Melville Shines in Debut, Trey Hillman Sucks..

I am getting sick and tired of watching Trey Hillman make stupid decision after stupid decision.  George Brett can bitch and moan all he wants, but the fact of the matter is that the media complain about Trey's moves because the media know what the hell they're talking about..

Pulling Gil Meche after 87 pitches when he's got the best stuff he's had all season - mistake

Replacing him with Jamey Wright who's practically already thrown his arm off and it's not even June yet - mistake

Replacing him with Sidney Ponson who obviously sucks.. - mistake

Bunting DDJ over with John Buck in the 6th (I think) inning with 1 out - mistake

You think that it's not a big deal, but when we're 4 games out of the playoffs in September remember nights like tonight, when a competent manager who would bring in a guy like Robinson Tejada with the bases loaded instead of bringing him in to clean up Hooch's mess.. it just doesn't make any sense..  Use your best pitchers in the close games and let them pitch the most innings.  Jamey Wright has had a nice start to the season, but the dude wasn't even on a major league contract before the end of ST.  He's already thrown like 500 innings and his stuff isn't electric.  I know that Joakim is hurt, but jeez, don't act like our bullpen is 05 status.. it's clearly better than that. 

Look at it this way, of the 4 pitchers that pitched tonight, they would rank like this in terms of current ability:

Meche
Tejada

Wright
Ponson

So why don't you let Meche pitch into the 7th and if he has some trouble bring in Tejada to bail him out, we're up 2 runs at that point, shouldn't you use your 2nd best pitcher, remember, as you achieve outs, there are less opportunities for the other team to score and win, so while the outs are more "valuable" in the 9th than in the 1st (think of it like the clock ticks faster after the 2 minute warning than before in football) it's also more difficult to come back because you have less chances to screw up.  Use your better pitchers while you have the lead, don't let your worse pitchers come in and screw it up.  Jamey Wright got screwed on a HBP call but that doesn't make it ok to bring in an even worse pitcher in Sidney Ponson, who is 1-5 now, btw.  It frustrates me to no end, and I really want Trey fired.  Seriously.

Whatever.

Hitter of the Game

I guess Jose Guillen.  Jose was 2-4 with a walk, 2 k's 2 RBI and a run scored.  One of his hits was a double.

Pitcher of the Game

Gil threw 87 pitches, 55 were for strikes.  His line ended up looking like this: 6 ip, 6 h, 2 er, 1 bb, 2 k.. the k's are lower than you'd like, but he wasn't bad at all.. a lot of ground ball outs and not many hard hit balls..

Tomorrow

The Don pitches tomorrow.  He'll face off against Carl Pavano in an epic battle (just kidding I hope) in an afternoon game.  First pitch is at 1:10.  If you CAN go, then you SHOULD go.

Minor League Notables

Derrick Robinson had another 2 hit night, going 2-5 with a run scored and 2 more stolen bases.

Mike Moustakas was 3-5 with a double, an RBI, and 2 runs scored.

Johnny Giavotella got on base 3 times as he was 1-3 with a triple, an RBI, 2 walks, and 2 runs scored.

Danny Duffy earned the win tonight as he went 5 innings giving up 3 runs on 7 hits 2 walks while striking out 5.  He is now 5-1 with a 3.43 ERA.. I'll take it.

Nick Van Stratten was 4-4 tonight with a double, a triple, 2 runs scored, 3 RBI and a walk and a  stolen base.  Alright!

Tim Melville made his 2009 debut tonight, he pitched 6 innings, allowing just one run on 2 hits and 1 walk, striking out 2.  He earned the win.

Thanks for reading!

Brett Blows Up, Royals Roar Back..

and I was there to witness it all!

The Royals are now officially 4-0 in games that I've been to this season.. is it safe to say I'm a good luck charm?  I hope so..  

The Royals came back after being down 5-2 in the ninth to win in front of a raucous crowd of 25,024.  While it was a T-Shirt Tuesday, I didn't even remember that it was one when I decided I wanted to go this afternoon.  Brian Bannister came back to earth a bit, as his ERA skyrocketed to 2.75 from 1.80 after today.  He could have come away with a 6 inning 2 run affair, but some sketchy defense and a mistake to Kelly Shoppach did him in.  

Hitter of the Game

This might be the toughest choice of the year, as it really could be argued that any one of about 6 players could win the award.  I think I'll go with Mike Jacobs, which is interesting because I was kind of surprised he was even in the lineup tonight.  Since Cliff Lee was starting I figured we'd see a Buck/Olivo game, as they both hit lefties well.  However, Jacobs ended up paying off as he was 2-4 with a strikeout and no walks.  Jacobs drove in 1 run and scored 2.  His HR in the 9th inning really got the rally started, and that's why he gets the award.

