SB Nation User Blog: Fernando Vina School of Linguistics

This Date in Royals History: September 27

Fernando Vina School of Linguistics — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 19:00:20 -0000

Despite the highly entertaining nature of this UNC-Miami game on television right now*, I'm feeling like another brief look into the way-back machine to check out this date in Royals history. This is actually the second installment of TDiRH, with my first peek back into the past coming back in July Link Here. I honestly have no idea how September 27th has treated the Royals in the past, but I'm ready to find out! I'm always somewhat-enthralled by these late season lineups, so maybe Sept. 27th will have some doozies. (Remember when Eric Milton threw a no-hitter in mid-September against the Angels' AAA lineup?) If you don't, check out this lineup for the Angels: Box Score Here.

* My only interest in this UNC/'Da U game is tied to that maddening addicting ESPN.com game "Streak for the Cash." For those that are unaware, all you have to do is pick 25 consecutive matchups/games/prop bets they provide. If you get your streak to 25, you win ONE MILLION DOLLARS!!! If you miss, you start back at zero. (Sadly, my highest streak is five. My current one is two).

via zerotosixty.files.wordpress.com

Five Years Ago: September 27, 2003
Our magical season had finally crashed back to reality (Curses to you...Dr. Regression!!), and the Royals were resigned to simply playing out the string from third place, 7.0 games back. Our boys in blue were still six games over .500 at this point, and September 27th had them at Kauffman, toiled in a heated battle with the Pale Hose from the South Side of Chicago (home of baseball's greatest fans....as well as the annual "Mullet Night" promotion....which of course, are totally unrelated)

via profile.ak.facebook.com

Anyway, after splitting the first two games of the series, September 27th brought us the pitching duel of Big Fat Bartolo Colon vs. The Man Baird Refused to Call Up from AAA, Jamey Wright.

Needless to say, this day did not turn out in the Royals' favor. In fact, it wasn't even close. Try 19-3 Chicago. It was 13-1 by the 5th inning. Ouch, babe. Before we view the damage, let me warn you that it may not be safe for young, impressionable eyes. Sept. 27, 2005 was not a good day for KC. As a great man once said, "The sea was angry that day, my friends."

Chicago White Sox AB R H RBI BB SO BA OPS

W Harris 2B                   6   3   3   1    1   0 .205 .503
C Lee LF                        4   2   0   2    1   0 .289 .827
F Thomas DH               2   2   2   1    1   0 .267 .952
A Miles PH                  2   1   1   0    0   0 .375 1.000
M Ordonez RF             6   1   1   1    0   1 .319 .932
A Rios RF                   0   0   0   0    0   0 .212 .543
C Everett CF                  5   2   4   4    0   0 .287 .878
A Rowand CF             1   0   1   1    0   0 .287 .779
B Daubach 1B              6   1   2   1    0   4 .223 .729
J Valentin SS                 5   3   2   1    1   2 .236 .776
J Crede 3B                    6   3   3   4    0   1 .263 .746
M Olivo C                      5   1   2   1    1   0 .238 .646

*Yes, that's Aaron Miles. I didn't remember him being on the White Sox. No, it's not Alex Rios. Try Armando Rios. And of course, there's our buddy Miguel Olivo. And the infamous Brian Daubach. If I remember correctly, Daubach wasn't a member of the players' union since he was a replacement player (like Ron Mahay), so he wouldn't have his real name in MLB video games like MVP Baseball or High Heat. So Daubach would always have a made-up name for his player, and I'd have to go in and manually edit his name to its correct form.

Kansas City Royals   AB   R   H RBI   BB SO    BA   OPS
A Berroa SS                   2   0   0   0    0   0 .288 .792
M Lopez PH-SS          2   1   2   2    0   0 .283 .770      2   HR
C Beltran CF                  1   0   0   0    0   0 .308 .911
D DeJesus CF            3   0   1   0    0   0 .167 .786
M Sweeney DH             4   1   1   1    0   1 .294 .860      HR
R Ibanez 1B                   3   0   0   0    0   1 .295 .800
J Patterson 1B            1   0   1   0    0   0 .211 .529
J Randa 3B                    2   0   0   0    0   0 .291 .802
J Matos 3B                   1   0   0   0    0   0 .255 .632
M Tucker PH                1   0   0   0    0   0 .264 .773
A Guiel RF                     3   0   0   0    0   0 .280 .843
R White LF                     2   0   0   0    0   1 .289 .829
D Brown LF                  1   0   0   0    0   0 .231 .610
D Relaford 2B                2   1   0   0    1   0 .255 .693
M Difelice C                   2   0   0   0    0   0 .254 .696
T Prince C                   1   0   0   0    0   0 .196 .672

