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!

Ponson OK as offense falters..

I guess we should be proud of Sidney Ponson for not sucking.  But while Greinke is 4-0, Sidney is 0-3.  Hey I know he pitched 8 effective innings today, and was a hanging breaking ball away from 8 great innings, but he's still 0-3, and his job is to win ball games.

That being said, the offense didn't help him out any.

Hitter of the Game

This might be the only time this year that I pick a hitter who went hitless for the hitter of the game award.  But Coco Crisp scored the first run and took 2 walks so he is going to get the award for today.  Coco did get thrown out trying to steal 2nd, but it took a perfect throw to nail him. Coco did not strike out

Pitcher of the Game

I guess Ponson will get it.  He pitched 8 innings allowing 3 runs on 6 hits, he walked 0 batters and struck out 7.  His biggest mistake was a 2 run hr from Brandon Inge in the 2nd inning

Tomorrow

I'll be going to the game tomorrow and I'll witness Brian Bannister's 2nd start.  He'll pitch against the Blue Jays who will send David Purcey to the mound.  The Royals will try to get back above .500 again.

Minor League Notables

Jeff Bianchi had a 2 hit game, going 2-4 with a double, a hr, 3 rbi, a run scored, and a strikeout.

Mike Moustakas had a 2 hit game as well, going 2-4 with a double, a run scored, and a strikeout.

Danny Duffy had his worst start of the season, earning his first loss in a 5 inning outing, allowing 6 runs on 8 hits including 3 home runs.  Duffy struck out 1 and walked 3.

Dan Cortes pitched for AA Northwest Arkansas, and had an OK outing.  He walked 4 and struck out 2 in 5.2 innings but gave up just 2 runs on 3 hits.  His ERA is 6.23 this season.

Thanks as always for reading.  I may snap some pictures for my post tomorrow.

Royals DFA the wrong Pena.

Well, a depressing game today.  Especially considering we were facing Zach Miner.  Ugh.. oh well.  Obviously Kyle didn't have it today.  We'll have to see how he bounces back next time out.  I'm (obviously) not ready to give up on him yet.

Hitter of the Game

Coco Crisp scored the only run, so I'll give him the award, but make no mistake, the offense was awful all around today.  Coco was 1-3 with 1 run, 0 rbi, 0 k and a walk.

Pitcher of the Game

Ron Mahay gets it today.  He came in and struck out the side on 16 pitches.  Enough said.  He gave up no hits and walked no one.

Tomorrow

The Royals will finish up the Tigers series tomorrow as Sidney Ponson takes on Armando Gallaraga.  I expect another massacre.  Ugh.

DFA'd

Brayan Pena was DFAd today and all I have to say is why..  Tony Pena Jr. should have not even made this team, let alone still be hanging on.  By all accounts Brayan is a very useful player who is well.. a lot better than TPJ.  Oh well.  DFA Fail.

Minor League Notables

Derrick Robinson had a nice game, going 3-6 with 3 runs, 2 rbi, and a double.  He did not walk or strike out.  He also stole 2 bases, bring his season total to 11.

Mike Moustakas was 2-5 with a double and a home run.  Mike scored 2 runs and drove 2 in.  He did not walk or strike out.

Antonio Jimenez was 3-4 with a double and a RBI.  He also stole a base, he did not strike out or walk.

Thanks as always for reading!

Return of the Professor..

What a game.

After the heartbreaker last night, the Royals really mended our relationship today with their 3rd shutout of the season.  By comparison, the Royals didn't get their 3rd shutout until May 4th, last season.  It came against the Indians, of all teams.

Mr. Bannister was not amazing tonight, but he didn't walk too many hitters, and his pitch count stayed decent.  He probably needs to continue to attack more / nibble less, but it's hard to pick on a guy for 6 shutout innings and 4 singles allowed.  He might not be one of the "big 3" who can pick up a strikeout almost at will, but if he maintains an ERA sub 4.15 then the Royals will have the best pitching staff in the A.L.  (assuming the big 3 continue to pitch at their ridiculous paces.)

This brings up the question.. when is Hoochie mama coming up?  Soon, I hope..

Read yesterday's post if you want to see what I said about how well Cliff Lee would do against the Royals..  It wasn't the 3 hit 9 k shutout he threw last year, but no one will deny Mr. Clifford Phifer Lee pitched a very good game today.

The offense needs to draw more walks, period.  Billy's in the first inning was nice, because it came after falling behind, but seriously, one walk?  Pathetic.  Cliff Lee threw 122 pitches, 85 of them were for strikes..  While he was pounding the strike zone, if the Royals decided to not swing first pitch so often we would have a better chance of making Cliff throw more outside the strike zone and getting to the bullpen more quickly, which should be every offense's goal.

