I'm very frustrated writing this post to the point where it's more difficult than usual. Trey Hillman cost the Royals the game today, and it was the second time *by my count* this has happened this season, and we're only 12 games in.
The Royals sit at 7-5, and if a normal, even semi-intelligent manager had made the calls these first two weeks there is no doubt in my mind the Royals could be 9-3 and sitting pretty atop the AL Central. But no, Hillman HAS to use Joakim for the 9th inning when we have a lead. Let's be honest, Joakim Soria is PROBABLY our best pitcher. If the Royals need one batter retired, Joakim is the guy. SO WHY IN THE WORLD DO YOU LIMIT HIS INNINGS? Sure, he pitched 4 straight games, so let him sit two, fine. But why do you bring in the likes of Jamey Wright and Kyle Farnsuck to pitch instead of Soria? It's gotta stop. Soon.
Oh, and more AWFUL news. Hillman has decided Gil Meche needs an extra day off, so instead of pitching Wednesday on normal rest *like he's done all his career with KC* Trey is going to give Horacio the Ball and throw off Meche's schedule, and essentially forfeit the game. Boy, if Cliff Lee ever got an opportunity to turn his season around this would be it. In yesterday's post I talked about what Lee did to the Royals in his 4th start last year. I can only imagine he's already licking his chops seeing what he can do to us on Wednesday. If the Tribe scored 22 runs in a game that Wang started, I wonder how many they can score against Horacio.. over/under at 30.. anyone?
Anyway, on to the routine stuff:
Hitter of the Game
DDJ and Jacobs both had good offensive games, and they both had defensive.. err.. miscues. I'll go with Jacobs for the hitter of the game here, simply because his home run came at a more crucial time, at least by my estimation. Jacobs was 2-4 with a home run, 2 rbi, 1 run scored and 1 strike out, 0 walks.
Pitcher of the Game
We'll go with Kyle Davies, the innings 3-6 version. Kyle's line ended up at 6 ip, 3 h, 5 bb, 8 k. Not bad for a #3 starter. Davies has become very useful, even in his not-completely-effective current form. He's one of those players that's very close to putting it all together *I think* and when he does, look out!
Tomorrow
The Royals have off tomorrow, creating a perfect opportunity for DM the GM to fire Hillman the game loser.
I invented seven new swear words when Farnsworth came to the mound in the ninth and, you know what? It wasn't the pitcher's name I was screaming, it was Hillman's. He's like the emotionally blinded parent who insists his Little Leaguer can play the game even when the little tike keeps running the bases in the wrong direction. Why, Trey? Why?
ReplyDeleteAnother frustrating part about Hillman is the inconsistency. If he is going to go by the book then why bring in a replacement for Aviles but not for Callaspo? I would argue that Bloomquist is a bigger improvement over Callaspo than Pena is over Aviles. And the fact that Soria didn't pitch at all yesterday makes me want to slash Hillman's tires. (Not that I ever would.)
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