SB Nation User Blog: Royals Nation

Draft Review Part II

Royals Nation — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 02:48:38 -0000

Draft Review Part II

Part 2 of my player-by-player review of the draft is up on Left of the Foul Pole. (Draft picks 26-50 were reviewed).

My 2009 Royals Draft Review

Royals Nation — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 19:54:40 -0000

I wrote a fairly extensive review of our draft for 2009. I actually highlighted each individual selection/player, giving some background info. on that player. I also tried to find which affiliate they will join. #s 1-25 are this week; #26-50 will be given next week. Enjoy!

Trip to Northwest Arkansas, Part One

Royals Nation — Sun, 03 May 2009 06:32:22 -0000

I traveled to AA Northwest Arkansas this weekend, and caught Saturday's contest against the Arkansas Travelers (Angels' affiliate) on Saturday. I will travel out to the ballpark for Sunday's game (4:00 p.m.).

Several notes from Saturday's game:

- Daniel Cortes demonstrated some composure problems (which he had had in the past), shouting and hurling his glove against the bench following a frustrating performance. Cortes allowed three earned runs in 5 2/3 innings....not a bad performance but a particularly frustrating one given walks and defense. It was probably a 'B' or 'B-' performance, overall. His velocity appeared to taper off as the game progressed, and he did not consistently throw strikes, especially early.... It was a cold evening at the ballyard, for the record. Nonetheless, he'll need to improve to advance to AAA and eventually K.C. (hopefully, he'll get a cup of coffee in September).

- '09 Spring Training invitee and third baseman Corey Smith committed two errors, both of which were obvious routine plays. He missed a towering popup and then later let a ball go between his legs.

- The offense looked stale. They drew six walks but struck out ten times, stranded ten runners, and only scored two runs.

- Relievers Victor Marte - a hard-thrower who I thought resembled Octavio Dotel - and Kyle Crist looked good, pitching 1-2-3 eighth and ninth innings.

- The crowd was rather prolific and into the game despite the fact that there were northerly winds blowing, and it was in the mid 50's, overall.

- Tonight was Kila Ka'aihue bobblehead night. Unfortunately, though, I had to blow quite a bit of money on a Naturals hoodie sweatshirt. It was coooold, and I only brought short-sleeve shirts, thinking that Mays in Arkansas were a little more "Sling Blade"-like and a little less "Fargo"-like. (Two good 90's movies).

- Arvest Ballpark is beautiful, although it's seemingly in the middle of nowhere. I encourage everyone with spare time and money to visit the yard.

RR Community Project: Calculating Defense

Royals Nation — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 23:03:58 -0000

I embarked upon an intriguing idea but several minutes ago. Because many defensive statistics are highly debated among the sabermetric and scouting communities alike, and many statistics have been proven to be some degree of inaccurate or faulty, I would like to begin a season-long community project where we estimate - "scientifically" - exactly how many runs Royals defenders cost or help the team for this year. I would like to see how these statistics compare to the various metrics out there (UZR, +/- system, and more). This system would be a rough estimate, basically.

It might require some effort and debating on our parts - but it's an interesting idea, nonetheless. Does someone who has watched every game, or at least paid close attention to them in some form, want to volunteer to begin our contest, calculating +/- totals for the first six games? In other words, for example, Bloomquist's gaffe yesterday cost the Royals....how many runs, total? Who has helped save a run - in estimation - on defense?

Food for thought. Unfortunately, I won't be able to watch every inning of every Royals game this year, so let's make this a 'community' effort.

Rick Porcello Earns Spot In Tigers' Rotation

Royals Nation — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 00:27:10 -0000

Rick Porcello Earns Spot In Tigers' Rotation

3-year forecast predictions?

