tk13
09-29-2004, 01:54 AM
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/9785329.htm
Royals will keep eye on defense
Team planning to use cameras in spring training
By BOB DUTTON
The Kansas City Star
The Royals plan to steal a page from football teams next spring by installing cameras above their practice fields in Surprise, Ariz., to monitor efforts to reverse this season's deterioration of defensive fundamentals.
Club officials are already promising a revised practice program that places heightened emphasis on improving defensive skills and field awareness.
“We're talking about players being in the right spot at the right time,” general manager Allard Baird said, “and reacting to the game situation. We've done a poor job of that.”
The emerging plan is to tape practices and, like football teams, use the tapes to point out flaws to players, most likely in group meetings.
“You stress the fundamental,” Baird said, “and then you expect players to execute it. The bottom line is being held accountable to yourself and to your teammates.”
Defensive skills are hard to quantify through statistics, but those available all portray the Royals as one of the game's worst defensive clubs.
The Royals rank 28th among baseball's 30 teams in fielding percentage, although that only tracks those balls a player handles.
Not balls a player should handle.
Stats Inc., seeks to address that shortcoming through its zone factor, which attempts to rate a player's defensive abilities on balls that should be handled in his “zone.”
The Royals rank 27th overall in zone factor and dead last among big-league infields. Angel Berroa's extended fielding miseries are reflected in a last-place ranking assigned to Royals shortstops.
The club's first basemen rank 28th; second basemen rank 29th. Sure-handed Joe Randa boosts the third-base rankings to 10th, but Baird has already acknowledged the club isn't likely to retain Randa in 2005.
The Royals have also allowed 91 unearned runs. Only Arizona has yielded more.
Confronted by a mass of similarly negative statistics, ex-Braves manager Bobby Bragan once protested: “Say you were standing with one foot in the oven and one foot in an ice bucket. According to the percentage people, you should be perfectly comfortable.”
Good line.
But it didn't change things. Bragan's club that year was just as bad as the statistics indicated.
Much like this year's Royals, who find themselves closing in on a franchise record for losses in a season that began with the giddy anticipation of returning to the postseason for the first time since the 1985 World Series.
“Defensively, we can't keep beating ourselves,” manager Tony Peña said. “Outfielders have to throw the ball to the right base. That's something we've had problems with this year.
“We have to play better defense. That's going to be our priority in spring training. We can't afford to give away outs.”
Baird suggests the problem can be solved, in part, through increased emphasis.
“Players do know what to do,” he said. “It is said a lot, ‘They've got to know what to do when they come to the big leagues.' Well, they do know what to do. That's been covered in every organization.
“Now, how important it is to that player — that's our job, to make it important.
“Physical error is a part of the game, and we're asking players to play at the highest level. So anybody who thinks it's easy is wrong. The toughest thing to do in this game is to play it. But being in the right spot at the right time — putting yourself in the right position to execute a play — is mental. It's not physical. It's mental.”
The Royals plan to spend much of their first 10 practice days — roughly the time before spring games begin — pounding home their message. Classroom sessions will be followed by practice at half-speed before moving to game-speed workouts.
“Spring training will be a lot different next year than in the past,” Baird promised. “This isn't a rah-rah deal about working hard, because I don't buy that in the game of baseball over 162 games.
“This is a matter of impressing on people that this is a very important component to winning baseball games, and that this is a very important component to a player being a part of this club.”
Scoring change
Randa lost a hit in a belated scoring change from a Sept. 18 game in Cleveland. A review by the Elias Sports Bureau determined the play should have been scored a fielder's choice instead of a single.
Ken Harvey was on second in the eighth inning when Randa hit a hard grounder up the middle that nearly hit Harvey before skimming off the glove of Indians shortstop John McDonald.
Harvey made a belated break toward third and was trapped in a rundown and tagged out after McDonald retrieved the ball. Harvey suffered a season-ending knee injury on the play.
Minor details
Second baseman Ruben Gotay and right-hander Danny Tamayo have been picked by club officials as the organization's minor-league player and pitcher of the year.
Gotay, 21, batted .290 with nine homers and 68 RBIs in 106 games at Class AA Wichita before the Royals purchased his contract on Aug. 3. He carried a .272 average into Tuesday's game against the Indians with 12 RBIs in 40 games.
Tamayo, 25, was 12-8 with a 4.33 ERA in 28 starts at Wichita and Class A Wilmington. He was 7-1 with a 1.88 ERA in his last 10 starts at Wichita.
Gotay and Tamayo were also chosen as the player and pitcher of the year at Wichita.
Other affiliate selections:
• Class AAA Omaha, Neb.: First baseman Calvin Pickering (35 homers, 79 RBIs, .314) and left-hander Les Walrond (11-5 with a 3.06 ERA).
• Class A Wilmington, Del.: Shortstop Mike Aviles (6, 69, .300) and right-hander Trae McGill (9-2 and 2.08).
• Class A Burlington, Iowa: Outfielder Chris Lubanski (9, 56, .273) and right-hander Chris Coughlin (5-5 and 4.50).
• Short-season Idaho Falls: Third baseman Billy Butler (10, 68, .373) and right-hander Justin Sherman (8-1 and 5.54).
• Rookie Arizona: Infielder Miguel Vega (10, 44, .275) and right-hander Russell Begnaud (4-3 and 3.74).
• Dominican Salcedo: Shortstop Garivaldis Perez (2, 26, .366) and right-hander Rayner Oliveros (8-1 and 2.62).
