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!

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!

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!

I keep waiting for them to lose.. still waiting..

Wow..

I missed the game live, but I watched it after I got home, and I can hardly believe me eyes.  This team is on fire right now.  Period.  I know that it was Carlos Silva that we hit hard, but still..

The offense was great again, working 4 walks against 2 strikeouts.  The pitching, meanwhile, struck out just 3, but walked just 1.

Our record is 17-11 now, and we're still alone atop the Central.. Nice..

Hitter of the Game

Mark Teahen earns the award with his 3-5 with a HR, 3 RBI, 2 Runs, no strikeouts or walks.  Teahen is now hitting .307/.397/.485 on the season.

Pitcher of the Game

Mr. 1 Strikeout, Sidney Ponson earns the award.  Sidney threw 7.1 innings of 1 run ball, giving up 8 hits while walking 1 and striking out 1.  Of his 8 hits, 3 went for extra bases (all were doubles).

Tomorrow

Banny faces off against Jarrod Washburn tomorrow at 1:10 central time.

Thanks for reading, Minor League Notables is taking a day off, but will be back tomorrow!

Bannister effectively wild and wildy effective..

Well it was definitely a good game tonight, although it was pretty weird, as well.  I've never seen a game in which a pitcher has been so dominant when pitching so poorly.  Brian Bannister had only 53 strikes in 103 pitches and yet threw 7 innings giving up just one run on one hit.  He did walk six and strike out two and the game was weird all the way around.  David Purcey struck out just three Royals after being a big time strikeout pitcher in his other starts this season.

Guillen went yardski twice and Miguel hit a home run to center field.  Bloomquist's line ended up 1/2 with 2 walks and a sac fly.  His only hit was a triple.  Coco had another walk.  Teahen had 3 of the hardest hit balls of the game and was 0-3 with a walk.  The Royals as a team took 8 walks, which is encouraging.

Overall it was a fun game, although it was rainy and a bit cold, I had a great time.  The stadium looks awesome and it really feels like a major league ballpark now.  Hopefully I'll be able to upload my pictures sometime tomorrow and get them posted.

Hitter of the Game

Has to be Jose Guillen.  Jose was 3-4 with 2 home runs, 2 runs scored, 3 RBI, no walks and no strikeouts.  Jose was really impressive today as both of his HRs were no doubters and had to be on a night like tonight with the way the weather was.

Pitcher of the Game

This will be the only time this season a pitcher with 6 walks gets the PoG award, but Banny earned it tonight.  He was effectively wild and wildly effective, giving up just one hit in 7 innings, walking six and striking out two.  It was encouraging to see Banny be effective even without his best control, or even his better control, which he blamed on the weather and the wetness of the ball.

Tomorrow

Gil Meche will face Scott Richmond in a 7:10 start.  The Royals will again try and climb back into a tie with Detroit for first place as Detroit is now 11-8 while the Royals are 10-9.

Minor League Notables

The O-Royals offense got to Rangers Super-Prospect Neftali Feliz today, getting 5 runs (although all 5 were unearned) in 2.2 innings off of 3 hits and 4 walks.  The O-Royals won 8-1 over OKC in a game that was called after 7 innings.

Chris Lubanski had 2 more hits, going 2/3 with a double and a walk.  He drove in 2 runs and scored 1 himself.

Luke Hochevar threw 6 innings giving up 1 unearned run on 4 hits and 2 walks.  He struck out 7 and threw 96 pitches.  His ERA is now 1.44 this young season.

Jose Bonilla, the young catcher for the Burlington Bees hit his first home run of the season tonight.  On the game he was 1/3 with 2 rbi and a run scored.

Thanks as always for reading.

Zack Greinke dominates (again), Juan Cruz's new nickname is "The Committee" ??

