Should have learned that over the last several years. They do this pretty much all the time.

I remember when 2013 felt hopeless. The only difference here is that the Royals are actually making great contact. Oh and the pitching actually does feel hopeless.

I randomly picked three games in February that included opening day. The other two I selected were May 6 which became lo chain's retirement ceremony, and June 2 which is the big slick softball game prior to the royals game. I feel like I kind of lucked out.

I feel differently about the pitching. Keller and Bubic have made nice jumps this year.


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And they got Chapman fixed as well.

Keller is still a guy that should be 2 times through then done.

I like having these west coast late afternoon games, even better with the 2.5 hour game time.

In general, yeah. The curveball gives him another weapon and should help him get whiffs against righties, which has been an issue for him.

I remember idiots on 610 talking about Keller like he was going to be the Mahomes of the Royals in 2019.

Mahomes just came off an MVP season, 50 TDs and 5000 YDs, and AFCCG at home in which we should have won.

Keller coming off a season in which his club finished 58-104, but he had a 3.08 which is decent, but his peripherals looked like trash. 140 innings, 96 strikeouts, 50 walks, 6.2 SO/9, 3.2 BB/9, 1.304 WHIP, 3.55 FIP, and a whopping 2.6 WAR.

I get that he was a 22 year old coming from AA, but the amount of hype he got for just a pretty good season was unreal. Hell he was basically just a younger Brian Bannister. They had very similar rookie years.

I seem to remember just about everyone saying he was overperforming myself.

That game had some big time moments. Especially in 8th inning. That was cool.

I wonder if being on the road is better for this team after Spring training.

Seems like the last few years they just do not hit at home early in the year.

610 radio callers and Chiefsplanet posters, to chiefsplanet's credit, usually have a wide gap in how they evaluate players.

Today was one of the best games I’ve seen in years

Salvy is such a goddamn pimp. We won’t see another like him for a long time

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This HR was bananas! 11 inches off the ground!<br><br>Also the lowest pitch to be hit for a HR against the Giants in the 16-year history of MLB pitch tracking <a href="https://t.co/DKvRegHUZV">https://t.co/DKvRegHUZV</a></p>&mdash; Mark Simon (@MarkASimonSays) <a href="https://twitter.com/MarkASimonSays/status/1645137731377405958?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 9, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

You suggested trading him last year LMAO

Looks like Bubic is having a game today, thru 4 innings, no hits, 6 Ks

And DeSclafani is almost as good, while giving up 1 run.

I'm talking about the idiot hosts lol. It wasn't the callers saying this.

How do you guys feel about the mgr hire in Quatraro?

The Rays have the longest winning streak to start a season since which team?

1. Cannot manage when you have Covid.

2. Pretty early to make a judgement.

Ummm I don't know how anyone could come to a decision on that 10 games in.

Bummer we couldn't win today but it sure looks like Bubic is benefitting from the new management.

One thing you can tell early on though is they are so much more analytical. Burned them today with Yarbrough pitching because you know they went to the numbers.

hasn't worked at all. I will give him until the all star break to get his shit together

I guess I was wondering if you knew who this guy was ahead of time and had an opinion.

Cal Eldred made the pitchers worse

If Singer keeps up from last year and this Bubic is the real deal, then that's pretty damn exciting. I'd like to see a couple more pitchers actually take a step forward.

Incredible that he was “forbidden” from throwing his slider. What a braintrust you had assembled there, GMDM.

Thinking about going to see the Northwest Arkansas team play when they come to town later this month. I'm not up on our minor leagues, especially since so many players have been promoted in the last year.

Who are the exciting guys in Double A to check out?

You've got a pretty good shot at seeing a fun SP.

Jon Bowlan
Alec Marsh
Asa Lacy
Anthony Veneziano
TJ Sikkema

All those guys are there. Beck Way, too. Luca Tresh (C) and Peyton Wilson (2B) are the hitters to watch right now.

On a different note, for those of us who don't have a Bally's option, are there any working streaming sites for Royal's games?

This is one, but it's Rangers announcers. Tomorrow it'll be KC announcers.

https://1stream.eu/game/kansas-city-...-stream/617009

This is another, but it doesn't work all the time, and the picture is shit.

https://mlb66.ir/

Thanks.

Woof .179 BA so far this season. That's unwatchable shit right there.

How 'bout the Royals making headline news over on Fangraphs? They are the first and only team using a 2-man outfield with a 5-man infield. They are bringing their RF in real shallow, where the 2B would play in the shift era, then shifting the other two outfielders over to compensate. They've used it 19 times already, notably rolling it out against Joey Gallo. He hit a hard grounder right to the shifted-in MJ Melendez, but Melendez booted it LOL.

