Minnesota Twins @ Kansas City Royals Game Thread (5/28)

[alnorth]

Final / 10	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
MIN (27-25)	0	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	5	1	9	11	2
KC (21-32)	1	0	2	3	0	0	2	0	0	0	8	16	0

Livan Hernandez 6IP 8R 6ER 0BB 2K
Juan Rincon 1IP 0R 0ER 0BB 0K
Bobby Korecky 1.1IP 0R 0ER 0BB 0K
Dennys Reyes 0.1IP 0R 0ER 0BB 0K
Win, (3-2) Jesse Crain 0.1IP 0R 0ER 0BB 0K
Save, (14) Joe Nathan 1IP 0R 0ER 0BB 0K

VS.



Zack Greinke 8IP 3R 3ER 2BB 8K
Ramon Ramirez 0.2IP 4R 4ER 0BB 2K
Blown Save, (1); Loss, (0-2) Joel Peralta 1.1IP 2R 2ER 0BB 0K

Starting Lineups

MIN

1. Carlos Gomez, CF
2. Alexi Casilla, 2B
2. Craig Monroe, ph
2. Matt Macri, 2B
3. Joe Mauer, C
4. Justin Morneau, 1B
5. Michael Cuddyer, RF
6. Jason Kubel, DH
7. Delmon Young, LF
8. Mike Lamb, 3B
9. Brendan Harris, SS

KC

1. Davis DeJesus, RF
1. Ross Gload, ph/RF
2. Joey Gathright, CF
3. Alex Gordon, 3B
4. Jose Guillen, LF
5. Miguel Olivo, C
6. Mark Teahen, 1B
7. Billy Butler, DH
8. Alberto Callaspo, 2B
9. Tony Pena Jr, SS

[Beerfund]

they should have sent Mark Teahen and TPJ along with billy

[Sure-Oz]

Originally Posted by Beerfund

they should have sent Mark Teahen and TPJ along with billy

I believe they have no options and would have to clear waivers

[Mecca]

I'd be happy to never see Pena on the roster again he's pretty useless...and Teahen is frankly nothing more than a backup. If they want to keep him then Ross Gload has to go because that's Teahens role.

[Deberg_1990]

Butler wasnt really hitting that bad was he? .263 isnt awful.

Is he the "fall guy"?

[Sure-Oz]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

Butler wasnt really hitting that bad was he? .263 isnt awful.

Is he the "fall guy"?

1 of 2 guys that probably could've been sent down and he is struggling bad...

Gordon would've been the other guy but he is atleast doing adequate

[Adept Havelock]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

I hate big A**Hole, cursing fan.

As do I.

[Sure-Oz]

Kyle Davies to start Sunday, Grudz to the DL?

[Demonpenz]

butler was probably the baby that guillen was talking about especially because he is not exactly have a man-like body

[alnorth]

If someone wants to start today's game day thread, dont wait for me, I wont have nearly enough time to do it tonight.

[KC_Connection]

Tony Pena Jr plays a good shortstop, so the Royals have given him a mostly regular job at shortstop over the last year and a half. During that time, we have learned one clear truth.

Tony Pena Jr can’t hit.

I’m not talking about Pena struggling at the plate. I’m not saying he’s a bad hitter for a major leaguer. I’m saying that Tony Pena Jr might be one of the worst hitters ever to put on a major league uniform. He’s unbelievably bad. For the season, he’s hitting .160/.181/.200. The average pitcher in the National League is hitting .141/.180/.177. At least he’s better than them as a group, but the margin couldn’t be much smaller.

While Pena’s not really this bad, he is pretty terrible. For his career, he has a 2.2% BB% thanks to a 39.06% O-Swing%. He swings at almost 40% of pitches out of the strike zone, and due to that aggressiveness, he never ever walks. But it’s not like his aggressiveness comes with its own rewards, because he’s not good at making contact either. His contact rate is just 79.44%, and his career K% is 17.1%. This isn’t a guy who is swinging at everything because he can actually put the bat on the ball. He’s just swinging at everything because… well, I have no idea why.

Even when he does make contact, pitchers don’t care. His Isolated Slugging % this year is a dreadful .041 (and .080 for his career), as he has just five extra base hits on the season. Most of that is because he’s an extreme groundball hitter with a career GB% of 55.8%. When you pound the ball into the ground, you’re basically hoping for a single at best, and that limits the value of your hits. In fact, most guys with extreme groundball tendencies and some speed teach themselves how to bunt so that they can maximize their skills, but Pena’s not even good at that - he has seven career bunt hits. For comparison, Luis Castillo got 16 bunt hits last year.

Pena is the complete package - ridiculously aggressive with poor contact skills, no power, and an inability to bunt himself on base. Add it all up, and you get a guy with a career .242/.261/.321 line that no amount of good defense can compensate for. I wasn’t sure I would ever see a team give regular at-bats to a guy with less offensive ability than Rey Ordonez, but along came Tony Pena Jr.

Royals fans, you have my sympathy.

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index...s-hitting-what

[KC_Connection]

Haha, Pena is terrible.

[POND_OF_RED]

Well the good news is that through 1/3 of the season we are on pace to only lose 99 games instead of 100.

[keg in kc]

Originally Posted by SEA_OF_RED

Well the good news is that through 1/3 of the season we are on pace to only lose 99 games instead of 100.

I think the more notable thing is that it's taken a 13-game losing streak to get them on 100-loss pace. It'll be interesting to see if they pull out of it, and how far they swing in a positive direction if they do.

[SPchief]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

I think the more notable thing is that it's taken a 13-game losing streak to get them on 100-loss pace. It'll be interesting to see if they pull out of it, and how far they swing in a positive direction if they do.

I know it's been bad, but Keg, it's only been eleven games

[Mecca]

Pena shouldn't even be on a major league roster, to hit that poorly he should be the greatest fielder in the history of the world to warrant a roster spot.

You might be able to find some dude who posts here who could match his hitting numbers.