Doctor's Office

Joakim Soria is injured.  He will not be going on the DL immediately, however, which is encouraging.  Apparently he has some shoulder stiffness which all of the Royals' Brass are saying is not a big deal.  I'll believe it when I see him dominating on the mound again.  Trey Hillman says that he is going to use a closer by committee while Joakim the Dream is injured.  I guess that means Juan Cruz's new nickname is the committee, as he is the only one who should be closing.

It really doesn't get any better than this.

Greinke may have ended his scoreless streak tonight, but who cares?  He's first in the league in almost every pitch category and he continues to dominate.  Allard Baird is smiling somewhere..

I don't think Greinke will continue to go 9 innings 0 earned runs the rest of the year, but if he can even be anywhere close to this he's a lock for the AL Cy Young.  Awesome.

Our offense wasn't awful today either, banging out 8 hits and drawing 4 walks for 6 runs against a pretty good young pitcher.  Teahen and Callaspo both had home runs, which was a nice touch.

Hitter of the Game

We'll go with Mark Teahen who was 1-4 with the 2 run home run in the first inning, which would have been enough runs on its own for the win.  Teahen scored a run himself (obviously) and did not strike out or walk.

Pitcher of the Game

Zack Greinke - 9 ip 3 h 0 er 10 k 1 bb

really?

enough said.

Tomorrow 

Kyle Davies will face Zach Miner tomorrow in a 6:10 start.  Supposedly the Royals have already sold 30,000 tickets, so it should be packed again as it's jersey give-away night.

Lets take a look at 3 minor league hitters who have impressed me so far this spring.  All of them are outfielders.

Derrick Robinson - High A - Wilmington Blue Rocks -  His defense is what he's known for, it's his offense he's been needing to work on.  Tonight Derrick was 2-5 with 1 run scored and 2 strikeouts.  He also stole a base.  On the season Derrick is hitting just .226/.314/.226.  This sounds unimpressive, but he's really not doing too poorly, having scored 10 runs in 14 games and driven in 5 himself.  He is also 9 for 11 in stolen bases in his first 14 games.  He has drawn 8 walks to 12 strikeouts.  Derrick isn't off to a great start, but his stolen bases and walks are what are impressing me so far.  Expect the hitting to come around, I know I do.

Jose Duarte - AA - Northwest Arkansas Naturals - Jose was 0-2 with a walk, a sac bunt and no strikeouts tonight.  He scored a run and stole 3rd base as well.  On the season Jose is hitting .348/.456/.457 which is awesome.  Jose is 24 this season and in his 2nd year of AA so it's expected he'd do well, but I'm very impressed.  Jose has drawn 10 walks to just 6 strikeouts and is 7-7 in stolen bases.  He has scored 9 runs and driven in 4.  Jose is regarded as the best defensive outfielder in the system.  I'd expect him in AAA probably sometime around the all star break.  If you've read my blog at all, you know I'm a huge fan of Jose.

Chris Lubanski - AAA - Omaha Royals - Chris was 0-3 with a walk tonight.  On the season he is hitting .302/.397/.492.  He has scored 15 runs in 16 games and has driven in 8 runs.  He has drawn 10 walks against 15 strikeouts and has 7 extra base hits so far.  He is also 4-4 in stolen bases.  I've obviously written a lot about Chris and you know I'm a fan of his.  If he continues to hit .300/.400/.500 (or very close) expect him in KC at some point this season.

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!

Teahen celebrates return to 3rd with 5 hits as Gordon hits the DL..

Tonight was one of those nights when (almost) everything goes right.  The starter had a quality start, everyone in the lineup had at least 2 hits except for DDJ, and well, the bullpen wasn't great, but we won the game.  Obviously Gil didn't have a perfect game, as the Rangers had plenty of baserunners, but he was able to pitch 6 shutout innings, and I'll never turn down that from my starter.  He also recorded 6 strikeouts, giving him 18 strikeouts in 20 innings.  Gil leads the AL with those 18 strikeouts, not too bad.

