he will always be exactly what he is, Atlanta didn't give him to us by accident, he really has hit his ceiling. And Dyson doesn't need more ABs in the minors, he can run really fast, this particular skill doesn't require "seasoning" and is best put to use as often as possible. Dyson will probably never be a major league hitter but as Billy Butler's designated pinch runner and late inning Melky defensive sub he fits the bill perfectly. And seeing him get one start a week will be much more valuable than having Blanco take the Sunday afternoon start in CF. Our CF of the future is clearly Lorenzo Cain at this point and this means that Dyson has almost no chance of beating him out or proving his worth unless he starts the season on the team and plays so well during his limited action that the Royals have to take a look at him, which has infinitely more value than giving those looks to Blanco. This decision would further prove that the Royals are fully on the young homegrown player bandwagon and are starting to take some risks as opposed always playing it safe.
In other encouraging news, thankfully we will have, at least, a few weeks sans Jason Kendall to start the season.
The Royals are currently playing winning baseball and by the end of April we probably won't be saying the same thing, so Royals fans should be enjoying this spring fling while it lasts. I'm looking forward to the regular season as much as anyone, but I also like seeing the Royals winning box scores. The most interesting thing about spring training is seeing what good things continue and watching other things fall back to reality, and I guess we are about to sort those things out.
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