Jun/101
Why you don’t want to trade DeJesus and other wonderful problems to have.
Posted by: Bertkc01 on June 28, 2010.
What are you people thinking about trading David DeJesus!? In what world is that a good idea? Who could replace him in our system? Remember the last time we departed with a great outfielder? The answer of course is “Which example do you want to use?” Trading Carlos Beltran who would play in the world series? Or Jermaine Dye who would help the White Sox win they’re first world series since the were the black sox? Or Johny Damon? Hall of Fame Johny Damon. Hero of Boston. Destroyer of Philly. Oh and did I mention a FUTURE HALL OF FAMER (He is and you know it. Don’t act like it isn’t going to happen.).
I personally would not like another rebuilding period to run any of our players out of town and what really needs to be done is, despite a recent 21 game hit streak, leading the team in HR, RBI and well slacking on the way to first. We need to discharge Guillen and make way for Kila in AAA and move Robinson from the Naturals to AAA (or move Gordon to first, there I said it, I said it and I’m not embarrased) and Hosmer to the Naturals and just set an example of how you get your teams ready for the future.
You don’t trade DeJesus. You just don’t. You offer to cover half of Guillen’s contract you get a pitcher and a shorstop who are close to major league ready or close to being close but you just don’t trade DeJesus. You don’t get rid of a guy who is putting himself in the teams record books because of defense and hits .330 and if you do you are fulfilling a stigma that has been attached to you by your fans as a cheap, lazy, greedy ball club that has no desire to win anything of significance again. Ever.
You don’t option Chen or Lerew to anywhere. Remember the end of 2008? Royals had a great bullpen with guys that were being called up from AAA or were from Dayton’s Atlanta rejects squad and we, as fans, we’re beginning we could win the division next year. Remember those guys? LEO FRIGGIN’ NUNEZ? Closer for the marlins anyone? Anyone? Ramon Martinez? Red Spx setup man anyone? Hello? Two words should forever scar and insult Royals ownership from 2009. Jacobs and Crisp. Sir Strike out and Mr. Owie Shoulder and oh we also inherited they’re ARBITRATION (scary soap opera pipe organ music here). We need to dump Davies or move him to the bullpen and he has no other option because he’s got 2 guys breathing down his neck for his job. When Hochevar comes back (not particularly excited for Meche and his new arm slot to be seen yet) he will move to the number 2 spot and we will begin to see the championship rotation take form. Greinke, Hochevar then Chen (holding it for Montgomery (AA) or Lamb (A) or whoever moves the fastest) then Lerew then Bannister. Bannister is pitching well but I really like seeing him on day games so he retains the five spot. So that’s the rotation that will announce to Major League Baseball that the Royals are no longer a joke. We can’t do that unless we tell Davies to start doing his job or go play for the Pirates. Harsh.
Sign DeJesus to the option and pay the man because he’s worth it. Sign him to a $21 million/3 year deal then let the baseball gods do what they may. Keep the guy here at least until 2012.
Davies goes to the bullpen or to the wolves. He sinks or swims. Suck it up and take it. He’ll always have a 2nd career in construction. Harsh.
Jun/100
What to do when your “stuck” at the ballpark
Posted by: Bertkc01 on June 19, 2010.
How to survive the rain delay
The Royals would lose the day the All-Star game is announced to come to KC. I could talk about that.
I could also talk about the pitching and unfortunate breaks the team had but almost every stinking blogger does that. I’d rather talk about the beauty of a rain delay. It is beautiful.
It was a beautiful presentation by Bud Selig or David Glass or whatever city authorities and it was slowly turning into a beautiful evening for a ball game until I realized the nice breeze was due to a storm a comin’. Well I spoke to ushers and I spoke to concession stand people (who are exceedingly nice by the way) and as fans began to file in to the cheap seats with me I noticed a small state of concern come apparent by the masses. The storm would be pretty bad. Now I’ve been through some storms and this wasn’t the worst one I’d see but you’d think some people have never been in a storm. In fact some people are just plain waste their good looks and intelligence on how they react to a thunderstorm. Yes it’s loud and yes it flashes but man do you have to panic?