Hitter of the Game

Like yesterday, I really struggled with this one today..  DDJ drove in the "winning" run but was 0-3..  Bloomquist drove in the other run on a bloop single.. Callaspo had 2 hits but no runs or RBI..  I think I'll settle with Coco Crisp, who really set the table today in the first with his second leadoff double in as many days.  Coco ended up with 2 hits in 4 at bats, and while he didn't walk for what seems like the first game this season (it's not..) he also didn't strike out.  He scored a run but didn't capitalize on an opportunity to drive some in during the 7th inning, oh well, he earns today's award.  In reality, the offense wasn't that great and the award should probably go to Butler, if anyone, simply for taking the lone walk.. Oh well.

Pitcher of the Game

I was considering using Soria simply because he finally got to pitch, but we'll go with the Professor, he wasn't dominant, but he was very good and threw 6 innings of shutout, 1 walk, 4 hit baseball in the big leagues.  Something that is very commendable and earns him the pitcher of the game award.

Tomorrow

It's an early game tomorrow, with Gil Meche facing Anthony "I wear my hat low" Reyes.  First pitch as at 11:05 central time, so don't forget!

Also, I fully intend to include some minor league stats/analysis very soon, I just haven't quite picked a format and had the time to start it yet.  Fear not, it shall arrive!

Thanks for reading!

Just one of those games..

Well I think today was just one of those games.  The pitching was decent, the hitting was okay, there weren't really any defensive mishaps, but due to few lucky situations on both sides the Royals came out the losers.  It was one of those games where I wasn't terribly upset after the loss, I did question a few of Hillman's moves, but who cares, he's already proved himself a moron, so nothing really surprised me today.

As I stated yesterday, I figured a pitcher like Laffey would come in and just slice and dice our lineup, and he basically did.  We got to their bullpen for 2 runs, but their offense just came surging back anyway.  Kyle Farnsworth is the boob of the season so far, and he reminds me of Ambiroix Burgos, or at least his fastball does.  Sure, it's 94-96, but when it's that straight, it's supremely hittable.

Trey wasn't afraid to pinch hit players late in the game, which was reassuring, and while no one wants to see TPJ and Bloomquist together in the game, at least Hillman understands that Ponson is a groundball pitcher and the defense behind him is important.

Some might be upset at Teahen for getting thrown out by Choo trying to turn the single into the double.  Personally, I think it was a good aggressive base running decision however.  The Royals were down by 2 at that point and a leadoff double in the 8th would have increased the chances of winning the game.  Although Choo is left handed and he was ranging to his right, making it more of a difficult throw, he does have one of the better arms in the game and gunned down Teahen.  Did it cost the Royals the game?  Maybe.  Am I upset by Teahen's running?  Not at all.

Hitter of the Game

I was teetering between Mike Jacobs and Coco Crisp and I think I'm going to go with Mike Jacobs.  Crisp did walk twice (almost 3 times, you know what I mean if you saw the game) and hit a triple and scored 2 runs, but Jacobs took a walk to load the bases as well as hitting a solo HR after Mark Teahen got thrown out trying to take the extra base.  Overall a good game for both, but I'll stick with Jacobs who pinch hit for Butler in the 6th.

Pitcher of the Game

I'm gonna stick with Sir Sidney here.  I was very distraught when I heard he was making the club, but he really has been impressive.  His fastball has good movement to it, and if he could figure out his control just a little more he could really step in and be one of the better #4 pitchers in the AL central.  I'm not saying he's there yet, I'm just saying I do see some potential.

Tomorrow 

The Royals are off Thursday.

Greinke Ks 9 as Royals KO the Tribe..

I may be crazy because I know that TPJ had some nice defensive plays tonight.  But please tell me that for the rest of the time we don't have Gordon and Guillen we will have Maier and Callaspo instead of TPJ and Callaspo.  I understand that maybe Maier wasn't in KC yet or he was unable to play for some other reason, but on all levels Maier is a much much better player that TPJ, and I don't even necessarily think that Maier is above replacement-level.  That is simply a testament to how bad TPJ is with the bat.  

Anyway, run saving defensive plays from players who shouldn't be on our team aside, I thought tonight was a really good game.  The hitters only managed 5 hits, but I felt like we really worked the count a lot better.  It showed up in the box score as the hitters drew 5 walks against 6 strikeouts, a ratio I can live with from the whole team.  Greinke commanded the game from the first batter.  The strike zone was slightly large, but fairly consistent throughout the night.  

Teahen had a clutch RBI single on a 1-2 count in the first inning that I felt was really important because it reminded me of how Teahen hits when he is on.  The pitch was boring in on him and was low out of the zone but Teahen kept his hands in and stayed back and was able to drive the inside pitch back up the middle into centerfield.  Billy Butler had a huge double right after which drove in DDJ.  

The one thing I did notice is that Mike Aviles needs to start working the walk more if he wants to stay in the 2 hole.  I have been a fan of Mike's for at least the last 3 years, but I always figured his walk total would move up as he got older.  He almost reminds me of Angel Berroa in the sense that he is looking to hit anything that is hittable instead of looking to hit pitches that he can drive.  I'm not down on him, but it's just something to look out for.

