Grading the Royals at the Halfway Mark

[gblowfish]

I was thinking about this after last night's game. The Royals are about where I figured they would be, under .500 but slightly improved from last year. Here's my mid term grades on the players and manager, feel free to flame away:

Position Players:

Hosmer C-: Horrible opening stretch, didn't start to hit at all until Brett got ahold of him. Defense is a little above average, but lack of power is a major problem. Still tends to have a big looping swing and strikes out way too much.

Johnson D+: Only hits against Tampa Bay. Too bad we only play them one more time this year. Good baserunner, adequate defensively. OK as a utility guy, too weak on offense to be a legit starter.

Escobar C-: Offense has regressed this year. Very streaky hitter. Will hit in clutch sometimes, but has trouble moving runners when in the #2 spot. Has had defensive lapses, makes a hard play then boots an easy one. May be he needs more days off, grind may be getting to him.

Moose F: Except for Francoeur, biggest liability in the lineup in first half. Mind numbing how bad this guy has been on offense. King of stranding runners. Sultan of swish, Prince of the Pop Up. Once we start the fire sale, send his ass to Omaha and let him think about it. Needs to come to camp in better condition. He looks doughy, and it's hurt his defense this year. Not getting to balls that he used to reach, slow on the bases, when he manages to get on. All in all a horrific season from a guy GMDM was counting on.

Gordon: A-: Great start, has tailed off over the last month. I would say Alex is the best defensive left fielder in baseball. He is really that good. Offensively, he has not been the kind of all star go to guy that he should be. He has his moments, like the grand slam in Detroit, and he has his moments, like striking out on a slider in the dirt with the tying runs on in the eighth and nobody out. He is one of the few starters we have that you can say is a legitimate big time major league player, and he's still growing and maturing. All in all, he's had a good first half.

Cain C: He has stayed healthy. That's good. He strikes out a lot. A really lot. That's bad. He is a very streaky hitter. He can go weeks doing nothing, then he can tear the cover off the ball for a couple days. Outfield defense has been pretty good, except for the ball he booted in the last Oakland series that cost us the game. If he can walk more, cut down on the strikeouts, he'll be a good reliable center fielder.

Lough B: Should have broke camp as our starting RF if it wasn't for GMDM's boner for Frenchy. Very good defensive player, good contact guy, doesn't strike out a lot. Hustles. Needs work on his base running skills. For a late call up, he has played very well and improved our outfield.

Dyson B-: Before he got hurt, he was leading the team in slugging. Great base runner, when he can get on. Bit of a defensive liability, less than average arm and takes weird routes to the ball. Has trouble in pressure situations moving runners or making contact. Stood and looked at strike three Friday night to end the Cleveland game. Ankle injury slowed his progress. Good fourth outfielder, and a premier pinch runner for Fat Boy.

Perez A-: Salvy would get an "A" as our first All-Star Catcher in ions except for a couple of things. One, he has not hit for as much power as we should get from a guy his size. Second, he lollygagged when grandma kicked off. Thought he took way too much time away, and while he was gone, the team floundered. He calls a great game, has one of the best throwing arms in baseball, and is a great quarterback for the pitching staff. You can tell the pitchers love his blocking ability behind the plate. Dude should be an all star for years to come if he can stay healthy. Ned may need to give him some days off during the dog days. Very well deserved All Star pick.

Butler B-: A down year compared to last year in power and average. Butler needs to get in better condition. He looks out of shape, worse than Moose. Slower than he should be, he's bordering on Harmon Killibrew at age 40 slow. Walks a lot, but has been pressing here over the past couple weeks and has had some killing oh fer days. He also needs to cut down on the K's, and work in the off season to drop about 15 lbs and muscle up. He could be a young Jim Thome if he really worked at it.

Reserves:

Tejada B: Has played very well for a 39 year old. Has given the Royals everything they expected and then some. Flexible, can play second and third, and never looks confused at the plate. Wish he was ten years younger.

Getz D-: Played pretty well in April, actually hit a home run in Atlanta, then did his typical swirl down the toilet bowl, and finished by not executing bunts before being sent down for Gio. We should probably trade him out of the organization, because he's never going to get any better. Move on to the next contestant.

Gio D+: I want to like this guy, I really do. He hustles, reminds me of a young Chuck Knoblach. But every time he rips in up in Omaha, we call him up, and he just shits the bed. He killed it his first day up in Minnesota, and has gone oh for every game since. When you get your chance you have to make something out of it (see David Lough). If he doesn't come around in the second half, I say get him out of the organization and look elsewhere.