I love the 2-2 with 2 HR performance off the bench for Mendy Lopez. Of course he would build that momentum into 2004, becoming an Opening Day hero with a pinch-hit 3-run homer off of the Sox and Damaso Marte, cementing himself as a permanent member of Royals' history in the process.

And who is J. Patterson? I sure didn't know. It's Jarrod Patterson, but he had his final major league hit in this game. Congrats, Jarrod. Somewhat coincidentally, Tom Prince would get a hit the next day for the Royals in the final game of his major league career as well.

Oh...and the pitching performance? Bartolo Colon threw a complete game to finish off a 15-13 season. What about the Royals? Here's a multiple choice question:

The Royals used five pitchers on Sept. 27, 2003. Which one of them did NOT give up a run?
A. Jamey Wright
B. Brad Voyles
C. Kris Wilson
D. Graeme Lloyd
E. Nate Field
F. None of the Above

Ten Years Ago: September 27, 1998
KC finished eight games better than their Pythag this season, good enough for a third place finish. It was Muser's best finish ever as Royals' manager. The Royals were at home (again) against the White Sox (again), but this time Sept. 27 was the final game of the season. Sadly, the good guys would fall 7-6, with one of the originators of the Academy of Grit, Tim Belcher, taking the loss at the expense of James Baldwin. Here are the gloomy details:

Chicago White Sox      AB   R   H RBI   BB SO    BA   OPS Pit   PO   A Details
M Caruso SS                  5   2   2   0    0   0 .306 .721   13    1   1
C Wilson 2B                   3   0   1   1    0   1 .468 1.256   12    1   4   SF
F Thomas DH               2   1   0   0    1   0 .265 .861   13    0   0
J Abbott PH                  1   0   0   0    0   0 .279 .790    5    0   0   SB
A Belle LF                      4   2   3   3    0   1 .328 1.054   16    1   0   HR
R Ventura 3B                 4   1   3   3    0   1 .263 .785   14    0   1   HR,2B
M Ordonez RF                4   0   0   0    0   1 .282 .741   14    4   0
G Norton 1B                   4   0   0   0    0   2 .237 .699   10    7   1
B Simmons CF             4   0   0   0    0   1 .368 1.052    9    4   0
M Johnson C                 3   1   0   0    1   1 .087 .386   18    9   0

--If you're like me, you saw "J Abbott" and immediately wondered if those crazy Chicagoans let Jim Abbott pinch hit since it was the season finale. Unfortunately that wasn't the case.

Kansas City Royals       AB   R   H RBI   BB SO    BA   OPS Pit   PO   A Details
J Damon RF                    5   1   1   1    0   2 .277 .778   18    2   1   HR
C Beltran CF                  4   1   1   2    0   1 .276 .783   13    3   0   2B,SF
J Offerman DH                4   1   2   2    1   1 .315 .841   22    0   0   HR
D Palmer 3B                   3   0   0   0    2   3 .278 .843   26    1   1
J Giambi LF                   3   0   0   0    2   1 .224 .740   28    2   0
H Morris 1B                   3   0   0   0    0   0 .309 .731    7    7   0
J Conine PH-1B           2   0   0   0    0   0 .256 .729    5    2   0
T Spehr C                       3   1   0   0    1   1 .171 .587   12    8   0
M Sweeney PH             1   0   0   0    0   0 .259 .728    7    0   0
M Lopez SS                    4   1   0   0    0   0 .243 .611   21    1   3
C Febles 2B                   2   1   2   1    2   0 .400 1.083   20    1   4

T Belcher P                                                              0   0
R Bones P                                                              0   0
M Whisenant P                                                          0   0
J Montgomery P                                                         0   0
Totals                       34   6   6   6    8   9              179   27   9

--Look at that great production from the bottom two-thirds of the order!!! 2-21. Great work guys.
--Ohh and remember the Dean Palmer days? He won the Silver Slugger at was an All-Star at third base this year for the Royals with his 34 HR and 119 RBI.
--Sadly, this was Ricky Bones' final game as a Kansas City Royal. Without looking it up, take a guess at how much money he made in salary in his MLB career.

