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)
Apr/102
Royals In Canada
Posted by: Casey on April 19, 2010.
Yes, the first trip to Toronto is my favorite road series of the season for one main reason: Canada. While many people may find Canada useful for things such as using their flag to travel internationally, I find Canadian’s extremely humorous in general. Anytime someone makes a Canada joke, I automatically laugh, even if it’s not funny or even if it’s not a joke. I hear Canada and something triggers in my head to laugh.
I’m glad someone else (Billy Butler) understands my undying appreciation of the cool country above us.
“Hanging out in Toronto! Who’s up for some baseball, eh?”
He might have well have just said “I laugh at Canadian’s because they’re funny”. But that would be me putting words in his mouth, and no one wants to see Billy when he’s angry.
If you do not share my appreciation of Canadian culture, this youtube video from one of my favorite television shows (South Park) pretty much sums up my understanding of all things Canada. Please note: this video is extremely appropriate, no typical South Park lingo involved.
If you are Ankiel’d on this, there’s this random Canadian argument in that episode (Canada On Strike) which is one of my favorite moments on that cynical immature show. In the episode, the entire country of Canada goes on strike because they want more money, yes they want some of that internet money. Luckily, there’s a simple solution that includes Butter’s being Butter’s. In all seriousness, if you are a South Park fan who finds Canada funny, this episode is for you. Or if you just find Canada funny I think you’ll enjoy that episode.
Now not everything in Canada is funny. There’s plenty of things we should thank them for. Like that whole healthcare thing. Apparently we got tired of hearing those pompous frenchmen to the north declaring rather humbly that their healthcare system was better than ours. Also, Canada did a commendable job of handling Juno beach on D-Day. If you know a Canadian, don’t ever mention Canada being inferior to the U.S. militarily, because they will give you an epic lecture about Juno beach and you will never second-guess Mountie power again.
But aside from those two great Canadian accomplishments, there’s also something great that came out of Toronto. If you are a Rock/Alternative music fan, there’s a chance you may already know of Evans Blue. They’re one of my favorite bands, and their one popular song that you may have already heard is called “Cold”.
Now that lead singer left the band awhile ago and started his new band called Parabelle (which I saw live with 5 other people at a local bar last fall). I’m not huge into the new Evans Blue lead singer, but he’s not bad, and the band still sounds great.
Enough off-topic stuff. The Royals fly into Toronto riding some hot bats. After taking game 3 of the series at Minnesota, the Royals are 5-7, while the Blue Jays are 7-6 (but have lost their last 3). We still lead the league in hitting at a .309 clip. Callaspo hit two 3-run home runs last night (maybe he really does feel more comfortable hitting lower in the lineup after all) and the team continues to see the ball well.
The pitching match-ups are as follows:
- Game 1 -- Bannie (0-0, 2.19) vs Morrow (0-1, 12.00)
- Game 2 -- Davies (1-0, 4.26) vs Eveland (2-0, 1.35)
- Game 3 -- Greinke (0-2, 3.57) vs Marcum (0-1, 4.05)
Some things to watch:
- Alex Gordon. He was rushed back to the club in my opinion, and it’ll be interesting to see how he does in this series.
- Callaspo. Not only is he hitting the ball well right now, he’s also made some pretty decent plays at second base with Gordon back and Getz on the dl.
- Jason Kendall. It’s safe to say I underestimated his impact in joining the Royals. He’s got a 12 game hitting streak to start the season.
- Bannie. I really like what we’ve seen from Bannister so far this year. He’s getting ahead of people and pitching to contact.
- Bullpen. After an improved series (still not good) against Minnesota, this could be a big turning point for the bullpen if they could have some good innings against Toronto.
Jun/090
Royals Give Win Away
Posted by: Casey on June 9, 2009.
Callaspo isn't cut out for hockey (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
Merry Christmas.
Heading into the bottom of the 6th, I had a sick feeling in my stomach. From one point of view, the Royals were looking pretty good at getting this series off the right way, up 4-0 with Bannie controlling things. That’s when we completely de-railed. A double play ball that we got 0 outs on, then a play that we should have got the lead runner and not allowed anyone to score, but Olivo pulled his foot off home plate.
