hawkinscm87
Jul 24, 2010 Jun 02, 2012 37 5962
I follow other Kansas City teams, but I focus on the Royals and baseball in general.
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Opening Day Lineup, Royals Closer, etc.
- #Royals lineup for opener: Gordon 7, Cain 8, Hosmer 3, Butler DH, Francoeur 9, Betancourt 4, Moustakas 5, Pena 2, Escobar 6 and Chen 1.
- RHP Jonathan Broxton will open season as #Royals' primary closer, manager Ned Yost reveals.
- #Royals RHP Felipe Paulino scheduled to throw bullpen workout today in latest step in recover from sore elbow.
I sat in the scout section behind home plate, allowing the waves of Americana blasting from the stadium P.A. system to crash into my eardrums, waiting to have my eyes opened by a spectacular play or a spectacular player, when from the sky a heroic figure emerged and slowly lowered his human form onto the playing field and picked up a baseball bat. It was Eric Hosmer, and his face was bronze, and his body draped with the cloth of kings, and his skin was wet with the tears of innumerable virgins. His swing was delicious, with a robust finish that was assertive and aggressive, yet tender and passionate.
Soren Petro, et. al. make Alex Gordon predictions, discuss Cain
Gordon discussion at beginning, lasts until 21st minute. Cain discussion begins after that.
If you listen to Petro, you'll notice that on one hand, he recognizes Gordon's BABIP as a regression candidate, but on the other hand, he describes Gordon as a "pretty good player" at the top of the lineup. He thinks Gordon could be a nice player to get on base and hit for gap power, then get driven in by good hitters.
I may be interpreting this wrong, or Petro may have used terrible wording. You decide.
The 10 Best Things About Being a Royals Fan
Opinions? You're allowed to say "not sure."
White Sox sign Fukudome to 1 year/$1M deal
There is a club option for 2013 for $3.5M with a $500k buyout.
Meanwhile, the Royals are on the hook to Jeff Francoeur for 2 years at $13.5M.
Rotation Insights from Dutton:
#Royals always capable of surprise but don't see them signing or trading for another starting pitcher. Really want to look at in-house options at this point (Aaron Crow, Mike Montgomery, etc.) Things could change if July arrives and still in the race. Could see a rental.
Montgomery will get every chance to win a spot. Paulino and Duffy enter as incumbents behind 3 locks: Sanchez, Hochevar and Chen. Crow will get a real look. Teaford in the picture. And don't forget about Mendoza, who is out of options.
I think Mendoza is a real sleeper. He'll be watched closely to see if his 2011 breakthrough at Omaha (and late call-up) is the real thing.
Sources: Dayton Moore wants #Angels Jean Segura and Max Russell for Joakim Soria
More from MLBInsideNews (formerly PioDeportes): Doubt Angels meet Royals asking price, Segura #2 prospect, Russell good lefty
Info on Segura: FanGraphs Top 10 Angels Prospects from 2010.
Segura's BR page paints a weird picture. Moved from rookie league to AAA in 2009. Back to A in 2010, back to rookie ball in 2011, then finished year in High-A. Apparently he's had injury issues, but what was going on?
5 months ago
hawkinscm87
14 comments
1 recs
What is going on with the Fox Sports Kansas City broadcast team? People speaking vaguely on Twitter and no report anywhere.
Mike Fast Article on Batted Balls
DIPS theory takes a hit. It's about time. I never bought it.
Watching the game last night, I couldn't help but think that Paulino was getting squeezed a little by Dana DeMuth, the home plate umpire. It appears that is the case, although that may also include Collins, Teaford, and Wood.
What I notice from this is that there are some pitches by KC on the right side of the plate (umpire's POV) that were called balls that were inside the strike zone. However, there are some pitches above the strike zone from KC pitchers that were called strikes. l'll also point out that off the plate to the left, there are several pitches being called strikes, but that went for both teams. It appears Dana DeMuth did squeeze the Royals pitchers as to the right side of the plate. It also appears they were given more strikes higher in the zone... but that is because Royals pitchers were throwing more pitches in that area.
What do you think?
Ralph Kiner Speaks the Truth
Not much to say about this. At least we can look at this and know that there are SOME people in the baseball industry who understand how absurd the use of closers is. Until now, I just figured it was bloggers and baseball writers.
#Royals calling up 2B Johnny Giavotella from Class AAA Omaha.
http://twitter.com/#!/Royals_Report/status/99328263255621634
Beltran to Giants, Wheeler to Mets
"The Giants at the one-yard-line in their negotiations for Carlos Beltran; the deal is almost finished."
"The Giants are expected to give up pitcher Zach Wheeler as the centerpiece of the Beltran trade."
"Still dotting i's, crossing t's. But it will happen: Zach Wheeler to the Mets."
-- All Buster Olney tweets
Story from Rosenthal and Morosi
Felipe Paulino and SIERA
I was reading up on FanGraphs' new SIERA statistic, which is kind of what I've been waiting for. FIP and xFIP were nice, but they didn't take into account the pitcher's ability to induce weak contact, or the full effect of strikeouts, or the full effect of limiting walks. This statistic seems to do that and much more, especially because it has been proficient at predicting a pitcher's BABIP despite the volatility of that statistic.
So I was curious. I pulled up MLB rankings sorted by SIERA. If you click the link, make sure you click the SIERA column to sort.
Starting Pitchers w/ 50 IP ranked by SIERA for 2011:
1. Zack Greinke
2. Roy Halladay
3. Brandon Beachy
4. Clayton Kershaw
5. Cliff Lee
6. Justin Verlander
7. Cole Hamels
8. David Price
9. James Shields
10. Felipe Paulino
Paulino ranks 12th in MLB Starters in xFIP.