Here’s why you should never panic in a storm at a public venue. If it was going to be really bad and I mean really, REALLY bad there’s nothing they can do about it and if it’s not as bad as that then you’re going to be okay. So I never worry I just take my lumps, get a little wet and calm down after the loud bangs (startle reaction is scientifically proven to be unavoidable) and focus on my ball park environment.
Moving down to the lower level to avoid the pummeling the crowd as a whole was pretty happy to be there. Vendors were laughing and carrying on to customers and serving the magnificently overprice food (gotta pay for Guillen’s contract somehow) and felt compelled to break my first rule of baseball game viewing. Don’t buy any food before the 3rd inning. Not knowing how long this is going to take I opt for a footlong hotdog, chicken tenders and fries and a souvenir large diet Pepsi (because I got to keep my figure). So I already am feeling weird because now everything is off.
I see what appears to be an 18 year old girl shivering and closed up tight but wearing about as much skin tight clothing and revealing apparel as you can and it seems odd to me that she’d be here in this situation. Realize that she probably doesn’t check the weather much and it is summer so clothes become more optional as the hotter days close in. Then I see she has a cell phone and I feel a little less sorry for her because she could have gotten on the internet with the device and checked on it but then again I don’t know her circumstances and maybe she can only use it for talking. Then my sympathy fell away completely as she places her cell phone in her BACK POCKET. Which is about as smart as smoking during a tonsilectomy. You sit down and crunch there goes your communication during a worse case scenario. Then I see that the phone has a Justin Bieber picture on it. Sorry young lady but you just received negative energy from me. Hope you make it inspite of it, which you probably will.
The weather let’s up a little bit and I go up to the 400 section area and see some vendors closing shop and I start a conversation. Joking say “Hey got any extra food left over?” They say, “Want a shaboygan?” I’m shocked and say “Yes.” Two minutes later I get my free shaboygan. I love the ballpark.
The clouds leave but not before leaving a double rainbow. Then it gets dark and in about the 4th inning I think, “I’ve got to write about this.”.
Jun/100
Fixing Zack
Posted by: Bertkc01 on June 16, 2010.
06/09/2010
Zack’s “issues”
Listening to the post game a caller called in and stated that Zack’s wife is his new passion and he’s not as into baseball as in the past. Others have stated it’s the fact his catcher isn’t there (Miguel “Wild Pitch” Olivo). Others are crying run support and yet others (me) think he needs to be represcribed a different anti anxiety pill. Let’s get rid of all the crazy theories and just focus on the numbers.
It’s common knowledge that Zack gets crap for run support and most recently he’s gotten less than crap. He’s gotten absolutely nothing. The score when he left the last 4 games: 7-0, 1-0, 4-0 and 6-0.
