Royals at the All Star Break

The All Star break is upon us. The Royals, as seems customary, are pretty much out of contention. They sit 10 games below 500, and they are riding another multi-game losing streak. The team has been better in spurts, but they slip when they get close to 500. They have been at 4 or 5 games below with a chance to get closer then they get swept in a series. The team, simply, isn't very good. It doesn't take sabermetrics to figure out their flaws. Pitching. There that is done. The starters are pathetic. They have the worst ERA in the league. That is all you need to know about this team. The bull pen can be good, but not if they are used every game. Collins has been burned out again. The team will never be good if they don't get pitching. They don't have any prospects so they may never be good. The Process now must be what, wait for Duffy? Wait for Lamb? Wait for Paulino? They might as well sign THE Tommy John. At least he can pitch now. The sorry development, or lack thereof, of pitching will handcuff this franchise going forward. Mijares has been very good in the pen. Broxton is a gravy drinking fat boy that gives me a heart attack every time he pitches. He gets the job done, though. Luke, Chen, Mendoza, yikes. The rotation is awful. Chen should be your 4-5 starter. He has been struggling and killing the bull pen. Luke had a couple excellent starts where he brought his ERA DOWN to 5. something. Come on. He isn't going to develop. The guy has a soft melon. He gives up runs after he is given runs. He pretty much represents the Royals, though. The first overall draft pick and he is 20 games under 500 for his career with an ERA over 5. That's how the team is. It is sad but the pitching is only half the problem. Butler has been having a good year. He is on pace to break his homer and RBI totals. That is great. Moose has been better than I expected power wise. He has 14 at the break and 40 plus RBI's. Escobar has been excellent. Yuni has been one of the most clutch hitters on the team. Take those three out and the line up sucks. Hosmer has been beyond bad. I'm afraid he needs eye surgery again. He swings at everything. Reminds me of The Hammer Hamlin. Remember him? Yeah, I didn't think so. Flash in the pan. Take his Boras-represented self to a big market. I'm done waiting on the Hosmer rise. Frenchy is the poster child for the current GM. Very bad choice keeping Frenchy and giving him the extension. Watching him bat is painful. It is going to be 0-1, then 0-2, then a pop up or strike three. There I'm done talking about Frenchy. Overrated, overpaid, and here to stay. Go Royals. Moore makes bad decisions all the time. He has to be held accountable for the bad decisions he makes. Jose Guillen remember him? I'd rather see Jose at the plate than Frenchy. Overall, I guess I could change the name of the blog but the Royals simply aren't worth the effort to edit the title. They won't be 500, they won't be in contention. They will flounder to 20-25 games below 500. They will continue the PROCESS. They won't sign pitchers. They will give and extension to Dyson, they will do a myriad of dumb things and leave us all scratching our heads. That's the Royals. That's the process. Here's a hint. Score runs and stop the other team from doing the same. That is a process that might succeed. I'm sour. It will just get worse because now is the time of year when the Royals trade to make the team so much better. Lets go get the trash from the curb and make it our own! Go Royals, I know I'm going. I'll post again after the first trade, or when the team is 5 games or closer to 500. See you Mijares, you did well!

Royals with 100 games to go

The Royals have 100 games left. They are currently 28-34. This is pretty much the high water mark for the season. They had a chance to get to 4 games below 500 but they didn't get there. They are riding a crazy 4 game winning streak. The 4 games have all been 1 run games. The last three have been of the walk off variety. I know you can't get a "walk off" win on the road, but throwing out the tying run at the plate counts. I was moaning how this team finds ways to lose games. They have been winning in a variety of ways. The pitching has been very, very good this month. I think the team is 7-6 for June. That's just going by feel, but it is close. I know that each win has been by one run. The team has had terrific STARTING pitching this month. I never thought I'd write that about this team. Mazzaro was pretty good tonight. No, he was good. Luke was good last night. I'm as excited as any Royals fan with the good play. The offense is so bad. They can't score more than 4 runs. Here is to hoping that the offense will start clicking soon. Getz is doing well. Dyson is fast, and he scored the winning run in the walk off, but he isn't the best fielding center fielder I've ever seen. He isn't a good fielder at all. I'd love for the Royals to have three legit MLB players in the outfield. I'll settle for 1.5. Frenchy did the best thing for the team last night. Getting ejected was glorious. The guy rubs me wrong. 62 games and he hasn't driven in 20 runs. I, for one, am counting the days until Wil Myers is up. I'm secretly hoping that it doesn't happen until September. If it happens before that it means this Royals team, like every team since 94 has dropped into the abyss. I know they had a winning season mixed in, but do you really remember that season? 2012 may be the end of the streak. The team my be 500 and in contention. Heck, they are only a few games behind the Tigers. Who would have guessed that? Many things can change, hopefully the Royals will be in contention. The streak has me feeling a little positive. The good pitching has me confused. Happy, but confused. Go Royals.

