Free Agent Signings:
Carlos Santana
Mike Minor
Michael Taylor
Ervin Santana
Top 10 Prospects:
1 Bobby Witt Jr., SS
2 Asa Lacy, LHP
3 Daniel Lynch, LHP
4 Jackson Kowar, RHP
5 Erick Pena, OF
6 Nick Loftin, SS
7 Kyle Isbel, OF
8 Khali Lee, OF
9 Jonathan Bowlan, RHP
10 Carlos Hernedez, RHP [Reply]
This is a .500 team that is under performing. I'll give them the injuries to Mondi and Benni. That hurts offensively and defensively. That forces 2 into the lineup that are backups. Going in you knew Taylor and Lopez were weak with the bat, even though Lopez has shown improvement. You can get by with a couple weak spots at the bottom if the rest are okay. But that's 4 weak spots in the lineup. Throw in Dozier and Soler who have just fell flat this year. There is 2/3 of your lineup.
Defensively has been not good either. Now some of that is back to the injury issue and guys not in the right spots. Mondi and Lopez up the middle and the outfield of Benni, Taylor and Whit is very good. Have not seen that lineup much or at all this year.
The biggest disappointment has been the starting pitching especially from the young players. Not getting any long outings to save the bullpen, which is causing the problems in the pen to be honest. The pen is getting over used. Hell I was glad Mathney kept Keller in the other night to work some innings. They got to be held responsible. The starting pitching is what could have bolstered this team into wild card play.
Something needs to be done. Mathney is an alright manager, he isn't great but isn't dogshit either. He would do really well with a veteran team that is just on cruise control with an automatic set veteran lineup. He is better than what the BFIB think of him though. Coaching staff changes need to happen ASAP or make a big trade to shake things up. [Reply]
Originally Posted by duncan_idaho:
Here's my overall take:
I never thought the Royals were going to be REAL contenders this year. I expected better than this - within spitting distance of .500 - and if everything broke right like it did in April, a team that could stay in wild card contention and maybe even sneak into the WC round.
Injuries have hurt the Royals, for sure. But that doesn't account for everything. That doesn't account for pitchers who have had major regressions, who are struggling and can't find a way to move forward (and indeed, don't seem to try anything different but instead just keeping making the same mistakes). That's doesn't account for a defense that continues to struggle and regress and play horribly. That doesn't account for awful pitcher fielding.
And it doesn't account for the lineup struggles, or lineup decisions.
So for me... if the season isn't going to end in wildcard contention, I actually am not upset if the season ends up going really off the rails at the major leagues.
1. That creates the greatest chance this coaching staff is flushed (everyone. Including Pedro Grifol, who has been "coaching" Salvador Perez on his catching skills and has coached him into being worse and worse at the receiving end of things each year).
2. It maximizes the Royals draft value for yet another year. The main difference between 67 wins and 77 wins (other than feeling like you're close for the next season) is draft slot and therefore draft $$.
3. It increases the liklihood that John Sherman pulls the trigger on a front office shake-up and some fresh blood. The Royals have made a lot of changes to the approach to developing pitchers and the approach to developing hitters (following the disaster of 2019). Both are bearing fruit in the minors. So I don't think this is an area that needs whole sale changes. Moving Moore "upstairs" and letting someone else manage the player personnel/acquisition side of things probably is a best of both worlds situation, and it's far more likely if the season is a disaster.
Now, I could see Moore putting his job on the line to defend Mike Matheny. He's loyal. It's a strength and also a weakness.
As for me? I'm going to pay attention the rest of the season to the performance of guys I find interesting at the MLB level (Perez, Merrifield, Mondesi if he ever plays again) and enjoy following the minors. I'll work up a top prospects list of my own after the MLB draft.
It's going to be a lot more fun than it had gotten to be the past few years. The AA guys are obvious. But Erick Pena is now playing pro gamesas well. Can't wait to watch that! (He's 2/9 so far in 2 games).
I'm fine with telling Skunkhead and his 3 winning seasons out of 15 to go get fucked. Hes going to defend Matheny anyway so it will make it easier to fire them both. Tank get a high pick trade some guys for prospects and let's go. [Reply]
Here’s a few numbers to chew on after today’s 15-1 loss.
On offense, barring injury, the biggest holes in our starting lineup have been Soler and Dozier:
Soler .186 242 AB, 82 K (34%) 6 HR
Dozier .160 219 AB 72 K (33%) 7 HR
So about one in every three ABs, both of these guys strike out. One in every THREE ABs.