Hitter of the Game

We'll go with Mike Jacobs today.  The offense was spread out today as no one drove in or scored more than 1 run, and no one even had more than one hit.  Mike Jacobs did have a long solo home run however, and he also took a walk.  If Mike Jacobs hit a home run and took a walk every game, he would be the best player in all of baseball.  Aim for the stars, Mike.

Pitcher of the Game

Gotta go with Donald Zackary Greinke on this one.  The Zack-Attack pitched 5 scoreless innings with 9 (count them, 9) strikeouts.  He did have 2 walks, which is just fine when you K 9 hitters.  Greinke did give up 6 hits, and 8 baserunners in 5 innings is starting to push the limits of where you want to be, but all in all, Greinke was awesome tonight.  The only thing he'll have to work on is not Meche-ing himself by throwing too many pitches.  He may get back to pitching to contact except for when he needs a K so he can get deeper into games.  Nice.

Tomorrow 

Carl Pavano will match up with Kyle Davies as the Royals host the Indians tomorrow.  First pitch is at 6:10 central time.

Question for all of the readers - 

I've been considering adding a section in my posts where I take a look at the minor league games, probably not all of them because that would take forever, but I might be able to write a paragraph on a game or a particular player or two, possibly a "prospect watch" section or something similar.. any opinions on this?  Please leave any ideas/advice in the comments section.  Thanks for reading!

Kyle Davies, Boy Wonder..

wow.. just wow.

I totally did not see this game coming today.  Maybe it was the fact that I've read too many scouting reports on John Danks entitled "future ace" or maybe it was the fact that a player with one extra base hit was starting in RF for us today, reminiscent of the bad ol' days.  But none of that matters when Kyle Davies goes out and pitches like he did today.  And honestly, Danks was almost as good.  Today's game was one of the best pitching duels I think I've ever seen the Royals been involved in.  In fact, this whole series was one of the lowest scoring series I can remember the Royals being a part of.  Then again, last year's opening series the Royals allowed just 5 runs in 3 games to the Detroit Tigers.  While the Tigers did not end up the beast many of us thought they would be, everyone was very excited about Meche, Bannister, and Greinke's games then too.

I'm not saying that the performances of the last three days should be discounted, as strikeouts have been up and walks and hits have been down, I'm just saying let's keep a level head before anointing the Royals the proverbial AL Central "crown".

Something that impressed me was that even though Joakim gave up a run to make it 2-1 and clearly didn't have his best command, he still fought through and closed it out for a Royals victory.  Impressive.

Coco Crisp will be the hitter of the game today, as it's hard to find a more important batter.  Coco was 2-3 with 2 walks, a double, a two run game winning home run and no strikeouts.  He drove in 2 and scored 1 run.  Impressive.

Kyle Davies is the pitcher of the game today, obviously.  Davies had electric stuff, and to my recollection didn't even throw his curveball until the 4th inning, and it seemed to me his curve was one of his best pitches today.

Some beef I have with Trey is that Coco was once again trying to bunt over Mike Aviles.  Look, I realize the game is close and a few runs will probably win it, but stats prove that trading an out for moving up a base almost NEVER increase your chance of scoring one run or multiple runs.  The fact of the matter is, you should basically never sac bunt in the AL.  Especially when the bunter is one of your better hitters, and the runner (Callaspo) is slow enough that he wouldn't automatically score on any hit from 2nd base even with 2 outs.

Please, no more bunting!

The Royals and Ponson take on the Yankees tomorrow, while I'm excited to see how the Royals do against Pettite, as they tore up lefties pretty well last year, I'm anything but excited to see Tex and the boys tee off on Sucky Ponson.. ugh!

Thanks for reading.

Don't call it a comeback.. Why Coco might carry the Royals in '09..

The Royals continued their good play of late as they beat the Chi-Sox 9-3 in front of 4,645 fans.  

The hitters managed 6 extra base hits and 6 singles for a total of 12 hits.  The hitters had 4 walks and 4 strikeouts as well.  The pitchers gave up 7 hits (2 of them for extra bases) and 3 runs.  The hitters struck out just four and walked 2 batters.

Hitter of the Game

I'm going to go a different route in naming today's hitter of the game.  While he didn't score or drive a run in, he did continue his AWESOME spring.  Coco Crisp will be today's hitter of the game.  Coco was 1-1 with two walks and no strikeouts.  Coco's spring line sits at .391/.545/.609.  Not too shabby for a defense-first centerfielder.

Pitcher of the Game

Kyle Davies continued his impressive spring as he went 4 scoreless innings giving up just one single while striking out 2 and walking 1.  Kyle's spring ERA sits at a measly 0.71.  He earned a save as he went the final three innings.

Tomorrow

The Royals will have 2 games tomorrow, their only split squad games of the spring.  Robinson Tejada will take on Vicente Padilla when the Royals host the Rangers.  Zack Greinke will take on Yovani Gallardo as the Royals will play visitors to the Brew Crew.  First pitch for both games is scheduled for 3:05 Central Time.