Zack back, Royals bad as usual.

Zack Greinke will make his return to KC tomorrow. Count me as one that is not impressed. Zack's Cy Young season was special. He is likable enough, I guess. He was a damn good pitcher and he was awesome during his Cy Young season. The part I remember best, and the reason I said good riddance to the guy is the way he quit on the Royals. He did too! He quit throwing his slider and he went through the motions because he wanted to save himself for his new team, I guess. Well, there you go. You are a Brewer. I see you are throwing the tight slider again. Good for you. I don't dislike Greinke, but I'm not all that sad he is gone. I would love the Royals to have an ace, but they don't have one. I guess I'd love them to have an ace that wanted to be here. One that would actually try to win games he started with ALL his pitches. Long for the old days with Zack if you want. I prefer to let those days go. I watched Zack pitch one time. He was awesome against the Angels in Anaheim. He lost 1-0. I see why he wanted out, but that doesn't excuse him from the BS way he quit before he was traded. That's out of the way. The Royals are, simply, a bad baseball team. They can't hit and they can't score runs. The were just swept by the Pirates. That team is building. The Royals are treading water in choppy waters. They will sink soon. This team finds ways to lose games. I'm so glad they had the best farm system in the history of baseball. This lineup sure reflects that doesn't it? Hosmer suffering the sophomore slump, big time. Gordon fooled me. I guess he is a 250 hitter. I really thought he turned a corner last year. Frenchy isn't worth my time. Butler has hit well but he is not driving anyone in anymore. Moose has been pretty good. Escobar has been very good. Center field is empty. The rotation is awful, but they have outperformed the line up. This team cannot hit for power at all. They are opposite of clutch. They are LAST in the American league in hitting. LAST. They are in last place in the division. They are in the midst of another long losing streak. This team will not be 500 and in contention. They can't hit well enough. They simply don't score runs. Hosmer has been a huge disappointment. I refuse to get excited when he gets his average up to 225. I figured he would be 100 points higher than that. I really thought that. I also thought that Alex had turned a corner. Well he is circling the block. He has been bad. Hosmer has been awful, but he will catch and pass Alex by the end of June. Both of them will be ahead of the overpaid, on the wrong team Frenchy. I'm past the disappointment of the season. I'm diving into disgust. There is no bright spots on the team. The All Star game being played in the K will be cool. I can't wait to watch the home run contest. The ball can actually go over the fence at the K. You would think it was the biggest park in history. The Royals can't home runs, true, but their opponents have no problem. Even the concussed Morneau can clear the wall. I'm tired. The Royals have worn this long time fan out. I can't take the idea that every loss could be the start of a double digit losing streak. The current streak is at 4. They will basically give up against Zack to stretch it to 5. I'm tired of these guys. Perez will be back and that will help the team. Odorizzi needs to be up and throw 100 innings at the big league level. The Royals really need to think about signing Hamels or some other big time pitcher. It is time for the team to earn my fan ship. No effort on their part to win shouldn't be rewarded by me or any other Royals fan. Here is to hoping the current losing streak won't reach 19. Go Royals. I'm close to gone.

