2023 – A new beginning for the Royals. Matt Quatraro era begins. A year to see which of our young players will make up the core going forward. Can Bobby Witt Jr become a superstar SS or will go to the hot corner? Will Brady Singer take the next step forward? Will Salvy be Salvy? Will Big Vin or Pratto take first base? Will they find a position for MJ? Who else emerges from the youth movement? Not to mention the development of the new downtown stadium.
Free Agents/Trades Acquisitions
Jordan Lyles, RHP
Ryan Yarbrough, LHP
Josh Taylor, LHP
Aroldis Chapman, LHP
Top 10 Prospects from Baseball America
1. Gavin Cross, OF
2. Cayden Wallace, 3B
3. Drew Waters, OF
4. Ben Kudrna, RHP
5. Frank Mozzicato, LHP
6. Maikel Garcia, SS
7. Tyler Gentry, OF
8. Nick Loftin, OF/3B
9. Angel Zerpa, LHP
10. Carter Jensen, C [Reply]
Originally Posted by BWillie:
Jeff Francoer. I think that is who Bobby is. Jeff came in at 21 or 22 and had some early success but his lack of plate discipline got him exposed a bit and he regressed a tad before having an average career.
When Jeff was 22 his OPS was .742 and 23 was .782. Hopefully Bobby Witt can be that good.
Time will tell.
That said, with your advanced scouting knowledge and comprehensive statistical analysis background, maybe you should apply for a job in MLB? Some team could certainly use your talents.
All I’m saying is maybe don’t openly root for the failure of a young Royals Top Prospect (to prop up another player) since you are supposedly a Royals fan too.
Originally Posted by TomBarndtsTwin:
Time will tell.
That said, with your advanced scouting knowledge and comprehensive statistical analysis background, maybe you should apply for a job in MLB? Some team could certainly use your talents.
All I’m saying is maybe don’t openly root for the failure of a young Royals Top Prospect (to prop up another player) since you are supposedly a Royals fan too.
Fair enough?
You think observing things that are true is rooting for failure. I do not. I would love for all of our prospects to be good. I get frustrated when they arent but calling the kettle black is not rooting for failure. [Reply]
You have torn BWJ down on here multiple times, sometimes with passive aggressive comments, because most on here believed BWJ to be a better big league prospect than your guy, Vinnie. We’ve all seen you do it. Just own it.
All I’m saying is let’s maybe give BOTH guys a little time before we make definitive conclusions about what their careers are going to be. Vinnie could turn in to Bob Hamelin for all you know. (unlikely, but stranger shit has happened with MLB young players who ‘burst’ onto the scene)
I would like for both Vinnie and BWJ (and MJM, fwiw) to become stars for the Royals. I would hope you do too. They need a solid young core of hitters. Way too many Royals top prospects have flamed out as hitters.
But let’s give ‘em all a few years to see what they will ultimately become . . . . . . [Reply]
Might be comparable to Moose. Came into the league at 22 as a top 10 prospect and was fine with the glove but about the same OPS+ as Booby. Got the nickname “Moustinkas” but then had 6-7 good offensive years. When we needed them too
Then he closed out his career ripping off the Reds for a cool $64M. Producing no WAR. The Reds must be exhausted by our used trash. Pawned Mike Minor on them last year, -0.4 WAR and ate his $9M salary [Reply]
My bigger surprise with Bobby is his inability to be consistent in the field. I was thinking he’d be amazing at short with his glove and speed but it hasn’t been so. [Reply]
Originally Posted by lewdog:
My bigger surprise with Bobby is his inability to be consistent in the field. I was thinking he’d be amazing at short with his glove and speed but it hasn’t been so.
In reality he may be an OFer which to be that he needs to be better with the stick unless he's an elite player out there. [Reply]
Don't know if you need to do anything with Bobby at this point. It's not uncommon for guys to struggle their second year. Even Beltran had a drop off his second year. Julio Rodriguez has not been the same player this year either. Adley Rutschman has come back strong but he's also a couple years older than Julio and Bobby. Just let them work through it.
I feel like we had these exact same conversations with guys like Gordon and Moustakas. [Reply]
Originally Posted by tk13:
Don't know if you need to do anything with Bobby at this point. It's not uncommon for guys to struggle their second year. Even Beltran had a drop off his second year. Julio Rodriguez has not been the same player this year either. Adley Rutschman has come back strong but he's also a couple years older than Julio and Bobby. Just let them work through it.
I feel like we had these exact same conversations with guys like Gordon and Moustakas.
Gordon had to go back to the minors and change positions.......and Moustakas took a good long time to ever put it together. [Reply]
Originally Posted by tk13:
Don't know if you need to do anything with Bobby at this point. It's not uncommon for guys to struggle their second year. Even Beltran had a drop off his second year. Julio Rodriguez has not been the same player this year either. Adley Rutschman has come back strong but he's also a couple years older than Julio and Bobby. Just let them work through it.
I feel like we had these exact same conversations with guys like Gordon and Moustakas.
Good point on Julio...he already got paid too I believe [Reply]
Originally Posted by lewdog:
My bigger surprise with Bobby is his inability to be consistent in the field. I was thinking he’d be amazing at short with his glove and speed but it hasn’t been so.
Yeah, average SS glove is not what I was expecting. If he can just hit like last year, then he's still pretty damn valuable. If he doesn't improve his hitting from his rookie year, then he just isn't that generational type guy that we were hoping he'd be, but he's still really young. I'm gonna give him until he's 24/25 before I decide that he's not that generational guy.
There is no way that he will keep sucking like he has been recently. He really has just been pretty unlucky. He's rocking a .253 BABIP and last year he had a .295 BABIP, which was within a couple of points of league average. He's increased his walk% from 4.8% to 5.2%, his EV has increased from 89.7 to 90.2 (league avg is 88.2), his hard hit % increased from 38.8% to 41.8% (league avg is 38.8%) and he has also increased his line drive % from 22.6% to 24.2% (league avg is 23.7%). He might be going oppo field too much as that went from 20.4% to 25% (league avg is 18.5%).
His BABIP should go back towards league average and if it does, then he should have a better season than last year with the bat. [Reply]
