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 dlphg9:
Bobby Witt Jr. is fucking insane. I think hes had probably the best stretch right now of any Royals I've seen. Never got to watch Brett.
Yeah...Brett would go on a tear and be an absolute, unstoppable monster as well. Same energy as Witt...super aggressive, but with less speed and fewer smiles. He'd have regular stretches in the 70's and 80's where pitchers just wouldn't pitch to him because he was constantly punishing everything. [Reply]
Originally Posted by dlphg9:
Bobby Witt Jr. is ****ing insane. I think hes had probably the best stretch right now of any Royals I've seen. Never got to watch Brett.
I can't imagine being a Royals fan having not gotten to witness George Brett. Anyone who was introduced to the Royals in the 1990's or 2000's and actually claimed them as their team really earned their fan card. [Reply]
Originally Posted by dlphg9:
Bobby Witt Jr. is fucking insane. I think hes had probably the best stretch right now of any Royals I've seen. Never got to watch Brett.
So, any time he slumps moving forward, we need to make sure to talk a bunch of shit on him in this thread to kick-start him... [Reply]
Originally Posted by duncan_idaho:
So, any time he slumps moving forward, we need to make sure to talk a bunch of shit on him in this thread to kick-start him...
Originally Posted by myselff77:
I can't imagine being a Royals fan having not gotten to witness George Brett. Anyone who was introduced to the Royals in the 1990's or 2000's and actually claimed them as their team really earned their fan card.
Yeah it's been a tough ride, that is what made the back to back World Series' even more sweet. I remember back in the 2000s nobody even know who the players were. I'm worried the lack of TV coverage at bars is going to create the same apathy that we had back then around town. I was downtown at Street Car Grille, then Antons. Not on TV. They had TVs but OTHER baseball games were on and some info commercial. Then at Sierra Grille over the weekend same thing. Preseason football only, they had no Ballys.
Closest I've seen in my lifetime is Carlos Beltran as far as this tear he's on. He was a beast. I bet Salvy has had one of these windows where he looks like the best player in baseball too, though. [Reply]
Originally Posted by BWillie:
A 23-year-old Royal currently has an OPS over .800
Exciting stuff
No need to downplay it.
He has a WRC+ of 119/116 on bRef and Fangraphs. Which means he's well above-average for the year, even with the slow start still weighing down things.
Every peripheral number that matters (Hard hit rate, groundball rate, strikeout rate, walk rate, etc) has improved over last year, and his traditional numbers have improved, too.
His defense has improved drastically. He's on pace for 5 bWAR/6 fWAR and pacing for 30 HR and 45 SB with GG level defense while being 15-20 percent above average offensively.
And that's IF he stays at his whole year pace. If he stays hot like he has since June 1, the numbers will be even better.
It's 1.25 seasons later than expected/hoped, but this version of Witt is what people were dreaming on. Pretty close to max upside. [Reply]
