ChiefsPlanet - Royals 2011 Kansas City Royals Repository Thread

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brianfo (Post 7591736)

Hosmer now batting .380 after collecting 3 hits yesterday. Kila, the clock is ticking dude!!

Royals likely to resist any major changes — for now

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/04/25...#ixzz1KdecB1L6

CLEVELAND | Remember that call for patience the Royals sounded throughout the offseason and into the spring while accolades for the deep collection of talent in their farm system rolled in like the sea in a rising tide?

This is where it gets tough.

The Royals reached an open date in their schedule Monday seeking to rebound from a rough week — and an even rougher weekend in Texas — that dulled the gleam of their unexpectedly strong start.

The temptation is there, of course, to reach into the farm system for a shot in the arm. It is a temptation the Royals seem likely to resist.

“We’ve gotten off to good starts before,” general manager Dayton Moore cautioned. “You’ve just got to let the players play. It’s a game that requires a lot of patience and non-emotional decisions about your baseball team. That’s how you’ve got to look at it.”

Clubs typically set the initial evaluation period at 40 games — roughly the first of June or about one-fourth of the way through the schedule.

“You want to let guys play and settle into different roles,” Moore said. “By then, the league has had ample opportunity, through advanced scouting, to make some adjustments. You certainly begin to see whether players can adjust and readjust.”

Making major changes early in the season, unless injuries leave no alternative, means a club is disregarding its previous evaluations and conclusions on the basis of a small sample size.

“You spend a lot of hours every single day in the offseason putting together a team,” Moore said. “Then you spend sunrise to sundown in spring training doing the same thing.

“You begin the season, and everyone wants to get off to a great start, but you never really know what you have after a few weeks. Our guys have performed well, but you just don’t know what to expect yet.”

That doesn’t mean no changes before June. The Royals have already tweaked their bullpen, and Vin Mazzaro’s early struggles at Class AAA Omaha meant the job of fifth starter in the rotation went to Sean O’Sullivan.

Mazzaro put himself back in the picture Saturday by throwing seven scoreless innings for the Storm Chasers at Nashville, but manager Ned Yost said the job, for now, belongs to O’Sullivan.

“He produced when given the opportunity,” Yost said. “That’s all that matters.”

Bigger changes are likely to remain on hold despite the mounting public clamor for Eric Hosmer or even Clint Robinson to replace a struggling Kila Ka’aihue at first base. Hosmer and Robinson are off to blistering starts at Omaha.

Third baseman Mike Moustakas will, almost certainly, generate a similar outcry if he continues a recent surge in production. The success of several rookie relievers also makes it tempting to summon help for the rotation from the many available arms.

Hey, who wants to hear about patience when the division seems temptingly vulnerable?

“Kila’s numbers in Triple-A were a lot better than Eric Hosmer’s (numbers),” Moore countered. “That’s not to take anything away from Eric Hosmer, because Eric Hosmer is going to be a terrific player.

“It’s just that it’s a very small sample, and we believe in Kila. He works extremely hard, and he puts together pretty good at-bats most of the time. He’ll come around.”

The irony is, in previous years, the outcry was to promote Ka’aihue because he was tearing up the Pacific Coast League. Point is, success in the high minors, while nice, often means little in a club’s overall evaluations.

“I mean, I like to see good numbers,” Yost said, “but the difference in talent between here and there is a pretty big jump. We’ve got enough eyes down there, all of the time, to get (needed) recommendations. They give you a pretty good sense of who is doing well.”

And right now, Yost contends, there is no obvious replacement for any perceived need.

“Not really,” he said. “I only think in terms of what I need and what I’m looking for. But there are still a lot of issues. Is he on the roster or not on the roster? A lot of things come into play.”

Further, Ka’aihue shows signs in recent days of emerging from an extended funk with five hits in his last 14 at-bats, including three extra-base hits.

The Royals, similarly, show no inclination to move away from right-handed pitcher Kyle Davies, another growing public target after compiling a 6.23 ERA through five starts.

“For our team to be successful,” Moore said, “Kyle Davies needs to have a good year. I think his stuff has been exceptional (at times). He’s 27 years old, and he’s figuring some things out, I think.

“Kyle gave us almost 190 innings last year, and he’s going to give us 200 innings. Look, the chemistry of our club is very good. Let’s just let the guys play.”

Now … everything could change come June — especially if the Royals remain competitive within the division race. They could start to push prospects and put patience on the back burner. That willingness will increase the longer they stay in the race.

“Oh, sure,” Moore said. “Look what the Marlins did with Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis in 2003. They called those guys up from Double-A. Cabrera was a third baseman, and they put him in the outfield because they had Mike Lowell at third base.

“I’m not saying we’re as talented as those Marlins. Not at all. Because I don’t know.”

Yet.