As Mellinger says, Royals fans come by their skepticism honestly. Why should we give this franchise the benefit of the doubt?

But if you're looking for hope, consider that last year the Tigers were 6 games under .500 on June 8, and still a game under .500 on July 5. They were six games out of first on June 12.

That's all fine and dandy, but KC doesn't have an Austin Jackson Coming off the DL June 9th like Detroit did last year that will change things.

Nor do we have a Fielder\Cabrera in our lineup to help.

Gordon is filling the Cabrera role right now. Butler could be a reasonable Fielder facsimile (Fielder was 152 OPS+ last year, Billy was 140).

Austin Jackson is a fair point. I had forgotten he was on the DL for nearly a month last year. Although when he left, they were still just 18-19.

Obviously it's not a great match, but it wasn't supposed to be. Only that even good teams can struggle for long stretches. Are the 2013 Royals as good as the 2012 Tigers? I doubt it. Are they as bad as they've been the last two weeks? We'll see.

Salient points.

We have Paulino and Duffy coming back at some point, but that does not help our punch-less offense. The sad thing is that there is NOTHING in our Minor League system that is even remotely close that could help our offense. That is monumentally ****ed up! Jesus, my messed up mind almost thinks Xavier Nady would be a better solution at 1B than Hos, because Hos lacks any sort of power. I think I'm going to go bleach my ****ing brain.

I agree. The pulling of Shields that game seems to have set off this death spiral. There is a reason that a playoff bound club fired Yost. They fired him after they lost 11 of 14....maybe we will have the same luck!

we have some talent now and have shown some signs of life. We should be able to attract some decent candidates for jobs.

Time for Yost and Moore to hit the bricks.


There is still something wrong with our development system. Why don't our young hitters have any plate discipline?

or power? It's like we have a team full of players afflicted with Muscular Dystrophy.

:facepalm:

The Royals as a team have never taken walks, going all the way back to the glory years. I think they've been above league average something like twice in the last 30 years, and often at the bottom.

I remember Bill James doing an essay on it in the late 80s, with an anecdote about Buddy Biancalana, on the DL, being a guest in the TV broadcast booth and talking about how it was frowned upon to take pitches during batting practice. Just get in there and take your hacks.

It must be in the franchise DNA. Ancient Indian burial ground under the K or something.

Next two games are crucial. Need to come out of this week at least 3 games above .500.

Win the next two against the Astros and build some momentum going into the weekend series with the Angels, and last night is a blip. Still, they really should have won that game ... let a trash pitcher off the hook too many times.

Moves I would like to see:
1) DFA Getz
2) DFA JC Gutierrez
3) Call up Johnny Giavotella
4) Call up Louis Coleman
5a) Demote Mike Moustakas (or DFA Jeff Francoeur)
5b) Call up Anthony Seratelli

Use Cain to leadoff until Jarrod Dyson returns unless he's sitting. If he sits, and Lough is playing, use Lough in the leadoff spot.

Eric Hosmer to the two. He's not hitting for any power (though his 2B last night raised his SLG above his OBP, finally), but he's getting on base at a decent rate and at least making pitchers work a bit (most of the time).

Leave Gordon in the 3 and Butler in the 4.

Move Sal Perez up to the 5 spot. He has to produce out of that spot.

Hit Escobar 9th. It's his correct lineup role.

6-7-8 are filled by the combination of 3B, RF and 2B, in some sort of platoon role until Dyson is healthy and until or unless Moustakas starts hitting like a starter.

Once Dyson returns:

Dyson
Cain
Gordon (he and Hos hit enough against lefties that L-L-L should not matter)
Butler
Hosmer
Perez
3B
RF
2B
Escobar

As for Dayton Moore, he's going to be on the hot seat unless this team bounces back and finishes over .500 with at least a sniff of the wildcard. (Still plenty of time for that).

The minor league system has just not translated at all spots. Using Myers/Odorizzi/Montgomery to get legitimate front-rotation pitching is a valid use of the farm system. The struggles of Hosmer and Moustakas - and the injuries to the other first-wave SP propsects (Lamb and Duffy) have really devastated the ability for the farm system to make an impact on the major league roster.

The bullpen has a lot of draft/developed guys, but that's not good enough.

Now... if Ventura continues to murder the minor leagues like he has been (he's on pace to be a top 40 prospect right now, and he would easily be top 15 if he was bigger), and Duffy comes back strong out of the gate (two things I think WILL happen), things probably look a little rosier for Moore's farm system.

Ultimately, his farm system rises and falls with Hosmer and Moustakas, though. IF those two are not at least solid MLB guys by the end of the year, it's going to be hard for Moore to get extended beyond his current contract unless Ventura, Duffy and Zimmer save his bacon.

:bravo:

Guys, don't worry BP Davis is on the bump tonight with a short porch in left field.

We got this!

Because it's not really something you can teach. Players are either pre-disposed to plate discipline, or they're not.

Small improvements are possible, but you can't take a guy with NO strike zone judgment and turn him into somebody with great strike zone judgment.

Moore is a very old school scout, and so are most of the people in his org. Those type of scouts tend to look at tangible physical tools when scouting hitters and don't pay as much attention to things like plate discipline, which is less tangible and takes longer to scout (that's one reason why extreme moneyball teams like college players - there's much more data on plate discipline at that point).

Johnn Giavotella and Seratelli both offer at least the chance at more offense than Chris Getz (for sure), Jeff Francoeur (can't be worse) slumping Mike Moustakas and possibly even Elliott Johnson.

In all likelihood, though, they will need to get creative and make a trade to help the offense.

AAAA Players.