The Royals take over first place in the AL Central as they improve their record to 6-4 on the season.  Even more impressive, they have scored 11 more runs than they have allowed (43:32).  A sign which validates their above .500 record.

I said everyone but DDJ had two hits, well Coco didn't, he only had one, but that one hit was a HR.  Coco is now batting a ridiculous .235/.409/.647 on the season.  Remember when I said Coco would be the Royals best hitter this season?  Yeah, I wasn't kidding..

But Coco's game today didn't come close to our HoG, Mr. Teabag.

Hitter of the Game

Mark Teahen had one of the best games of his career tonight, as he was 5-6 with 3 runs and an RBI.  Teahen was a triple short of the cycle as he counted a HR, a 2B and 3 singles amongst his 5 hits.  Teahen will be playing 3B for the next few months as Alex Gordon recovers from his hip surgery, so look for Teahen to step it up at the plate as he settles in to his natural position.

Pitcher of the Game

Gotta be Gil.  Meche pitched 6 scoreless innings allowing 6 hits, none of which went for extra bases.  Gil struck out 6 batters and walked just 2, increasing his K:BB ratio to 18:4, very nice.

As I said earlier, Alex Gordon is expected to miss the next 2 or 3 months, as he had successful hip surgery in Vail, Colorado earlier today.  Mark Teahen will fill in at third for him, and Mitch Maier was recalled from AAA and will probably see some time in the OF while Guillen is still hurt, which will be for another week or so.  It will be interesting to see what roster moves get made once Guillen comes back from the DL.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow Zack tries to maintain his league leading 0.00 ERA, as he'll face Kevin Millwood in a 7:05 central time start.

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.

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.

Stars aligned for Teahen to take off??

Well, after another short hiatus I'm back.  I guess I should warn everyone that throughout the season I may miss a few days due to my somewhat unpredictable schedule.  Rest assured, however, that I will always be back and should be able to catch up the PoG and HoG award winners for the games that I missed.  Speaking of the PoG and HoG, you should notice a new table on the main page with a list of all the HoGs and PoGs that I will update all year long.

Anyway, let's look what's gone on since I last posted!

The Royals fell 4-2 on Tuesday, with 3 of those runs coming from a shot by Jim Thome.  Personally, I was distraught when Meche wasn't run back out to pitch the 8th after he only had 91 pitches in the 7th (this was a pitcher who led the league in pitches last year), but I was even more distraught when Hillman left Farnsworth (the king of giving up HR.. or at the least the Prince to Joel Peralta's King) in to face one of the best HR hitters of all time.  Farnsworth throws hard and straight, Thome hits hard straight balls a long ways..  Bad combo.  I fully expected Hillman to put in Mahay or Soria or even Cruz in after Farnsworth K'd the righty Quentin.  It just didn't make much sense to me for Farns to stay in.  But by not posting yesterday I mostly missed out on this discussion so I'll let bygones be bygones.   Anyway, there were only two pitchers yesterday and one ended up with an ERA of 9, the other ended up with an ERA under 2.  For those reasons I'll anoint Gil Meche as the first PoG.  As for hitters, I'll name the only player to drive in a run (he drove in 2) to be the HoG.  Gil Meche and Alex Gordon, if those two players are the most important for a lot of games this year I expect we'll do pretty well.

