2013 Kansas City Royals Repository Thread

[duncan_idaho]

Proposed 2013 Slogan: Tigers: They're what's for dinner
Actual 2013 Slogan: Come to Play
A better, more accurate, or alternative slogan: All in, no panic, we promise.

Dayton Moore has pushed all his chips in and is riding on King/Jack suited, hoping it comes together, he gets some good luck, and he hits the nuts by the river card. There's potential, oh yes, there's potential. There's also risk.

At the midway point, Dayton is left counting on the river card. The flop and turn didn't help him, and he's looking at the Tigers holding a pair of Queens and the Indians holding a pair of 9s. His 2013 plan hasn't failed - yet - but the odds are not in his favor.

Burning questions updates below.

Burning Questions for 2013:

1) Will the improve rotation be improved enough? Does James Shields pitch like a fringe No. 1 away from Tampa Bay? Does Ervin Santana pitch to his highest upside in his walk year? Can Jeremy Guthrie build on his strong performance as a Royal in 2012? Can Wade Davis bring his new mentality- and velocity - back to the rotation?

Midseason check-in: Yes, the rotation is certainly improved enough. Shields has pitched like a fringe No. 1 and Santana is having his best season. Guthrie has horrible peripherals but has continued to perform well at his home park and eat innings on the road. Davis brought neither his kick-ass mentality or improved velocity back to the rotation and is in Luke Hochevar/Hiram Davies territory.

2) When will Luke Hochevar be shown the door?
Midseason check-in: It appears, never, at this point. Hochevar has been solid in non-leverage situations, though pretty much every time he has been used with men on base in an inning, it has been a disaster.

3) Does Hosmer bounce back?
Midseason check-in: It took some time, but Hosmer's performance from June 1 on is probably the most encouraging thing about the 2013 season so far.
4) Can Moustakas hit for a whole season like he did in the first half of 2012?
Midseason check-in: Nope. Moustakas was god-awful, then great for about 3 weeks, then god-awful again. He has been better since he started working with Brett and Grafol but still has a long way to go.
5) Who regresses?
Midseason check-in: Welp, Alicides Escobar is not a surprising name here (though Yost's stubborn insistence on hitting him second is ridiculous). Billy Butler is a surprise. He isn't having a terrible year - still contributing a lot to the offense - but he's not hitting for the average or power he has displayed over the past several years.
6) Who plays 2B?
Midseason check-in: A whole bunch of people, and not that great. Gio is at least getting a shot, though he once again is not doing much with it.
7) Can Jeff Francoeur be at least replacement level, rather than epic horrible level?
Midseason check-in: Hahahahahahahahahahaha
8) Will Dayton Moore survive to see 2014?
Midseason check-in: Outlook uncertain. Probably still around, unless the team completely tanks in the second half and he does something foolish. My guess - he sacrifices Ned Yost this offseason and gets one more shot with a new manager in 2014.
9) Will Danny Duffy come back healthy? And if he does, is he the same, better or worse?
Midseason check-in: Yes. Velocity looks the same, and it looks likely he is the same guy as before.
10) And the big one: Has KC added enough to run down the big-money Detroit Tigers?
Midseason check-in: Doesn't look like it, does it?

[Deberg_1990]

Anyway, small sample size warnings apply to everything here. There is much more to be pleased with than concerned, but in the interest of math, fair time, and leaning on a tired cliche, we offer three positives and three negatives … you know, three up and three down.
Let’s do the bad stuff first.

Mike Moustakas is hitting .158 with two extra-base hits in 57 at bats. Among 191 AL hitters with enough plate appearances to qualify, Moose is 187th with a .419 OPS. His walk rate is up and his strikeout rate down, but he sure doesn’t look comfortable at the plate. Lots of infield popups (nearly one-third of his at bats, actually), most of them to the left side. I’ve always thought Moose’s swing and plate approach will make for streaks both good and bad, and that his attitude and disposition are well-equipped to handle the wild ride. Yost has moved him down in the order, and it’ll be interesting to see what the Royals do if the struggles continue. This year isn’t about development.


Eric Hosmer has only one extra-base hit with 11 strikeouts, and hasn’t given anyone reason to forget about last year’s struggles. There’s too much talent there and the season still too young to freak out, but it’d be nice if the Royals didn’t have to keep reassuring themselves. Hosmer is only 23 years old, but 1,213 plate appearances mean we should be seeing the talent come through. Yost has said he wants to stick with his latest lineup more consistently, and Hosmer hitting cleanup is the key to making it work.


Sal Perez is on pace to play in all 162 games. Yeah, OK, fine. The Royals have had enough offdays that that’s a bit misleading. Five other catchers have played in 17 games. Two have played in 18. But Yost has said he could see playing Perez 150 games, and so far that looks like the low end. I’m all for Perez being in the game. He is the Royals’ most valuable asset, the pitchers love him, it’s all good. But he’s also 22 years old, under club control through 2019, and coming off a major knee injury that wiped out half of last season. George Kottaras is one of the better backup catchers in baseball. Some discretion here might be prudent.


And now, the up:

James Shields and Ervin Santana are terrific. Really, you could include the entire rotation here, but the front two guys have been especially good: eight combined starts, and none worse than six innings and four runs. Santana’s last three starts have gone for 23 innings, four earned runs, four walks and eighteen strikeouts. If the pitching holds up anything close to this, the Royals are going to be in this thing when the weather begins to cool off.


