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]
I wish I could actually see a game in order to render an opinion, but it sounds like they have enough Intel/video on all our hitters and the young guys especially aren't adjusting at all. Salvy hitting and that's about it I'm guessing. We wasted all those picks on pitching that's not gonna pan out except for Singer. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Mecca:
Now that is twisting what I said...I said he isn't as good as the other prospects he was ranked with, which is true.
But unfortunately even with the WS win, Hosmer and Moustakas never were as good as they were supposed to be either...
One thing to always remember is development is never linear.
I strongly believe if Witt can get his walk rate close to 9% like he had in Triple-A and Double-A, he's going to be in that echelon with Rodriguez and Rutchsman.
It's also important to remember the Rutschman played high-level college baseball and didn't debut until age 24. He had a lot of seasoning.
Rodriguez played in the full season minor leagues in 2019 before the pandemic.
Witt's full season pro debut was not only delayed because of the pandemic, but he did the unthinkable, getting assigned in Double-A without much pro experience. HS drafted prospects don't do that at all. There's no comp for that. [Reply]
I dont think it's even fair to compare Witt to Rutschman. Witt was drafted out of high school. Adley Rutschman went to Oregon State and led that team to a straight up national championship. Rutschman is so gifted that absolutely no professional org could have possibly screwed him up. And Witt was a flashy high schooler. He was a high upside lottery ticket. You cant compare em. [Reply]
I'd give the offense some time. Seeing the various stats on Twitter and digging around on Fangraphs, the Royals lead the entire league in hard hit ball rate. They're 4th in exit velocity. 3rd in walk rate and their BABIP is .159 which is the worst in the league by a wide margin. So they're taking walks and hitting the ball hard but they aren't turning any of those balls into hits. Strikeout rate is about middle of the pack so it's not like they're not putting balls in play.
It's just one series though so we'll see if they can hold some of those numbers. It is hilarious after 20+ years of the Royals taking flack for being stuck in the past, they hire an analytics driven staff and their first series do really well in some of those numbers and the team goes 0-3 and the offense looked as bad as it ever has. Very Royals. [Reply]