Okay two of those games he didn’t help himself but let’s go back to the beginning… I mean really break it down…
| DATE |  |
GAME | |
W | |
L | |
ERA | |
G | |
GS | |
CG | |
SHO | |
SV | |
SVO | |
IP | |
H | |
R | |
ER | |
HR | |
BB | |
SO | |
NP-S | |
GO-AO |
| APR 05 | DET | 0 | 0 | 1.50 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 96-56 | 8-5 | |||||||||||||||||||
| APR 10 | BOS | 0 | 1 | 3.55 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.2 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 108-68 | 9-6 | |||||||||||||||||||
| APR 16 | @MIN | 0 | 1 | 3.57 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 108-57 | 3-6 | |||||||||||||||||||
| APR 21 | @TOR | 0 | 0 | 3.28 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 109-66 | 5-8 | |||||||||||||||||||
| APR 27 | SEA | 0 | 0 | 2.56 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 119-77 | 6-9 | |||||||||||||||||||
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DATE | |
GAME | |
W | |
L | |
ERA | |
G | |
GS | |
CG | |
SHO | |
SV | |
SVO | |
IP | |
H | |
R | |
ER | |
HR | |
BB | |
SO | |
NP-S | |
GO-AO |
| MAY 02 | @TB | 0 | 1 | 2.27 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8.0 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 87-65 | 7-11 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| MAY 07 | @TEX | 0 | 1 | 2.51 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 108-73 | 7-8 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| MAY 13 | CLE | 1 | 0 | 2.73 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 112-72 | 7-3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| MAY 18 | @BAL | 0 | 0 | 2.72 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7.0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 108-72 | 6-8 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| MAY 23 | COL | 0 | 1 | 3.57 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.1 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 65-42 | 3-6 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| MAY 29 | @BOS | 0 | 1 | 3.39 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 115-66 | 4-9 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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DATE | |
GAME | |
W | |
L | |
ERA | |
G | |
GS | |
CG | |
SHO | |
SV | |
SVO | |
IP | |
H | |
R | |
ER | |
HR | |
BB | |
SO | |
NP-S | |
GO-AO |
| JUN 03 | LAA | 0 | 1 | 3.60 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6.0 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 116-72 | 3-3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| JUN 08 | @MIN | 0 | 1 | 4.05 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.0 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 102-70 | 5-3 | ||||||||||||||||||||
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So there’s 6 games where he gave up 2 run or less assuming when he gives up 5 runs or more he loses. That leaves us with a 6 – 2 record. One number that stands out is the home run numbers and go-ao numbers.
The one thing though that nobody will point out is Yuni Betancourt has committed at least 3 of the 6 errors on Greinke starts. One was in Texas where Zack had 4 runs scored. 3 of them were earned. One was against Colorado were he botched a double play ball by, get this, not letting go of the ball! They later scored 4 more runs that inning, 3 earned.
Oh and does it need to be pointed out that Brayan Pena caught the only win?
Kendall has done great with 3 of the other 4 pitchers. Kyle Davies, I would totally cut you now if I had a pitcher that could be brought up. Hoch, Banny and now Chen are pitching wonderfully with Kendall. I know I’m leaving out Mr Bursitis himself Gil Meche but really can we just ignore his actions so far this season? For whatever reason Greinke is not getting any help.
Here’s my personal theory: Maybe new anti anxiety drug. Maybe we need to get more than a bunch of slap hitters. Maybe Guillen needs to be “injured” and Kila Kai’ahue (sp?) needs to be brought up. Maybe Rick “K man” Ankiel will provide a spark when he gets back from rehabbing in Omaha, doubtful but possible. Maybe Zack really is distracted by his hot wife. Would that make her the Yoko Ono of the Royals? I hope not. She needs to come to more games. Nice score on that one Zack. Maybe we need to lay off comparing him to last year Zack because his performance was in the Walter Johnson/Fernando Valenzuela calibur of performances. Walter Johnson is considered to be one of the best 3 pitchers in the post 1900 era btw. Fernando had a screwball. No one hits a screwball too well if its thrown right. All things being equal the reason is this:
- Cy Young Awards are difficult to win back to back and those that do are HOF calibur.
2. Royals just can’t hit the ace of a pitching staff.
In summation Greinke will do it again but not this year.
Apr/100
New Direction For Primacy
Posted by: Casey on April 25, 2010.
With the Royals officially out of contention in 2010, I’m going to start looking at what the future looks like. I’m not completely sure how I’m going to accomplish this but the emphasis will obviously be on the minor league clubs and also some draft coverage.
While adding this new angle I’ll bring the same big-league analysis.
Apr/100
Weekly Farm Report 4/23/10
Posted by: Casey on April 23, 2010.