How much $$$$ did Ricky Bones make in his career?
A. Less than 500,000
B. 500,000-1.5 Million
C. 1.5 Million-3 Million
D. 3 Million-5 Million
E. 5 Million-7 Million

Glory Days: September 27, 1985
Winding the time machine way back to 1985, September 27th found the Royals tied for first place with 10 games remaining in the season. KC was pitted against Minnesota (Bud Black vs. Frank Viola). Once again, Sept 27th was not kind to the Royals as Minnesota scored four runs off of Black in five innings. That was more than enough for Viola, whose only blemish was a solo homer to Frank White, as he went the distance to improve to 17-14 on the season.

Kansas City Royals     AB   R   H RBI   BB SO    BA   OPS Pit   PO   A Details
W Wilson CF                4   0   1   0    0   0 .274 .712    0    4   0   2B
L Smith LF                    4   0   0   0    0   1 .265 .714    0    2   0
G Brett 3B                     4   0   0   0    0   0 .331 .995    0    0   6
F White 2B                    2   1   1   1    1   0 .252 .708    0    3   3   HR
S Balboni 1B                3   0   0   0    0   1 .239 .783    0    9   1
D Motley DH                 3   0   0   0    0   2 .228 .686    0    0   0
J Sundberg C              3   0   1   0    0   0 .239 .674    0    3   1
L Jones RF                  3   0   0   0    0   1 .218 .520    0    2   1   GDP
O Concepcion SS       2   0   0   0    0   0 .206 .505    0    0   1
G Pryor PH-SS           1   0   0   0    0   0 .217 .536    0    0   0

B Black P                                                                1   0
M Huismann P                                                           0   0
J Beckwith P                                                           0   0
Totals                       29   1   3   1    1   5                    24 13

Minnesota Twins         AB   R   H RBI   BB SO    BA   OPS Pit   PO   A Details
K Puckett CF                  4   1   1   2    0   0 .280 .693    0    1   0   HR
M Hatcher LF                 4   0   1   0    0   0 .277 .665    0    2   0
K Hrbek 1B                    3   0   1   0    1   1 .275 .791    0   11   0
T Brunansky RF           4   0   0   0    0   0 .243 .770    0    3   0
M Funderburk DH        3   0   1   0    0   0 .370 1.030    0    0   0
D Engle C                     3   1   0   0    0   0 .253 .748    0    5   0   SB
G Gaetti 3B                   3   1   1   1    0   1 .246 .710    0    1   2   HR
G Gagne SS                 3   0   1   1    0   0 .228 .604    0    3   4
S Lombardozzi 2B       3   1   1   0    0   0 .324 .819    0    1   1   2B

F Viola P                                                                0   0
Totals                       30   4   7   4    1   2                    27   7

--Time of game: 2:01

--Hmmm....maybe I should've chosen three different years to examine, since Sept 27th wasn't too kind to the Royals in these three seasons. I am glad to report that the Royals have, in fact, won on September 27th. They just didn't happen to do it in these years. Hopefully we can pick up another today against those Twinkies!!

TRIVIA ANSWERS
1. If you said E., Nate Field, you are correct! He was the final (and only) pitcher to not give up a run that day, throwing a scoreless top of the 9th.

2. Once again, it's answer choice E. (5 Million-7 Million). He made approx. 5.4 Million according to baseball reference. I didn't remember him being that good, but he did make an All-Star team, and he had a career ERA+ of 95 over the course of ten major league seasons. Good for you Ricky!

via www.baseball-almanac.com

Does Treyball use the word "massage" in more odd places than anyone else you've ever known?

Fernando Vina School of Linguistics — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 18:54:43 -0000

Does Treyball use the word "massage" in more odd places than anyone else you've ever known?

The Royals are the fourth team in baseball history to start September 20 games below .500 and...

Fernando Vina School of Linguistics — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 05:14:55 -0000

The Royals are the fourth team in baseball history to start September 20 games below .500 and finish September with a record of 10 games above .500 for the month.

--Tim Kurkjian, Baseball Tonight

John Buck: "average" MLB catcher?

