SB Nation User Blog: NYRoyal

The newest Royal fan is born

NYRoyal — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 16:45:54 -0000

On May 28, Katherine Olivia (aka "lil NYRoyal") was born. She was 8 lbs., 11 oz. and 19 7/8 inches long. She eats a lot, poops a lot, her favorite stat is tRA and her favorite player is Brian Bannister. She has good taste.

Baby, mother and father are all doing well, but tired and frazzled, as one would expect. For better or worse (undoubtedly both), my contributions on the site will continue to be infrequent for a while. Sometime this month I'll report May's RCI and post the questions for June's RCI.

Game 44 Overflow Thread

NYRoyal — Sun, 24 May 2009 20:34:34 -0000

More photos » by Tom Gannam - AP

about 1 month ago: Kansas City Royals' Brian Bannister pitches in the second inning against the St. Louis Cardinals in a baseball game, Sunday, May 24, 2009, in St. Louis.(AP Photo/Tom Gannam)

Browse more photos »

Banny = Stopper

Bale = Savior

Royals Confidence Index - May

NYRoyal — Mon, 04 May 2009 05:06:27 -0000

We're a month into the season and the Royals are off to a good start for once. Gordon is on the DL, Bloomquist is hitting and Greinke is on the road to the Cy Young Award. Most of us probably feel pretty good, but with more than a little wariness about what the next month and the rest of the season will bring. Will the pitching cool down when the weather heats up? Will the hitting turn around? Has it already turned around? Lots of questions. But how do you feel?

The RCI for April (preseason) was 6.34. Has the mood of the fanbase changed? Let's see.

I want to remind everyone that my intent with the "How do you feel about the 2009..." questions is not merely to gauge your feeling on what has happened so far in the season, but how do you feel about the item in question for the 2009 season overall. Obviously what has happened in the games already played affects our feeling about the entire season, but I don't think it should just be about what has happened so far. Anyway, they are my questions, but you can answer them however you want.

I'm also making some additions to the regular lineup of questions. I'm something of a political junky, and I often find myself checking job approval and right track/wrong track polls. So I thought it would be interesting to see how those kinds of polling questions would work for the Royals. They don't affect the calculation of the RCI and some of them are redundant with the regular RCI questions, but I think they are worth a try.

Here's the deal. For each of these questions, give me a number from 1-10. 1 means you feel very bad/unhappy/negative about the item in question right now. 10 means you feel extremely good/happy/positive about it. (If you want to use decimals like 6.3, feel free).

1. How do you feel about the 2009 Royals team overall?

2. How do you feel about the 2009 Royals pitching?

3. How do you feel about the 2009 Royals hitting?

4. How do you feel about the 2009 Royals defense?

5. How do you feel about Dayton Moore?

6. How do you feel about Trey Hillman?

7. How do you feel about the Royals minor league system?

8. How do you feel about the Royals future?

Bonus questions (these have no bearing on the RCI):

A. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Dayton Moore is handling his job as general manager?

1. Strongly approve

2. Somewhat approve

3. Somewhat disapprove

4. Strongly disapprove

5. Don't know/no opinion

B. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Trey Hillman is handling his job as manager?

1. Strongly approve

2. Somewhat approve

3. Somewhat disapprove

4. Strongly disapprove

5. Don't know/no opinion

C. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Bob McClure is handling his job as pitching coach?

1. Strongly approve

2. Somewhat approve

3. Somewhat disapprove

4. Strongly disapprove

5. Don't know/no opinion

D. Do you approve or disapprove of the way Kevin Seitzer is handling his job as hitting coach?

1. Strongly approve

2. Somewhat approve

3. Somewhat disapprove

4. Strongly disapprove

5. Don't know/no opinion

E. Do you think that the Royals are generally going in the right direction or do you feel they are on the wrong track?

1. Going in the right direction

2. On the wrong track

3. Don't know/no opinion

F. For each of the following players give a number to show if you think his start is "for real"? (1-10, 1 meaning his start was a complete aberration and 10 meaning the start was the real deal because the player really is that good/bad)

Willie Bloomquist

Mike Aviles

Alberto Callaspo

David Dejesus

John Buck

Miguel Olivo

Zack Greinke

Brian Bannister

Jamey Wright

Kyle Farnsworth

G. How many games do you think Zack Greinke will win this year?

H. On what date will Luke Hochevar make his first appearance for the KC Royals?

I. What kind of a chance do the Royals have of making the playoffs this year? (give a percentage: 0%-100%)

J. What is your best estimate of how many games the Royals will win in 2009?

By the way, this cutter (or "no-seam" fastball as Bannister likes to call it) and his slider have...

NYRoyal — Fri, 08 May 2009 21:42:05 -0000

By the way, this cutter (or "no-seam" fastball as Bannister likes to call it) and his slider have really developed into quality pitches. It certainly helps in the ground ball and double play department.

Craig Brown at Royals Authority

Royals rotation - FIP, tRA, tRA+

NYRoyal — Fri, 08 May 2009 09:28:33 -0000

Royals rotation - FIP, tRA, tRA+

Zack Greinke - 1.39, 1.35, 174 (#1 starter level)
Gil Meche - 2.46, 2.85, 146 (#1 starter level)
Kyle Davies - 5.62, 7.01, 66 (#5 starter level - below replacement level)
Sidney Ponson - 4.70, 5.15, 102 (#3 starter level)
Brian Bannister - 4.05, 3.49, 133 (#1 starter level)

Dan Gutierrez sent to bed without any supper by the Royals

NYRoyal — Thu, 07 May 2009 04:14:31 -0000

In Greg Schaum's post-game show on 610, he reported the following story which is disjointed and full of holes due to the fact that I don't think anyone, including Schaum knows even half of what is going on here:

In spring training, Royals pitching prospect Dan Gutierrez roomed with Scott Boras clients Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer. Sometime this spring Gutierrez switched agents and became a Boras client. Also this spring, Gutierrez has been rehabbing from some sort of non-major injury (which is why he's been in extended spring training and not assigned to a minor league team). Apparently some conflict arose recently between the Boras/Gutierrez camp and the Royals about who Gutierrez should be working out and rehabbing with. Boras/Gutierrez wants it to be their guy and the Royals want it to be their guy. The conflict has gotten heated enough that the Royals have "sent Gutierrez home for personal reasons."