Kottaras C-: The good stuff: He walks a lot and will hit you a homer every once in awhile. Very calm at the plate, hard to rattle. Bad Stuff: Can't hit over .200, weaker defense than Salvy -that would be true for whoever Salvy's back up was- and tends to allow pass balls or wild pitches at very inopportune times. Still, he's better than Bryan Pena. If he could just add about 40 points to his average….

Frenchy F: Seven Million Dollars down the dumper. Guy has a great smile, should be popular with the fellahs in San Francisco.

Starting Pitching:

Shields B+: Guy has been everything advertised. Not his fault we don't score any runs for him. Sometimes starts slow and gets behind early, but he is a battler. Reminds me of Dennis Leonard in his heyday. Dude hates to lose, wish we could transfuse his character into the rest of the ball club.

Santana B: Innings eater, still gets bit by the long ball. Over the past couple weeks seems to have lost his focus, maybe because of all the trade talk. Has been great at times, certainly better than anybody else behind him in this list of starters. Wouldn't be surprised to see him traded to the National League by the deadline.

Guthrie B: Has been a reliable decent starter, last night grooved a meatball for a cheap grand salami, but usually does a good job pitching out of trouble. Has been more good than bad, and with better offense, could have three or four more wins. He's our only opening season rotation starter with a winning record.

Davis C: Started out pretty well, but this guy is a long reliever posing as a starter. He's a lot like Chen or Mendoza, not consistent enough to be a reliable starter, but pitches good enough to hang around on the roster, as his ERA is now pushing six. Hopefully his spot in the rotation will be taken by Duffy soon.

Mendoza C-: I think he's tired. He pitched in the World Competition before spring training, so he hasn't had a long rest for awhile. When he's on, he's very good. When he's off he gets his ass handed to him in a hurry. A month rest in the bullpen might be exactly what the doc ordered.

Chen C: Goes to show you if you're left handed, you can hang around in the bigs for a long time. Pitched well against Cleveland on Friday, but was lucky he didn't get pounded. You can't throw letter high middle in 85 mph fastballs for long and survive in the bigs. He's getting near the end of his run, we should probably trade him before the deadline. Can't see him in next years plans.

Relief:

Crow C: This guy is under achieving for where he was picked. We're paying him a shitload of money for 1/3rd of an inning in the seventh. Too unpredictable, has the stuff to win, but can't seem to harness his control.

Hoch C-: Same thing as Crow, way under achieving for where he was picked. This guy soils himself at the first sign of pressure. Pitches great if you're ahead or behind by four runs. But bring him in when you need a stop or a hold, and you're ****ed. I'd try to trade him by the deadline, he's never going to be anything but what he is now, which is a big chuck of chicken shit and dead payroll.

Collins C-: Good start, but the midget has been getting pounded lately. Same drill as last year. Sometimes he looks great, sometimes he can't get anybody out. Tends to overthrow and walk guys at critical junctures. Needs to focus and command his stuff. He's got great attitude for a reliever, he just can't back up the attitude often enough to be reliable.

Gutierrez D+: When he comes in, Ned has raised the white flag. Looks like CC Sebathia's little brother, except he can be hit with ease. He's just a warm body holding down a spot.

Coleman C+: Should have broke camp, but Herrera took his spot. Has pitched well when given the opportunity, but last year got rocked in the second half. We'll see how he does in August.

Herrera D: Guy has the stuff to be a big time closer. Can throw the ball through a brick wall. But when a major league hitter times his fastball, it tends to leave the park. Often. He's still young, needs to harness his control and pitch smarter. He'll be OK, just needs more time to mature.

Joseph and Smith Incomplete: Not enough time up yet to evaluate fairly.

Holland A: Should have made the All Star Team. Had a couple of rocky outings in April, but has been lights out since. Everything you could ask for in a closer. Number of K's is outstanding, one of the best hard sliders in the American League. Give this guy a raise.

Manager:

Ned C-: Well, Ned has personally cost us about four or five games this year with stupid managing, but all managers have a few clunkers. He has kept us within the tail lights of Detroit up till now, but we'll probably fade to double digits after the break. Ned is pretty much Buddy Bell. He's not going to ever be a top drawer manager. DMGM will probably give him one more year, because DMGM has one more year on his contract. They'll either both survive together or jump off the cliff together, depending on what happens in the second half.