As for today's game, I felt like it was a slightly worse game for the Royals than yesterday, even though they won.  The offense was slightly less patient and the pitching was slightly less good.  Don't get me wrong, it was a great game.  In fact, I think one of the most important plays of April happened this game.  In the 8th inning, Mark Teahen ranged far to his right and scooped a ball up on the run and threw out Dewayne Wise.  While Mark Grudz probably would have made this look routine even with his reduced range, I was pretty impressed.  I know it's early, but so far Mark Teahen has not been embarrassing at 2nd base.  Listening to his interview today on 810 with Soren Petro, he makes me want to believe that playing 2nd base is something he will work even harder at than learning the OF.  This is because it is something he enjoys.  Mark Teahen will probably never have the career he could have had if the Royals had drafted Ryan Braun and moved him to the OF while keeping Teahen at 3B.  But that doesn't have to be a bad thing.  Teahen is only 27 this season, and while he may not be that pull hitter everyone wants him to be, by playing 2B and having Kevin Seitzer as a pitching coach, I really feel like the stars are in line for Teahen to have another breakout year.  He may not do this by hitting for a ton of power, but look for a player who will hit for around .290 with a lot of doubles, a lot of walks, less strikeouts, and around 15 home runs.  Maybe a player similar to Jose Lopez with a few more walks?  That may be something to hope for.  Probably not as good defensively as Jose, however.

Anyway, the PoG of today's game has to be Zack Greinke.  Greinke looked like good ol' vintage Zack.  I had hoped he could get through 7 innings, but let's be honest, in today's world 6 innings of shutout ball and 3 hits is pretty good for a starting pitcher.  Add in the fact you're pitching AT the home of one of the better offenses in the league, and he had a downright great performance.  The hitter of the game will be Mike Aviles.  Mike had a nice bounceback day after going 0-4 in his '09 debut yesterday.  Mike was the only Royal to score a run, as he scored both of the runs today.  He also started the only double play of the game.

Another thing I just remembered that somewhat irks me is the sac bunt that Crisp had to lay down today.  I know Hillman used to manage in Japan, but c'mon!  There simply isn't a Tony Pena Jr. in the starting lineup (hopefull there won't be in ANY starting lineup this season!)  The Royals lineup is clearly aligned for offense, otherwise Gload will still be here and playing 1B, Bloomquist would be playing 2B Guillen would be the DH with Teahen in the OF.  But, that's not the case, the lineup is catered to offense, so let them hit!  What irked me even more was there was a wild pitch to move Aviles to 2B while Crisp was trying to bunt.  Did Trey decide to then let Crisp swing away with a 2-0 count?  NO.  He made Crisp bunt Aviles over to 3rd.  Ouch.  This is the leadoff hitter we're talking about.  A player capable of 35 doubles and 15 home runs, not to mention a .300 average.  And we're bunting over to 3rd with no outs..  Really?

This nonsense has to stop!

On the plus side, there haven't really been any baserunning gaffs yet, and no stolen bases, so that's a good sign.  (I think only Crisp and Teahen should be green-lighted on the basepaths.. everyone else is probably too much of a liability.  And I'm not saying Teahen is as good at stealing as Crisp, I just think he is as smart on the basepaths as any other player in the majors, so the trust should be there to allow him to know when to run and when not to run.)

Anyway, the game tomorrow starts at 1:05 p.m. with Kyle Davies taking on John Danks.  Should be another pitcher's duel.. (or so we hope!)

Thanks for reading!

p.s. I picked 77 in the poll question..

Royals name their crappy rotation, as well as finalize their 11 man pitching staff..

The Royals beat the Colorado Rockies 6-5 today, as they fought through another attempted blown save by Joakim the Dream (I think he's been spending way too much time around Sidney and Horacio lately).  

Meche made his final start of the preseason today as he pitched 4 shaky innings.  Although he only gave up 1 run, he did walk 4 colorado hitters while striking out just 2.  Meche did give up just 3 hits, so while he didn't have his best control (probably not even his "better" control) he still wasn't very hittable.  Definitely a good sign.  The pitchers en masse were not awful, though Soria had his second bad outing in a row.  The pitchers allowed 5 runs on 9 hits while striking out 6 while walking 5.  The hitters were better, but still not great.  They did score 6 runs on 11 hits, but drew just 3 walks against 7 strikeouts, numbers I'd still like to see them improve upon.  They did have 7 extra base hits, and 6 were for home runs, which is nice.