Fernando Vina School of Linguistics — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 03:03:43 -0000

Color me curious, but as the season comes to a close and off-season personnel moves become more prominent issues, I've found myself wondering if John Buck is really the "average" catcher that we seem to have labeled him.

I can't remember the exact moment, but this question has really been something I've considered the last few weeks as we've come closer to seeing another full season's worth of data/evaluation. Perhaps I am wrong, but when I look around the American League, I find it hard to find a "full-time" or "starting" catcher that is worse than John Buck (Seattle entries notwithstanding).

I haven't done a lot of research or analysis regarding the issue, but just a quick run-down of the A.L. squads leaves me desiring more from our backstop, especially with the 2nd half surges of Kelly Shoppach, Taylor Teagarden, et. al. So I decided to take a quick, rudimentary look at the numbers. Here is the picture it painted:

Player A:                                           Player B:
VORP:  (0.2)                                    VORP: (-1.9)
OPS+: 78                                          OPS+: 76
EqA: .240                                          EqA: .238
Avg.   .229                                       Avg. .225
OBP: .299                                       OBP: .303
Slg%: .379                                     Slg%: .370
Caught Stealing%: 26.7%          Caught Stealing%: 10.2%
SB attempted per 9 Inn: 0.39     SB attempted per 9 Inn: 0.59
LD% 18.9                                       LD%: 15.5
BABIP .230                                    BABIP: .273
HR per Fly Ball 7.9%                    HR per Fly Ball: 7.9%

---Obviously Player B is our guy, John Buck. Don't look too closely at this, but Player A is a familiar face. In fact the Royals traded for this player in exchange for $1. Yes, one dollar.

via i67.photobucket.com

That's none other than our main man, Jason LaRue. Ouch Buck. Ouch. Why isn't Jason LaRue considered a major league average catcher?

Ok, so enough of Buck vs. LaRue comparison. How does Buck stand up to the rest of the MLB catchers this year?

John Buck's Rankings Among All MLB Catchers (min 200 PA's)

VORP: 30 of 38 (behind offensive stalwart Jason Kendall)
--Who is he ahead of? Rookies (J.Clement, J.Mathis), Defensive C's (Ausmus, J.Molina), and Carlos Ruiz, Kenji Johjima, former Royal Paul Bako, and Matt Treanor.

SLG: 25 of 38: Better than the same cast of characters, plus Kendall,Varitek, Zaun, Salty, and Victor Martinez?!

OBP:  27 of 38: Same guys, plus Jesus Flores, Yorvit Torrealba, and our own Olivo fall victim to Buck's prowess!

AVG: 31 of 38: Brandon Inge goes down.

CS%: Next to last among players with at least 400 innings caught....only behind our beloved AJ Pierzynski.

KC Royals Team ERA with Buck: 4.57
KC Royals Team ERA with Olivo: 4.62

--Obviously this is not looking good for Buck. Granted, the list of potential free agent catchers isn't particularly exciting either (Olivo is the youngest option at 30). But perhaps this is an option to explore in the off-season via trade. Yorvit Torrealba probably wouldn't want RamRam anywhere close to him, but he is wanting out of Colorado with Ianetta getting the full-time gig. Colorado may eat some of his salary (ala LaRue trade), but I'm not convinced that he's better. Or should Brayan Pena get a legit shot in the Spring? Or try to mend the relationship with Olivo? Granted, Olivo isn't great, but he's been much more "average" this year than Buck.

I can't say I have any answers, but I do have the numbers. And to me, John Buck is not in the company of "average." He is in the company of rookies (Mathis/Clement), injury defensive replacements (J.Molina), and aging veterans on their way out (Ausmus, Varitek, Kendall, Bako). At age 28, that's not exactly the crowd you want to be hanging out with, in my opinion.

via icanhascheezburger.files.wordpress.com

Ross Gload, Your (Worst in the MLB) Everyday First Baseman!?!

Fernando Vina School of Linguistics — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:50:03 -0000

Per the request of Royals Retro in today's game thread, I am here for my Ross Gload breakdown analysis. It was noted that Jimmy Gobble's unfortunate demise came shortly after I analyzed his season performance in a FanPost. So, here I am again to "coincidentally" analyze The Exploding One. Just call me your resident hit man. Or voodoo doll. Whichever you prefer.