Pitcher of the Game

Again, not an easy award to assign.  Banny gave up 5 runs over 6 innings, so it won't be him.  Horacio threw 2 scoreless innings and Farnsworth threw a scoreless ninth.  I think I'll go with Kyle Farnsworth, simply because he didn't let a 3 run deficit affect his game.  He came in, threw 14 pitches and got the ball back to the Indians.  He didn't give up any hits or walks and didn't strike anyone out.

Tomorrow

Gil Meche starts for the Royals tomorrow against Fausto Carmona and the Indians.  First pitch is at 7:10.

Minor League Notables

Brayan Pena had 3 of the O-Royals 8 hits tonight.  He was 3-4 with a HR, 1 RBI and 1 Run.  He is batting .339 in AAA so far.

Kurt Mertins was 4-5 tonight with a triple and 3 rbi.  He did not score a run or strike out.

Jordan Parraz was 1-2 with an RBI triple and 3 walks.

Blake Johnson started for AA Northwest Arkansas tonight, he pitched 6 shutout innings allowing 5 hits, 1 walk and 3 strikeouts.  His ERA is down to 4.21 after tonight.

John Bale made another AA appearance tonight as he pitched 2 perfect innings tonight with 2 strikeouts.  His ERA is at 1.35 for AA so far.

Derrick Robinson's AVG is up to .246 as he had 2 hits and took a walk tonight.  One of his hits was a double.  He stole 2 bases tonight and his stolen base total is up to 20 so far this season.

Mike Moustakas had a 3 hit tonight as he was 3-5.  He did not drive in any runs or score any runs, nor did he walk or strikeout.

Paulo Orlando also had 3 hits, 1 of his hits was for a triple and he scored 2 runs but did not drive any in.

Fernando Garcia, a 20 year old 2nd baseman from Puerto Rico, was 2-4 with a triple and a walk tonight for A Burlington Bees.  He is batting .320 so far this season.  

Thoughts on Trey..

There's been a lot of drama surrounding Trey lately, culminating with Brett's blowup last night on the local news..  My thoughts are that he isn't awful, but my biggest beef with him is that he has been around baseball too much.  He is too typical of a baseball manager.  An intelligent baseball mind knows that it is almost never advantageous to bunt, but Trey still had DDJ bunting in the 4th (I think) inning tonight.  That's the same DDJ that hit the game-tying triple in the 9th inning.  Let the boys swing!   I don't hate Trey, I just wish that he would manage with the actual facts.  But I realize that very few managers do this.. so whatever.

Thanks for reading!

Wrapping up last weekend..

Well the Royals went 1-1 on Saturday and Sunday.. I guess I'll take a .500 stretch.

On Saturday it was a tale of Kyle Davies pitching fairly well, but the offense pumping out just 2 runs against Rich Hill and Co.

Sunday it was the Royals staying in the game early, despite some defensive and baserunning miscues and then turning the offense on late with 3 runs in the 8th against Jim Johnson.

Hitter of the Game

Alberto Callaspo drove in the only 2 runs on Sat.  He was 2-4 with his 15th double of the season.  He did not strikeout or walk.

Billy Butler drove in 2 runs on Sunday with a 2-5 performance.  Billy had a double, a run scored, no walks, and a strikeout.

Pitcher of the Game

7 innings, 6 hits, 3 runs, 2 bb and 4 ks earns Kyle Davies the award for Saturday.  Not Awesome, but definitely good enough to get the win.

Robinson Tejada's 2.2 innings and 0 hits allowed along with 1 walk and 3 ks earn him the hitter of the game award for Sunday.

Tomorrow (Today)

Brian Bannister faces Cliff Lee tonight at the K in a 7:10 start.  Get out and watch some baseball, it's an awesome day for it!

Look for tonight's wrap up and another minor league segment tonight.  Thanks for reading!

Royals outlast rain delay to beat O's and snap 6 game skid..

Zack Greinke probably threw his worst game of the year tonight.  He gave up 1 run over 7 innings on 6 hits and 2 walks while only striking out 6.  When that's your ace's worst start of the season 35+ games in, you're doing pretty well.  Tonight's win puts the Royals in first place by percentage points over the Detroit Tigers and the rest of the AL Central.  Woo.

Short post, so let's get right into it..

Hitter of the Game

The offense was pretty solid tonight and the award could go to quite a few hitters.. Olivo drove in 3 and homered, Jacobs homered, and Mark Teahen had 3 hits.  But it was Jose Guillen who reallly broke the game open with a 2 RBI single in the first inning.  Those 2 runs would prove to be enough as Greinke was pitching, so I'll go with Jose as the hitter of the game award winner.

Pitcher of the Game

Zack Greinke continued his quest to start the All Star game tonight, as he went 7 innings allowing 1 run on 6 hits and 2 walks while striking out 6.  His ERA is "UP" to 0.60 on the season.  Sick.