Royals winning May, same to start June

Paulino and the pen shut the Athletics out last night. The 2-0 win was very nice to see. The Royals won a home game, the Royals won a home game! Sounds crazy to celebrate a home win against a poorer team at the start of June, but hey I will celebrate anything positive for this team. Quick thoughts: Yuni is back, Falu is sent down. Giavotella and his 230 batting average and less than stellar D at one position stays. I like the Falu story. I'd rather have a switch hitter capable of playing more than 1 position but I don't get to make the decisions. I'm tiring of the Gio watch. Kid hasn't been hitting. He is here to hit. I find myself happy that Yuni is in the game. His double won the game last night. Gio is not a bust yet, but I'm getting tired of waiting on him. Yuni is back. Sanchez is rehabbing and he will be back soon. I'm thinking that he needs to stay hurt. I don't like the vibe he sends off. The guy seems to dislike baseball. He doesn't strike me as the most hard working guy. The big leagues are full of great hitters that will make adjustments. If you can't get the ball over the plate you will have an ERA like he has. If he comes back as the same 5 walks, 6 ERA guy just cut your loses with him. Sanchez, Getz, Perez, Cain, and the list of injuries goes on and on. The fact that Perez is getting close is nice. Quintero and Pena have held down the catching position pretty well. I can't wait until Perez gets back. That is a player who makes a difference. When he is ready, which will still be a while, who do the Royals jettison? DM has an unhealthy attraction to Bryan Pena. He traded for Quintero. Don't tell me that this team will keep three catchers, don't tell me that. I have an idea of how I'd handle that situation, but I have a different thinking "process". Pitching continues to be the biggest question. Mazzaro will get a start tomorrow. That scares me. Broxton has been pretty good lately. That surprises me. Luke is Luke and that frustrates me. Paulino has been the defact ace of this rag tag rotation. He has been good. Chen is Chen. Come on Chen! Royals still climbing back from the 12 game losing streak. They are currently 22-28. I'd say they have been better, not as good as I expected at the start of the season, though. I really thought this team would be 500 and in Contention. They are closer than they were at 3-14, but hey have a long way to go. Hosmer isn't a bust but this season has been awful. He may need to go back to chasing storms. That is probably drastic but his AB's have been awful. Hopefully he will get his groove back. Gordon has to start finding it too. I guess I was blinded by hope after last year. I figured Gordon and Hosmer would be last year or better for years to come. Looks like I was wrong. If they are just slumping then the season has a chance. OK, Myers time. What to do with Will? He tore AA up. He is currently tearing AAA up. What do the Royals do? Nothing. That's what I'd do. Let Will tear up the PCL. He may get a shot but it won't be soon unless there is an injury. If the kid could play center, and Cain is done for the year then bring him on up if the floor falls out of the record. Otherwise leave him where he is. Bring him up for September and let it rip. DO NOT TRADE HIM FOR PITCHING. The fabulous farm should develop pitching not trade their best commodity for used goods. Here we go Royals. Keep plugging away at 500. Contention in the mediocre AL Central will follow. Undefeated June here we come.