Mine:

2009: 5.69 ERA, 103.1 IP, 52 BB, 65 K (1/2 year in AAA)
2010: 6.20 ERA, 106.0 IP, 55 BB, 51 K (arm injury, back injury, leg injury)
2011: 7.17 ERA, 36.2 IP, 44 BB, 29 K (arm injury, back injury, annnnnnndd boom goes the dynamite)

The Pre-Arbitration Eligible Position Player Roster

Royals Nation — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 03:32:27 -0000

The Pre-Arbitration Eligible Position Player Roster

I post this not as a shameless blog entry, but I've been really looking forward to posting this at RR and (hopefully) generating some discussion. What are the chances a hypothetical position-player element of the roster actually *outperforms* our current position players? In other words, how many wins and losses would the current 13 men produce over our *actual* likely 13 men to make up the position player element of our Opening Day 2009 25-man roster? (Assume we have Greinke, Meche, etc. etc. on the pitching staff).

Lineup:
C - Brayan Pena
1B - Ryan Shealy
2B - Alberto Callaspo
SS - Mike Aviles
3B - Alex Gordon
LF - Chris Lubanski
CF - Mitch Maier
RF - Shane Costa
DH - Billy Butler

Bench:
C - J.R. House
1B/DH - Kila Ka'aihue
2B - Tug Hulett
UT - Tommy Murphy

I didn't include bench players in my original post, so I may modify it upon later notice. I really feel this is an extremely relevant topic for RR. We all know Moore hasn't exactly done an exemplary job implementing payroll efficiency with keen understanding in what constitutes 'replacement' value. CHONE and PECOTA project 71 and 76 wins, respectively, for the "actual" roster. Is this roster really much, much worse?

Spring Training Trip: Day Five

Royals Nation — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 06:09:03 -0000

Unfortunately, the second consecutive Friday the 13th marked an overnight (roughly 12 a.m. until 10 p.m.) of tumultuosity between being awake, being pseudo-asleep, and being involved in an extremely deep sleep. I slept in the same room as my father, who somehow obtained ridiculous nasal-related problems which forced him to snore incessantly most of the overnight. I *loathe* the idea of snoring, as I never sleep. Anyway, push came to shove, and I did not sleep soundly until roughly 8:30 in the morning. I finally woke up around 10:30, and scrambled to get everything ready in order to take an appropriate amount of pictures at Minor League practice fields before they departed, which ultimately was approximately 11:45.

Anyway, I ended up snapping six or seven dozen photographs throughout the day - at the practice fields and game alike - so it was work well done. Sometimes, I feel that when conversating with my father about the particular Minor League players of choice, I'm yaking at thin air - or a wall which either stares at me blankly or ignores me entirely. My uncle and father are dedicated Royals fans, to be sure, but I doubt my father could tell you first hand who pitcher Tim Melville is. Neither could tell you who David Lough is. Certainly, neither one of them would devote their fanhood to snapping pictures of practices, or for that matter - even calling into radio programs more than once a week. However, both of them share a profound interest in the game, and probably know more about historical aspects of the game - especially, analytically, as they obviously attended games from as early as the 1960s - than I do.

As a side note, sometimes I feel that the verbage that gets circulated routinely throughout the blogosphere sounds awkward in real life. In other words, I often stumble when saying 'VORP' when describing a particular player. At first, I stumbled when using the "trio" (as I call it) of a particular player. When I'm reading blogs aloud, reading the batting average, followed by the on-base percentage, followed by the slugging percentage, sounds awkward to me. Does the 6 belong in the previous percentage or the next percentage? Where do the numbers end and begin? And trying to ignore the 'RBI' chatter....I'm sorry, but it is very well possible for a 90-RBI guy to have a subpar year, as Guillen did last year. Anyway, I digress.

Fortunately, despite my late arrival, I captured a couple dozen pictures of Minor Leaguers in action. I found that mostly batting practice - with sets of fielders standing at their respective positions - was taking place. The players walked by me at an amazingly close level. Anyway, I've been sent on a particular assignment for Saturday's morning practice field excursion, so at least I'll have one purpose (I crave these, by the way).

I caught the catchers - notably, Salvador Perez, Sean McCauley, Josh Vittek, and Jose Bonilla - hitting in the cages. I wouldn't say any particular catcher dazzled, but the sample size is (as always) extremely limited. I was impressed with Perez' ability to hit in the gaps and Bonilla snapped a few long gap hits, as well.

In one of the photos at the bottom, you'll see the several hundred minor leaguers filing off to the Surprise Stadium clubhouse. To see the players' mass exodus - so soon - took me by surprise, no pun intended.

