Great comments from the Bullpen Boys this week, nice work everyone. We had a little back and forth going regarding Hillman's opening day decisions - but it was good healthy debate. Nice debut novel from Mitch, I thought that was a solid post. Also welcome to Matthew and bonhaffer - glad to have you on board. On to the post...
Well that was an interesting week to say the least. We saw 3 absolutely dominating performances from our 1-2-3 starters to open the season. We got 5 brutal games from our offense. I guess all things considered, I'll take a 3-3 start. Let's go over a few things from the week. Since I'm such a optimist (though that has been questioned lately) lets start with the positives.
The Good:
Gil Meche - The ultimate validation of Dayton Moore to this point in his young GM career. This guy is worth every penny. Even his performance yesterday was stellar (he was burned by some defense we'll address later). Gil should be 2-0 right now, but wins seem to elude him - proven by his 13 wins last year in a completely dominating season.
Zack Greinke - 6 shutout inning on Wednesday night at the Cell. He put Chicago fans in a surly mood that night - which made our night a little more entertaining. This kid is a freak - looking forward to his 2 starts this week. Turns out his spring struggles were just due to him "tinkering" with some things in the spring. Now he is back to normal (I use that word with caution).
Kyle Davies - 7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K. Yes, please. More of this Kyle. Everything we've read in the off-season about Davies is that it finally "clicked" for him in September. He says his new mantra is "shut up and pitch". Kyle - I hope you never say another word if that is working for you. He really looks like a completely different pitcher out there. Let's not forget he is only 25! Props to Dayton again for the Dotel trade of two years ago. Most Royals fans (especially Soren Petro) really dogged Dayton for not getting Wladimir Balentine (RF with "supposed" pop) from the Mariners in the Dotel sweepstakes. He was accused of getting duped by his old boss in Atlanta for taking a "bust" in Kyle Davies. The flashes we've seen of Davies alone prove that he was worth Dotel. Now, if he can harness it - we may be looking at an absolute STEAL. I'm not anointing him a stud just yet, but there is no reason to think he can't be a competent #3 starter at the very least. This is the best news of the season so far.
Juan Cruz/Joakim Soria: If Hillman uses Cruz as the 8th inning set up man, then we will win 9 out of 10 games that we are leading after 7. These two guys were filthy this week. Did anyone see the movement (look this word up in a dictionary, Farnsworth) on Cruz's pitches this week? Does everyone now understand the difference between a fastball that is dead straight (Farns) and one that dives and darts all over the place (Cruz)? Soria was lights out as usual. So nice to have a strong bullpen.
Mark Teahen - One of the few guys who has looked like he's had a clue in the batters box this past week. Ol' Teabags has taken some heat on this blog for his consistent inconsistency. I like what I see so far in his versatility and approach at the plate. He has played 3 positions in 6 games and has taken a couple walks at the plate (you know how much I love walks). He has a .417 OBP so far in 24 PA's. With the week our hitters had, Mark was a Godsend. Also not too shabby considering we faced 4 lefty starters in our first 6 games. Good week, Mark. However, I must note that I've seen two throws pull Jacobs off the bag. I'll let is slide for now...
The Bad:
Our offense - We scored 8 runs in our first 5 games (pathetic) before mustering out 6 in our Sunday game vs. the Yankees. Our team is batting .198 with 10/48 BB:K. I know its only 6 games, so I'm not freaking out - but those numbers are bad, baby. Miguel Olivo is certainly not helping; 0/8 BB:K.
Trey Hillman - I obviously beat the hell out of the dead horse known as "Kyle Farnsworth as a set up man" in my last post. He also made a blunder for starting Bloomquist in RF on Saturday. He cost HoRam 2 runs in the first inning and put us in an immediate hole against C.C. Sabathia. Don't you dare blame it on the sun, Royals apologists. He got an extremely late jump on the ball, then couldn't recover. Do you know why he got such a late jump? Because he's only played 33 games in the OF in his career. So don't tell me he is a full utility guy, Trey. He is a utility INFIELDER. Yes, Guillen was hurt. But you start Teahen in RF and Callaspo at 2nd (Callaspo was 2-2 in his debut the day before). Those are the type of managerial blunders we can not afford (especially with our offense). However, I will give him credit (because I'm so open-minded) for his good decisions on the week. Which are:
1. Giving Brayan Pena a start on Sunday to inject life into the dismal offense; Pena produced the game tying RBI double.
2. Pinch hitting Butler for Jacobs in the 8th on Sunday when a lefty was out there; Butler drew a walk to start the two-out come from behind rally.
