April: Hope is a Dangerous Thing

Well the Royals are off to a hot start and I’ve been hearing rumblings of 2003. There have been some nice developments these first 9 games, but there is still a lot of season and a lot of Kyle Davies left for this team. In positive news, Jason Kendall will be out longer than expected and that may be the spark our young guys need to continue this inspired play. I don’t think I’ve seen a team play as hard on a consistent basis as this current team. It’s a lot more fun to have a young team. Old players are a bunch of Roger Dorn’s. The only drawback is that I feel like a bigger nerd writing about dudes younger than me playing baseball.


My big takeaway through the first 9 games is that I am gay for Ned Yost. I mean gay as in “baseball gay”, which is totally cool, bro. Ned Yost does and says things that make me want to be a better (baseball) man. He doesn’t bunt, he is aggressive, he likes to play young guys, he is respected by his players, and he speaks the truth – basically he is the anti-Hillman. Yes, fresh after firing the worst manager in baseball history – not exaggerating – Dayton Moore appointed the perfect man for the job here in KC. Yost has been such a breath of fresh air. It’s almost hard for me to deal with the fact that I actually agree with the majority of the moves he makes. I’m not sure if watching games is as fun when I don’t get to yell at the TV and act like I know more than the manager. I’m still coming to terms with this transition. Check that, I’m ok with it. I’ll give up yelling at Hillman just so that I don’t have to watch our 2 hitter bunt in the first inning of an American League game. Ok, on to the players…


This is a huge year for Gordon and Hochevar. You may think there are more important guys this year, but hear me out. Of all the exciting faces that we are seeing already and have yet to see this year, why Gordon and Hochevar? These two have been prodding along in our system and have been performing below mediocrity up to this point. You might say, “Hey DP, didn’t you say 2009 was a big year for these two? Come to think of it, didn’t you say 2010 was a big year for them?” Well yes, yes I did. However, its different this time and I’ll tell you why.


This year is crucial for Gordon not because we need him to succeed to win in 2011. No, this year is big for him because he is playing for a job. We need to see if he can be the 7 hitter of our future. Yes, our 7 hitter. A few years ago, we were dreaming of Gordon being our perennial 3 hitter and spitting out .315/30/115 and having an OPS over .950. It looked like a slam dunk and he was the definition of a “can’t miss” prospect. Now, I’m just excited about the prospect of him producing a line of .275/25/85 with an OPS around .850 while playing LF and hitting 7th after Hosmer, Moose, Butler, Myers. Come to think of it, you could even get creative and plug him into the 2 hole with his walk rate – I wouldn’t put it past ol’ Yost to do it. Yes, there is Gordon excitement in the air again, but its different this time. We don’t NEED Alex Gordon to produce. Whatever he gives us is icing on the cake and so far – the icing tastes good, baby.


I want to talk about an AB Gordon had in the first week against the Chicago White Sox. Chris Sale, a big tough lefty, was pitching to Gordon in the late innings of a close game. Gordon quickly found himself down 1-2 after a couple long loopy swings form the past. At that point, I was starting to question if Seitzer had really changed Gordon’s swing in the offseason. Gordon worked the count full and then I saw the most beautiful thing I’ve seen in a long time. Chris Sale dialed up a fastball on the outer half at 95 MPH. Gordon’s hands flew through the zone with his new-look FLAT swing and he drove the ball the opposite way for a line drive double. Butler homered in the next at bat and the Royals had themselves another comeback win.


Yes, the new & improved swing is very encouraging. I had a conversation (note it was not an argument) with Cabby in February about Gordon’s swing. We were both commenting that we had seen video clips of Gordon in spring training and that we were encouraged by his new approach. We both agreed it all depends on if he can keep the new adjustments when the lights come on. There is a tendency to go back to what is habit and what got you to the big leagues (See: Teahen, Mark). However, if you want to make the jump to a productive MLB ballplayer you need to make adjustments (See: Brett, George). Now I find myself watching Gordon’s at bats closer than anyone else. Here’s to finding our future 7 hitter…


Moving on to Luke Hochevar and his mixed bag start to the season. His first 3 starts in order were ok, bad, good. Not really screaming #1 starter. Which leads me to my point about Hoch, which is similar to my thoughts on Gordon. The last two years I stated that our success depends on Hoch stepping up to be a #2 starter to help Greinke. Well that ship has sailed. Hoch isn’t going to be a #2 on a playoff team, but he could be a #4. Luke is still a big 6’5” RHP who throws 90-94 and mixes in a decent slider and cutter. His problem is that he doesn’t spot his fastball and use it to get ahead in the count. If he could work on those things with Bob McClure and learn more how to pitch and not just throw, he still has a shot to be a decent ML starter. The beauty is that with Montgomery, Lamb, Duffy, Dwyer, and Crow around the corner, we shouldn’t need Luke to be the #2, but I wouldn’t mind him sticking around as a #4. The reason that would be nice is because then we would only need 2-3 of the kids to become effective starters instead of needing 4-5, which just isn’t going to happen. Here’s to finding a nice back-end piece to the future rotation…


The next topic of discussion is very near and dear to my heart: the bullpen, baby. The young bullpen is indescribable right now. Well, I guess I could take a stab at it. Let’s try enlivening, energetic, revitalizing, rousing, boisterous, and most importantly cheap. This bullpen has the potential to be a legitimate strength on a playoff caliber team. Now I must warn you that Tim Collins and Aaron Crow are not going to dominate MLB hitters night in night out. I was talking to my boy Hands about this and we both agreed that young relievers usually have success coming out of the gates in their career. This is due to the face that MLB hitters have never faced them before. That usually favors the pitcher. Especially a pitcher with a funky deliver like Collins and Crow. So yes, they are both killing it right now – but the AL hitters will develop a “book” on Collins and Crow. That is when the young pitchers will face their real test. When AL hitters realize that Crow goes to his slider immediately when he has two strikes, that could cause some problems. When hitters learn to find the ball after Collins release, it could present some new challenges for him. That being said, both of the pitchers have great stuff and I think they will be mainstays for the Royals pitching staff. I still want Crow to move to the rotation down the road, but I like him cutting his teeth out of the pen. The guy is too talented to be in the minors – a little baptism by fire never hurt anybody.


Let’s throw out some other quick hitters about this team:


I really like Escobar’s glove. I think his bat will come around and be average, but his glove has the potential to be excellent. I’m a big fan of the way he plays. Oh, and when he steps in the box he doesn’t flail about like Yuni did in the past. He isn’t off to a great start offensively, but when our SS bats now, I don’t yell at the TV as much.


Kila is hurting right now. He is not recognizing pitches and looks downright awful against lefties. He needs a come to Jesus meeting, or his ML career will be a short one. I’m not done with him, I still like his skill set – but with Hosmer lurking, his at bats are already precious.


Soria’s fastball couldn’t be flatter right now. I’m not worried about him due to sample size, but keep an eye on his fastball. If it is diving last minute while painting the black, then he’s back to normal. Until then, I’m holding breath a bit in the 9th. Maybe he shouldn’t have dropped the nickname.


Billy Butler will have an OBP over .400 this year. The guy sees the ball so well – watching him bat is like artwork. The only thing that will keep him from being great is laziness. That or KFC.


Jeff Francoeur is just not good at hitting a baseball – I just want you to know that so you don’t get excited. Luckily, he’ll be gone by July 31.



Exit Question: What are your takeaways through the first 9? I’m not yelling at the TV as much, that’s big for me.