Hitter of the Game

Mark Teahen once again earns the hitter of the game award, although it could have gone to any number of home run hitters, Teahen was the best of them all today, I think.  Mark was 2-4 with 1 RBI, 1 run scored and 1 home run.  After today's game, and with one remaining, Teahen is tied for 3rd in the nation in home runs (7) and is first in slugging percentage (1.000).  Not bad for a second baseman.

Pitcher of the Game

Doug Waechter will be the pitcher of the game for today.  He bounced back from his previous poor outings with 2 perfect innings, striking out one Rockie (Rocky?).  Doug apparently has pitched well enough this spring to make the final cut as the 11 pitchers the Royals are going to start the season with have been named, but more on that later.

Tomorrow

The Royals have the last game of their Cactus League pre-season tomorrow.  They will face the Texas Rangers as Hosucky Ramirez will face Scott Feldman.  The Royals will then travel to Texas to play the Rangers two more times, once on Friday and then again on Saturday in Arlington.

Well, it looks like the rotation is set.  Not only that, but the entire pitching staff is set as well.  All signs point towards the Royals opening the season with 11 pitchers, which has been their standard procedure for the last few seasons.  It looks like the pitching staff will look like the following, at least for the first few weeks or so:

Rotation:

Gil Meche

Zack Greinke

Kyle Davies

Sucky Ponson

Hosucky Ramirez

'Pen:

Doug Waechter

Robinson Tejada

Ron Mahay

Kyle Farnsworth

Juan Cruz

Joakim the Dream

Overall, I'm quite frustrated, and I have been ever since learning that Hosucky and Sucky Ponson are both going to be in the rotation.  Not only that, but Sucky Ponson even gets to start the Home Opener against the Yankees, so the first game in the "New" Kauffman Stadium will be a 20-5 shellacking.  Awesome.

Look, I understand the reasoning for Hochevar and Banny to get sent down, and I'm not wholly opposed to those moves.  But DM, you've been here 3 freaking years and the Royals are still sending out pitchers who don't deserve to be the 25th man on a roster, let alone starting the home opener for your ball club.  I mean honestly, I'd rather see Matt Wright in the rotation than Hosucky or Sucky Ponson.  At least you might catch lightning in a bottle with him.  Ponson and Ramirez are both retreads who haven't seen success in half a decade.  It's pathetic and frustrating, and frankly, I don't care to write about it anymore.

Thanks for reading.

If Mark Teahen strikes out 4 times but hits a home run, is it a good or a bad game for him..?

If Mark Teahen hits a home run (his 6th of the spring) but strikes out 4 times, is it a good game or a bad game for him?

Thats exactly what happened today, and it's kind of as confusing as the tie the Royals had, their 932nd this spring.. (not really).. 

The Royals tied the Cubbies 8-8 in 10 innings as Davies labored through 5.2 innings but wasn't terrible overall.  Former Notre Dame wideout Jeff Smardzija ate up the Royals in his 1.1 innings with 3 strikeouts, although he did give up an unearned run.  Overall, a bad game for the offense, who drew just 2 walks while striking out 13 times.  The pitching dished out 4 walks against 6 strikeouts, so unacceptable numbers all around.  The pitching gave up 14 hits while the offense had 10 hits.

Hitter of the Game

Alex Gordon's two home run performance makes him the hitter of the game today.  Alex was 2-5 with 2 runs and 3 RBI while striking out once and not walking today.  Both of Alex's HR's came off of Rich Harden, Alex's batting average sits at .323 this spring.

Pitcher of the Game

Kyle Farnsworth gets the pitcher of the game award today as he pitched a perfect 8th inning striking out 2 cubs.  Kyle's ERA stands at 5.40 on the spring.

Tomorrow

Sidney Ponson (ugh) will start against the Oakland Athletics tomorrow at 3:05 at Phoenix Stadium.  Josh Outman will get the nod for the A's.

Mark Teahen's line is .500/.553/1.000 .. impressive..