Dropping Shealy was a tough call because he banged four home runs and had 10 RBIs in spring games with a .286 batting average and a .612 slugging percentage. But incumbent first baseman Ross Gload, who has a two-year contract, was out of options, and Shealy had an option left.

Also, if Olivo had not been suspended, Shealy might have made the roster as the 25th man.

"You never know in this game. It's a long summer," Shealy said. "I had fun, and I was healthy -- that was the big thing."

Shealy, who began last season as the regular first baseman, fought injuries most of the year. ---Dick Kaegel, March 29th

I realize this is not a new topic, nor will my commentary likely include any information that we don't already know. I also realize that most competent Royals fans know that Ross Gload should not be an everyday option. Surely the front office is aware of this as well. Is Ross Gload the biggest area of concern when Teahen, Butler, and Gordon have all been disappointing? Definitely not.

But he's Ross Gload. He represents everything that the Royals are trying to escape---the moniker of being that "loser organization." (Yes, I realize Gload won a WS ring with CHW, so he could be defined as the only 'winner' we have. But that's not the point.) Face it...with this whole "New. Blue. Tradition" PR campaign, the Royals are trying to escape from a stigma. It's the stigma of being viewed as a crappy team that's trotting players out in Major League roles/positions that they have no business being in if they were part of a competent organization. That's Ross Gload. That is the Ross Gload Stigma, my friends.

FSN flashed a stat during a game this week showing Ross Gload has played the 5th-most games among Royals players this season. That fact alone should send some of you dashing towards the closest toilet and/or trash can. What other organization would allow that to take place? Seriously....which ones? Baltimore? Nope. Kevin Millar is better (95 OPS+). Maybe Cleveland...but Garko did hit 21 HR with an OPS+ of 117 last season. Texas and /or Seattle? They both trotted out equally-Gload-esque Richie Sexson and Ben Broussard before they realized it was time to cut their losses and find a new everyday first bagger. Sadly though, this organization has not come to that conclusion.

OFFENSE
Do you want to know some of the first basemen with a better VORP that our Exploading One? Wait, wait. That list is too long. Let's try this another way......

Do you want to know THE ONLY first baseman with a WORSE VORP than Gload?
The aforementioned, and now jobless Ben Broussard. It only took 89 PA's for Texas to realize their mistake. Guys like Miguel Cairo, Aaron Boone, Jason Botts & Chris Shelton (other Texas cast-offs) are all above Mr. Gload.

What about EqA? Will that paint a brighter picture? After all, some Gload supporters will point to his rather pedestrian batting average as reason that he is qualified for a full-time MLB gig. Here is the bottom few for EqA at 1B so far in 2008 (min. 50 PA):

Ben "I got DFA'ed" Broussard: .161
Shelley "I got optioned to AAA" Duncan .189
Miguel Cairo .218
Ross "20+ consecutive starts at 1B" Gload .222
Wilson Betemit .229
Ryan Garko .231

---Seriously, how much worse can it get? That's not exactly good company. Cairo's not the best comparison because he only has half of the PA's that Gload does. Garko, Daric Barton, and Paul Konerko are the only regular players (200+ PA's) who are in Gload's zip code of ineptitude.

I don't even want to think about looking up OPS+, so I won't bother. Ok, just for fun.
Gload: 70
Garko: 75
Barton: 79
Konerko: 81
Light-Hitting 2B Luis Castillo: 89 !!!!!!!!

Ok, enough of this. I'm feeling sicker by the moment. Let's move to Gload's "bright spot"---defense.

DEFENSE
I can't claim to know much about defensive stats, so I'll just present the information that NHZ posted during a game thread not too long ago. Supposedly Gload's glove at 1B is saving us 19879138410984 runs per game. In fact, I've heard other fans claim that "Gload's glove allows us to keep Aviles' glove on the field." BARF. How do the numbers for defense treat Gload? Surely they can't be worse than offense.

RZR (Revised Zone Rating--the # of balls hit into a fielder's zone that are successfully converted into an out): Gload is 20th out of the 26th first basemen who qualify. Link here. Side note...Billy Butler has a better RZR (.706) than Gload (.699).

OOZ: (Out of Zone--the number of balls hit outside of a fielder's zone that are converted into outs): Gload is 26th....behind the defensive wizards Miguel Cabrera and Jason Giambi. Among players with at least 500 innings at first base, only Matt Jacobs is worse. But let's compare him to his main competition, Billy Butler.