Here are the two tweets from Tom Tango, a well-known sabermetrician that apparently now has the title of MLB data architect.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This is the 2-OF configuration that the Royals are using <a href="https://t.co/lS97gpEt4T">https://t.co/lS97gpEt4T</a> <a href="https://t.co/cYISIa9Wnn">pic.twitter.com/cYISIa9Wnn</a></p>&mdash; Tangotiger (@tangotiger) <a href="https://twitter.com/tangotiger/status/1645068710804111360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 9, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The fangraphs article attempts to determine how optimal this is, but they wouldn't have the proprietary data that the Royals would, so it can only be a guess. No other team has used it at all and they would have the same data as the Royals though. Time will tell if the Royals have just started a whole new thing.

In any event, MJ Melendez best get to work on his groundball fielding! Perhaps soon, fielding hot grounders will be a main requirement of a RF.

Full article: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/the-royals-try-a-new-shift/

So far I have enjoyed all the interviews with Quatraro and I really want to see him succeed in KC. There seems to be a lot of positive changes in culture and I really hope this leads to competitive baseball. Games that are fun to watch.

I am struggling, however, with the analytics and the lineups we are seeing on a daily basis. Maybe someone can convince me to be more supportive, but I'm very put off by the line up we saw last night. The 5th and 6th hitters were Duffy and Lopez? Duffy was 'hot' I guess, but he's a career .374 slugger, not a 5th hole hitter. And we know Lopez is not a 6th in the line up type of hitter. I know. There's probably some plausible explanation as to why they were plugged where they were, but I'm just struggling to get excited to see a lineup that looks like that.

Sitting MJ Melendez against left handed pitchers? Granted it's a small sample size, but he has better splits against lefties than he does righties.

I guess I want to see MJ, Witt, Vinnie, and Salvy in the lineup every day (occasional rest for Salvy/MJ). Could probably lump Olivares in that top 5. His splits are better against righties than lefties!

Am I wrong to be frustrated with this? Do I need to give it more time?

https://www.royalsreview.com/2023/4/...ey-jr-going-on

Former Royals managers Ned Yost and Mike Matheny were not exactly paragons of analytical thinking, and by the time you go back to the pre-Yost days of Trey Hillman, Buddy Bell, and beyond, the modern analytical movement was limited to a few cutting edge teams.

Matt Quatraro, then, brings a bit of a culture shock, coming from the Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians school of analytics. That’s a big deal for a lot of reasons, and one of the most clearly obvious is in regards to lineups. Yost and Matheny tinkered, for sure, but Quatraro’s commitment to the analytics has resulted in some, shall we say, unusual looking lineups in this early season, a theme that continued when bench coach Paul Hoover took over when Quatraro tested positive for COVID-19.

Take, for example, this one, the fifth game of the year against Yusei Kikuchi: no MJ Melendez, no Vinnie Pasquantino, no Kyle Isbel, Matt Duffy hitting fifth. Seems weird!

Or this lineup, game eight in the young season. No Witt. Isbel hitting fifth. Michael Massey hitting...second?

Though these seem like the kind of lineups that you’d see in, like, September, there is logic behind them. In both cases, the opposing pitcher had extreme splits; Yusei Kikuchi’s career wOBA allowed against lefties is .283, while Alex Cobb’s wOBA allowed against righties since coming back from injury in 2020 is also under .300. Loading up with opposite-handed hitters gives you the best chance to win while paving the way for late-game substitutions, which the Royals have done in nearly every game.

Also contributing to these odd lineups is that the Royals are no longer committed to playing a player every single day forever and ever amen. Witt sitting out seems weird. Salvador Perez has already sat out, which seems even weirder. Look—baseball is hard enough to do when you’re not playing 162 games. Playing 140-150 lets players stay fresh and recover quicker from nagging injuries, and there’s no prize for getting to a games played streak of a few hundred.

Quatraro, Hoover, and company aren’t coming up with this on their own. Before each series, the front office sends the big league coaching squad suggested lineups based on expected run production against the projected opponent starting pitchers. These lineups are then tweaked by Quatraro from factors that the equations know nothing about (you know, quirky “human element” things).

But in any case, both of those weird-but-not-weird lineups above had something frustrating in them: Jackie Bradley Jr., who is, generously, not a big league caliber player. You know how everyone was tired of Ryan O’Hearn’s offensive ineptitude? Bradley makes O’Hearn look like Joey Votto. Which seems like a joke, except Bradley’s wRC+ since 2021 is 45, which is...bad, aka “second worst in baseball among everybody with 500 plate appearances bad.”