Comparable numbers to our best players:
Perez .282 309 AB 85 K (28%) 19 HR
Santana .239, 276 AB. 48 K (17%) 13 HR 52 BB (among leaders in the AL)
Merrifield .287 314 AB, 43 K (14%) 8 HR
Our leadoff guy, Merrifield, has more HRs than either Soler or Dozier. Santana’s got as many as both of those guys combined.
Royals compared to the rest of baseball:
Hitting .244 as a team ranks 10th (better than I expected)
24th in runs scored (because we strand guys early and often); and
24th in HRs (no power from Soler or Dozier).
The average strikeout rate this year in MLB for all players is just under 21%. Or around one in every five ABs. Salvy is close to 30%.
Royals Starting Pitching: Let’s look at five of our main starters:
Bubic 2-4 4.99 ERA, 48.3IP, 24 BB 41 K
Minor 6-6 5.33 ERA, 96.1IP, 29 BB, 95 K
Keller 6-8 6.67 ERA, 81 IP, 67 K, 42 BB
Singer 3-6 4.70 ERA, 76.6 IP, 81 K 33 BB
Duffy 4-3, 2.44 ERA, 48 IP, 55 K 15 BB.
Duffy is our only starter with a winning record and only starter with an ERA under 4. But he’s only had 10 starts because of injury.
Team pitching stats:
26th in team ERA 4.92
18th in HRs allowed
29th in WHIP 1.46
24th batting average against .258
And of course the only stats that truly matter:
Current Record 33-47 .413 pct,
15 GB of Chisox
Last place in AL Central. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Prison Bitch:
I want someone to explain how CLEVE keeps winning. Dayton sure s hell needs to.
We went to the Series in 15. They went 16, barely losing it. We bottomed our and haven’t recovered - they NEVER bottomed out.
I’d like to know how.
The biggest thing is that they have a really excellent pitching development program. They keep churning out top-notch starting pitching.
They also had two superstar position players pop at basically the same time in Jose Ramirez.
We’ll see how they do as they get further removed from the Lindor era. They don’t have a slam dunk positional star coming up, and it’s hard to win big with pitching alone.
Their front office also never really made
The “go for it” deal that hurt but completed a championship-competing team. If they had added a bat in 16 they probably win that WS, for example. [Reply]
Originally Posted by duncan_idaho:
The biggest thing is that they have a really excellent pitching development program. They keep churning out top-notch starting pitching.
They also had two superstar position players pop at basically the same time in Jose Ramirez.
We’ll see how they do as they get further removed from the Lindor era. They don’t have a slam dunk positional star coming up, and it’s hard to win big with pitching alone.
Their front office also never really made
The “go for it” deal that hurt but completed a championship-competing team. If they had added a bat in 16 they probably win that WS, for example.
I was gonna mention Lindor. Traded their franshice player and they’re no worse off. Kluber dealt. Santana Left for FA. Traded “Chokehold” Trevor Bauer. Gomes FA. Andy Miller FA. Kipnis aged out. Carrasco....?
Yet here they are. Yes their SP keeps rolling along. We’ve produced TWO in 10 years (Yordano, Duff-Man). It’s infuriating. [Reply]
Originally Posted by KChiefs1:
I think it’s time to bring up Witt & anyone else ready. Trade Santana & bring up Pratto. Let’s start concentrating on next season.
Draft Rocker & let’s go!
Why start the service time clock in that case, then?
Bringing guys up makes more sense if the season has promise. If it doesn’t, you make those guys go to AAA and force your hand.
I’m down with giving Olivares an every day shot, though. [Reply]
Originally Posted by KChiefs1:
I think it’s time to bring up Witt & anyone else ready. Trade Santana & bring up Pratto. Let’s start concentrating on next season.
Draft Rocker & let’s go!
I'd rather have Jack Leiter or Jackson Jobe. [Reply]
Yeah I wouldn't waste Witt or Pratto's service time on this dumpster fire right now. Especially after we watched people go wild for Lynch and Kowar only to watch them bomb. Give all these guys a "normal" minor league season to make up for last year, and let them fight for jobs next spring. [Reply]
Originally Posted by KChiefs1:
I think it’s time to bring up Witt & anyone else ready. Trade Santana & bring up Pratto. Let’s start concentrating on next season.
Draft Rocker & let’s go!
It's time to secure a top 5 pick with the scrubs currently playing [Reply]