Gload 615 innings, 13 out-of-zone plays = 47.3 innings per ooz play
Butler 163 innings, 4 out-of-zone plays = 40.75 innings per ooz play

Range Factor: This is the only place where Gload scores significantly better than Butler, but at the same time, Gload's numbers are STILL slightly below-average at first base. And Gload's numbers are not anything than Shealy hasn't produced at the major league level.

FINAL ANALYSIS/THOUGHTS
Let's do a quick recap. So far we've found that Gload is among the 2-3 worst offensive first basemen in the majors. We've seen that Gload's defensive numbers are also among the bottom third of the league. Why does he continue to man first base EVERY FREAKING DAY?

Yes, he was a decent hitter for about four weeks. But he did most of that damage against the National League teams. Coincidence? Perhaps. But it's still something to consider.
Gload at the beginning of the main interleague schedule: .241/.279/.278
Gload at the end of the main interleague schedule: .263/.303/.328

So yeah, he got hot. But guess what: he's 1 for his last 20, and 2 for his last 27. Trey is yanking Teahen and Gordon seemingly every day. What happens to Gload? Not a thing.

Final points. Let's see if we can wrap up this season with a quick recap.

1. Gload "wins" job out of spring training because he doesn't have options left and Shealy does.

2. Gload starts the season as our everyday first baseman, but eventually loses that job to Butler as Olivo heats up to become everyday DH.

3. Guillen goes crazy and Butler sent down. Gload now has an everyday gig.

4. Butler comes back, Gload is "playing well," and Gload keeps his job while Butler and/or Olivo ride the pine.

5. Gload is currently 1 for his last 20. Butler is back and has displayed some power in the last week. Shealy is hitting .298/.381/.513 in Omaha. A fanbase is restless!!!

Most fans realize Gload is not our answer at first. Is Butler really going to hurt us that much at first? The numbers don't point to that happening. Is Olivo's regression mainly to blame?

And what about Shealy? No I didn't forget his horrible start last year. I remember he had the bat speed problem. But I also am currently being victimized to the Ross Gload Stigma problem. The numbers say it can't get any worse!

He seems to be a victim of the "options vs. no options" crunch. Apparently the Royals brass thinks it would be too horrific for our organization to let Tony Pena Jr, Ross Gload, or Joey Gathright test the waiver wire. Are those players THAT vital in our organizational plan that we would suffer a major setback if they were claimed? Most fans I know would applaud if any of the players from that triumvirate found a new MLB home.

The only guys who appear to have options left are Gordon,Aviles,Butler, and a few pitchers (Peralta,Hochevar,Davies?, Bannister?, Nunez?). Maybe having TPJ as the mop-up man in order to save a roster spot isn't so bad of an idea after all. And as far as I know, this craptastic three-headed monster of 1B "logjam" will still be around next year too. I don't know how it will end, but I know who I don't want trotting around first base every day in that "I'm trotting with my knees locked so I kick up a little bit of dust" way that makes me soooooooooooo anger-fied........THIS GUY!

via kansascity.royals.mlb.com.

I know how you feel big fella......and there's a whole fan base that feels the same way.

The Yimmy Yobble Experience: 2008

Fernando Vina School of Linguistics — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 12:21:08 -0000

Is there anything more frustrating at this point in the season than seeing Jimmy Gobble come trotting in from the bullpen? More specifically, is there anything more maddening than seeing him come in when it's not in a LOOGY situation? It's painfully obvious to most Royals fans (and surely Gobble himself) that Gobble is simply our mop-up man. Where did his season go awry?

I decided to track his season....hitter-by-hitter, hoping to possibly find some hint of what has happened to ol' Yimmy.

Here is the Yimmy Yobble Breakdown by month, with some of my thoughts/commentary thrown in. I apoligize in advance for any math errors you may find. My editor is on vacation this week.

