I didnt notice anything about Chris "Disco" Hayes, so I figured I'd mention him and see what the Chiefsplanet Royal fans think about him.
First, who the hell is he? He was signed by the Royals as an undrafted free agent a few years ago out of an open tryout camp and had a lot of success as a minor league relief pitcher. Last year, the Royals skipped a level and sent him to AA where he posted a sub-2.00 ERA. He is now likely on the fast track towards AAA this year.
His fastball tops out at around 79, so you may wonder why he doesnt suck. Disco is apparently an
extreme submarine pitcher (like Dan Quisenberry) who is completely bent over at the waist with his arm at about 6:30 when he throws. Not many strikeouts, but he doesnt give up homers, gives up an extremely low number of walks, and gets a lot of soft ground ball outs. There are some sidearm pitchers in the majors, but submarine pitchers are extremely rare, with only 1 I know of who is currently active. (Chad Bradford at TB)
Beyond that, "Disco" Hayes is starting to become a bit of a fun internet legend among Royals fans because of his hilarious blogging and interviews. He wasnt really known until he was asked to write
this guest blog for his minor league team, which became so popular that MLB gave him his own guest blog for the season on mlblogs.com. He also gave a great
two part interview with baseball prospectus.
He seems like a pretty good kid, and it will be interesting to see if he makes it, or if he fades a bit from memory like Rowdy Hardy. Here is
Rany's take on him as a prospect.