End of story. We have no more details at this time. Check comments for more information as it becomes available.

What do you do when you have 5 players for 4 positions?

NYRoyal — Wed, 06 May 2009 19:40:21 -0000

Everyone has been enchanted by Alberto Callaspo's amazing start. Inteestingly, this performance was made possible by Alex Gordon's hip injury. So many of us have wondered what might happen or what should happen when Gordon comes back. Suddenly there would be too many players for too few positions. There has been talk about potentially moving Gordon or Teahen to first base, or some other significant position change. This is what I would do:

C - Buck

1B - Butler

2B - Callaspo

3B - Gordon

SS - Aviles

LF - DeJesus

CF - Crisp

RF - Teahen

DH - Jacobs/Guillen platoon

Now this demotion of Guillen might lead to some kind of epic explosion in the clubhouse, but I'd do it anyway. But the above is unrealistic. It's fun to discuss, but like using a 4-man rotation or making Soria a starter, it just isn't going to happen. Unless he is injured, Trey Hillman is going to keep Guillen in RF. So, within the bounds of realism, what are the Royals options? I think the following are positions are, for all intents and purposes, immutable:

C - Buck or Olivo (for the purposes of this discussion, it doesn't matter which one as they are the two catchers and those are the only positions they can play, other than DH)

SS - Aviles

LF - DeJesus

CF - Crisp

RF - Guillen

That leaves five players (Gordon, Teahen, Callaspo, Butler and Jacobs) for four positions (3B, 2B, 1B, and DH). I would suggest the following:

C - Buck

1B - Butler

2B - Teahen/Callaspo

3B - Gordon

SS - Aviles

LF - DeJesus

CF - Crisp

RF - Guillen

DH - Jacobs

The key to my plan would be Teahen and Callaspo. I am not suggesting any kind of platoon. My idea is to use them both nearly everyday by starting one and using the other to give a day off to another player. Teahen's versatility would allow it to work something like this:

Day 1 - DeJesus gets a day off (Teahen to LF, Callaspo to 2B

Day 2 - Crisp gets a day off (Teahen to LF, DeJesus to CF, Callaspo to 2B)

Day 3 - Guillen gets a day off (Teahen to RF, Callaspo to 2B)

Day 4 - Butler gets a day off (Teahen to 1B, Callaspo to 2B)

Day 5 - Jacobs gets a day off (Teahen to DH, Callaspo to 2B, or vice versa)

Day 6 - Gordon gets a day off (Teahen to 3B, Callaspo to 2B)

Day 7 - Callaspo gets a day off (Teahen to 2B)

Day 8 - Teahen gets a day off (Callaspo to 2B)

[I would also occasionally sit Aviles against a RHP and put Callaspo at SS, but I don't think Trey Hillman sees Callaspo as anything but an emergency SS, so I'm not going to include that possibility as it is unrealistic.]

Now, I recognize that not all of the above players are likely to get a day off in 1 out of every 7 games. But, by the same token, Jacobs could be sat twice in a week when there are some lefty starters (as he has already this season). Regardless, some version of the above is a good way to get both Teahen and Callaspo starts in 5-7 games a week. And this is tweakable by having Teahen play more second base and having Callaspo move to the OF sometimes if you want Teahen to get more work at second so he continues to develop as a middle IFer.

One of the reasons I think this is doable is that in the long, hot summer and late in this long season, it's going to be good to give frequently injured players like Crisp, DeJesus and Guillen some days off. I think it will also be a good idea to give Gordon a regular day off as he comes back from his injury. Also, Jacobs shouldn't face too many lefty starters. Add that all up and you've got a lot of opportunities to give 10 starters nearly full-time work.

And, of course, if someone goes on the DL or if Teahen or Callaspo crater, this kind of depth helps the Royals keep going possibly without breaking stride.

Olivo again. I mean, I couldn't be doing this without him. He's been keeping me in the games and,...

NYRoyal — Tue, 05 May 2009 03:39:03 -0000

Olivo again. I mean, I couldn't be doing this without him. He's been keeping me in the games and, I mean, he's struggling at the plate but he's still doing a fantastic job with me.

Zack Greinke in a post-game interview on FSKC. Looks like his personal catcher is here to stay. He can have him. If Greinke thinks he's important, then he's important.

Winning first six starts w/ERA under 1.00

NYRoyal — Tue, 05 May 2009 02:40:48 -0000

Winning first six starts w/ERA under 1.00

'09 Zack Greinke 0.40
'08 Cliff Lee 0.81 (won CY Award)
'00 Randy Johnson 0.93 (won CY Award)
'97 Pedro Martinez 0.79 (won CY Award)
'91 Roger Clemens 0.73 (won CY Award)

Top MLB pitchers by WAR

NYRoyal — Mon, 04 May 2009 19:19:19 -0000

Top MLB pitchers by WAR

Zack Greinke 2.0
Dan Haren 1.7
Gil Meche 1.5
Javier Vazquez 1.5
Tim Lincecum 1.4