The Royals took the early lead but blew it in the 9th inning when Roman Colon gave up 3 runs.  The Royals and Rangers both banged out 10 hits, but the Rangers turned those into 8 runs while the Royals stranded 7 as a team and only managed 5 runs.  The hitters drew just 3 walks against 10 strikeouts as they continued their streak of poor pitch selection.  On the other hand the Pitchers only issued 2 walks but struck out just 5.  

Horacio Ramirez continued on his path to AAA as he allowed 4 runs (3 earned) on 4 hits in 5 innings.  HoRam stuck out just 1 and walked no one.

Hitter of the Game

It has to be Mark Teahen again.  I feel like a homer but Teahen really has been awesome as of late.  Mark was 2-3 today with no walks and 1 strikeout, all while playing second base.  Mark scored 2 runs and drove in another.  One of Mark's hits was a triple off of Feldman.  Mark's line on the spring is .500/.553/1.000.. not too bad for a second baseman, eh?

Pitcher of the Game

Doug Waechter pitched a perfect 6th inning, striking out one batter.  Waechter has seen a lot of action recently as the Royals are really working him to see if he has a place on the regular season roster.  After today's outing Waechter's ERA sits at an even 21.00 (no, the decimal's not in the wrong place)..  We'll see how he does in the near future.

Tomorrow

Zack Greinke and the boys in blue will face off against Jarrod Washburn and the Mariners in Peoria at 3:05 tomorrow.  Greinke will look to build off of his impressive performance last time out.

Mike Aviles Grand Slam caps off 8-3 win as Greinke K's 8..

Recap

The Royals only scored in two innings today, 4 runs each to be exact, and that would be all they needed to beat the Oakland A's in front of a crowd of 5,359.  Josh Outman struggled to get through his 3.1 innings, including giving up a grand slam to SS Mike Aviles before recording any outs in the second inning.  He managed to bounce back and not allow any more runs after that home run, but the damage was done.

Zack Greinke was solid, striking out 8 over his 5 innings of work, although he did face some command issues as he walked two and hit a batter.  The A's managed to get to Zack for 3 runs in the 2nd inning but only 2 were earned after an Alberto Callaspo throwing error ruined a double play that should have ended the inning.  I'm beginning to wonder if Teahen is any worse defensively at 2nd base than Callaspo.

Oh, by the way Teahen hit another HR today, albeit in an intrasquad game.

Hitter of the Game

Mike Aviles and his grand slam garner him the hitter of the game award for today.  Aviles drove in 5 runs total and scored one himself on a 2-3 day at the plate.  Mike did not strike out or walk.  He is hitting .333 this spring.

Pitcher of the Game

Although he gave up the only runs of the game, Zack Greinke will be the pitcher of the game today.  Zack allowed 3 runs (2 earned) over his 5 innings of work today.  He gave up 4 hits, one of which went for extra bases (a Daric Barton triple).  Greinke walked two batters but struck out a total of 8.  Not bad.

Tomorrow

The Royals have another off day on Wednesday and will resume play on Thursday afternoon.

Joel Peralta asked to pitch home run derby..

Okay, Joel Peralta wasn't ACTUALLY asked to be the pitcher of the home run derby, but he probably should be.  I remember a few years ago when Joel was actually good.  Of course, that was back when the Royals were really bad, and I'd much rather have good Royals and bad Joel than the alternative.

Of course I'm talking about Joel Peralta allowing Chase Headley to take him deep for a 3 run walk off home run today as the Padres fought back against the Royals and won 9-7.  Headley's home run was the only one of the game, but it was enough to bring the Padres back after Kyle Davies had held them to 1 run over his 5.1 innings.  The offense pumped out enough runs to win, but between Waechter and Peralta the pitching just couldn't hold off the offensive juggernaut that the Padres ran out there.  (Adrian Gonzalez and Brian Giles didn't even play today).  Ouch.