Covelli Loyce Crisp

Much has been discussed about Coco's background already.  I'm sure you've heard the tale.  Coco's Dad was a boxer, his Mom was a sprinter, and the rest of his family was also connected to athletics somehow.  While I love all of this background information and the fact that Coco is the type of player that plays his heart out no matter the situation, it is not why I believe Coco Crisp might be the biggest surprise on the Royals this year.  It is not why he is my breakout (again) candidate of the year amongst our outfielders. 

There will be a lot of articles written this spring telling you that Coco is finally healthy again.  There will be some explaining that he never got comfortable in Boston and that the CF job was handed to Jacoby Ellsbury and stripped from him unjustly.  I believe in all of these things, (well except for the last one), but most importantly, I believe in Coco Crisp.

Coco has a skill set very similar to David DeJesus.  David has hit for a higher average in his career (and had a better OBP), but their power numbers are similar, and Coco is much better at stealing bases and by all accounts plays much better defensively.  Coco is basically a true "centerfielder" version of the tweener that David DeJesus is.

But this isn't a comparison of the two players, no sirree.  It is an argument as to why I think Coco might just win comeback player of the year.  

While I usually don't put much emphasis on spring numbers, Coco has really impressed me so far.  Coco has drawn 9 walks against just 3 strikeouts, and has a line of .391/.545/.609.  Another encouraging sign is that most of these numbers have come against pitchers vying for the rotation of their perspective squads, as Coco has started in centerfield in each of his 11 appearances.  In fact, Coco is 2nd in walks this spring, trailing Albert Pujols by 1.  No other player has at least 8 walks.

But sure, it's just spring, and it's early spring at that.  Coco could go on to strikeout in every remaining at bat he has, right?  Not so fast.  I'm a big believer in carryover from the 2nd half of the previous season.  I feel like baseball is a game of trends, and the numbers from a player's second half are a much better indicator of the next season than the entire numbers from the previous season.  Well, how did Coco do in the 2nd half of last season?  I'm glad you asked.

Last season, in 175 plate appearances after the all star break, Coco hit .315/.392/.403 with 20 walks against 26 strike outs.  This line was good for a 794 OPS.  

By comparison, our four starting outfielders for the last 2 months of the season (DeJesus, Maier, Guillen, Teahen) posted 792, 634, 752, and 692 OPS respectively.

So, basically, if Coco Crisp had been a Royal last season and if he had posted the same stat line (a lot of ifs, I know) then he would have been the Royals best offensive and defensive outfielder.  Interesting.

If I don't have you sold yet, then take a look at this.  Before Crisp went to Boston, before he was injured and pressured and criticized and put under the microscope of the Boston media, Coco was one of, if not the best young centerfield prospects in the game.

I'm talking about Coco's 2004 and 2005 seasons in Cleveland, of course.

Let's take a quick gander at Coco's numbers from 2004 and 2005 in comparison to the Royal's primary centerfielders during those years, Mr. Carlos Beltran and Mr. David DeJesus.

2004:

Coco - .297/.344/.446

Beltran - .267/.367/.548

DeJesus - .287/.360/.402

2005: 

Coco - .300/.345/.465

Beltran - .266/.330/.414

DeJesus - .293/.359/.445

At first glance, you might notice Beltran's awesome year in 2004, but if you look closer, you might realize that Coco easily outplayed him in 2005.  I'm as big a fan of OBP as anyone I know, but the 51 points of SLG that Coco holds over Carlos is easily worth the 15 points of OBP he gives up.  

So what is the point I'm trying to make?  The point is that in 2005, Coco Crisp was essentially a better outfielder than Carlos Beltran.  Oh, and Carlos Beltran is almost 3 years older than Coco.  Sure, they're completely different players, Coco is a player who hits for a high average, and has to in order to maintain his value while Beltran is a power and OBP guy.  But in the end, if Coco can end up being 3/4 the player that Carlos is (while earning 1/4 of Beltran's yearly salary) then I think the Royals will be very well off.

So do I have a prediction for Coco's line this year?  Sure I do.  But I'm not sure I'm ready to divulge it yet and embarrass myself.  I do, however, believe in Covelli Loyce Crisp.

And I think that you should too.

Super Mario wins it in the bottom of the 9th..

Really short post tonight as I have to be up at 4:45 in the morning tomorrow.. urg..

Game

The Royals battled back and forth with the Texas Rangers, eventually scoring the 8th and winning run in the bottom of the 9th off a Mario Lisson bases loaded single.  Also, Gil Meche pitched well in his "B" game start.

Hitter of the Game

It's hard to look past Mario Lisson as the hitter of the game.  Lisson was 2-2 with 2 RBI and a run.  Lisson also knocked in the game winning run in the bottom of the ninth with a bases loaded single.  Also notable: Coco Crisp, who went 0-0 with 2 walks and a sacrifice fly.  (keep taking those walks, Coco!)

Pitcher of the Game

Heath Phillips had an excellent start, throwing three scoreless innings with 1 strikeout and 1 walk, giving up just 1 hit.  However, I'm going to give the pitcher of the game award to Joel Peralta who struck out the side in the 8th inning.

