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?

[tk13]

I watch MLB Network more often anymore. I think they're the best of all the "league" networks. They did talk about the Royals for a bit tonight. Both analysts agreed the Royals are a serious player in the wild card race. Mike Lowell said at this point they're basically one good week away from a wild card spot. They just need to keep winning series.

[Shogun]

Once frenchy was released some of our hitters have come on. Get rid of the free swinger, and less free swinging happens.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Walrus

Well Moose was hitting under .200 for most of the season, and only until June 22nd did he raise his average over .200. It's not like people were blindly begging for him to be sent down. He was awful for months, but now obviously he is playing better down the stretch.

This beauty was posted yesterday. Consider the source, I guess...

Originally Posted by Nightfyre

How is the Moose hate still flowing around here after his last two months? I don't get it.

Originally Posted by Bambi

1 hit in the series. Are you serious?

[AussieChiefsFan]

Well now that all the games for today are in the books, here are the overnight standings.

Division:



Wildcard:

[Pitt Gorilla]

Originally Posted by Walrus

Well Moose was hitting under .200 for most of the season, and only until June 22nd did he raise his average over .200. It's not like people were blindly begging for him to be sent down. He was awful for months, but now obviously he is playing better down the stretch.

What would he have learned in AAA that he couldn't in KC?

[KevB]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

Yeah, the Royals don't prove shit in terms of attendance, yet. They were dead in the water at the break. And now this.

If this run continues and no one goes out, then we'll have to accept the fact.

And to really drive attendance, the game needs to become "the place to be" in town. They have to draw the casual fans, along with the usual supporters. That's going to take more than a great 13 game run.

[CaliforniaChief]

This run is so exciting! I hope we can clinch the series tomorrow with Big Game on the mound. A little worried about Deduno, but one at a time.

I'll say this: if Hosmer and Moose continue to rake, the Royals will be pretty good offensively and then George Brett should be the MVP of this team.

[Nightfyre]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

This beauty was posted yesterday. Consider the source, I guess...

Moose has been opsing over .800 for two months. Some folks around here need to get a grip.

[Archie F. Swin]

A planeteer early in the season said winning this year will depend heavily on the bats of Moose and Hosmer. I guess that's more apparent now than ever.

Also, whatever we overpaid for Shields/Wade has to be made up for in the Sanchez/Guthrie trade IMHO.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Archie F. Swin

A planeteer early in the season said winning this year will depend heavily on the bats of Moose and Hosmer. I guess that's more apparent now than ever.

Also, whatever we overpaid for Shields/Wade has to be made up for in the Sanchez/Guthrie trade IMHO.

Maybe I'm just trying to rationalize away the trade, but I'm of the belief that Shields is worth more than his stats. He brought a mindset that seems to have carried over to the rest of the team, especially the staff. They just go out there and grind and grind and grind. When the pups get called up, having them learn from James will make them better pitchers. If nothing else, nobody wants to play this team. There's no quit in them.

[Dartgod]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

Royals and Pirates both 12/15 in their leagues in attendance at ~1.2m. So much for the theory that winning draws fans, it really doesn't. Small markets can't support baseball very easily. Tampa can't draw either. Cleveland can't draw, Oakland can't draw. (Cleveland is dead last in attendance in the AL)


MLB is a sport for super large markets that can throw millions of warm bodies into the stands over a long drawn out 6-month season. STL is probably the lone exception to the rule.

We aren't drawing well because the season ticket base has been decimated from decades of terrible baseball. We had nearly 7,000 walk ups for the game last night. On a Monday night. Against a horrible team.

That's not too bad, all things considered.

[Archie F. Swin]

Unless the Royals lose 3 straight, The K will be packed to the lights this weekend.

[Archie F. Swin]

Look like rain is in the forecast for Wednesday night. Yippeee

[KCUnited]

Originally Posted by Archie F. Swin

Unless the Royals lose 3 straight, The K will be packed to the lights this weekend.

Friday will be a good indicator of where Royals excitement really is.

[BlackHelicopters]

How does one act in August when baseball matters? Remind me please!