Royals will keep eye on defense
Team planning to use cameras in spring training
By BOB DUTTON
The Kansas City Star
The Royals plan to steal a page from football teams next spring by installing cameras above their practice fields in Surprise, Ariz., to monitor efforts to reverse this season's deterioration of defensive fundamentals.
Club officials are already promising a revised practice program that places heightened emphasis on improving defensive skills and field awareness.
“We're talking about players being in the right spot at the right time,” general manager Allard Baird said, “and reacting to the game situation. We've done a poor job of that.”
The emerging plan is to tape practices and, like football teams, use the tapes to point out flaws to players, most likely in group meetings.
“You stress the fundamental,” Baird said, “and then you expect players to execute it. The bottom line is being held accountable to yourself and to your teammates.”
Defensive skills are hard to quantify through statistics, but those available all portray the Royals as one of the game's worst defensive clubs.
The Royals rank 28th among baseball's 30 teams in fielding percentage, although that only tracks those balls a player handles.
Not balls a player should handle.
Stats Inc., seeks to address that shortcoming through its zone factor, which attempts to rate a player's defensive abilities on balls that should be handled in his “zone.”
The Royals rank 27th overall in zone factor and dead last among big-league infields. Angel Berroa's extended fielding miseries are reflected in a last-place ranking assigned to Royals shortstops.
The club's first basemen rank 28th; second basemen rank 29th. Sure-handed Joe Randa boosts the third-base rankings to 10th, but Baird has already acknowledged the club isn't likely to retain Randa in 2005.
The Royals have also allowed 91 unearned runs. Only Arizona has yielded more.
Confronted by a mass of similarly negative statistics, ex-Braves manager Bobby Bragan once protested: “Say you were standing with one foot in the oven and one foot in an ice bucket. According to the percentage people, you should be perfectly comfortable.”
Good line.
But it didn't change things. Bragan's club that year was just as bad as the statistics indicated.
Much like this year's Royals, who find themselves closing in on a franchise record for losses in a season that began with the giddy anticipation of returning to the postseason for the first time since the 1985 World Series.
“Defensively, we can't keep beating ourselves,” manager Tony Peña said. “Outfielders have to throw the ball to the right base. That's something we've had problems with this year.
“We have to play better defense. That's going to be our priority in spring training. We can't afford to give away outs.”
Baird suggests the problem can be solved, in part, through increased emphasis.
“Players do know what to do,” he said. “It is said a lot, ‘They've got to know what to do when they come to the big leagues.' Well, they do know what to do. That's been covered in every organization.
“Now, how important it is to that player — that's our job, to make it important.
“Physical error is a part of the game, and we're asking players to play at the highest level. So anybody who thinks it's easy is wrong. The toughest thing to do in this game is to play it. But being in the right spot at the right time — putting yourself in the right position to execute a play — is mental. It's not physical. It's mental.”
The Royals plan to spend much of their first 10 practice days — roughly the time before spring games begin — pounding home their message. Classroom sessions will be followed by practice at half-speed before moving to game-speed workouts.
“Spring training will be a lot different next year than in the past,” Baird promised. “This isn't a rah-rah deal about working hard, because I don't buy that in the game of baseball over 162 games.
“This is a matter of impressing on people that this is a very important component to winning baseball games, and that this is a very important component to a player being a part of this club.”
Scoring change
Randa lost a hit in a belated scoring change from a Sept. 18 game in Cleveland. A review by the Elias Sports Bureau determined the play should have been scored a fielder's choice instead of a single.
Ken Harvey was on second in the eighth inning when Randa hit a hard grounder up the middle that nearly hit Harvey before skimming off the glove of Indians shortstop John McDonald.
Harvey made a belated break toward third and was trapped in a rundown and tagged out after McDonald retrieved the ball. Harvey suffered a season-ending knee injury on the play.
Minor details
Second baseman Ruben Gotay and right-hander Danny Tamayo have been picked by club officials as the organization's minor-league player and pitcher of the year.
Gotay, 21, batted .290 with nine homers and 68 RBIs in 106 games at Class AA Wichita before the Royals purchased his contract on Aug. 3. He carried a .272 average into Tuesday's game against the Indians with 12 RBIs in 40 games.
Tamayo, 25, was 12-8 with a 4.33 ERA in 28 starts at Wichita and Class A Wilmington. He was 7-1 with a 1.88 ERA in his last 10 starts at Wichita.
Gotay and Tamayo were also chosen as the player and pitcher of the year at Wichita.
Other affiliate selections:
• Class AAA Omaha, Neb.: First baseman Calvin Pickering (35 homers, 79 RBIs, .314) and left-hander Les Walrond (11-5 with a 3.06 ERA).
• Class A Wilmington, Del.: Shortstop Mike Aviles (6, 69, .300) and right-hander Trae McGill (9-2 and 2.08).
• Class A Burlington, Iowa: Outfielder Chris Lubanski (9, 56, .273) and right-hander Chris Coughlin (5-5 and 4.50).
• Short-season Idaho Falls: Third baseman Billy Butler (10, 68, .373) and right-hander Justin Sherman (8-1 and 5.54).
• Rookie Arizona: Infielder Miguel Vega (10, 44, .275) and right-hander Russell Begnaud (4-3 and 3.74).
• Dominican Salcedo: Shortstop Garivaldis Perez (2, 26, .366) and right-hander Rayner Oliveros (8-1 and 2.62).