Overview

The offense drew 7 walks against 7 strikeouts (finally), and managed 8 runs off of 11 hits.  The offense managed 4 XBH, 3 doubles (Gordon, Corey Smith, Mitch Maier), and one home run (Mike Jacobs).  Matt Wright made the only error.  The pitchers walked 6 while striking out 10.  The pitchers allowed 7 runs (6 earned) on 10 hits including 2 home runs.

Tomorrow

The Indians will host the Royals tomorrow.  First pitch will be at 2:05 Central time.  Kyle Davies gets the nod for the Royals, and Horacio Ramirez will also see some innings.

Sorry for the short posts lately, I should be able to get back into doing some good write-ups next week.  Thanks as always for reading.

Losing to the Rangers sucks.. oh and it's the eve of the WBC.

Losing to the Rangers sucks, but at least the games don't ACTUALLY count.

The Game

The games are beginning to resemble real games more and more as only 4 pitchers pitched today.  Brian Bannister and Luke Hochevar each saw 3 innings of work, with Banny giving up 2 runs and the Hooch giving up none.  Dan Cortes and Yasuhiko Yabuta each saw an inning of work each, Yabuta didn't give up a run but Cortes gave up a 3 run big fly to Rangers 'spect Justin Smoak after walking 2.  Offensively, the Royals only mustered one run each in the 5th, 7th and 8th innings.  The Royals ended up losing to Kevin Millwood and the Rangers 5 to 3.

The Offense

The Royals hitters mustered just three runs on 6 hits today.  The only XBH were a double from Crisp and a homer from Gordon.  Brayan Pena did have a stolen base.  I guess he runs well for a catcher.  Ha.  Once again, the Royals only drew 2 walks (Tommy Murphy and Brayan Pena) but only struck out 5 times, but left 6 runners on base.  The Royals defense turned 3 double plays.

The Pitching

The Royals pitching wasn't awful today.  They gave up 5 runs on just 6 hits, tallying 6 strikeouts against 3 walks.  The Rangers only left 1 runner on base as a team, so they obviously got pretty lucky, or did very well with runners on base, depending on how you view it.  (luck!)

Hitter of the Game

Alex Gordon hit his 2nd home run in as many days, but I'm gonna give the hitter of the game award to Coco Crisp.  Coco had as many RBIs as Gordon (1), but had twice as many hits (2).  Coco had 2 hits, including a double, and one RBI.  He also struck out once.  Coco's average this spring rests at .400 after today's action.

Pitcher of the Game

Luke Hochevar gets the pitcher of the game award hands down.  Luke pitched 3 scoreless innings today, surrendering just 2 hits (both singles), while striking out 2 and walking none.  Luke's ERA this spring training is 3.60, and after today's outing, so is Brian Bannister's.

Tomorrow

The Royals do not have a scheduled game tomorrow.

WBC

The WBC starts tomorrow, with China taking on Japan and Chinese-Taipei taking on Korea.  Both games are scheduled to start at 3:30 AM central time, and can be viewed on ESPN 2, or on www.worldbaseballclassic.com .  I realize there is not much excitement around here for this event, and I find that disappointing.  The WBC has the potential to be like the Olympics if we allow it to be.  It also has the chance to improve the quality of the MLB, due to the increased interest in baseball worldwide.  I genuinely hope this WBC will help grow interest both in the US and around the world.

I'll call it now, I believe that Team USA will win this WBC.  I realize they've been hit hard with injuries, but we definitely have a better team than we did in 05, and I feel like the players really are gonna play with a chip on their shoulder, plus a lot of other significant teams have lost really good players, so the injury bug has bitten everyone, pretty much.  My pick for the runner up is Japan.

Leave comments on your pick for winner and runner-up.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

How Juan Cruz Changes Everything..

Dayton Moore made a statement today, one with more meaning than a lot of people realize.  But first, let's take a look at the game.  

The Game

Overall, I'd call this a solid game.  Sure, it ended in a tie, the enemy of all baseball fans.  But there were a lot of positives here as well.  Jose Guillen hit a home run and Mark Teahen hit a triple and took a walk.  Both  of them leave tomorrow for their perspective WBC camps.  Brian Bannister pitched two perfect innings, giving up 0 hits but striking out none.  The Royals pitchers gave up only 5 hits all game.  The pitchers also gave up 7 walks, but it was against 9 strikeouts.  The Royals hitters drew 4 walks against 7 strikeouts.  The Royals hitters also hit 2 home runs (Guillen, Gload) to extend their HR streak to 4 games.

Hitter of the Game

Today the hitter of the game award goes to Coco Crisp.  It may seem counter intuitive to give a player who went without a hit the hitter of the game award, but Coco drew three of the Royals four walks today.  Coco batted leadoff and while he didn't come around to score any runs, if he keeps his mindset of taking walks and can hit around .290 he should score many runs this season.  I'm really starting to believe in Coco, maybe all he needs is another opportunity and he'll return to his pre-Boston form.