Here are several notes from the Major League game. By the way, we attended the Surprise, AZ 4-1 victory today. Not the 5-1 beatdown over in Phoenix, where the Milwaukee Brew Crew call home.

- My father noted that the dominant aspect of every game we have seen thus far, including the game that I witnessed on Tuesday, has been fantastic pitching, notably the starting pitching. Meche, HoRam, Davies, Hochevar, Tejeda each surrendered three earned runs or less in multiple innings. (I feel that HoRam's earned run in the first inning of Thursday's game should have been unearned - Teahen completely botched that play).

- Another aspect of the game was that even I'll admit that Ross Gload looks thoroughly fantastic at the plate, in this limited playing time. I believe Gload is a near-lock to make the final roster cut. Tony Pena will likely end up in AAA, with Buck, Bloomquist, and Teahen making those final three bench roster slots. Again, that's just my opinion and gut feeling. For the record, Bill James projects a .294/.340/.423/.763 line for Gload this year, which isn't entirely awful for a backup.

- Luis Hernandez looks slick around the bag at shortstop. I forsee a Tony Pena, Jr. lookalike playing at Omaha virtually the entire season (sans, possibly, September). His career .245/.289/.316/.605 line in the Minor Leagues looks positively TPJ-like. I hope the organization doesn't make the mistake of running him out there for a -1.2 WAR for two consecutive seasons.

- Covelli Crisp continues to work the count well. He covers quite a spell of ground in center field, as does DeJesus in left (although he lost a ball in the air today). I predict very good things defensively for the left side of the diamond in '09 (i.e. Gordon, Aviles, Crisp, and DeJesus).

- John Buck hit a towering 2-run opposite field shot. Essentially a no-doubter.

- Billy Butler looked fooled on breaking pitches. He has looked fooled on these in games prior.

- Robinson Tejeda's stuff looked thoroughly dominant. Unfortunately, he worked himself in a few strong hitters' counts - and issued a few walks - but he struck out seven. The heat - and slider - was clearly functioning today.

- I captured several photographs of the Royals management team, including "interim" manager Mullet.

(*Editor's Note* TRT is my blog. Sorry for the confusion). My uncle noted yesterday that at certain times, a player's contributions on the field transcended numbers or statistical data. He emphasized that at certain times, a player's willingness to work or hustle hard, or have positive personality attributes that can rub off on teammates well, the team could be considered better. He said that Gload and Bloomquist's reputation as "winners" in the clubhouse helped - and could help - their respective teams perform better on the field. He said their situations mirrored those of average people, who can use personality and hard work to achieve what they want and rub off positively on everyone around them, making everyone around them better. In baseball terms, I won't delve into my opinions - but it's food for thought. He basically insinuated that the Royals are modeling themselves under this philosophy - that "clubhouse" men can help. What does the TRT audience think about said scenario? Should we now ignore the statbook? (TRT says "NO!") (TRT also says, "but paying those guys millions and overplaying them over more deserving cost-controlled youngsters is an anti-progressive move for a low-budget organization nowhere close to contention!") The rest of the majority of the blogosphere agrees, while Hapless Royals probably wants to shoot me right now.

Unfortunately, we had to leave at approximately 3:10 p.m. - or the beginning of the Seventh Inning Stretch - to go hot air ballooning. I say 'unfortunately', although this activity also would have been fun. Because of a looming storm and some high wind gusts, the adventure was cancelled. We essentially drove one hour and then drove in a van for thirty extra minutes, and waited another twenty minutes, to get let down, but que sara, sara. And, yes, I probably mispelled that grossly.

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More photos can be found via Facebook.

Spring Training Trip: Days Three & Four

Royals Nation — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 05:32:08 -0000

Below is a copy from notes from days three and four of my Arizona trip. Keep in mind that day two was not devoted to baseball. The Royals were told to stay away from camp, so I decided to delve into non-baseball related activity, as well. Nonetheless, here are the b-ball oriented notes. Day 3:
We'll begin with some notes from Minor League camp.