Omaha Royals (7-8)
- Mike Aviles – .255/.300/.362
- Wilson Betemit – .265/.333/.469
- Buck Coats – .341/.413/.415
- Irving Falu – .286/.338/.302
- Kila Ka’aihue – .283/.424/.566
- David Lough – .258/.313/.387
- Jordan Parraz – .161/.213/.268
- Scott Thorman – .222/.314/.289
- Bryan Bullington – 1.38 ERA/13.0 IP/.923 WHIP
- Bruce Chen – 1.31 ERA/20.2 IP/.871 WHIP
- Anthony Lerew – 3.86 ERA/14.0 IP/1.357 WHIP
- Victor Marte – 3.60 ERA/10.0 IP/1.100 WHIP
- Carlos Rosa – 1.04 ERA/8.2 IP/1.385 WHIP
- Philip Humber – 6.75 ERA/16.0 IP/1.562 WHIP
- Chris Hayes – 2.25 ERA/4.0 IP/1.500 WHIP
- Blake Wood – 3.38 ERA/8.0 IP/1.125 WHIP
Northwest Arkansas Naturals (7-6)
- Johnny Giavotella – .319/.400/.383
- Chris McConnell – .267/.324/.367
- Ernesto Mejia – .239/.314/.348
- Kurt Mertins – .239/.333/.283
- Paulo Orlando – .206/.282/.265
- Manuel Pina – .375/.468/.625
- Clint Robinson – .244/.393/.378
- Derrick Robinson – .300/.375/.460
- Anthony Seratelli – .160/.30/.160
- Nick Van Stratten – .289/.325/.421
- Federico Castaneda – 0.00 ERA/9.2 IP/.517 WHIP
- Aaron Crow – 3.12 ERA/17.1 IP/1.327 WHIP
- Blaine Hardy – 0.00 ERA/9.0 IP/.556 WHIP
- Everett Teaford – 2.63 ERA/13.2 IP/.732 WHIP
- Edgar Osuna – 0.00 ERA/17.0 IP/.941 WHIP/14 SO/1 BB
- Louis Coleman – 2.45 ERA/7.1 IP/1.091 WHIP
- Eduardo Paulino – 4.66 ERA/9.2 IP/1.448 WHIP
- Brandon Sisk – 2.25 ERA/8.0 IP/1.375 WHIP
Wilmington Blue Rocks (6-8)
- Eric Hosmer – .417/.509/.583
- Patrick Norris – .241/.349/.333
- Adrian Ortiz – .229/.315/.313
- Jamie Romak – .216/.298/.216
- Jason Taylor – .130/.180/.239
- Ryan Wood – .073/.208/.171
- George Baumann – 0.84 ERA/10.2 IP/1.125 WHIP
- Alex Caldera – 3.68 ERA/14.2 IP/1.295 WHIP
- Christopher Dwyer – 3.46 ERA/13.0 IP/1.692 WHIP
- Ivor Hodgson – 3.68 ERA/7.1 IP/1.364 WHIP
- Patrick Keating – 2.35 ERA/7.2 IP/1.043 WHIP
- Michael Montgomery – 0.50 ERA/18.0 ERA/.556 WHIP/27-4 SO/BB
- Tim Melville – 8.68 ERA/9.1 IP/2.143 WHIP
Sorry, ran out of time but I’ll add the Burlington Bee’s later tonight. Let me know if you have any questions/comments. Looks positive in some areas and negative in some areas. Overall not a bad start for the farm in my opinion.
Apr/102
Recapping Road Trip, Preview Homestand
Posted by: Casey on April 22, 2010.
Kansas City finished its 3 team road trip (Tigers 2-1, Twins 1-2, Canadians 1-2) a total of 4-5, which isn’t bad. We should have swept the Tigers (see: bullpen meltdown), salvaged game 3 against Twins and almost gave away game 3 against the Blue Jays but came out with a victory. There are some positives and some negatives, as with any situation, and I’m going to attempt to break down some of them.
