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]

Moose’s slump

In Wednesday morning’s Kansas City Star, Mike Moustakas said he thought his .158 batting average was the result of getting out on his front foot too soon. Ned Yost called it "drifting" and here’s what that means: when a hitter swings the bat, his weight shifts from back to front. If the weight shift comes too soon, the hitter has nothing behind his swing when it’s time to make contact with the ball.

The other thing that can happen is a backside collapse. Picture a stack of children’s blocks on a table. Now imagine quickly pulling the bottom block toward you; the top block would fall away from you—that’s similar to what happens to a hitter’s swing. The hitter moves to his front foot too soon and the backside—the barrel of the bat—collapses.

Now the hitter has a loop in his swing and he’s going to have a hard time keeping the barrel above a pitch up in the zone. Check out Mike’s "Hot Zones" on the ESPN website and you’ll see he’s not hitting pitches at the top of the strike zone. If his bat head is collapsing and looping—and nobody’s told me that, but they’ve been on the road for about six months so I’m having to wing it—that would also explain why Mike’s hitting weak pop flies: he’s under the ball.

At times it looked like the Tigers were attacking Mike up in the zone and until he can stay on top of those pitches, they’ll keep doing it.



http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/24...-mattered.html

[mr. tegu]

Hosmer seems to be doing pretty well so far batting consistently higher in the lineup.

[Prison Bitch]

Ok Moose yeah whatever...go to Omaha to work it out

[Archie F. Swin]

I'm not mad at Moose, I know he's young and trying to find himself. If my memory serves, he had a good spring, yes? I'm optimistic that he'll turn things around.

What pisses me off is Frenchy, with a total lack of discretionary batting and the swing of a little leaguer. Every time he's up to bat, GMDM kicks me in the nuts. All I do is cuss when he's on the TV screen.

[ChiTown]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

Moose’s slump

In Wednesday morning’s Kansas City Star, Mike Moustakas said he thought his .158 batting average was the result of getting out on his front foot too soon. Ned Yost called it "drifting" and here’s what that means: when a hitter swings the bat, his weight shifts from back to front. If the weight shift comes too soon, the hitter has nothing behind his swing when it’s time to make contact with the ball.

The other thing that can happen is a backside collapse. Picture a stack of children’s blocks on a table. Now imagine quickly pulling the bottom block toward you; the top block would fall away from you—that’s similar to what happens to a hitter’s swing. The hitter moves to his front foot too soon and the backside—the barrel of the bat—collapses.

Now the hitter has a loop in his swing and he’s going to have a hard time keeping the barrel above a pitch up in the zone. Check out Mike’s "Hot Zones" on the ESPN website and you’ll see he’s not hitting pitches at the top of the strike zone. If his bat head is collapsing and looping—and nobody’s told me that, but they’ve been on the road for about six months so I’m having to wing it—that would also explain why Mike’s hitting weak pop flies: he’s under the ball.

At times it looked like the Tigers were attacking Mike up in the zone and until he can stay on top of those pitches, they’ll keep doing it.



http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/24...-mattered.html

Great to hear. Now get your ass to Omaha and work it out.

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by Archie F. Swin

I'm not mad at Moose, I know he's young and trying to find himself. If my memory serves, he had a good spring, yes? I'm optimistic that he'll turn things around.

What pisses me off is Frenchy, with a total lack of discretionary batting and the swing of a little leaguer. Every time he's up to bat, GMDM kicks me in the nuts. All I do is cuss when he's on the TV screen.

Moose and Frenchy batting back to back should be criminal.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by DeepSouth

Duncan, What's your thoughts on Moose. Stay with him through these bad times? Send him down? If you send him down, who plays 3rd ?

When we were discussing it the other day, I was of the mindset that you give him through the weekend to show signs of life/turning it around.

Wouldn't surprise me if they rest him today and give him one more shot against the Indians this weekend.

As for who fills in... I imagine it would be some combination of Miguel Tejada and Elliott Johnson. Johnson gives you pretty elite defense at 3B. Tejada gives you a better bat, at least against LHP.

Anthony Seratelli at Omaha is an interesting guy. He's kind of an IF version of Daniel Nava for the Red Sox. Older, switch hitting guy who never has been an elite prospect but who has hit a lot through his minor league career.

He's also versatile enough that he could play some 2B or OF, which gives Yost a little more flex than just promoting David Lough (though he probably deserves it, you can't play him everyday).

[siberian khatru]

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/page/...k-mlb-managers

• Got into an interesting debate recently with an American League executive who was extolling the impact James Shields has made on the Royals. He took a position I didn't see coming: If he had a choice of which starter he'd give a nine-figure contract to -- Shields or Zack Greinke -- he'd take … (wait for it) … Shields.

"Greinke's stuff is a little better," he said. "And on a given day, he can rise to the occasion and just dominate. But there are other days where he almost seems a little disinterested. You never have to worry about that with Shields. He's out there for one reason -- to beat you. And then there's the impact he has on a club on a daily basis. That's one thing about Greinke. He has great stuff. But he gives you none of that."

• Shields has said he's open to sticking around in Kansas City long-term. But if he's a $100 million deal waiting to happen, it's hard to find anyone who thinks the Royals could afford that contract.

[KevB]

Send Moose down, bring up Seratelli and give him a shot. Maybe we luck into another Aviles for a month while Moose finds himself. Like Archie said, I'm not mad at Moose. I'd hate to lose him to AAA....I think he brings the right attitude and work ethic (by all reports) to be a leader. But, at some point, you have to perform. He knows better than anyone that he's killing the team; give him a break for a few weeks and let him find the love of the game again.

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by siberian khatru

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/page/...k-mlb-managers

• Got into an interesting debate recently with an American League executive who was extolling the impact James Shields has made on the Royals. He took a position I didn't see coming: If he had a choice of which starter he'd give a nine-figure contract to -- Shields or Zack Greinke -- he'd take … (wait for it) … Shields.

"Greinke's stuff is a little better," he said. "And on a given day, he can rise to the occasion and just dominate. But there are other days where he almost seems a little disinterested. You never have to worry about that with Shields. He's out there for one reason -- to beat you. And then there's the impact he has on a club on a daily basis. That's one thing about Greinke. He has great stuff. But he gives you none of that."

• Shields has said he's open to sticking around in Kansas City long-term. But if he's a $100 million deal waiting to happen, it's hard to find anyone who thinks the Royals could afford that contract.

Yea, Grienke doest appear to have that killer instinct.

He didnt impress me much in the playoffs with the Brewers.

[Codered]

Watching Moose play this terrible in key spots is the most frustrating thing of the year. At the point I can't imagine they are helping anybody by sending him out there to get dominated night after night.

[gblowfish]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

Yea, Grienke doest appear to have that killer instinct.

He didnt impress me much in the playoffs with the Brewers.

My friends and I call Greinke "Zack Nebraska."

The San Diego Padres call him "Rain Man.'

[tk13]

This isn't Royals, but a fantastic GIF. All of Yu Darvish's pitches at once. Wicked.

[Dartgod]

Originally Posted by tk13

This isn't Royals, but a fantastic GIF. All of Yu Darvish's pitches at once. Wicked.

That's pretty bad ass.

[siberian khatru]

Originally Posted by tk13

This isn't Royals, but a fantastic GIF. All of Yu Darvish's pitches at once. Wicked.

That's neat. Do they have that for other pitchers?