Mike Moustakas has taken an active role in vocal leadership. He was instructing fellow (ex?) Bees Jeff Bianchi, David Lough, and Johnny Giavotella in bunting exercises. He sounds like a real active team leader. Something that, unfortunately, in my opinion, was sadly missing in Billy Butler and Alex Gordon throughout the minors and during their brief Major League tenures.
Moose also looked quite awkward at times, when walking around. ESPN's Keith Law has noted that Moustakas is difficult to project, and seemed to imply in a recent article that the 20 year old would be best implemented as a starting catcher. It's difficult to disagree with him. Moose is bulky, but short, but contains many tools that would be prevalent for a cornerman: a 70-arm on the 20-80 scouting scale, and, you guessed it, POWER.
I caught many pitchers doing cardiovascular exercises on massage tables immediately outside one of the practice fields. It was interesting how they set these tables up. There were approximately four tables, total, and the pitchers would rotate turns exercising on these tables.
Suspended Royals Jason Taylor and Jarrod Dyson were not present in camp. One player tested positive for an amphetamine, and another was suspended for another drug. 50 games each.
Jamar Walton towered over many Royals players. The Bees' roster lists him as 6'4", but he looked at least 6'7". I have read nothing about Walton's allegedly(?) expanded physical frame, but is it even possible for 23 year olds to grow vertically? If so, then I might become tall enough to safely project as a starting pitcher for many organizations. (In 1980 and before, I would have had no problem).
Outfielder Jordan Parraz, who was acquired in a trade with the Astros for Tyler Lumsden, seemed like he knew quite a few Royals on the field. I think obtaining even Parraz - a once high-ceiling prospect who had fallen somewhat out of favor in the 'Stros organization - was a miracle for Lumsden, who came off an abysmal season where he was banished to mopup bullpen duty for an otherwise depleted Omaha rotation down the stretch in 2008. Parraz is a classic 'ability' player with no single outstanding skill, other than his propensity for getting on-base, which counts as a (sixth) skill in some scouts' books.
Anthony Seratelli looks like he lunged at several baseballs low. Definitely a gap-to-gap hitter who needs to lay back on breaking pitches in order to succeed. Since he played mostly first base for the Rocks last season, he'll need to work on those weaknesses.
The low minors guys scream 'I Got It!' insatiably loud before catching each pop fly. It's fairly evident they preach a loud signaling throughout the minors as far as catching fly balls.
Sean McCauley has added significant weight. A major necessity, in my opinion. I'm glad.
I was surprised to see Miguel Moctezuma practicing with the upper-Minors players. He is stocky, but hit the ball quite well in batting practice.
Idaho Falls pitcher Colby Beach was throwing flames in the pitching sessions.

In the meantime, peruse the TRT top 20 prospects, below. I described these prospects quite thoroughly in one of my previous posts.
Here are some notes (and pictures) from the Major League contest.

Gil Meche did not use pitches terribly efficiently, and (to his bad luck) induced plenty of foul balls and unlucky batted ball data (BABIP), which contributed to his high pitch count for the afternoon. He finished hitters quite well (3 strikeouts) but still walked two. He must have thrown at least 50 pitches, which is entirely too high for 2 1/3 innings.
Joel Peralta and Heath Phillips were lights out. Phillips struck out 3 hitters in 2 innings and Peralta struck out the side (but also surrendered a blazing liner back up the middle).
Jimmy Gobble was his normal self. He labored through his inning, surrendering two hits and falling behind several hitters, but ended the inning unscathed, thanks to some liners which were hit directly at fielders. Definitely the Gobble of '08. He's likely on the outside looking in, as far as nailing one of those two final bullpen slots. I would say Waechter and HoRam have the inside track for those roster spots.
Billy Butler raked. He hit a three-run home run and generally worked the count well. He was in command of the strike zone.
Alex Gordon needs to lay off the off-speed pitches low, and needs to stop taking perfectly good pitches inside the strike zone deep in the count. I'm not normally a proponent of an overtly aggressive style of offensive approach, but in Gordon's case, he needs to balance over-aggressiveness and over-passiveness. Because he often wavers too heavily in both directions.
Brayan Pena is quite speedy for his heaviness. He hustled down the first base line, but was thrown out after getting a terrible jump off a Seattle pitcher in the seventh inning. As I have written several times, I hope he makes the team. For the record, BBTF's Zips Projections pegs Pena as posting a trio of .280/.326/.392 this year - which outperforms both Buck and Olivo (yet still doesn't approach House's .291/.346/.436 projected line). Why can't we see a Pena-House platoon for the Royals Catching Solution 2009?
Dave DeJesus worked the count well, despite not drawing a walk.
Welcome back, Mark Teahen, Miguel Olivo, and Jose Guillen! Olivo started, but Teahen did not play, and Guillen was absent due to the birth of his son. The Canadian and Dominican Republic WBC teams were eliminated yesterday. Anyone else thoroughly shocked at the early demise of the stacked D.R. squad?

