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?

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Thig Lyfe

wheres bubba starling

Rotting away in Class A. Heh.

[GloryDayz]

He'll get here...

[Prison Bitch]

Now that he's something like 8-75, what does it take to get Moose demoted? I'm just curious. If he killed a teammate? What if he tried to burn down the K. I'm thinkin of what he would need to do.

[BlackHelicopters]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

Now that he's something like 8-75, what does it take to get Moose demoted? I'm just curious. If he killed a teammate? What if he tried to burn down the K. I'm thinkin of what he would need to do.

What if he didn't swallow?

[SnakeXJones]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

Now that he's something like 8-75, what does it take to get Moose demoted? I'm just curious. If he killed a teammate? What if he tried to burn down the K. I'm thinkin of what he would need to do.

Can't be worse then Braves they both still have BJ Upton & Heyward in the lineup

[-King-]

Originally Posted by SnakeXJones

Can't be worse then Braves they both still have BJ Upton & Heyward in the lineup

I don't know anything about the Braves, but I don't think they have a good replacement for those two. We do. Tejada is a better 3rd baseman than Moose at this point.

[CaliforniaChief]

Alright, so this is a huge swing series for the team.

After these next 3 games, we're either going to be:

9.5 games back after getting swept.
7.5 games back after losing 2 of 3.
5.5 games back after winning 2 of 3.
3.5 games back after sweeping the Tigers.

We're facing their three best pitchers: Fister, Scherzer, and Verlander. I say there's little to no way Davis beats Scherzer. There's a shot for Guthrie to beat Fister, and Shields-Verlander is an uphill battle.

I'll be thrilled to win 2. Gotta win tomorrow. Thoughts?

[Deberg_1990]

I'm wondering what they do next year if Moose continues to fail this year? Surely they cant just hand him the job again if he hits sub .200 for the year.

[DeezNutz]

In Mellinger's column he notes that Escobar is on pace for the worst offensive performance of any player to total 600 ABs in a season in the last 10 years.

His time!

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

In Mellinger's column he notes that Escobar is on pace for the worst offensive performance of any player to total 600 ABs in a season in the last 10 years.

His time!

Wow


The frustrating truth is that with a few possible tweaks — cut Jeff Francoeur? Demote Chris Getz? — the Royals have their best team. It’s up to the players to make it matter, and they have to know that at this point they’re competing for the jobs of manager Ned Yost, general manager Dayton Moore and others in a plainly critical season for the franchise’s future.

The Royals haven’t fixed their problems. The same weaknesses that sank their May — basically, everything that happens when anyone but Alex Gordon or Billy Butler is hitting — are still here. Alcides Escobar is quietly on pace for what would be the most inept offensive season for a hitter with 600-plus plate appearances in a decade. Francoeur has made himself unplayable. Second base remains a free out.

None of these issues is fixed. And most troubling, still, are the would-be cornerstones. Eric Hosmer has 11 extra-base hits in a season that’s 10 weeks old. Mike Moustakas has the fourth-worst adjusted on-base-plus-slugging percentage among all big-league regulars.

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/06/08...#storylink=cpy

[CaliforniaChief]

Hosmer looks better. I have reason to hope that he will improve and continue to develop. But the rest of it is pretty jacked up.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by CaliforniaChief

Alright, so this is a huge swing series for the team.

After these next 3 games, we're either going to be:

9.5 games back after getting swept.
7.5 games back after losing 2 of 3.
5.5 games back after winning 2 of 3.
3.5 games back after sweeping the Tigers.

We're facing their three best pitchers: Fister, Scherzer, and Verlander. I say there's little to no way Davis beats Scherzer. There's a shot for Guthrie to beat Fister, and Shields-Verlander is an uphill battle.

I'll be thrilled to win 2. Gotta win tomorrow. Thoughts?

Thrilled to win 2 is right.

Davis will get beat up. Badly.

Verlander has actually posted an ERA of around 5.50 and has a 1.38 WHIP since May 1. So he probably gets back on track against KC with a perfect game or something.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

In Mellinger's column he notes that Escobar is on pace for the worst offensive performance of any player to total 600 ABs in a season in the last 10 years.

His time!

Escobar's drop-off has been a really painful factor. Don't know if the early HR success caused issues or what, but he is a better hitter than he's showing right now. Hopefully, hitting in a less critical spot in the lineup will get him going again.

[Bowser]

Originally Posted by CaliforniaChief

Alright, so this is a huge swing series for the team.

After these next 3 games, we're either going to be:

9.5 games back after getting swept.
7.5 games back after losing 2 of 3.
5.5 games back after winning 2 of 3.
3.5 games back after sweeping the Tigers.

We're facing their three best pitchers: Fister, Scherzer, and Verlander. I say there's little to no way Davis beats Scherzer. There's a shot for Guthrie to beat Fister, and Shields-Verlander is an uphill battle.

I'll be thrilled to win 2. Gotta win tomorrow. Thoughts?

We have to score, period. We aren't going to beat these guys scoring two or three a night, and the Tigers damn well aren't going to strand 41 runners like the Twins did.

If ever this year the Royals are to find their offense and stay in the wild card race, it really needs to be this series.

[Chiefspants]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

Escobar's drop-off has been a really painful factor. Don't know if the early HR success caused issues or what, but he is a better hitter than he's showing right now. Hopefully, hitting in a less critical spot in the lineup will get him going again.

It would be nice if he quit trying to golf one and focused on getting his bat on a ball.