3. Using Cruz and Mahay in the 8th innings on Wednesday and Thursday against the Sox (oddly these were both wins!)
4. Using Farnsworth in the 7th inning for the Home Opener in a low leverage (pressure) situation; he promptly struck out the side.
There I got those out of the way so no one can cry that I'm too mean to nice guy Trey Hillman.
The Ugly:
Mike Jacobs - not a good debut week for Mike. (3-17 1BB 5 K) That 3-17 includes an absolute GIFT double on Opening Day when Nick Swisher lost a ball in the sun and then dropped the ball. His defense has been gawd-awful as well. He cost Sidney Ponson (decent outing by the way, Ponson Pals) 2 runs in the first inning on a hard hit ball hit right at him. Mike (6'3" 215lbs) apparently didn't feel like knocking the ball down and sacrificing his body, but hey, it was only the first inning of the Home Opener so who was he trying to impress? Oh, the entire city? Good point. I don't like lazy baseball and neither does this city (are you listening Guillen?). I hope he bought the scorekeeper a fat KC steak that night, because he wasn't charged with an error. He also made a bad (charged) error on Sunday and cost Gil Meche the win and hurt his ERA. I will ease up on his poor hitting because of the 4 lefty starters, but it sure looks like we'll have to limit his AB's against lefties. We'll see how he does this week against some righties. Keep an eye on his glove as well.
Billy Butler - Off to a 1-17 start and has looked pretty bad on some of his swings. Very disappointing considering how well he mashed lefties last year. For the same reason I can let Jacobs and Gordon slide just a bit for their numbers, I have to take Billy's week even harder because he gets a lot of his power in against lefties. He did draw a nice pinch-hit walk on Sunday to start off the 8th inning rally. Hopefully that jump starts his 2nd week.
HoRam - He didn't get any help from Gloadv2.0 in RF, but he still got battered around pretty good. He just looked really flat out there. Hanging offspeed pitches. Spotty location of his fastball. Ponson's game looked even better with HoRam's poor start. At least he won't start again until April 26th due to off days.
Jose Guillen - 3 games, 1 injury. That math sounds about right. What a frustrating player. I hope he is back on the first eligible date to be moved from the DL. I bet Dayton does too...
Well that pretty much sums it up. I like our schedule this week, especially considering no start from HoRam. We've got 3 home games against the Indians before heading off to Texas for a 3 game set. The Indians have gotten off to a 1-5 start for the season, so taking 2 of 3 would be pretty sweet. I like our chances with Greinke and Davies starting the next two games against Carmona and Pavano. Ponson will have a chance on Wednesday against Jeremy Sowers; sure is nice to dodge Cliff Lee on a 3 game series. After the Indians, we will start Meche, Greinke, Davies against the Rangers and their amazing offense. It would be pretty sweet if they could throw some nice games down there. The Rangers pitching is pretty bad as well, so maybe we can wake the bats up this weekend.
Exit Question: Anything else jump out at you this week?
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I'll take a 3-3 start, as well... especially considering how it was done.
Opening day starters batting above .220 after week one... 1 - Mark Teahan (.300)
Opening day starters batting under .200 after week 1... (this might hurt) 6! Aviles (.190), Butler (.059), Gordon (.133), Jacobs (.176), Guillen (.167), and DeJesus (.174).
Opening day starters that have more than 4 hits through 6 games... 2 - Mark Teahan (6) and Coco Crisp (5).
That got ugly...
But... how many Royals pitchers have pitched at least 1 inning and still have a 0.00 ERA... 7. Kyle Davies (7.0 IP), Zack Greinke (6.0 IP), Juan Cruz (3.0 IP), Robinson Tejeda (2.2 IP), Doug Waechter (2.0 IP), Jamey Wright (2.0 IP), and Ron Mahay (1.0 IP).
They also have 9 pitchers with an ERA less than 4.00 (Meche, Ponson, the others).
Now, to compare that to the exact opposite team, but a team with similar expectations, the Texas Rangers...
Opening day starters hitting higher than .270 (I can't go with .220, that only proves futility)... 6. Kinsler (.348), Young (.273), Hamilton (.286), Cruz (.304), Andrus (.294), Byrd (.308).