Pitcher of the Game

Today the pitcher of the game award will go to my favorite NRI, Lenny DiNardo.  In Lenny's last appearance before he departs to pitch for team Italy in the WBC, he pitched two innings, giving up one hit and one walk while striking out four.  If Lenny puts up decent numbers in the WBC and then returns and can pick up where he left off, DM will have a hard time keeping him off of this roster.

Tomorrow

The Royals and the Angels will face off tomorrow at 2:05 central time, with Gil Meche getting the nod for the boys in blue.  Following Meche will be Brandon Duckworth, Henry Barrera, Tim Hamulack, Carlos Rosa, Joel Peralta, and Roman Colon.  Dustin Moseley will start for the Halos.

How Juan Cruz changes everything:

When Dayton Moore took over the Royals in June of 2006, he inherited a baseball organization that while boasting a proud history, was in shambles.  From the point that he first took the reigns until today, nearly every move that Dayton made was to build for the future or to fill a much needed gap.  With the Juan Cruz signing, Dayton sacrificed a piece of the future for an ML player that is largely a luxury.  In my opinion, this shows that Dayton has taken a measured look and he belives the Royals are ready to compete in the Central this year.  If Dayton thinks we are ready to win the Central.  So do I.

Benefits

So how much does Juan Cruz improve our bullpen?  Tremendously.  We all saw last year what having a set up man with strikeout potential can do.  A quality set up man turns into another closer, and essentially turns the ball game into a 7 inning affair.  The Royals now have 2 quality set up men on their roster, essentially (on paper) turning ball games into 6 inning affairs.  And while it is an impossibility for both of these pitchers to pitch every night, there is a good chance they will see a lot of innings in games the Royals are winning, and most likely will be used exclusively in games the Royals are winning.

How good is Juan Cruz?  Well, in 2007 Cruz pitched in 61 innings, posting a 3.10 ERA, good for a 152 ERA+.  He had 81 strikeouts against 32 walks while allowing 45 hits, good for a 1.262 WHIP.  In 2008, Cruz's numbers improved.  He pitched 51.2 innings, posting a 2.61 ERA and a 176 ERA+.  Cruz struck out 71 batters against 31 walks, allowing just 24 hits, good for a 1.258 WHIP.  Both of these years came in the hitter friendly confines of Chase Field. 

By comparison, only Joakim Soria (189-2007, 266-2008) and David Riske (191-2007) have had as good of an ERA+ in a comparable amount of innings as Cruz had last year.  Juan Cruz will step into the 2009 season as the team's best reliever not named Joakim.  

Detriments

All the Royals had to give up was a 2nd round draft pick and $2.25 million this year, $3.25 million next year, and a $4 million option or a $500,000 buyout for 2011.  Cruz will make John Bale and Yasuhiko Yabuta money to perform on a much higher level.  Cruz looks like a steal next to Kyle Farnsworth.

The one unknown is the draft pick the Royals gave up.  The pick is the 12th pick in the 2nd round, which is the 58th pick overall.  Let's take a quick look at the 58th overall pick in the draft for the last ten years.

2008:  Tyson Ross, college pitcher selected by the Oakland Athletics.  He posted a 1.09 WHIP in 19.1 innings of A ball last season.

2007:  Jon Bachanov, high school pitcher selected by the LA Angels (of Anaheim).  Bachanov underwent Tommy John surgery before he threw an inning for the Angels and has yet to pitch for their organization.

2006: Ryan Adams, high school 3rd baseman selected by the Baltimore Orioles.  Ryan played in 119 games in A ball last season, posting an 829 OPS while hitting .308 and knocking out 11 home runs.

2005: Ryan Mount, high school SS selected by the LA Angels (of Anaheim).  Mount saw action in 82 games last year, all in high A ball.  Mount .290 with 16 home runs, posting a 849 OPS.

2004: Blake Johnson, (yes, that Blake Johnson) high school pitcher selected by the LA Dodgers.  Johnson started 25 games in AA last season, going 10-9 while posting a 4.85 ERA.

2003: Scott Baker, college pitcher selected by the Minnesota Twins.  Baker made 28 starts for the Twins last season, going 11-4 while posting a 3.45 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP.

2002: Zach Segovia, high school pitcher selected by the Philadelphia Phillies.  Segovia has 1 MLB start in his career, in 2007 when he went 5 innings, earning the loss.  Segovia gave up 5 runs on 8 hits while walking 1 and striking out 2.  2008 found Segovia bouncing around between 6 teams between rookie ball and AA.

2001: Matt Harrington, independent league pitcher selected by the San Diego Padres.  Harrington was selected with the 7th overall pick the year previous, but did not sign.  He did not sign with the Padres either.  He was selected 3 more times before finally signing with the Yankees in 2004.  Harrington has bounced around independent leagues but hasn't amounted to anything for an MLB organization.

2000: Dominic Rich, college infielder selected by the Toronto Blue Jays.  Rich last saw action in 2005 when he played in 3 games in high A ball for the St. Louis Cardinals.  Rich has been out of baseball since.