And below is day 4....

The major leaguers rotated the baseball around a circle on the diamond consisting of 9 to 10 players, each. They rotated in two groups. One drill was to toss to any random player, and the other drill was to toss to a random player, and then state the name of another player. Minutes later, the team worked on outfield drills, where they relayed cutoff throws down two lines in the outfield, located in left-center and right-center. There were roughly a dozen onlookers like myself, some of which were taking pictures.
I then retreated to Minor League camp and watched several pitchers throw from the mound and do drills, either throwing to second base, fielding bunted baseballs, or simply going through the motions fulfilling simulated situations. I captured many pictures of these events, which were taking place simultaneously on all four diamonds.
Pitchers Tim Melville, Paul Raglione, and Pernell Halliman towered over other pitchers in camp. There was also a pitcher whose last name was 'Villa' who appeared astonishingly short. Who was this guy?
I watched several batting drills, as well. Marc Maddox and Jose Duarte, among others, stepped in. I only devoted 25-30 minutes, overall, so I didn't have time to analyze them.
Size is his advantage, but Brian Buchanan looked a bit awkward in the batting cage.
The big-leaguers looked incredibly quick with the timing, handwork, and release of their throws, when witnessing them in person.

And now several notes from the game. The Royals, quite obviously, won 9-3, thanks to several stellar individual offensive performances and a lights-out performance from Hiram Kyle Davies. Davies seeks to crack the #3 slot in the rotation, and at this point, at least #4 is all but a certainty.

As I mentioned, Davies turned out quite dominant today. He struck out several White Sox batters, and dropped his curveball in the strike zone quite well. Also, he was spotting his fastball extremely well.
Horacio Ramirez was by no means dominating. I convinced my father and uncle that he did not possess any particular 'out' pitch, and that the quality (or lack thereof) would hinder him from striking out many batters this season, which is why his upside as a starting rotation is severely limited. He relies on defense.
Mark Teahen will *not* be playing second base this season. It was a curious experiment worth devoting time to, in my opinion. However, it is one that has and will not work. Teahen jabs at the ball like an outfielder or third baseman and does not lower his backside when fielding the ball. In the first inning, a ball was hit about 10 feet to his left, and he could not make the play. Simply inexcusable. His two-run home run was promising, though. He possesses the potential - can he ever convert that potential into consistent results.
Alex Gordon worked the count generally well but didn't display the power I would have liked to see. He covered quite a spell of ground at third base, though.
Billy Butler made a nice leaping catch at first base, that was rather unexpected. We were obviously pleased. I would like to see Butler play primarily first base throughout the season, because although he doesn't possess the agility, he has the soft hands necessary to field the position. (He was drafted, originally, as a third baseman).
Chris Lubanski hit a towering three-run home run to right field that was, in essence, a no-doubter.
Corey Smith looked quite competent at the plate. I'm looking forward to seeing him fulfill Chad Spann's vital role to the success of the O-Royals.
Crisp worked the count quite well, drawing two walks.
Mike Jacobs hit the ball hard when he was at the plate, but unfortunately did not work the count well, at all. Over or under on a .310 OBP this season? I hope he hits 30+ homers.

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(Editor's Note: Sorry for the spacing problems. Hopefully, we can make do....).

Spring Training Trip: Day One

Royals Nation — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 02:40:40 -0000

I recently embarked upon the first of a seven-day excursion to the sunny pastures of Arizona. I'll provide (extremely) brief daily synopses of the baseball action - as well as some pictures - here at Royals Review.