APRIL: Number of appearances: 9
Team Record in appearances: 4-5

LEFTIES                                                       RIGHTIES
Struck out J.Mauer                                       Strikeout J.Molina
Struck out J.Kubel                                        Sac Fly J Lopez
Struck out J.Morneau                                    Fld Chc   M Ellis
Flyout J.Mauer                                              Double V Martinez
Flyout J.Giambi                                             Walk Garko
Walk Ichiro                                                Single J Carroll
Strikeout Ibanez                                         Strikeout A Cabrera
Groundout G.Anderson                              Double F.Gutierrez
Triple D.Barton                                         Walk A.Marte
Flyout J Cust                                              Flyout Rolen
Strikeout Hafner                                         Walk M. Bradley
Fld Chc Overbay                                        TOTAL: 11 PA, 2K, 3H, 3BB (6 of 11 onbase)
Strikeout Stairs
Flyout Hamilton
Flyout D.Murphy
TOTAL: 15 PA, 6K, 1H, 1BB

--Jimmy started off the season strong with his 1 inning, three strikeout performance against the Twins in a 4-3 loss. Honestly, April was probably his best month. The first 11 batters off of Gobble did not get a hit, and his only truly poor performance was the 15-1 loss to Cleveland. In a developing pattern, his numbers against lefties are very strong. Also, ground balls are not his strong point (3 of 26). Look how much tougher of hitters are in the lefty group than the righty group as well. At this point in the season we had no idea what Gobble would turn into.

MAY: Number of appearances: 10
          Team Record in appearances: 2-8

LEFTIES                                                   RIGHTIES
Single Kotchman                                   Single T. Hunter
Flyout Kotchman                                   Strikeout B. Wood
Strikeout G. Anderson                          Single K.Millar
Fld Chc L. Scott                                    Double W. Helms
Flyout L.Gonzalez                                  Groundout M. Treanor
Strikeout J Hermida                               Flyout C.Ross
Flyout M Jacobs                                     Single A.Amezaga
Fld Chc D.Ortiz                                    Groundout H Ramirez
Walk Ellsbury                                         Strikeout D Uggla (last winning game)
Flyout D.Ortiz                                          Flyout M. Ramirez
Flyout J.Inglett                                        Strikeout M.Lowell
Strikeout L Overbay                               Double Pedroia
Strikeout B Wilkerson                           IBB M.Ramirez
Flyout Morneau                                      GrandSlam M.Lowell
Strikeout J.Kubel                                    Strikeout K. Youkilis
Flyout M.Lamb                                       Flyout M.Scutaro
TOTALS: 16PA, 5K, 1H, 1BB              Flyout S.Stewart
                                                                Rch on Error K.Mench
                                                                  Flyout M.Scutaro
                                                                  Flyout M.Cuddyer
                                                                 Groundout D.Young
                                                                  Double B.Harris
                                                                  Walk C.Gomez
                                                                 Flyout A.Casilla
                                                                TOTALS: 24PA, 4K, 7H, 2BB
                                                                                  (10 of 24 reach base...one by error)

--Look how many more PA's against Righties....50% more than his PA's against Lefties. That's not good usage. He only had 26 PA's in all of April, and in May there were almost that many agasint righties. 5 out of 40 PA's were ground-ball outs.

--Somewhere in May marked the beggining of the end of Jimmy Gobble's confidence and/or Trey Hillman's confidence in Jimmy Gobble. The month began with the infamous Jimmy Gobble-Casey Kotchman match-up. For a quick recap: it was 0-0 in the top of the 9th. Soria had been used three days in a row, so he was unavailable. This was also before we'd realized how good Mahay is. Tomko had one of his few good outings, and Ramirez had made it one out into the 9th with a runner at third when Trey brought in Gobble (a fly-ball pitcher) to face Kotchman--the rare lefty with better numbers against lefties (.338 this year, .296 career) than righties.

Gobble lasted one pitch....a go-ahead single. This may've been the beginning of Gobble's fall. But he sure didn't think so afterward:

"I'd take that pitch 0-0 any day. You're not trying to throw a two-strike slider right there," Gobble said. "I'm trying to get ahead with a purpose, and it was borderline away...What can you do?" Gobble said."Scratch your head a little bit and go get 'em tomorrow."

Despite the high-leverage loss, Gobble rebounded very well afterwards, throwing in five scoreless outings. In fact, his May 18 appearance in a 9-3 win at Florida is the last time he's appeared in a game that the Royals have won! Gobble's confidence was surely restored.....until he blew up in Boston, giving up a grand salami to Lowell to help ignite the 12-game losing streak for the Royals. To his credit, he responded with two scoreless mop-up innings in Toronto, and had a string of what-should've-been 7 straight righties retired. He even threw two scoreless innings in the 8th & 9th against the Twins (Mark Teahen inside-the-park vs. Nathan game). At this point his ERA is 4.80, and he's likely starting to see a slide down the bullpen totem pole as Ramirez, Nunez, and Mahay are starting to assert themselves. Confidence wavering....

