Jul/091
Petro's Mid-Season Grades For The Kansas City Royals (pt. 1)
Posted by: photogwingsfan on July 14, 2009.
After watching bits and pieces of the home run derby and being happy that St. Louis Cardinals’ Albert Pujols didn’t win on his home field, I had to get back to the task and hand unfortunately and give my grades for the Kansas City Royals at the mid way point. This is part one consisting of the coaching staff, catchers and infield. Part two will be later today/tomorrow and will be the DH spot (Mike Jacobs), outfielders and pitching staff.
Coaching staff: C-
There is not much else to say about Trey Hillman that hasn’t already been said. The way he has managed games this season is starting to make fans wonder if he is able to guide a team. With a team like the Royals he obviously needs to be making more right moves than wrong ones because the margin of error is slim. I think his job should be safe until next season unless the season gets even worse.
John Buck: C-
John Buck hasn’t done much to change my opinion on what I thought he was before the season. Yes has been injured for decent amount of games but as Royals fans know we will get a good defensive catcher but the offense is severely lacking and doubt it will ever come around.
Miguel Olivo: C+
Miguel Olivo, like John Buck, hasn’t really surprised me this year but his power has been a nice surprise. He is only three homeruns away from his career high (16) and I am sure will fall around 23 home runs.
Brayan Pena: n/a
Not much to really say about Brayan Pena but I don’t think we are expecting much from a third string catcher. He hasn’t played enough for me to even evaluate him.
Willie Bloomquist: C+
Willie Bloomquist has played a lot more than I honestly wish he would have but he has exceeded my expectations with his .280 batting average and has committed only seven errors while playing every position except for pitcher and catcher.
Billy Butler: B
Billy Butler is positioning himself to have a nice season if he can continue his batting average and connect on a few more homers and try to reach 20 by the end of the season. I have also been more than happy with his fielding at first base in the 78 games he has played there only committing four errors.
Alberto Callaspo: C
Alberto Callaspo has done more than expected at the plate with a .298 batting average and six home runs but his fielding has left something to be desired but has done a decent job overall playing second base.
Tony Pena Jr.: D-
It is not his fault that he is on the team, because no one in their right mind would refuse a position on a major league roster, but there is no reason on earth that Tony Pena, Jr. should be on this team. Every regime has their favorite/pet player and Jr. is it.
Mark Teahen: B
Mark Teahen has done everything this team has asked playing four different positions and keeping his batting average at a very respectable .294 and his home run total sitting at nine. If Teahen is traded I won’t be upset because the Royals need to upgrade at pretty much any position and he could be a nice piece to someone’s play-off puzzle.
Alex Gordon: n/a
Alex Gordon didn’t get off to a great start in the seven games he has played so far with his .095 batting average but a lot of that could be due to his injury. I am hoping as I am sure a lot of others that Gordon can come back strong because the Royals need it.
May/090
Royals Salvage Hope In St. Louis
Posted by: Casey on May 24, 2009.
Juan Cruz With The Double-Tiger (AP Photo/Tom Gannam)
Just when we thought the season was over, the Royals give us another glimmer of hope. They went from an awful first two games, basically heading towards disaster, to now making me feel a little better about this team. While I’d like to drink the Kool-Aid and not realize the fact that this team has serious problems, the fact of the matter is this team is in trouble.
So far we’ve seen two sides of this team, one side that goes 18-11 in April, and another team that’s lose 11 of 15, including 1 out of the last 8 road games. The pitching leads the league, and has for the most part been consistent, but obviously there have been severe inconsistencies on offense. I do still feel good about this team when they are clicking. DeJesus is struggling, Teahen is struggling, Callaspo is a butcher in the field and his average is barely above .300 all the sudden and Coco continues to struggle.
It was nice to have Bannister give us a good start, and even when he gave up a couple of runs, he didn’t let it explode. It was great to see our bullpen back into old form. The biggest moment of the game was Bloomquist hustling for a double, then Jacobs hitting him in for the go-ahead run off Piniero right after the Cards tied it up. We are now 6-0 in games that Bloomquist has started at short stop. Really he would have been toast if Rasmus wasn’t such a lazy bum. I’ll take it though.
I would also like to applaud Hillman for how he handled the team and the game situations on sundays game. He did a very solid job, which is what we should expect every game.
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