Sigh.

If Billay's average drops below .240, I'll start calling him "Cartman." That's the same deal I have with Gordon as to whether he's "Alice" or not....

No doubt, Billy and Moose came into the year as obese lard asses because they thought they were better than they were and guaranteed starters. In billy's case you can understand it as he was an AS and a top-20 hitter last year in the AL. But it's a lesson: take the offseason seriously. Piling down breakfast burritos every morning and sleeping all winter doesn't make for a good year. These guys are WAY too young to be this fat.

Bob Dutton ‏@Royals_Report 10m
#Royals making change in rotation. LHP Bruce Chen will replace RHP Luis Mendoza, who becomes the long reliever.

At this point I’m hoping Escobar’s avg drops like a rock. I’d rather have him go through a 1-14 slump now and get dropped to 9th than to have him at .249 and bat 2nd the rest of the year.

I'm cool with that, but Ned needs to yank Chen after about 5 innings since that's when things usually go bad with him.

Do we win any in the Bronx?

When is the last time anyone can remember a .247 hitter (with .279 OBP and on pace for 6 HR) who batted 2nd permanently?

While I don't wish or hope anyone slumps (other than Frenchy when he was with the team) with this current team something has to happen to get Alcides out of the two hole.

I vote for trading Chase Utley.

I'm sure there were a plethora of them in the 80s.

The Indians also batted Omar Vizquel second for a portion of the mid-90s... when Eddie MUrray, Carlos Baerga, Albert Belle, Jim Thome and Manny Ramirez (not to mention Travis Fryman, Kevin Seitzer, Paul Sorrento) were all batting further down the order.

Side note:

BA released its mid-season top 50 today.

Yordano Ventura checks in at No. 26, the highest-rated Royal. Zimmer is No. 28 despite his results. And Mondesi checks in at No. 50.

I'd imagine Sean Manaea, Bubba Starling, Cheslor Cuthbert, Hunter Dozier, and Jorge Bonifacio, all have a shot at cracking their top 100, as does Miguel Almonte.

Alexis Rivera is an off-radar name to keep an eye on as well. Nice corner OF profile who raked in rookie ball last year and has put up pretty good numbers as Dozier's teammate so far.

Petro claimed that Escobar at #2 is damn near a fireable-level offense for Moore and Hillman, and it's hard not to agree to a certain extent. Simply baffling stupidity.

Meanwhile, it's time to try to move Ventura and Zimmer because the Royals cannot develop pitchers for shit. Sell high(ish).

Freudian slip?

I agree that if you can move Zimmer for a valuable piece that can be controlled for multiple years, you do that. Hitter or pitcher.

Ventura is good enough that I don't think they can really screw him up. And he has already cracked the level where it seems the Royals' development folks have been lacking (The AA jump).

He is right.

LMAO.

Yeah, start talking about epic levels of dumbassery and I go to the gold standard, apparently.

Hitting Escobar second is an excellent example of Ned Yost's old-school dumbassery.

Putting a speedy bat handler in that spot was common baseball logic for a LONG time (just like the thought that a .300 hitter who never walked and posted a .325 OBP was better than a .280 hitter who walked enough to post a .350 OBP). Most of the smarter teams have moved away from that thought process.

But I'm sure in Ned's baseball brain, have a "classic" 2 hitter is important. Just like he thinks Tim Collins and Bruce Chen give him an advantage against LHHs.

While we're on the subject of "new school 2 hitters"... Johnny Giavotella, if he could be a .280/.330/.450 hitter, is a great example of what a modern 2 hitter/2B can look like. I wish they'd give him a legitimate shot in that spot and give him the chance to hit in the middle of a lineup/with men on base a little more often.