Royals, bad, but not out of it

Hey, it is good to be back. A busy schedule on top of a computer melt down made it impossible to blog for almost two months. Segue time: The Royals are finding it hard to play baseball for the past two months, too. The win in Baltimore today brought Royals to 19-27. OK, the blogs name is Royals 500 and in contention. Not so much at this point. The team "survived" a 12 game losing streak. They lost Perez, Soria, Wood, Duffy, and others to the DL. Hosmer has been awful. Gordon made a liar out of me. Cain also got hurt. The Melkman is leading the entire world in hitting and Sanchez is on the DL. The fact that I like him better on the DL than on the mound says a bunch. This Royals team can't pitch. The rotation was killed when Duffy went down. Paulino has been faking it nicely of late. Chen had improved until his last start. I still think Bruce will be OK. Luke is awful. Sanchez, like was mentioned, is on the DL. I've never seen a guy who hates baseball more than Jonathon seems to. He is a miserable looking young guy. He is also a miserable pitcher. No drive. Nothing but excuses. Not a good trade, as it has turned out. I wasn't opposed to it at the time. I guess Sanchez was a huge disappointment. The starters were a question mark to start the season. The pen was going to be lock down. Holland struggles. Crow hasn't been the same, he has still been pretty good. Coleman gets lit up. Collins and Mijares have been GOOD from the left side. Add Teaford and Hottovy to the lefties and there is a positive. Broxton, oh my, that fat ass gives me a heart attack when he comes into the game. He blew the game that started the 12 gamer. He blew another game that would have been the Royals 5th win in a row. Guy is too inconsistent to be the closer. It doesn't matter all that much because he only gets the chance to blow one or two games a week. How about that set lineup of all young studs we talked so much abut during the spring? Gordon has regressed to the point of Mitch Maier. Francouer is the biggest pain I've seen in a Royal uniform in a long time. His fundamentally unsound play in the outfield drives me crazy. This week he misplayed a single into a double. He knocked the ball out of Giavotella's glove today. He gets caught stealing ALL the time. He is the worst base runner on the team. He has a great arm. He still throws to the wrong base all the time. He irks me. He has been hot at the plate recently. That doesn't make up for the other aspects of his game. He isn't good. Dyson got hurt He isn't good either. One reason I had for optimism in the preseason was I thought Cain would be good. He wasn't good and he got hurt. Dyson and the others in Center have proven to be nonsensical. Maier in Center today. He will just get his timing back. His average will start to climb, then Dyson will be back taking called third strikes and bad angles to fly balls. Center has been an awful hole all year. Moose had been good. He is struggling big time right now. He still looks over matched to me. Dip shit Yost had him hitting clean up today against a lefty. Nice move, Ned. Moose is a 250 hitter with occasional power, best case. Alcides has been very good this year. Good field, better bat. Getz/Yuni/Falu/Gio, have all been GOOD. Gio hasn't done anything but the rest have. Yes, Yuni has made a liar out of me too. He hit pretty well, then he got hurt. That's the only way he can help the team. He was better at second than I thought he would be. The catchers have been doing what you'd expect from two third string catchers. That brings me to Butler and Hosmer. Billy catches his share of blame in this blog. I've said for years that he should be driving the ball more. He should be creating runs. Well, he is doing that. He has 11 homers and 34 RBI's. He is still hitting over 300. He is having a tremendous season. I don't remember the exact date but Billy hit his 10 homer in late July last year. In Boston, I think. He is having a great season. Hosmer has been pathetic. He is completely over matched at the plate. He has brought his average above 200 with two recent 3 hit games. He is pulling off of pitches. He is pressing. He has been awful. He has had a pretty productive 23 RBI's with his 35 hits. I watch the kid bat and he simply looks lost. It isn't his fault the team is as bad as it is. I just never expected that big a drop off from him. Hosmer is the biggest disappointment of a very disappointing season so far. I really like Falu. Escobar has been very fun to watch. Yost angers me most of the time. Broxton scares me. I've said how over rated the farm system is. People believe me now. There isn't one pitching prospect anywhere close to the big leagues. Monty is a bust. Dwyer, same thing. Lamb is hurt, Duffy is hurt, and Arguelles is in AA. Odorizzi is making his way. You would think all that press the farm was getting would have been real if ONE pitcher was on the team. Duffy was, but now he is gone. I guess we wait for DM to reload. I guess its part of the process. I've heard whispers that by the year 2020 the Royals will be ready to contend. The process is hogwash. The season isn't lost yet. Adcock may prove to be a good starter. Chen will win 13 games. Paulino will win if he stays healthy. Luke will give up one more run than the team scores, that is just how he is. Jake Odorizzi will be pitching in KC by July 4 is my prediction. Will Smith can be thrown away. The Royals in their infinite wisdom started him in Yankee stadium. What a dumb move. Hey I haven't lost all hope. The Tigers aren't playing well. The Indians aren't any better than the Royals. The division is awful. Maybe lightning will strike. Hey a 12 game winning streak and the team will be 31-27! Go Royals, get back to 500. Get into contention.

Royals off to 81 wins!