1999: Wes Obermuller, college pitcher selected by the Kansas City Royals.  Wes split time between AAA and the majors last year, starting 7 and pitching in 18 games for the Florida Marlins.  Wes earned a 2-3 record with a 6.56 ERA and a 1.83 WHIP.

Well, looking over the #58 pick for the last 10 drafts and I feel more comfortable than ever.  Granted, past the first pick or so the draft is a complete crap shoot and a lot of MLB talent went right before or right after the #58 pick in many of these drafts.  That being said, maybe there's something unlucky about 58, because the only player I'd rather have at this point than Juan Cruz is Scott Baker.  That being said, Ross, Bachanov, and Adams are all still developing and could each turn into superstars.

Summary

This sums up my excitement for the signing of Juan Cruz.  Our major league team improves, and we don't have to give up too much.  Oh, as a side note, we DFA'd Esteban German for Cruz's space on the 40 man.  Maybe DM will get something for German and make the Cruz signing look even better.

As always, thanks for reading.

Mitch Maier and the Royal's first win of 2009..

Today marks the Royals first official unofficial win of 2009.  They played a solid game and beat Texas 7-2.  

Mitch Maier

Mitch Maier was drafted in the first round of the 2003 rule IV draft.  He will most likely start the season in the AAA outfield again this year.  To most people, this makes Mitch a disappointment.  While it is underwhelming that Mitch has not broken into the Royals lineup as the defensive centerfielder and top of the order hitter that most had hoped he would turned into, I feel like the sheer fact that he made it through the Allard Baird era and still has a chance at becoming a major leaguer is a positive in itself.  Mitch, like Mark Teahen, has been jerked around from position to position, in an attempt to create equal depth amongst our hitting prospects in the minors.  Unlike Teahen, he was at least allowed to learn new positions at the minor league level.

Mitch was drafted out of the University of Toledo after a junior year that saw him post a line of .448/.525/.691, all while stealing 29 bases (and being caught just 5 times) and drawing 31 walks against 9 strikeouts in 194 at bats.  Mitch did all this while playing catcher.

After Mitch was drafted in 2003, he played catcher for the first year of his pro career, hitting .350/.403/.507 in 51 games for the AZ Royals.  In 2004, Mitch would be converted to a 3rd baseman.  He spent the next season splitting time between Burlington and Wilmington.  2004 saw the Royals trade Carlos Beltran for Mark Teahen, John Buck, and Mike Wood.  Because Allard Baird was stupid, he immediately converted Maier to an outfielder because Teahen was a third baseman.  Luckily, Maier's work ethic and athleticism has allowed him to excel there, being ranked as the Royals best defensive outfielder in 2007 by Baseball America.

Like Shane Costa, Maier has gone on to show that he has mastered AAA, including hitting .316/.366/.470 for the O Royals in 85 games last season.  Maier also saw some time in KC hitting .286/.316/.319 for the Royals.  While Maier is not a power hitter by any means, he will probably end up with enough muscle to hit around 10 home runs in a full season.  He doesn't draw many walks, but can keep his OBP above .350 as long as he is able to hit at least .290.  Maier's main asset is his superb defense.  He is a capable centerfielder with a good arm and great instincts.  Maier also has plenty of experience in both of the corner of positions, making him as a perfect candidate as a 4th outfielder.

Maier's upside is probably that of a 4th outfielder who sticks around for a season or two and is able to work his way into the lineup as a starter.  Ryan Spilborghs comes to mind as a comparison as far as career path.  Maier will most likely break spring training once again as an O Royal, but come a midseason trade, an injury, or a poor performance, he would be a wonderful replacement stashed in AAA.

The Game

Kyle Davies got off to a great start, including striking out Josh Hamilton on three pitches.  He loaded the bases in the 2nd but managed to get out of it unscathed.  Coco Crisp and John Buck both hit home runs, and Ross Gload hit a 3 run triple.  The Royals pitchers struck out ten and walked just there as their batters walked four times and struck out 8 times.  Josh Hamilton had the only Rangers home run, his second in as many games, with a solo shot off of Joel Peralta in the 5th inning.  The full box score can be found here.

The Prospects

While neither Jose Duarte nor Kila Ka'aihue started, they managed a hit each.  Duarte picked up a run and Kila picked up an RBI.  Julio Pimental and Carlos Rosa both had scoreless outings.  Pimental went two innings, allowing one hit and striking out two.  Rosa went one inning, giving up two hits and also striking out two.

Hitter of the Game

Coco Crisp earns hitter of the game honors today.  Coco had a solid game, notching two hits in three at bats, including a long solo shot to centerfield off of Derek Holland.

Pitcher of the Game

Pitcher of the game honors go to Julio Pimental today.  Julio was throwing fire during his two innings, striking out two and allowing just one hit.

