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]

17-4. *Peels off another section*

[CaliforniaChief]

Originally Posted by Archie F. Swin

Are there any legit SPs GMDM could snag over the next few days?

Tim Lincecum. He's pitching much better lately, and is a FA after this season.

[tredadda]

Originally Posted by CaliforniaChief

Tim Lincecum. He's pitching much better lately, and is a FA after this season.

With what he might cost, I highly doubt they will drop that much cash on him.

[Prison Bitch]

Originally Posted by Coach

17-4. *Peels off another section*

[AussieChiefsFan]

Tonight's standings.

Division



Wildcard

[Bambi]

I love this.

[Great Expectations]

Work Tampa Bay continuing to slide the wc looks beret and better

[WilliamTheIrish]

Reading through the game thread, somebody mentioned that this season "was like the 70's" with the crowd and the atmosphere. It's close. And one of the reasons is the at bats they are getting now.

Seeing guys go down in the count and shortening the swing to go the other way has kept several innings alive since the ASB. Last night in the 6th was another great example. We had 4 AB's where, down 0-2 or 1-2 guys laced singles the other way to keep the inning alive. And the Sox had no answer.

I've attended 22 games this season and last night might have made the last 30 years worth the wait. This team is white hot.

Justin Maxwell looks like a stronger, non spectacled version of Al Cowens. Although I'm not sure I want to see him CF too much. That shot by Napoli with the bases juiced, probably would have been caught by Cain or Dyson. Max covers ground well, but CF out there is huge.

One last thing: Shane Victorino must have attended church yesterday because it was a miracle that mofo caught that ball off Lough's bat. That happened right in front of me and when Lough hit it, and Victorino took one step in, I thought "We are tied". Then the ball started to sink and he recovered. He came back towards the bullpen and I got his attention and yelled at him: "that first step in is what gets a guy sent to Pawtucket". Bullpen dudes were chuckling.

What a great night.

[Archie F. Swin]

There seems to be a winning attitude in the Royals clubhouse that I haven't seen in.....shit, I don't know. Its a damned shame that they shit the bed in May. Now they've got to win a boat load of games to make the post-season.

I think they proved yesterday, that they won't be intimidated by powerhouse teams.

[kstater]

Was there last night. Electric crowd would describe it. And only getting better with more wins.

[Sure-Oz]

Fans love the Royals and want to see a winner....this is heaven for me. last time i had this much fun was 1994 during the winning streak and taking the lead for the wildcard.
****ing strike

2003 was fun but the royals were falling hard at this time

[rageeumr]

This may have already been posted, but I went and looked up what Kyle Smith has done since the trade for Maxwell.

1 start. Went 2/3 of an inning. Gave up 4 hits, 3 walks, 4 ER. So he's sitting at a solid 54.00 ERA. Looks like he's set to throw again today.

Meanwhile Maxwell is 8-17 with 3 bombs and 6 RBIs.

I know, I know...sample size. But it still makes me happy.

[BlackHelicopters]

Just win, baby! Sorry guys.

[cabletech94]

Originally Posted by Sure-Oz

Fans love the Royals and want to see a winner....this is heaven for me. last time i had this much fun was 1994 during the winning streak and taking the lead for the wildcard.
****ing strike

2003 was fun but the royals were falling hard at this time

this.

+1.

[siberian khatru]

Originally Posted by WilliamTheIrish

Reading through the game thread, somebody mentioned that this season "was like the 70's" with the crowd and the atmosphere. It's close. And one of the reasons is the at bats they are getting now.

Seeing guys go down in the count and shortening the swing to go the other way has kept several innings alive since the ASB. Last night in the 6th was another great example. We had 4 AB's where, down 0-2 or 1-2 guys laced singles the other way to keep the inning alive. And the Sox had no answer.

I've attended 22 games this season and last night might have made the last 30 years worth the wait. This team is white hot.

Justin Maxwell looks like a stronger, non spectacled version of Al Cowens. Although I'm not sure I want to see him CF too much. That shot by Napoli with the bases juiced, probably would have been caught by Cain or Dyson. Max covers ground well, but CF out there is huge.

One last thing: Shane Victorino must have attended church yesterday because it was a miracle that mofo caught that ball off Lough's bat. That happened right in front of me and when Lough hit it, and Victorino took one step in, I thought "We are tied". Then the ball started to sink and he recovered. He came back towards the bullpen and I got his attention and yelled at him: "that first step in is what gets a guy sent to Pawtucket". Bullpen dudes were chuckling.

What a great night.

Cowens was one of my favorite Royals. You look back at his stats now, and outside of his near-MVP year, you would say his bat was meh, he got caught stealing too much, didn't get on base, etc. But as a kid I LOVED how he played RF, plus I just thought he looked cool with those glasses.