Pitchers with at least 1 inning of work with an ERA under 4.00 ERA... only 3.
The Royals have scored 14 and given up 19.
The Rangers have scored 38 and given up 39.
Both teams leave week 1 3-3.
Well, would you rather have hitting or pitching? I would have to say I'd rather be pitching great than hitting great, but the EYE test this week goes to the Texas Rangers. The Royals kind of looked like crap this week at the plate, yet somehow managed a 3-3 record out of it. The Rangers hit rather well this week, and yet somehow managed only a 3-3 record out of it... I say this bodes well for the Royal Blue...
but what do I know?
(sorry for all the ... but they wouldn't let me use colons)
A rotation of Meche, Greinke, Davies, Ponson, and Hochevar could be quite formidable. Ponson sure came through but my boy "Stink"abs (Big Hatt coined this nickname for Mike J.) let me down. It's nice to hear that he has plus attitude but let's see some plus power soon OK, Mike? Any more praise for the NEW BAD BOYZ will have to wait. Another big deterrant for lending any support to "Stink"abs is that awful chin hair. I though only White Sox players were allowed to sport that filth.
Dear Diet Coke,
Please explain to me why we did not give my boy floppy ears Luke Hoch a chance up here to be the 5th starter. I know he had a shit year last year but he is young gun and a talent so why not give him 2 or 3 starts before we send him down? Because Horam aint gonna do it shit I could go out there and do better.
Also i say we can billy boy and give my boy Brayan Pena the dh( Nickname: should be Meatball or Meaty). He could be the second coming of Prince Fielder or maybe the second coming of Ken Harvey. Billy has had his chances up the bigs I think he might be a bust and I dont want him to be wasting other talents like Meaty, Moustakis, and that other guy we got last year the big power hitter.
Also what are we gonna do for depth after our starting lineup? We need to get a backup ss and outfielder and catcher. Olivo or Buck aint gonna cut it behind the plate. God knows tpj sucks ass and Willie Bloom might as well be sluggin beers in right field because no matter how hard he tries he is just gonna look like he is pissdrunk at the plate in the field.
Pleasure seeing you out at the K
Man, its been a while since I been able to catch up on the blog. Looks like a pretty good following going on here.... After sitting in the crown seats last night for Soria's nasty strikeout to win the game (still gives me a chubby), I have a couple observations about the 4-3 start:
1) I'd be surprised if we don't lead the AL in strikeouts by a wide margin. The offenses we'll face in the AL Central will contribute to this. But so will the nastiness of our staff - top to bottom. It seems like whenever we need a big out in a jam we can count on a strikeout...
2) The division looks even more wide open now than it did a week ago. Good news.
3) Our offense looks AWFUL! Not only are we struggling to find the holes in the defense, but we don't seem to getting good wood very often. Too many strikeouts, not enough 3 ball counts, too many lazy fly balls and weak grounders...
4) I'm still not even close to ready to give up on Bill Butler.
Hey Paul, love the blahg and I have to share some comments on the first week. this is brad thomas btw.
visited your cuz this past weekend, too. ask him about his "dance" moves at the beaumont(i think that was the place) on saturday night.
1. Pumm. while I love having a guy on the team that looks like he should be carving roast beef at a golden corral (BPena), i think we're pretty well off at catcher. Barring injury, I see the Buck/Olivo tandem putting up a combined production of .250/25/90. At the C position, you really can't ask a whole lot more than that. Buck looks to be zeroed in at the plate at the moment, and we have the luxury of having two comparable(offensively) catchers.
2. Is anyone else concerned that Aviles is the second coming of Angel Berroa? His defense is not exactly his saving grace, either. I still have blind faith in the fact that Butler and Gordon will begin to hit and be huge contributors to this teams success, but I don't get that feeling with Aviles. I hope I'm wrong, but if not, that leaves a huge offensive hole in our lineup. I know it's only the first week, but he doesn't have a hit with a runner on base yet (yeah, i know, we haven't put anyone on base yet, period). We don't really have any sort of serviceable replacement if goes down with injury or has a prolonged slump. Willie B? oh my god.
3. Sidney Ponson will hopefully pitch himself out of the rotation by the end of the month. I was happy with his first start, but it won't get much better than that. When you have to put up 7-8 runs to win when he's on the mound, you're not going to win many of his starts. When was the last time this guy was productive? 2003?
wow, i just re-read that. i guess, i didn't have much good to say. sorry adam. keep up the good work boys!