Tomorrow

Kyle Davies will take on Rich Hill and the Orioles tomorrow in a 6:10 p.m. start.  Davies looks to build off his last start when he went 6+ innings and gave up just 1 run against the Angels last Sunday.

Minor League Notables

Kila Ka'aihue hit a home run tonight for Omaha.  He was 1-4 with a walk, an RBI and 2 runs scored.

Chris Nicoll struck out 4 in 2 perfect innings for AA Northwest Arkansas.

John Bale made an appearance for AA Northwest Arkansas as well, throwing a scoreless inning.  He gave up 0 hits and walked 1 and struck 1 out.  His ERA is at 2.45 in 4 appearances for AA.

After a slow start Jamar Walton has his batting average up to .296 after a 2-4 performance tonight.  He did not strikeout or walk.  Look out for Jamar, we signed him midway through last season and I think he has enough potential to be a pretty good sleeper prospect, he is 23 so he's a tad old for his level, but keep an eye out for him anyway.

Danny Duffy pitched 5 solid innings tonight, allowing just 1 run.  He struck out 3, walked 1 and allowed 4 hits.

Blaine Hardy started tonight for A Burlington Bees.  He threw 5 innings of 1 run ball, allowing 4 hits and walking 2 batters.  He struck out 4.  His ERA is at 2.67 on the season.

Thanks for reading!

Royals skid to season high 6th straight loss..

Well, looks like the Royals are back to their old ways..

No clutch pitching

No clutch hitting

no win.

again.

This team is doing so many small things that lead to losses.  For instance, on Billy Butler's 2 RBI hit, he only made it to first base.  How does this happen?  The throw was going to the plate, and the cutoff man even bobbled it, and Billy couldn't even slide into 2nd base?  Granted, Jacobs made the third out next, but if Jacobs could have even singled the Royals would have had the lead again and who knows what might have happened.

Also, Ron Mahay couldn't find the strike zone.. why?  I understand if it's Shawn Camp or Jaime Cerda or Nate Field or Scott Sullivan or any of the other awful relievers we've had over the last few seasons.. but Ron Mahay?  He's a legit major leaguer with a 10+ year career.  I understand that sometimes you just don't have it.. but its games like these when you HAVE to be able to reach back and find a strike.. ugh!

We'll look for Greinke to throw a no-no tomorrow night in order to get the Royals back on track.  After tonight's loss they stepped back into 2nd (3rd) place in the division.  Ugh!

Hitter of the Game

Billy Butler earns the hitter of the game award for tonight's game.  Billy was 2-5 with 3 RBI, a run, a strikeout, and no walks.  One of Billy's hits was a solo HR.

Yesterday Mike Jacobs earned the hitter of the game award.  He was 1-2 with a HR, 1 RBI and a run scored.  He did not strike out or walk.  He pinch hit for John Buck.

Pitcher of the Game

Kyle Farnsworth gets the award for tonight, as he closed out the game with a perfect 9th inning.  He didn't strike anyone out.  His ERA is down to 5.11

Brian Bannister gets the pitcher of the game award for his performance yesterday, even though he left early with some shoulder stiffness.  He pitched 5.2 innings allowing 2 runs on 5 hits and a walk.  He struck out 3.

Tomorrow

Zack Greinke will take on Adam Eaton and the Orioles tomorrow at 7:10.  It is a sellout supposedly, so we'll see how many people show up after this 6 game losing streak.

Minor League Notables

Jose Duarte made his AAA debut tonight, with a 1-4 performance, including a run scored.  He did not strike out or walk.  He played CF and batted 8th.

Carlos Rosa struck out 6 in 2.1 innings of work today.  He gave up 5 hits, including a solo HR.  He did not walk any.  

Brian McFall was 1-4 with a solo HR tonight.  He did not strikeout or walk.  He was the DH.

David Lough was 2-4 with a double, a run and an RBI.  He did not walk or strikeout.  He was the right fielder.

Mike Moustakas hit his 5th home run tonight.  He was 1-4 with 2 RBI and a run scored.  He struck out once and did not walk.  He played 3rd base.

Alex Caldera pitched 4 innings in his start tonight.  He gave up 0 runs and struck out 9.  He did allow 3 hits and walked 5, however.  His ERA is at 4.36.

Nick Van Stratten was 2-3 tonight with a double and a run scored.  He walked once and did not strike out.  He played center field and led off for the Burlington Bees.

Eric Hosmer was 1-2 with a 2 RBI double and 2 walks.  He did not strike out or score a run.  Eric played 1B.

Sam Runion started tonight, throwing 5 innings.  He gave up 2 runs on 8 hits and no walks.  He struck out 1 batter.  His ERA is at 7.88 on the season.  Ouch.