Hitter of the Game

Mark Teahen will grab the hitter of the game award today, as he continues on his torrid pace as of late.  Mark was 3-4 with a double and two singles.  Teahen drove in 3 runs and did not strike out or walk.  He also stole second and third base in the first inning after his RBI single.  Teahen is batting .514/.564/1.057 and leads all of the MLB in slugging counting players with at least 10 at bats.

Pitcher of the Game

The Mexicutioner.  Enough said.  Joakim the dream pitched 2 scoreless innings giving up just one single.  Joakim struck out two and walked none.  Soria has yet to allow a run this spring.

Tomorrow

Zack Greinke and the Royals will host Sean Gallagher and the Oakland A's tomorrow night in Surprise.  First pitch will be at 8:05 Central Time.

Editorial on Teahen

There has beena  lot of debate recently on what Teahen's stellar spring numbers actually mean.  While I am impressed by his performance, it is not an indicator of how he will do this season.  That being said, I don't think it matters if Trey and Dayton make him a starter or not because of his spring numbers.  The fact of the matter is Mark Teahen will get his at bats this summer, starting or otherwise.  If he continues to hit even half as well as he has this spring, then Bloomquist, Gload, TPJ, hell, even Mario Mendoza himself couldn't keep Teahen out of the lineup.

My point is, don't worry.  If he Teahen is named a starter out of spring training, fine.  If he isn't named a starter, fine.  Point is, if he performs, I have no doubt that Trey will get him at bats.

Thanks for reading.

Ponson debuts in minor league game as Royals cruise in Tucson

Sir Sidney Ponson made his debut today, pitching 5 solid innings.  Ponson allowed just one run on a solo homer, struck out three and walked none.  Ponson needed just 49 pitches to get through those 5 innings as he did not pitch more than 4 pitches to any one batter.  Time will tell us if Ponson really has anything left in the tank, but for now, you couldn't ask for a much better debut from the veteran sinkerballer.

At the same time Sir Sidney was debuting, the Royals were off in Tucson facing the Arizona Diamondbacks.  Meche lasted just 3 2/3 innings, wasting 82 pitches in the process.  Vintage Gil Meche, one might say.  The good news was that 8 players had multi-hit games, as the Royals banged out 22 hits as a team.  those 22 hits were good for 13 runs as they beat the d-backs 13-6.

The offense was easily the better side of the team today, as 7 of the 22 hits went for extra bases.  Butler and Maier led the XBH charge as Butler had a home run and a double and Maier had two doubles.  The hitters struck out 6 times and managed just 3 walks, however.  Fairly disappointing numbers for such an offensive game.  Teahen, Colon, and Tommy Murphy all made errors as well.  Teahen did manage three hits today, however, driving his spring line up to .484/.543/1.065 with 5 home runs.

As a whole, the pitching wasn't THAT bad.  The pitchers allowed 6 runs on 13 hits, with half of those runs being allowed by Gil Meche.  Gil also allowed 8 hits in his 3 2/3 innings.  The pitchers did strike out 9 and walk just 4, an encouraging sign.  In fact, only the three runs allowed by Gil were earned, as the other three (one by Jamey Wright, two by Yaushiko Yabuta) were unearned.  

Hitter of the Game

Lots of good options here today, but I'm going to go with Billy Butler.  Billy the kid was 2 for 6 with 3 runs scored and 5 RBI.  Billy did not draw a walk or strike out.  His two hits were a double and a home run.  The double was off of Travis Blackley and the home run was off of Evan MacLane.  Billy's spring line sits at .341/.408/.614.

Pitcher of the Game

Pitcher of the game today will be Roman Colon.  Roman earned his first hold of the season as he pitched a scoreless 7th and 8th innings today.  Roman gave up just one hit, a double to Chris Young.  Colon did not walk any and struck out one.  Roman's spring ERA sits at a breezy 0.93. 