JUNE: Number of appearances: 7
           Team record in these games: 0-7

LEFTIES                                              RIGHTIES
Flyout B.Abreu                                     Single Dye (8th inning mopup loss)
Flyout J.Giambi                                    Flyout Swisher
Single J.Hamilton (up 5-2)                Walk Crede
GrandSlam D.Murphy                       Single A.Ramirez
Flyout J.Bowker                                   Flyout O.Cabrera
Double R.Ankiel (down 9-4)             Walk C.Quentin (15 inning game)
Groundout C.Duncan                        HR P.Konerko
Flyout A.Kennedy                              Single D.Jeter (tie game 10-10 in 8th)
TOTALS: 8 PA, 0K, 3H, 0BB          Walk M.Bradley
                                                            Double M.Byrd
                                                            Groundout E.Burriss (9th inning mopup loss)
                                                            Walk R.Winn
                                                            Groundout B.Molina
                                                            Double A.Rowand
                                                            Flyout R.Ludwick
                                                           Flyout J.LaRue
                                                          TOTALS: 16 PA, 0K, 6 H, 4 BB

--Twice as many PA's against righties than lefties? Gobble has likely lost all confidence by now. He went all month without striking out a batter. Contrast that with April, where he struck out 8 in 26 PA's....he went 0 for 24 in June. Walks to righties started to become more of an issue, as well. He only got 3 of 24 PA's to result in a groundball out as well.  And notice the situations he was brought into: mop-up vs ChW, the 15th inning vs ChW (nobody else is left to use in the pen), the NYY game where we'd already given up 10 runs, etc. The only game he entered with a lead was the Texas game. Unfortunately he gave up the grand slam to David Murphy and lost the game for the Royals. Surely he wants to get back into more meaningful innings, but with performances like this, can you blame Hillman? Hopefully this is rock-bottom.

JULY: Number of appearances (so far): 4
           Team record in those games: 0-4
Flyout N.Markakis                               HR B.Roberts (down 6-3)
Single A.Huff                                        Strikeout K.Millar
Flyout L.Scott                                      Single D.Navarro (down 7-0)
Flyout E. Hinske                                   HBP A.Iwamura
Flyout R. Brignac                                  Groundout B. Upton
Flyout C.Crawford                               Single E.Longoria
Strikeout C.Pena                                  Flyout W.Aybar
Strikeout R.Brignac                              Single D. Navarro
Flyout C.Pena                                      Walk J.Gomes
Walk J.Thome (down 7-4)               Walk S.Riggins  (8th inning mop-up)
TOTALS: 10 PA, 1H, 2K, 1BB           Flyout J.Gomes
                                                              Walk B.Upton
                                                               HBP P.Konerko
                                                              Walk N.Swisher
                                                              TOTALS: 14 PA, 4 H, 1K, 4 BB, 2 HBP

--And the wheels have fallen off against righties. It's not even somewhat-respectable anymore. Gobble is purely mop-up...aka Yabuta & Nomo territory right now. 10 of the last 14 right-handed hitters to face Gobble have reached base. His control against righties has disappeared, and there's only one ground-ball out in 24 chances? Want to know how many times Gobble has retired two righties in a row the two months (not two in the same game...just two in a row...anytime)? Once. (LaRue & Ludwick back in late June). His string of PA's against righties is mired with garbage. Ugh Jimmy. U-g-h. Or should that be D-F-A?

Gobble vs. Lefties: .149/.231/.277
Gobble vs. Righties: .400/.530/.720 !!!!!!!!!!!!

His splits are more extreme than at any point in his career. In fact, in 2004 & 2005 lefties hit him better than righties. Surely the new arm-slot and delivery are part of the reason. But even last year his splits weren't this extreme (.241 vs. .319)....and he faced more righties than you may have remembered last year (123 vs. left & 104 vs. right). Do we count this season as a fluke? Relegate him to LOOGY status? If so, whose time does he take? Ramirez? Mahay? Continue to use as bullpen janitor/mop-up/garbage-time guy? Dump him completely and hope he makes it through waivers?