Thank you ChiefsCountry. Interesting read. And I do understand the philosphy, but it makes me like it even less. It's just too extreme for me. It feels very much like Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill giving them the lineups and we should be geared for 30 million dollar payrolls, after we let MJ, Vinnie, and Bobby walk from their current contracts (or we trade them). It feels like a cheap trick if you know what I mean, as a means to compete. Can we not compete with good, every day players in the top 5 spots, and then platoon the the last 2 or 3 spots?

The changes so far in pitching is very much appreciated. Walks are getting lower and obviously giving up less runs keeps us in ball games. I hope it continues.

Kyle Isbel should be the leadoff hitter. Convince me otherwise.

His career OBP is 275? Minor league OBP was pretty good, but just not yet at MLB. His BB/SO ratios are not much to be excited about. Witt should not be lead off so I agree with you there. My vote is MJ but he’s struggling right now.

Yeah...I have no stat argument. He just has that good energy. Sometimes guys defy the analytics (Escobar). Isbel just seems to be a spark plug.

Shoutout to Mike Matheny for all the pointless mileage he put on the arms of Staumont, Brentz and Barlow.

Vinnie Pasquantino is showing that he is gonna be the best hitter on this team since Brett. Up to .900 OPS after tonight.

Vinnie has a great swing and is very patient. I love what I'm seeing by him at the plate.

I’m gonna stand by what I said earlier. Leave MJ, Witt, Vinnie and Salvy alone in the lineup. Maybe leave Olivares at 5, and play your analytics games with the back half.

Vinnie is fun.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Royals&#39; .182 team batting average is the worst in MLB, .24 points behind the next closest team �� <a href="https://t.co/BWBrUnClP0">pic.twitter.com/BWBrUnClP0</a></p>&mdash; Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) <a href="https://twitter.com/TalkinBaseball_/status/1645953027772227588?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 12, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Top half of the lineup is acceptable, but the bottom half might not even be major league caliber.

Would it kill the owners to at least try to put a semi-competitive product on the field? Do they really expect fans to be patient with the 7,000th youth movement (comprised of mostly mediocre prospects), just to see the top players go elsewhere as soon as they make it?

Dozier, Reyes, and Bradley Jr are not "youth!" They are not even very good! This new coaching staff has me plenty worried...

As cavernous as Kaufman is, this seems like one of the worst ball parks to do it in.

I tried to tell y'all

I've been on the Pasquantino hype train as long as you, pal. You didn't have to tell me shit!

Oh no, the idiot is worried.

Can't really blame the new coaching staff for these guys on the team. Doesn't mean we can't point the finger at Picollo though.

So after 12 games, what we know is this?:

1. Salvy is the GOAT and producing at a higher level than any of us though he would this late in his career
2. Melendez is good, not Salvy good, and struggling a bit right now but we believe he'll be fine
3. Pasquatino is going to be a stud
4. We aren't sure if Pratto died or if we'll ever see him again. In the meantime Reyes can bomb but strikes out a lot
5. Massey isn't ready for this yet but can still be serviceable down the road. And we know what we have in Nicky Lopez and let a computer figure out when and where to play them and everybody else
6. Dozier blows, but we've always known this
7. BWJ is a multi-generational talent
8. We can play Matt Duffy anywhere but he also can't really hit so computer
9. Still hope for Isbel, Olivares if the rest of your team is really good (which ours isn't), Nate Eaton not so much, Reyes gets the computer to tell us when he might have a good game, but still don't worry because Drew Waters.
10. Greinke is as good as he's ever been, and we're glad he's closing out his career here
11. Lyles is as good as advertised but when we are ready to compete we'll need better
12. Maybe this coaching staff can actually fix/ better support Singer, Bubic, Keller and Hernandez to succeed. And now hope again for Lacy and others in the minors.
13. We fixed Chapman
14. Old regime killed Barlow, Staumont and probably a couple others


Did I miss anything?

You’re awfully generous

so what do we have to be optimistic about? ROFL

Football season.

As for the Royals, the sweet is not as sweet without the sour. (or however that line goes).

You have always been, and will always be.....a little punk! You're not even very bright for someone so mouthy. Computer tough....

I know its early but guess who leads the team in negative defensive war at -0.2

The generational talent of Bobby Witt Jr.

DFA Hunter Dozier. Bring up Garcia to play short.

Soon.

How much of that can be attributed to new management/coaching scheme?

I’m basically checked out already. Another 95 loss season, what’s the point of watching?

Can't really take DWAR seriously right now. The sample size is too small and defensive metrics aren't always great.

Our guys are absolutely smashing the ball, but have been unlucky as shit. It'll turn around and this team will play much better and win more games.

We have 1 person that's at or above league average in BABIP, but everyone but Nicky Lopez and Shit Dozer have above league average exit velocity and hard hit%. ****ing MJ Melendez is knocking the cover off the ball 97.7 exit velocity and a 70%! hard hit rate, but has a sub .300 slg.