Thanks for reading!

Well Well Well, How times can change..

Since the last time I posted the Royals are 0-4, and have been outscored 21 to 7, Greinke has thrown a complete game 4 hit 1 run affair and lost all while walking no one, again, and the Royals have come crashing back down to earth, as they're just 18-15.  Ponson has been put in the bullpen, Luke Hochevar has been called up, and hammered.  The offense has sucked like the beginning of the year, but we are taking more walks.

Safe to say a lot has happened lately, some of it interesting, but most of it depressing.  I fell asleep in the 3rd inning of last night's game, that's the earliest I've fallen asleep during a Royals game.. ever.  I am excited that Luke got called up, but he was absolutely hammered last night, by the worst offensive team in the American League.. I know we have too many 3rd baseman already, but can we go back and redraft Evan Longoria #1 overall?

Please?

Let's go over the award winners for the last 4 games when I was slacking..

Hitters

The Royals managed just 4 hits Friday night, and Billy Butler had two of them.  He was 2-4  with an RBI, no K's and no BB's.  One of his hits was a double.

Alberto Callaspo was the only hitter who had a hit and didn't strike out on Saturday, so he gets the award.  No one deserved it in this 0 run fiasco.

Mark Teahen was 2-4 with 2 doubles Sunday, so he gets the award.  He drove in a run but didn't score one.  He K'd but did not walk.

Coco Crisp was 3-3 with a HR and a stolen base yesterday, earning him the award.  He did make an error, but it didn't lead to a run.  He did not strikeout or walk, his batting average is up to .261 and his line is at .261/.382/.471 on the season.  Not bad.

Pitchers

Kyle Farnsworth gets the award for Friday as he pitched 2 scoreless innings, giving up just a single and striking out 2 while walking none.

Zack Greinke's ERA is at 0.51 this season, but he managed to lose on Saturday, as Joe Saunders simply outpitched him and our offense simply wasn't offensive.  While it sucks to see Greinke at 6-1, I think it's better overall for him, as maybe he'll fall out of the limelight a little, and there is no chance he will be 15-0 or something in July and be a national headline story, which overall is better for Greinke and the Royals, I think.

Kyle Davies gave up 1 run in 6 innings of work on Sunday, and he struck out 4, walked 3 and gave up 3 hits.  Davies start effectively knocked Ponson out of the rotation (at least temporarily)

Robinson Tejada gets the award for yesterday as he finished the game up, thank God.  He pitched a perfect 8th inning, striking out 1.

Today 

Brian Bannister tries to be the stopper of the Royals longest losing streak of the season today in Oakland.  He will face former Central Missouri State standout Josh Outman.  First pitch is at 9:05 Central time.  I will probably post after the game and catch up on my Minor League Notables segment.

Thanks for reading!

Luke Hochevar and Brian Bannister combine for 14 IP 10 H 0 R 1 BB 16 K .. Solid..

6 game winning streak.. 

Pure awesomeness.

Short post today, it's been awfully busy..

and I'm still trying to cope with the Manny news.  It's too soon for me to talk about it.

Hitter of the Game

Billy Butler was the only Royal with 2 hits, and one of only two Royals with an RBI.  He gets the award today, he was 2-4 with an RBI, no runs, strikeouts, or walks.

Pitcher of the Game

I don't necessarily like it when starters only go 6 innings, but Banny was pretty damn good today, even without his best control.  He went 6 innings, allowing 5 hits and walking 1 while striking out 7.  He did not allow a run, earned or otherwise.

Tomorrow

The Royals travel to LA tomorrow to take on the Halos.  Gil Meche will take on Matt Palmer.  First pitch is at 9:05 central time.

Minor League Notables

Nick Van Stratten was 4-6 with a HR, a 2B and 7 RBI.

Alex Caldera struck out 10 over 6 innings of 1 run ball.  He walked just one and allowed just 4 hits.  Very nice showing for him, he's got a 4.97 ERA on the year.

Kurt Mertins had a 2 hit game, going 2-4 with a home run, 1 run, 1 rbi and a strikeout.  He is batting .278 so far.

Dan Cortes had one of his better outings this season as he pitched 6 innings of 1 run ball.  He struck out 8, walked 4 and allowed 5 hits.  His ERA is "down" to 5.02 after tonight.

Brayan Pena played left field, batted 3rd, and had 2 hits for AAA Omaha.  He was 2-4 with an RBI, no k's or bbs.

Luke Hochevar had his best outing of the season, throwing 8 shutout innings against the Springfield Redbirds.  He struck out 9, walked none and gave up just 5 hits, all singles.  75 of his 97 pitches were for strikes.  I think it's gotta be close to hoochie mama time in Kansas City.

Thanks for reading!