ESKY SHOWING EVERYONE HIS BEEF

Hit one deep to CF, over the outfielder's head. Knocked in three.

A poster on a Royals board who attends spring training every year said that Escy has definitely beefed up a bit, and it was quite noticeable to him.

ESKY BRUSHES HIS TEETH WITH TURKEY LEGS NO JOKE

Is Duffy considered to have a strong fastball? The guys on TV said that he's hitting 98 today.

Damn Duffy.. gets two quick easy outs then walks 2 straight then gives up a 3 run bomb.

Wrong Thread!

Huh?????

??

Royals?

We don't really even need Escobar to be "good" at the plate. Just "slightly below average but respectable" would probably be fine.

Thats a pretty sophisticated hack. I'm impressed, whoever managed this.

Damn! I think that's first time in 8 years I've posted in the wrong thread. I'm a moran.

BUT, perhaps explains Esky's bulked up size :D

For those who are clinging to some hope that Vargas might be more than just league average, he had a nifty outing tonight, scattering 8 hits over 7 innings.

He has been solid all ST from what I've heard. Hope he can produce 200 IP and somewhere around a 3.75 ERA.

Was at the game today. He does nothing spectacular and nothing horrible but his career has been about minimizing the bad over many innings and if he can do that, he's a great help in filling Santana's role by performing in an almost opposite pitching style.

He usually has a mid to upper 90s fastball.

DAMN! I wanted to trash him all year.

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/10...jeff-francoeur

Not bad, looks like they sold out all 100,000 seats.

The ongoing battle for the final spot in Tampa Bay's rotation came to an end Saturday, with manager Joe Maddon declaring Odorizzi his team's fifth starter. Veteran Erik Bedard and fellow left-hander Cesar Ramos were also in the running.

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...ook_tb&c_id=tb

Wow. That's awesome.

Duffy has been optioned to AAA. He will not start the season in the bullpen.

...

Yost also chalked the decision up to the organization’s commitment to winning in 2014. The big leagues are no longer a place for player development.

“Would we be sending Danny Duffy down two years ago? Nah,” Yost said. “Nah. We’d let him figure it out up here.”

Good, I like it.

The right move, IMO.

I'm fine with sending Duffy down. To me, this is a sign that they are confident Zimmer will be available late in the season and able to fill that extra spot in the rotation effectively.

Hopefully, Duffy can continue working on throwing the slider for strikes and get better at executing pitches to put guys away.

One more week! Though we might see a few snow cancelled games.

Royals baseball.

Yes!!

More heartache.

Don't bring that bad mojo in here! :cuss:

Another one.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Hit by comebacker. Really good news RT <a href="https://twitter.com/TBTimes_Rays">@TBTimes_Rays</a>: <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Rays&amp;src=hash">#Rays</a> Moore got a couple stitches for a laceration of his lip. No concussion symptoms</p>&mdash; Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) <a href="https://twitter.com/jaysonst/statuses/447823679230332928">March 23, 2014</a></blockquote>
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Guess its time to update my projected roster. Unless we do pick someone up off of waivers, I'm now guessing that Bueno makes the team as pitcher #12. Ciriaco and Peguero would have to clear waivers to stay on our 40-man roster.

Apparently the Giants are making the Royals play by NL rules today. Yost isn't too happy about it. Ventura is pitching. According to McCullough he won't be allowed to swing the bat when at the plate.

Anywhere to watch it?

Doesn't look like it.

Yost should send Ventura holding the bat upside down and batting from the wrong side, Jack Elliot style.

If I was Yost, I'd have him just lean on the bat with the end of the barrel on the ground like it was a cane with his other hand on his hip in an "impatiently waiting" pose.

MLB Gameday shows that Ventura just swung on two of the pitches in the 2nd.

Or just bat out of turn and take the out.

Would also intentionally walk every Giants pitcher.

But I'm an asshole.

Rules prohibit rolling the ball to the batters box, right?

Do we play SF here or in SF this year? And yes, we do play them during the season.

**** the NL rules. Guys on first and second, and Lincecum "earns" a three pitch strike out at the expense of Yordano. **** you, San Francisco.

It's where you want to be.....Baseball with the Royals!

Google it. It's a really simple question that can be answered by visiting any of the whole host of websites that will answer your question.
























But it's at home

Ventura's done for the day. 5IP 1ER 3BB 3K

According to twitter, some scouts really like Hunter Dozier this spring, and think he can hit.

The Tigers traded for 2 shortstops (Alex Gonzalez and Andrew Romine), neither of them are very impressive.

Is Dozier only going to be a 3B in the Pro's or does anyone think he could play a decent SS?

Alex Gonzalez has played a grand total of 27 games at SS the past two years. He's best at 3B... calling him a shortstop is generous. He might make Peralta look rangy...

Tigers have now traded Fister for a LH reliever (who has disappointed), a middling SP prospect and Gonzalez, whom they could have signed as a FA. Ouch.

Dozier is almost certainly a 3B. He's probably too big to play SS. Doesn't have the quickness or agility. Guys at that size who do are pretty rare.

Are we ready to just outright call the AL Central race even on paper, or is that a little too ambitious?

If Butler could get back to being a 29HR-105 RBI guy like he was two seasons ago, we'd be awfully close. Or if Cain could stay healthy all year, or that our rotation can as well. If we lost Shields the season would be a slog.

We're certainly closing the gap, or I guess the Tigers are closing the gap. Need Ventura to be special!