After giving up 4 runs in the bottom of the 6th, we gave up a grand slam in the 7th and well, that was the game.
Who does the blame fall upon in this game? Bannister gives up 1 ER, and our bullpen/defense pretty much accounts for the rest of the 7. All season long I have said that this team is not where it should be defensively, and that we won’t make any kind of noise if we don’t have a solid bullpen or solid defense to go along with the good pitching. Who in this bullpen do you trust when you have a slim lead? Soria. Other then that, who do you trust? I would say Mahay (of last year) as well.
This bullpen is so awful that I can’t believe we ever thought it was going to be a strength.
The good news is that we scored 4 runs off of Cliff Lee, the other good news is that we have Meche and Greinke for the final two games of the series. This series is not lost, even though we gave away a game today. This was a ridiculous game, and a game that the Royals, in no way, should have lost. We’ve got to swallow this tough pill, and head out there tomorrow with Meche and then Greinke the following day. We desperately need a series victory…
Jun/091
Royals Continue To Be Painful To Watch
Posted by: Casey on June 2, 2009.
Royals Make Another Struggling Pitcher Look Good (AP Photo/Steve Nesius)
Well, I decided to start this post in the top of the 7th because the Royals had just gave up a two-run double for a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the 6th. Davies had some ups and downs, but ended up walking 6 batters, and is charged for 4 ER.
The Royals faced off against a pitcher on the brink of being demoted, due to his awful start to the 2009 campaign. Andy Sonnanstine entered the game with a 7+ ERA, and he pitched 6.2 innings, giving up two solo home runs to Jose Guillen and Miguel Olivo.
I have some real problems with the way that this team is being managed during the games and how the roster has been managed recently. Today, instead of starting Luis Hernandez, who is hitting .345 in 16 AB against Sonnanstine, by far the most any KC player had faced the Rays righty. Not only was he not in the lineup, but the player who replaced him is Tony Pena Jr., who entered the game with a .000 BA in 2009, and was activated from the DL today.
I hope that I have to re-write this post because we score 2-3 runs, but I don’t see it happening. The winning mentality is gone. The confidence is gone.
May/092
Royals Swept At Home
Posted by: Casey on May 31, 2009.
Royals Lose 7th Consecutive Series (AP Photo/Ed Zurga)
Well, just when we thought the series against the White Sox was coming at a good time, well we were wrong. In a series featuring the best three starters the Royals have, the Sox swept the Royals.
Greinke looked kinda mortal, although he didn’t get the loss. He pitched 7 innings, giving up 4 runs, 3 earned.
Perhaps the lone good news of the weekend is Soria is back. Maybe it’ll give our bullpen some confidence back. Meanwhile, our defense is still awful, although the offense did wake up a little bit today.
Royals have a travel day tomorrow to Tampa Bay, where they start a series on Tuesday.
May/091
Davies With Solid Start, Royals Offense Sucks, Bullpen Continues Struggles
Posted by: Casey on May 22, 2009.
Royals Lose Again. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam)
Well, the part about the possibility of this weekend being a complete disaster seems to have started. After getting shut out 5-0 by Todd Wellemeyer of all people, this series shapes up to be a bad one.
There were certainly some more questionable decisions made by Hillman again this game. Pinch Hitting Bloomquist for Avilles was an awful decision, at least in my view. As a manager, you can see who’s warming up and you know who the other team has. Regardless of how Avilles has played so far this year, he’s still a much better clutch hitter than Bloomquist. I don’t even get it. Why use Bloomquist there? The next batter was going to be Butler, so there’s no reason to bring someone off the bench.
So many questions for this team.. And now we’re back to .500 .. Hopefully we can pick it up for the game tomorrow. I’m frustrated with the way this team is hitting right now.
It was a good start by Davies, though. After giving up two runs in the first inning, he didn’t give up another and was pinch-hit for in the top of the 7th. It looked like it wasn’t going to be a good night for him, but he pitched well. Again, it was the offense not coming through. The bullpen also gave up 3 more runs tonight, making it 13 runs in 9 innings.