The next Royals starters to show up were much further down, but ended up being Danny Duffy, Jeff Francis, Kyle Davies, and Luke Hochevar. Hochevar and Davies were a virtual tie, however.
"#Royals OF Lorenzo Cain looks ready for the next step. He's got a .916 OPS & is playing great defense for AAA Omaha."
"Cain is an example of a guy who's been handled well developmentally. He has 2,908 minor league PA. Doesn't need many more. #royals"
-- Jerry Crasnick Twitter Feed
Ned Yost just announced that Jason Kendall has had a "re-tear" of his rotator cuff. Says he will be out this year and next year.
11 months ago
hawkinscm87
55 comments
22 recs
Statistics Say Royals Most Watchable Team in MLB
Meaning, they lead the majors in Team NERD, a stat made up by Fangraphs' Carson Cistulli and takes into account (among other things) team age and payroll. The lower the age/payroll, the higher the score. Supposedly, it measures the watchability of teams for "those of the sabermetric persuasion." It also gives credit for having a good bullpen, attempting to steal a lot of bases, home runs, overall hitting, and stuff like that.
6/27 Lineup - CF Melky, 2B Getz, 1B Hosmer, LF Gordon, RF Frenchy, 3B Moose, C Pena, SS Escobar, P Francis
Ned has no intentions of scoring runs.
Gordon is the best LF in the AL, except for some ridiculous defensive numbers for Brett Gardner. He's very good, but is he really THAT good?
Larger image here: http://i52.tinypic.com/24yq0zq.jpg
Unification and the DH
by hawkinscm87 on Jun 14, 2011 4:58 PM EDT
on Royals Review
Rany and Joe Sheehan discussed this at length on their podcast. Basically, Joe and Keith Law were supportive of DHs being the rule if the leagues were to unite and have the same rules. Joe's argument seems to be that watching pitchers flailing at pitches and bunting is not entertaining, and although pitchers were decent hitters at one time in history, they no longer are even close to a replacement level hitter. Rany's argument is that he would rather not have a game filled with "roles." He would prefer that pitchers hit because baseball should not be a game where every player is assigned a role that matches up with a player's strength(s). If pitchers hit, teams' weaknesses are exposed and then, not only do players' strengths determine the outcome of a game, but players' weaknesses also contribute (albeit quite a bit less). Of course, there's also the added strategy involved.
As you might be able to tell, I kind of agree with Rany. The argument that Joe puts forth, that DHs are more entertaining because they provide more offense is not very persuasive. As mentioned in the podcast, Adam Kennedy DHing will be 100x better than a pitcher hitting. I don't see why that is relevant. When you have a Designated Hitter rather than a pitcher hitting, I think the standard of comparison is raised so that a hitter's ability is not compared to a pitcher, but should be compared to other position players. Watching Adam Kennedy hit does not add anything to a game for me. Of course, not all DHs are as pathetic as Adam Kennedy, but if you now have a DH slot to fill on 30 teams instead of 14 teams, I think most teams will only be able to throw a replacement level player in there.
Your thoughts? Does it matter to you that Adam Kennedy is a much better hitter than Micah Owings (one of the best hitting pitchers in recent memory), even if he isn't a good hitter as compared to other hitters?
I will say...I don't think the DH will ever go away now. It can only expand from here.
Liner takes hard left turn, Longo gets HR
I can see why this was not called an error.
Earl Weaver's thoughts on handling Escobar
by hawkinscm87 on Jun 13, 2011 4:14 PM EDT
on Royals Review
I picked up an older book the other day called "Weaver on Strategy: A Guide for Armchair Managers by Baseball's Master Tactician." Aside from the introduction, it is written by Earl Weaver himself. Now, we all know about Earl Weaver. Basically, Joe Morgan-types hate the way he managed because he would rather wait for a 3-run home run than bunt guys over. He was similar in some ways to the early 2000s A's, but his philosophy was common sense. For example, rather than glorify players who had "intangibles," he glorified the talented players who could hit for power. The simple fact is that he was very successful and in this book he offers his opinions on almost anything you can think of about the game. In the chapter discussing lineups, he discusses what you should do if the game is on the line and a struggling hitter is up to bat. If you analogize it to the Royals, it's the common sense solution that Ned Yost refuses to use.
He says, word for word:
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Mellinger's column about Billy Butler
If you are one of these people Mellinger is talking about, shame on you. Go buy a Franceour T-shirt.
I thoroughly enjoyed Yahoo! Fantasy Baseball's analysis regarding Stephen Drew getting a day off.
Question: Tim - You rock man! In your opinion who has been the toughest batter you have faced so far this year?
Answer: Shin Soo-Choo, because you can't ever tell whether he'll be sitting fastball, curveball. he swings at every first pitch, so you can't throw him a perfect pitch. But you can't throw one out of the strike zone and fall behind. Hits to all parts of the fields, is aggressive. It's like he sits every pitch and every count. It's ridiculous.
Wow. Great answer. And great look into a pitcher's mind against a tough hitter.
Taken from live chat with Tim Collins.
Team Owners Object to MLB's New Run-Sharing Agreement
Success for the Royals should be measured by how many Onion articles they appear in as the butt of a joke. Not really... these people are funny, but they've never been accused of being very knowledgeable/aware.
#Royals calling up Eric Hosmer. Sending Kila Ka'aihue to Omaha.
Trying to find a walkout song for this year. What do you guys think?
Aaron Crow to begin season in Royals bullpen
Pretty cool. The only question now is, will he make his way back to starting?
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