Tomorrow's Game

Tomorrow the Royals take on the San Francisco Giants in Scottsdale Stadium at 2:05 p.m. central time.  Randy Johnson will take the mound for the Giants.  Zack Greinke gets the nod for the Royals.  He will be followed by Robinson Tejada, Devon Lowery, Joakim Soria, and Jamey Wright.

An Incentive Away From Contention?

Well, it's Saturday, which means that the first intrasquad game of spring training is tomorrow!  According to The Star,  the Royals have announced who will be pitching in the opener.  Jamey Wright, Julio Pimental, Devon Lowery and Heath Phillips will pitch two innings each and Henry Barrera will pitch one inning.  I am most excited to hear about how Julio, Devon and Henry do.  Barrera has the potential to be this year's Ram-Ram, in my opinion.  Now if only we could get a lineup for tomorrow's game!

Speaking of tomorrow's lineup, the one thing we do know is that Jose Guillen won't be in it.  Originally slated as the DH, Jose won't be playing due to a sore shoulder along with his sore toe.  I understand that Spring Training has only just begun and it takes players a while to get into the swing of things, but if he has a sore shoulder from overthrowing in the first few days of camp, that leads me to believe that he hadn't kept a very strict throwing regiment over the winter.  In fact, now that I think about it, I don't recall hearing about JoGui playing winterball at all.  I may be mistaken though.  More controversial news to come from Guillen is that he used to work out with the now infamous Angel Presinal, the same trainer that is banned from all MLB clubhouses and was allegedly working out with Alex Rodriguez. Although Jose claims that it hasn't been within the last three years and that it never involved PED's.  I think it's very discomforting that this steroid issue continues to grow despite the big congressional hearing which everyone thought was the pinnacle of the situation. 

Buster Olney recently wrote a new post, much of it centering on Greinke, and also the Royals improvement this offseason.  No new information really, except for this interesting little tidbit:  

"The Royals actually had a higher offer in a base salary for Orlando Hudson than theDodgers' winning offer -- $4.6 million, more than a million more than L.A.'s winning offer of $3.38 million. But Hudson can make more with the Dodgers if he realizes all of the incentive clauses, and there was a feeling all along within the Royals organization that Hudson's preference was to sign with L.A. and remain in the NL West as he tries to position himself for another run at free agency."

Well, this is somewhat depressing.  All the Royals had to do was add incentives, and we could have had an almost-all-star caliber second baseman and leadoff hitter.  We could have easily tweaked those incentives so that the Cabrera wouldn't have gotten paid unless we were within so many games of the division lead.  While this is the Royals I have come to expect, I wish that we could have pulled this one out.  I genuinely believe it could have turned us into a legitimate contender for the central pennant.

In the Star today was an excellent write-up about my second favorite Royal.  Coco Crisp is the type of "gritty" player that I enjoy being a fan of.  (As opposed to the "sucky" "gritty" player, like Ross Gload.)  While Coco still needs to try and improve his walk rate, if he can get back to his the stat lines he had in his years with Cleveland (or even head in that direction) it will make the loss of Ramon Ramirez hurt even less.  The best part about players like Coco Crisp and Mark Teahen is that you always know you are getting 100% effort from them.  This is clearly not the case with players like Angel Berroa, Neifi Perez and even some current Royals.  Coco has a lot of work to do to get back to the production that he has had in the past, but on a team like Kansas City where the pressure is much more similar to Cleveland than to Boston, maybe he has a chance.

On Royals.com there is a small write-up about Derrick Robinson's first few days of his first trip to major league Spring Training.  While it's clear this is just a "see what you're in for if you work hard" maneuver, I think it is a good idea.  Derrick will be closely working with both Coco Crisp and David DeJesus.  Derrick was the "Willie Wilson Award" winner for last year, which I was previously unaware of until reading this article.  The "Willie Wilson Award" is given out to the best baserunner in the minor league system.  I think this is an excellent idea.  Awarding good baserunning and creating incentives for players to work on it is a somewhat new concept.  The Royals should be doing more things like this, trying to create improvement of their minor leaguers' game in anyway possible.  Creating 5 tool players should be their goal.  

Last thing for the day, for those of you that aren't familiar, I'm a big Paul DePodesta fan.  Paul first came to my attention when he was a predominant figure in "Moneyball" as an assistant to Billy Beane.  He has since moved on to be the Dodgers GM from '04 to '05 and is now a special assistant to GM Kevin Towers of the Padres.  I was on the Paul DePodesta bandwagon (I think I was driving it actually) when the Royals were searching for a GM.  In fact, if DM ever gets fired I really hope Paul gets the job, I think he is an excellent talent and understands statistical correlation in baseball better than almost anyone.  (At least better than anyone who actually has a resume that could land them a GM job.)  Anyway, Paul has a blog that I enjoy reading very much and I thought I might pass that link on to everyone.  That link is Http://itmightbedangerous.blogspot.com so if you get the chance, take a look.  I wish there were more front end personell blogs similar to this with wonderful insight and sometimes even breaking news.  As always, thanks for reading, and please leave a comment if you have a question or want me to cover a specific topic.  Thanks.