Adam,
I can't agree with you more, and I expressed the same idea in an earlier thread.....WHY DON'T WE PUT THE BEST PLAYERS OUT THERE AND TRY TO WIN EVERY GAME????? I know we were trying to put a good defense behind Ponson and some may say that it saved some runs/hits, but GOD DAMNIT why in the hell is TPJ AND Bloomquist in our line up at once.
I was actually in support of Buck DHing today, but you have changed my tune on that. It is also a commonly known fact that the clean up spot on the Royals is a death trap.
Now back to other business....I predicted a slow start for Aviles, but I still have the faith.
As much as it pains me, I want Gordon to go down to the minors. I was at the game last night and watched him strike out three times in a row swinging at pitches in the same location (not sure if they were all sliders or not). He HAS TO LEARN HOW TO HIT THAT OR LAY OFF IT OR HE IS DOOMED AS A MAJOR LEAGUER. Every pitcher in the game can generally through a slider, and guess what they throw them down and away to a people like Gordon.
Anyways, I wasn't going to rant, but Pummil's post got me thinking.
Also, Farnsworth should never EVER be used in a game when the Royals are within 3 runs (up or down). He can quickly put a game out or reach or turn a nice relaxing win into a heart attack.
That's all I got.
Play your good players, we aren't even a 1/16th of the way through the season and we're resting guys.
Grapes
I apologize for the terrible grammar and terrible wording of that last post.
Okay, IS HILLMAN RETARDED?
IS HE?
Every single person who calls themselves a Royals fan KNEW that the game was over entering the 9th when Farnsworth's stupid ass took the mound. Sweet tats, you fucking nerd.
Hillman's thought process: I am going to try to get really really lucky and use Farnsworth in tied game in the 9th inning. There is a 5% chance that it will work, so I think I like those odds, let's put him in.
The Royals' fan base: We just decided not to win, in fact we decided to lose as quickly as possible.
This is really frustrating.
Grapes
the seventh inning was managed beautifully...problem being, it wasn't the eighth. why in the world are we throwing Cruz out there in the seventh if we are planning on using him for two batters (btw Trey has stated that Mayhe isn't a situational pitcher...funny how he uses him like that). was he actually planning on using cruz for two outs then mayhe to for four? i just don't get it.
so he brings in Wright (a groundball pitcher) to induce the double play. At this point he already replaced w/ TpJ at short (why would he leave stankobs in there???). whatever.
its so frustrating dealing w/ terrible coaches / managers in this city. lets hope that haley has some sense (so far...eh not looking so great).
kaaaaansas ciiiiiityyy
what a rough day. I'm checking the score of the game on my phone as I sit in the waiting room of the breckenridge medical clinic. the wife has shredded her ACL and MCL in a ski accident on the final day of the mountain being open. The only thing that is keeping me from losing my mind is watching Kyle Davies fight back from a 37 pitch, 4 BB, 2 run first inning to pitch 6 strong innings and put himself in position to get the win. At this point, we're up 5-3 and cruz is taking the mound. Wife is discharged, so we get on the road. as we're nearing eisenhower tunnel, i pull out the phone to check once more to see that we've sewn up the victory. Instead, i see 5-5 at the start of the 9th, with these dreaded words staring me in the face, "K Farnsworth replaces J Wright" Uh-oh. By the time I made it through the tunnel, the inevitable had happened. 2 pitches, 1 walkoff homer. from what I've gathered, the royals may have given this game away in the 7th and 8th with some defensive blunders, but by inserting farnsworth in the game, it's as if hillman just wanted to get his team out of town. The game is tied, Father Hillman, let's not have kyle drag his gas can out there and burn the stadium to the ground again.
If Hillman doesn't see this as 3 strikes, you're out, then he needs to have his head examined. you could argue that without farnsworth, we'd be 10-2.
I'm trying to stay positive, and other than the manager gaffes, i like what I see. it's just hard to see that the man in charge of managing the game has such an easy time giving them away
last post by me, forgot to sign out of my wife's google account
As much as I value fun in the clubhouse, our manager is a joke and making excuses for him doesn't help things. The fact is that the things Trey Hillman has "learned" are things we (and everyone else) all knew before the season even started. Also, it certainly doesn't sound like he's learning anything. He blamed last night's loss on defense (calling out specific players, no less), not pitching. He then said that he'd never bring Joakim Soria in in that situation because "the percentages are against it". Whatever the fuck that means.