Positives from road trip:
- Greinke. In Zack’s start against Toronto on Wednesday, he showed some more life than he had the rest of the season. His fastball velocity was still a little low, but he was locating his slider and his pitch-mix was more like last year’s. He still lived up in the zone with his fastball too often for my liking, but overall a good sign.
- Absurd hitting. We are still hitting at ridiculous numbers. As a team, a .296 BA 15 games into a season is a good sign. No one expects it to continue, but no one expected it in the first place. Yes, the 2010 Royals, defying expectations.
- Relievers. The bullpen hasn’t been as bad as it was to start the season. They will still struggle all season long, but hopefully not at the pace as it was heading. I should modify this by saying the bullpen was pretty bad in the Detroit series, but Rupe has been a solid contributor since his arrival. I do expect a move to be made tomorrow, hopefully Mendoza being sent down for another pitcher.
- Jose Guillen. ‘Clots (too early?) is actually contributing. I know, crazy. I’ve been as much of an advocate for him being traded as anyone, and right now just might be the perfect time to do it. If anyone’s going to take on his huge salary, they might be more inclined when he’s hitting .377/.406/.738. Let’s face it, we’re leading the league in hitting and sitting in 4th place. Guillen has been our best performer so far, but he’s not going to get us into the playoffs. With Getz returning fairly soon, Callaspo is the odd man out and Gordon needs at bats, and knowing Hillman he’ll want to get Callaspo out there as much as possible. I just think it’s best for the team to trade JG.
- Yuniesky Betancourt. Oddly enough, our talented short stop is actually performing up to this point. Sure he hurts on defense at times (seems improved to me), but when he’s hitting .309 who’s complaining? Not me. I was glad when we traded for Yuni mostly because of his potential to be a decent SS. I don’t question work ethic when Trey Hillman is involved.
- Billy Butler. BB off to a better start than he was last year. I think this is a big positive for the team. He’s not squaring up that pitch early in the count like he did last year when he was a doubles machine, but he’s still hitting better than he did last april (doesn’t take much). This might not be a big deal to most Royals fans, but I find the joy in the little things.
- Jason Kendall. He is way better than I thought he would be. Both offensively and defensively. I’ll say it. Plus he’s a great veteran to have in that clubhouse.
- We are not the Pirates.
Negatives from road trip:
- Rick Ankiel. Rick showed some great early season promise, but I really think he’s going to be a streaky player for us. The main problem I see with Ankiel (aside from confusion) is that no matter what the count is, he’s got the exact same swing. Because of that lack of a skill, Ankiel is a career .151 hitter with two strikes. The main way that he needs to overcome this issue is by being more patient at the plate. It’s almost like he’s afraid of getting two strikes that he tries to get a pitch to square up before then. Pitchers know that he’s an early ball hitter, so they’re very careful early in the count. It would also be nice if a coach could get him to shorten up with two strikes, but that would be good coaching.
- Gil Meche. Gil really doesn’t look good at this point in the season. I am at the point that I don’t think we’re going to see a sub-4.00 ERA from Meche again in his career. I hope my opinion changes come his next start, but as it stands now, that’s how I feel.
- Brayan Pena. He had an absolutely terrible game behind the plate against Toronto on Tuesday. As I mentioned on twitter, I hadn’t noticed him being that bad defensively last year, and I still don’t think he was as bad last year as he was Tuesday, but we’ve been kinda spoiled by Kendall to this point.
- Record. Like I’ve already stated, we are leading the league in hitting at a crazy pace, yet we are sitting 6-9. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when we cool off…
Pitching match-ups for Twins series:
- Game 1 – Pavano (2-1, 4.96) vs Meche (0-1, 11.57)
- Game 2 – Blackburn (1-1, 6.05) vs Hoch (2-0, 2.89)
- Game 3 – Slowey (2-1, 2.45) vs Bannie (0-1, 4.58)
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