[Prison Bitch]

Our middle relief has been abysmal, esp as of late. Collins and Crow have just killed this team the past month costing us a few wins. Hererra was awful early and JC Gutierrez is a fat loser who's now applying for welfare. Funny but Hoch and Chen have been our best options out of the pen until Holland.

The myth that Dayton knows bullpen talent and can just reconstruct good pens has been shot down. He's had a few good pens and a few bad ones here. This year we got a bad performance out of them.

[Ace Gunner]

after the CLE series I'm going with yik.

[petegz28]

[petegz28]

I am not breaking down individual players. All I will say is this is a giant ****ing F

ya hear me? I said

A GIANT ****ING F

Why an F?

When you have the kind of starting pitching we have had and you are under .500 in a shit division you ****ing suck!

2 hitting coaches already gone..

Frenchy who never should have started the season....gone

Getz who never should have started the season....gone

Yost, who never should manage another game....still here

It took over half a season before Ned moved Escobar out of the #2 spot which was the right thing to do but then proceeded to move Hosmer to #2 and not Lough which completely invalidates moving Escobar


It's a shit ****ing sandwich. Our GM is a ****ing moron.

Our coach is a ****ing moron.

Our players are just collecting paychecks.

[petegz28]

From this point forward there should be only 1...1 single question that should ever be asked to DMGM.

And there should be only 1 ....1 single answer that is acceptable...

[gblowfish]

Originally Posted by petegz28

I am not breaking down individual players. All I will say is this is a giant ****ing F

ya hear me? I said

A GIANT ****ING F

Wow, and over the years you guys have called me a cynic.
Petegz28 IS George Blowfish, circa 2006.

I went through this phase. Now I just come to expect and accept their failure. It's what it is.

[CoMoChief]

Pitching - B+ only reason why it's not in the A range is because other than Santana and Shields, our starting staff has been very inconsistent. Other than Herrera, the bullpen for the most part has done it's job.

Coaching - F There were just so many games this year already where Yost or some other Royals has cost this team games. Messing around w/ the ****ing lineup so much etc.

Hitting - F Other than a couple people...this team hasn't hit for shit all season long. This team needs to hit the long ball. That's the only way we're going to compete w/ teams like CLE and DET. We're on the brink of the season being over. These Royals bats need to wake the **** up!

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

Wow, and over the years you guys have called me a cynic.
Petegz28 IS George Blowfish, circa 2006.

I went through this phase. Now I just come to expect and accept their failure. It's what it is.

We have not had a rotation like this in a long, long time. You had Shields, Santana and Guthrie dealing nasty sauce game after game and couldn't do anything but lead the league in the least amount of runs scored.

It's ****ing sad and ****. Yost don't have a ****ing clue of how to manage in the AL. GMDM as well. This team is soft and weak. Gordon and Salvy are really the only 2 every-day players that go out there game after game and get after it on both sides.

Then there is Billy "Love me some SS" Butler who, if you ask me, fell in love with himself after last year and for what he is on this team to do, is flat out stinking up the joint. Why? Because he can. Because Yost and GMDM treat these guys like Kiddy-Kings.

[Nightfyre]

I don't get why Pete thinks it is so bad to stick Hos in the 2 hole.

[salame]

[Bambi]

Originally Posted by petegz28

JFC it's been right here in front our faces the entire time!

[Mama Hip Rockets]

Jarrod Dyson gets an F for standing there and staring at strike three with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth inning on Friday.

[BWillie]

I dont really see how Hosmer deserves a C-

Hes been offensively as good as Gordon this yr

B for Hos IMO. He actually gets more pts for turning things around

[petegz28]

Originally Posted by Nightfyre

I don't get why Pete thinks it is so bad to stick Hos in the 2 hole.

Because he needs to be hitting #3. You know what I have been noticing a lot of? When we have a guy on 1st and the next batter gets a single the runner on 1st stops at 2nd. Other teams? The runner on 1st goes to 3rd.

Hosmer right now is our power. It would be nice to see him moving runners before BB hits a DP to SS.

[Nightfyre]

Originally Posted by petegz28

Because he needs to be hitting #3. You know what I have been noticing a lot of? When we have a guy on 1st and the next batter gets a single the runner on 1st stops at 2nd. Other teams? The runner on 1st goes to 3rd.

Hosmer right now is our power. It would be nice to see him moving runners before BB hits a DP to SS.

Hos and Gordon have adequate speed on the bags. Put your best OBP guy number one and your best hitter number two. Gordon/Hos does that.