The bottom line is that we've played 12 games and our manager has already cost us 2(and thats not even counting playing Willie Bloomquist in RF). Not a good start for the next Buddy Bell.
Here's a sweet quote from our skipper on fannation.com. It's an article about Christians in sports:
" I'll be the first one to tell you , ' Don't follow me . I'll let you down. Follow Jesus.' "
Slam-Dunk!
Great posts fellas. I apologize for not posting on this yet. I had a busy week in the office and a busy weekend getting drunk at Wrigley.
Just need to get through my meeting today and then I'll bring the heat on Trey tonight, trust me on that.
I am really glad that the person in charge of our team has now MAYBE learned that Farnsworth is not a good pitcher when, as eggs pointed out, everyone else knew that before the season started and definitely before yesterday's game.
We are also giving our starters "an extra day of rest" this week, and are actually starting HoRam AGAIN. What does this say? It says, "sorry fans, but we are going to purposely tank a game and not even try to win, you understand, right?"
Answer: NO, we don't understand. We want to win, and we don't know what you are doing.
Grapes
is hillman logging in on as Adam P?
Seriously, none of us would mind if Soria blows a save. No one is gonna get too upset if we lose because our best players were in the game and they didn't have it. It is putting in the wrong players (3 times this year) and watching them blow it.
Fartsworth has 3 of our 5 losses. I don't blame him. he stinks. he shouldn't have been in any of those situations.
Here is what I take from the week that was...
1. I am actually glad that Gordon is hurt b/c in a way it could explain some of his offensive inadequacies, and the error earlier this year when he couldn’t get down on a routine groundball. Hopefully he improves post-surgery.
2. Greinke is REALLY, REALLY GOOD. And most importantly he might be starting to believe it. Let’s appreciate that we have this guy and hope that he gets the chance to pitch in some meaningful games in Sept-Oct. As we all know, this guy has been through some mental battles; anyone who is nicknamed “Rain Man” has got to be weird. Credit the Royals (whoever it may be) for letting him take a sabbatical and get his mind right.
3. Our starting staff (Aces 1-3) earned a LOT of credibility this weekend. Shutting down that offense (arguably the best in baseball) for 3 games was GREAT; only to be let down by HillWorth or FarnsMan*
*We should start using this in lieu of saying Hillman and/or Farnsworth when referencing any of the 3 games THEY have lost thus far, and God forbid the others yet to come.
4. Disturbing news out of Royals camp that we are going to give HoRam ANOTHER start this week against the Indians. Apparently, Hillman decided to give our Aces an extra day’s rest since it's so hot and all, and such a long season (12 games in). This bothers me a lot. Rather than throwing Ponson, Meche, Greinke against the division favorites, fresh off of a 24-run outburst, we are going to shut them down w/ Ponson, HoRam and then Meche in the finale (which is hopefully NOT to avoid the sweep). Aren’t pitchers creatures of habit? Don’t pitchers OFTEN say that they don’t like the all-star break b/c it screws-up their routine? When teams get rained-out, and their 5th starter is scheduled, they don’t move BACK their ace and start the end of the rotation, right? At least not the good managers I assume.
Ultimately, we are off to a good start that COULD have been great. I would have loved to have left Texas w/ a sweep and a 1-game lead in the division, but given our opponents thus far, 7-5 is pretty solid.
I’ve heard a lot of talk about the Royals being 10-2, but I don’t think that it’s that simple…as we have stolen a couple games as well. We cannot JUST look @ the bad losses and NOT MENTION the good wins. I think that we should keep tabs on Good Wins vs. Bad Losses. Good Wins: Winning games after the 7th when trailing or tied. Bad Losses: Losing games when winning or tied after the 7th. Based on my recollection, we are net (-1) on the year...which means we should have 1 MORE win than we do (8-4). Obviously we have 3 bad losses, all of which are attributed to FarnsMan. But we also have 2 really good wins. Those being the 2-out rally against the Yankees in the 8th, and the Coco Crisp Homerun off of Jenks in the 2nd game of the year.
Let’s just hope we can get the bad taste of FarnsMan out of our mouth on Tuesday against Cleveland.
-mitch
Sorry, homerun off of Jenks was 3rd game not 2nd.
7 victories...I know
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