In other news, Detroit's public statement and frustration with Scherzer was really kinda stupid. There is nothing they could possibly gain from basically painting one of their star pitchers as greedy. At best its a non-issue that is forgotten by all sides. At worst, maybe they pissed off Scherzer and/or Boras and have made it a little harder to retain him.

Jon Rauch is out of the running. The last bullpen slot will be filled by either Bueno or a waiver wire pickup.

Maybe. Factors:

1) Do Butler and Gordon regress to their means? That would mean Butler is .300/.375/.450 with 15-20 HR and 40-50 2B, Gordon is .290/.360/.450 with 15-20 HR, 40-50 2B.

2) Does Hosmer do it for a whole season? If he does, you're talking about .300/25/100/100/15, .300/.350/.500 type production.

3) Is Moustakas really improved? Not saying he'll do what he is in ST, but if he can give them a full season at his first half 2012 level, that would work out to .275/28/80, .275/.320/.500. That's just enormous.

4) Is Ventura the real deal? To the point of 200 IP, 3.50 ERA, 1.20 WHIP 200 Ks?

5) Do the Royals bullpen and defense remain in the same general ballpark (not as good, but close and still elite)?

For the Tigers:

1) Do Sanchez and Scherzer perform at the same level or take small steps back?

2) How does the new-look offense perform? Jackson in the 5, Kinsler at the top?

3) Is their bullpen BETTER with Joe Nathan but without Smyly, Benoit and Rondon?

4) Speaking of Smyly, what does he give them in the rotation? Unlikely it is as much as Fister, but can he give them 80 percent? 90 percent?

5) Finally, is the D improved as much as some think? Without Iglesias linchpinning it, they're still below average at SS, 1B, C and 3B. Just OK in LF, pretty good in CF, pretty good in RF. Very good at 2B. Seems like the D will still be a step below average, especially on the infield.

Royals defense honestly should improve, Aoki and Infante are upgrades to what was in those spots.

It's possible. It's just that what KC got at SS, C, LF, and CF (where great performances drove a big part of the run-prevention) is hard to count on at QUITE that level.

Lough also graded out exceptionally well as a defender in RF, though that was only 1/2 season.

Well none of those guys are old and declining so that helps, and if Cain could manage to stay healthy all season even CF production could upgrade.

Please God!!! And let's hope they can stretch baseball all the way through football season next year too!

Alex Colome of the Rays has been suspended 50 games for testing positive for PED's.

Never heard of him.

He was going to be a rookie for them and possibly a promising young arm for their rotation.

I saw a tweet that said 4 of the Rays top 10 prospects were suspended for drug use.

Looks like Infante is staying in Surprise for our opening series. Who is going to take his place at 2B and doesn't this mean we HAVE to carry Ciriaco or someone on the bench to back up Infante and Escy?!

Dude is already injured. Great.

You may have confused the opening series with him not going up to Milwaukee. We're not playing real games in Milwaukee, those are still exhibition games.

The plan right now is still for Infante to be with the team and starting in Detroit.

Whew

He might be hurt, and if he is, we'll find out in a day or two. Right now, Infante says (as of this morning) that he feels great and he'll get a few AB this afternoon. The Royals think he'll be ready to go by opening day.

Let's hope he is ok

The Rangers have lost their catcher for about 3 months.

FSKC broadcasting the game tonight vs Seattle.
Chen vs King Felix

We claimed some Schuster dickhead via rule 5 today. You're welcome.

We traded Adam Moore to the Padres for cash.

Patrick Schuster was the first overall rule 5 pick, taken from the D-Backs by SD. San Diego waived him and was probably going to let him go back to AZ, but we claimed him. We now have the same rights as if we had made the rule 5 pick. He must stay on our active roster all year or he goes back to Arizona.

He may take the last bullpen job away from Bueno.

edit:

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Schuster was great last year - in A-ball. He's a low-slot lefty who could be a LOOGY. If KC thinks he can pitch, I'd rather him than Bueno.</p>&mdash; Rany Jazayerli (@jazayerli) <a href="https://twitter.com/jazayerli/statuses/448521625106137090">March 25, 2014</a></blockquote>
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edit2: The Astros picked him first, then sent his rule 5 rights to SD in a trade. Schuster has been on a whirlwind tour this winter.

What are your early expectations for our record? I was asked by a friend this morning and I suggested 80-82. I think we won't go 15-4 vs Minny or whatever it was since their rotation looks much improved. That should shave off 5-6 wins from last year if we split with them. I'd guess most of the other records vs opponents will stay about the same. We were pretty injury-free last season and losing Santana will hurt, as will Hoch.

Now that the "new pitcher smell" has worn off, I don't see how this guy makes the club over Bueno. Bueno has the more proven track record. We may try to work out a deal with Arizona.

Carlos Peguero has been DFA'd. If he clears waivers, I'm not sure if we can outright him. He has at least 7 years, so I think he'd qualify for minor league free agency.

edit: never mind, we can outright him if no one claims him. The 7 year clock isn't ticking when a player is up, he has less than 3 years of MLB service time, and he's never been outrighted before.

What is a "Loogy"?

Left handed relief specialist. Technically, I think it means left handed one out guy? Meaning a pitcher you bring in to face one left handed hitter.

Lefthanded
One
Out
Only
GuY

In simpler terms, he's the guy that comes in to get that one really tough, and usually power-hitting, lefty and then comes right out. He's the kind of guy Trey Hillman hated with a passion.

A Trey Hillman mention. That's a party foul. Everybody drink.