If they hit the ball like this, then this is gonna be a fun team.

The most frustrating thing is that we already know/knew that half the guys in the lineup will never be better than mediocre players. If you're going to commit to a full-on youth movement, they'd better at least be legit and exciting prospects. And the few veterans that are sprinkled in better be respectable players.

My prediction is that, near the end of the season, they'll go on a run and convince the fans and FO that they've turned the corner. Then another offseason with minimal investment and more of the same crap next year.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">BREAKING: A Salt Lake City consortium led by the former owner of the Utah Jazz plans to pursue a Major League Baseball expansion franchise in the coming years, people involved with the project tell ESPN.<br><br>News on SLC&#39;s pitch, free and unlocked at ESPN: <a href="https://t.co/lWzmmVhLUx">https://t.co/lWzmmVhLUx</a></p>&mdash; Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) <a href="https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/1646211783953195008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 12, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I'd give Witt until the ASB. I want a long, stable look at him playing SS and just SS.

So far, I don't think he's proclaiming "I'm your SS" with his defensive performance. He is so, so effective ranging back on the ball and tracking it in the air... but hasn't really stood out in other areas. I think your concerns about his defense are ultimately going to be proven true.

I think I'd be looking at him as a long-term CF option rather than 3B if SS ultimately ends up not working out (and right now, the trend line there is not good).

Sometimes guys have all the tools and lack the consistency to tap into them. That might be him. When those guys start on the dirt, they often end up in the outfield. Many CFs started their pro careers as SS.

Garcia is raking at Omaha and is looking more like a legitimate + bat every day.

The Royals aren't going anywhere any time soon, so they might as well give every decision rope until sufficient data exists for decision making.

I better question is why are we subjected to Dozier and Bradley 2 of the 3 worst players in baseball.

I'm gonna give them a bit more time, since you know, they're only 7% through the season. Were basically through 5 quarters of football. You can't make kind of decision just yet.

Dozier is getting paid, but that shouldn't even matter. Idk why JBJ is playing at all.

The best thing going for Salt Lake City's bid will be Seattle's desire to have closer opponents since the Mariners lead the majors in travel miles by far.

But I still see Las Vegas, Nashville and Charlotte ahead of them in terms of desirably.

In other small market news, Tampa is 12-0

Smashing the ball???? They lead the league in strikeouts!!!! Who's the idiot?

The Rays have so much elite pitching it is outrageous. Jeffrey Springs hasnt given up a run yet in his two starts and is K'ing everyone with that wicked changeup. He's trying to make it a same team CY Young battle with Shane McClanahan, another bona fide ace. Then Drew Rasmussen is a baller pitching great as always. He went to OSU which is where elite baseball players and scholars go.

They had their highest paid player ever go down (Zach Eflin, had been dealin too), brought up a rookie and its top 50 MLB prospect Taj Bradley, big baller goes out there K's 8 in 5 innings and gets the win. He throws heat and has a cutter and curve to go with it, lookin like the real deal.

The bullpen is the stuff of nightmares for opposing teams. They should call it the horse stable, not bullpen, cause its filled with STUDS! Fairbanks is lockdown.Jason Adam is very good too.

Over on offense, I hear big Randy is going off! Brandon Lowe is also crushing the ball, homers on the reg, top 3 in xWOBACON in MLB I think I read yesterday.

Tyler Glasnow is hurt but if he comes back, oh my!

Rays are real good. They took out Steve Irwin and they'll take out every team in MLB too!

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Good morning! Royals starting pitchers are:<br>6th in MLB in ERA (3.47)<br>7th in FIP (3.68)<br>5th in lowest walk rate (6.3%)<br>5th in lowest HR/9 (0.74)<br>2nd in IP per start (5.58)</p>&mdash; Royals Review (@royalsreview) <a href="https://twitter.com/royalsreview/status/1646507236724703232?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 13, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

All that work Eldred put in is finally paying off.

Just goes to show how grossly and blatantly incompetent he was.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">This was the kind of win that makes you want to believe that the Royals are - finally - in competent hands, and that the Royals are - finally - headed in the right direction.<br><br>It&#39;s one game. But it&#39;s also the blueprint.</p>&mdash; Rany Jazayerli (@jazayerli) <a href="https://twitter.com/jazayerli/status/1646341231750832129?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 13, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Probably had our best lineup combo in last night

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">It&#39;s a small thing, but the Royals making the obvious move as soon as it was clearly obvious represents progress for them. <a href="https://t.co/l5cpa1C4AT">https://t.co/l5cpa1C4AT</a></p>&mdash; Rany Jazayerli (@jazayerli) <a href="https://twitter.com/jazayerli/status/1646535696713146369?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 13, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Vinnie already with a .969 OPS

A star is born.