Alcides Escobar is hitting with some power. He has four doubles and two homers in 68 at bats. He hit .293 last year, and there’s a chance that will end up as his career high. But I know a few scouts who think he’ll continue to develop power, and be a guy who can hit .275 or so with 15 homers and 35-40 doubles. Occasional lapses in attention at shortstop aside — if you notice, they never seem to happen in key moments — that’s perennial All-Star production.


Lorenzo Cain is hitting absolutely everything: .368 with a .509 slugging percentage. Cain is a fascinating player for the Royals, because the talent is obvious, he plays a premium defensive position well (when Alex Gordon’s not getting in the way) and can be a productive hitter in the middle of the lineup. It’s just a matter of staying healthy. So far, so good.


Bonus positive No. 1: Gordon is hitting nearly as well as Cain, but by now is good enough that it doesn’t make this list.

Bonus positive No. 2: Billy Butler is struggling, by his and others’ descriptions, but still leads the team in RBIs, has a .375 on-base percentage, and a 119 OPS+.

Bonus positive No. 3: Luke Hochevar hasn’t given up a run in his last three outings, and has a 1.69 ERA in his new career as a reliever. There is some luck involved here, with lineouts and such, but maybe this new role can work.


http://mellinger.kansascity.com/entr...-place-royals/

[Demonpenz]

ESPN has to get viewers and pumping up Red Sox fans does that. The MidWest people are slowly not giving a **** what ESPN has to say.

[mr. tegu]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

It's going to be a lot more than +130...a LOT more.

Best pitcher in baseball...possibly the best lineup in baseball...in Detroit...against the #5 starter...and a team that can't hit.

They have scored four runs in their last 43 innings.

[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by Dartgod

Good Lord, you're a ****ing reerun.

Pretty sure he knows that.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

That's not really important. You can replace bad production easily anyway. The key is getting him down to AAA so he can get back on track and get confidence back. I don't see how facing Verlander and Sherzer etc will help him with that.

Your still talking as if we aren't trying to win this year. We won't win with his replacements, and we can't give him a couple months in Omaha. He's got to figure it out, and he's got to do it right now.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by mr. tegu

They have scored four runs in their last 43 innings.

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

We beat Verlander last year in Sept. with Hochevar starting and the Tigers were in the middle of the division race.

Be that as it may, it's going to be considerable higher than +130. This has all the makings of one of the biggest spreads of the season.

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

Be that as it may, it's going to be considerable higher than +130. This has all the makings of one of the biggest spreads of the season.

Nope, i was wrong. But still, anything is possible, but it will be tough.

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

Be that as it may, it's going to be considerable higher than +130. This has all the makings of one of the biggest spreads of the season.

+160 is the kind of spread that Miami and Houston get. I think we'll settle in around +130, at least for tomorrow.

I can see Wednesday getting an ugly spread.

[alnorth]

Detroit has slipped a little on the AL Central prop bet.

Detroit -300
Kansas City +400
Cleveland +1000
Chicago +1200
Minnesota +2000

implied odds (when you force them to add up to 100%)

DET 64.3%
KC 17.2%
CLE 7.8%
CWS 6.6%
MIN 4.1%

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

It's really sad that this can't-miss future star who played great as a 21 year old has turned into Ross Gload two years later. Just tragic.



(Gload career Slugg: .408. Hosmer: .406)

We'd probably be wise to temper our pessimism just a bit.

[gblowfish]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

It's really sad that this can't-miss future star who played great as a 21 year old has turned into Ross Gload two years later. Just tragic.



(Gload career Slugg: .408. Hosmer: .406)

Hey now, lighten up on Ross Gload!

[stonedstooge]

Originally Posted by Nightfyre

These guys will get through it and they are a couple years away from being busts. I just wonder if there isn't something going on from a coaching perspective that is holding them back. I know I have beaten this drum repeatedly, but I think there has to be something to the fact that a lineup with so much potential has struggled so mightily.

Ned tried to blame it on Seitzer as evident by his dismissal during the offseason. I think it goes up one more level as to the problem. Ned pissed me the **** off yesterday when after several bad calls, especially the Cain steal of second that was missed, Ned did nothing to protect his player. Ned could be a good manager, but managing a young team takes a different set of skills that I don't think Ned possesses. My guess as to why Francoeur is still on the team. He does what Ned doesn't want to or can't do.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by stonedstooge

Ned tried to blame it on Seitzer as evident by his dismissal during the offseason. I think it goes up one more level as to the problem. Ned pissed me the **** off yesterday when after several bad calls, especially the Cain steal of second that was missed, Ned did nothing to protect his player. Ned could be a good manager, but managing a young team takes a different set of skills that I don't think Ned possesses. My guess as to why Francoeur is still on the team. He does what Ned doesn't want to or can't do.

Yost's biggest asset is his handling of young players. That's the only thing he was credited for in Milwaukee, which brought up a ton of young players at the same time under Yost.

I think with young players, you have to walk that line carefully. You want to be professionals and be able to accept bad calls as part of the game. But you also have to show them you have their backs.

[Mr. Laz]

Seitzer got fired because Hosmer and Moose weren't hitting. imo.


Well Seitzer is gone and they still aren't hitting so Seitzer got the shaft

[Mr. Laz]

in other news, we were like 1 pitch away from a 3 game series sweep of the Boston redsox.

so that's a happy thought