Due to time constraints, I'll only provide four photos here, but the rest can be found at Facebook. (If that's a dead link, let me know. If you really want to e-mail me for the direct photos, I'll probably have to friend you there and then you'll be able to access the pics. I'm not terribly Facebook-savvy, even though I've been an active member since '05. Sorry.)

I ventured out to Minor League camp (at the Surprise practice fields, which are located within about 500 steps of my hotel) for about 1 1/2 hours on Monday morning. Then, I packed up the bags and drove to Mesa, Arizona, where I endured a disppointing Royals game, but a vintage baseball atmosphere (and of course, the plus-plus weather.

Below are some general comments for the day.

Kyle Farnsworth looked terrible today. Straight fastball and falling behind hitters. Walks and flyball tendencies are not a good thing. Overpaid, and hindsight is 20/20, but foresight wasn't exactly 20/1000, either, with regard to that contract.
Saw prospect Kyle Martin hitting in the cages today. He can rake. He was on a role, cranking at least two home runs and several more deep to the gaps. He's an intriguing prospect, and one could at least make arguments for top 20 or 25 on a Royals list.
Saw other top prospects Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas up close today, as well as virtually every other minor leaguer and top 'spect (Giavotella, Bianchi, among many more). Some major emphasis on bunting in Spring Training, at least today.
Who knew the Minor Leaguers use training/baggy pants for sliding? Rather than getting your polyester uni's wet, this is an excellent idea.
Royals hitting was anemic, and resembled their Hacktastic ways of 2007 and 2008. Definitely not good. Ah, life in a Dayton Moore offense. Be aggressive!
Gload starting in right field, Pena starting at SS, and Bloomers starting at 2B. Not a good omen for Opening Day.
Brian Bannister resembled the Banny of '08 today. Too many fallen behind hitters and home runs/fly balls allowed. He has no out pitch, folks. I'm worried.
Bullpen other than Farnsworth (Wright, Waechter) didn't look much better.

Below are four photos.

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Hope you enjoy! I'll provide a day two (mini) analysis below.

All-Time Greatest Ballplayer

Royals Nation — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 00:31:00 -0000

*Note* This isn't necessarily Royals-related. However, I feel it's a topic relevant of extended attention on virtually any team-oriented medium.

Which ballplayer do you feel is the greatest to ever play? I ask this because we recently resumed an epic 121 player battle of All-Time Ballplayer Survivor over at Royals Nation, with - who else - Babe Ruth emerging as the "first annual" champion. The contest itself took 3 1/2 months to play. My gratitude to all RR readers and members who participated.

via www.zuguide.com

The great.....Bambi???

No! The Sultan of Swat! The Colossus of Clout! The Great Bambiiiinnoooo!!

Here is my shortlist of top twenty baseball position players of all time. (This list includes players accused of taking performance enhancing drugs.)

Babe Ruth
Barry Bonds
Ted Williams
Stan Musial
Hank Aaron
Willie Mays
Lou Gehrig
Joe DiMaggio
Mickey Mantle
Tris Speaker
Ty Cobb
Honus Wagner
Rogers Hornsby
Frank Robinson
Jimmie Foxx
Roberto Clemente
Johnny Bench
Jackie Robinson
Ernie Banks
Yogi Berra

Here are my top ten pitchers of all time:

Greg Maddux
Christy Mathewson
Cy Young
Walter Johnson
Bob Gibson
Bob Feller
Sandy Koufax
Warren Spahn
Roger Clemens
Pedro Martinez

Any thoughts?

Poll

Who is the greatest ballplayer of all time?

Hank Aaron

1 votes

Barry Bonds

4 votes

Ty Cobb

1 votes

Joe DiMaggio

2 votes

Lou Gehrig

0 votes

Rogers Hornsby

0 votes

Mickey Mantle

0 votes

Willie Mays

5 votes

Stan Musial

1 votes

Babe Ruth

14 votes

Tris Speaker

0 votes

Honus Wagner

2 votes

Ted Williams

4 votes

Other

4 votes

38 votes | Poll has closed