Spring has sprung. The practice games are over. The roster is set. The team is in California ready to start the season against the Angels. The 32 game spring schedule resulted in 16 wins and 16 losses. I know people will say that spring stuff doesn't matter. Records and stats are thrown out when the season starts. I don't believe that. The team gets used to winning. They get used to being in games. They get used to having to deliver in the clutch. The Royals did that to the tune of a 500 record. They were much better the last few years in the spring. That may have to do with the new pitching coach, or it may have to do with the fact that the Royals don't have all the studs taking the late game AB's. Those kids are the regulars now. Hosmer, Moose, Cain, they get the early at bats. The second wave of prospects is a ways off. I've mentioned many times how overrated the Royals farm system is. The fact that they have NO prospects ready right now proves that. Gio is down. He is hurt and he will be back, but after him there is not much. There is zero pitching on the farm. The Royals are who they are. I think they are a team that can win 81 games. I think they are better than most of the teams in the Central. The Tigers are very good. The rest of the teams are not that great. I see the Royals in second place. I see them in contention for the wild card. I know that is optimistic but it is opening day! The Rangers/Angels will take one spot. The Yankees and the Red Sox and the Rays may get the second one but the Royals will have their names on the standings list for the wild card until late in the season. Luke will step up and pitch well. Cain will be a great find. Hosmer is an absolute stud. Billy is a great hitter. I hope the pitching holds together. I think it will. Moose and the second baseman have to hit. They must be productive at the plate. No hitting below 200 for 2 months. Moose needs to hit 280 with 20 homers. That's not asking too much. Frenchy is a pain. He was great last year. He is a 240 hitter that swings and misses too much. If he can get back to where he was last year I'll shut up and say I'm sorry. I did apologize to Melky and Frechy last year. They were both way better than I anticipated. The opening week is a awful. The season, however, will not be awful. The Royals are going to be 500 and in contention. I truly believe that. Here we go Royals. Here comes summer! YES!

Gordon extended, season coming quickly.

OK, Alex got his deal. 5 years, reasonable money. I'm glad. I kind of figured the arbitration time deal of 4.8 was a stop gap until they go the long term deal done. Good! I hope/think Alex has arrived. I think the hitter we saw last year is the guy that will be playing for the Royals for the next 5 years. He has way better plate coverage now. He is a GOOD hitter. He won the gold glove. Argue if he deserved it or not, he is a very good left fielder. He deserved the extension in so far as I believe he will be the 20 plus homers 90 plus RBI guy from the lead off spot. That is a very valuable commodity. He won't steal bases. So what? He is different as a lead off guy. Alex, Cain, Hosmer, Butler--I see quite a few first inning runs this year. Cain will see good pitches. I hope he takes to the two hole. That will be great for the team. Hosmer is who I think he is. He is the best hitter I've seen in the Royals system in a long time. Many will compare him to Beltran. He is better than Beltran at the plate. He may not be the 5 tool player Carlos was but his bat is way better than Carlos. Beltran seemed to muscle up down in Houston. Clemens was there. Weird coincidence. Hosmer is real. Hosmer is real good. The line up will be fine. Getz needs to be at the bottom to flip the deal. Escobar, Moose, Frenchy, Pena, in whatever order you prefer. Moose is the hole, folks. He can't languish at 200 and no power, he just can't. The team needs production from him. He gives them what he gave them in September, then this line up if very formidable. He gives them the crap he gave early last year, then the team loses games and he loses confidence. He needs to start quickly. That hasn't been his MO, but it needs to be now. The rotation is set. Chen, Luke, Sanchez, Mendoza, and Duffy. That isn't the Phillies rotation, that's for sure. This teams 500 record and chance at contention lies in the hands of these 5 dudes. I'm hopeful, just not overly ecstatic about the prospects. Hope springs eternal in the Spring. I just see this ship springing leaks. Chen is Chen, come on. He won't be a sub 3 ERA guy. He will be about 4-4.5. He will compete and keep the team in games, but Bruce against guys like Weaver, Verlander, CC? Who you betting on? The order of the starters will work itself out, I just hope they are competitive. Chen/Weaver I'm guessing you get pretty good prices on the Royals on the moneyline. That is a discussion for another blog. Pen is a strength, but being turned into a mess. Yost thinks a closer by committee is the answer. Nope. You need to have a mindset to close games. You can't spring it on different guys in different situations. Give Holland the ball and tell him he is the guy. That should happen. Don't screw with the end of the game. I'm afraid the closer on this team will be less than busy anyway. The rotation is just not good enough. Stick Oswalt in there you are a little better. You can't make a guy want to play for you, though. Here is to hoping that the Royals start hot and stay hot. I also hope the guys in my fantasy league don't take Hosmer too early in the draft. I'd like to have him. Go Royals. 500 and contention is the goal.