Tomorrow

The Royals will host the LA Angels of Anaheim at the Surprise complex tomorrow.  First pitch is scheduled for 3:05 central time.  Horacio Ramirez will get the nod for the Royals.  He will face off against John Lackey.  Also scheduled to pitch are Robinson Tejada and Lenny DiNardo.

Teahen goes yardski..

Well the Royals went down today, and went down hard.  I know it's just spring training but it's never fun to see your pitching get demolished like that.  

Overall the pitchers gave up 9 runs on 17 hits, 8 of which went for extra bases.  The pitching did manage 9 strikeouts against 4 walks, not too bad.  The hitters scored just 3 runs on 11 hits and struck out 9 times while drawing just 2 walks.  

Hitter of the game

Mark Teahen grabs the hitter of the game award tonight.  Teahen was 2-4 with a solo home run and no strikeouts or walks.  He drove in one run and scored one run.

Pitcher of the game

Tim Hamulack will be the pitcher of the game for tonight.  I had never seen Tim pitch before and he was fairly impressive I thought.  Tim pitched a scoreless 8th inning, striking out 2 batters and allowing 2 hits.

Overall thoughts..

I felt like overall I was impressed with our hitters approach at the plate.  While it didn't amount to a lot of walks tonight, there were very few first pitch outs, which is encouraging as that is one of the most frustrating things in baseball for me.  (That and leadoff walks, of course).  

Tony Pena Jr. looked awful in the field, while I felt Mark Teahen didn't look half bad.  IF Teahen can continue his torrid hitting (and that is a big IF) then I feel like there will be almost no option but to start him at 2nd base.  (Hey, if Skip Schumaker can do it...).  Greinke's stuff was there, but I felt like he was kind of just toying around a lot, so I'm not too worried about his line for the night.

On another note, Joel Goldberg is as obnoxious and annoying as ever and Frank White continues to underwhelm me.

Tomorrow

The Royals are off on Thursday

Thanks as always for reading, look for me to continue my "breakout candidate of the year" series tomorrow on the Royals day off.

Why Teahen may bounce back..

Mark Teahen is back at it, trying to prove that he deserves a position SOMEWHERE in the starting lineup.  He and the Royals beat the Chi Sox 11-7 today.  Let's recap the game.

The offense banged out 15 hits and scored at least one run in 7 different innings.  The hitters drew 5 walks against 5 strikeouts.  The pitching wasn't as great as the offense, as they did give up 7 runs.  The pitchers gave up just 7 hits for those runs though (4 went for extra bases).  

Hitter of the game

Picking up the hitter of the game is Mark Teahen.  Mark was 2-3 with a home run and a single.  Mark drew one walk and did not strike out.  Mark scored 3 runs and drove in 2, his spring average sits at .455.

Pitcher of the game

The pitcher of the game has to be Kyle Farnsworth, who has been excellent since his poor debut.  Kyle pitched one scoreless inning, allowing no hits.  Kyle walked one batter and struck out one batter.  His spring ERA is "down" to 7.50

Tomorrow

The Royals will make the longest trip of the spring tomorrow to Tucson to face the Colorado Rockies and Ubaldo Jimenez.  Set to pitch for the Royals is Kyle Davies, Yasuhiko Yabuta, Juan Cruz, and Roman Colon.  

My thoughts on Mark

I'll be completely honest.  I'm probably Mark Teahen's biggest fan.  2005 Mark was a rookie, and I had just started following the Royals very closely (I'd been a fan since I saw Chili Davis hit a monster home run in 1997 at the first royals game I can remember going to).  But I was also beginning to give up on Mark Teahen being a full time player.  Not to say I didn't want to believe.  Mark has a lot of potential, after all.  He has the size, the athleticism, the batter's eye.  But that's also Mark's curse, because it leads to so many expectations for him.

It doesn't help that he was the key piece in a trade for Kansas City's best player in a decade.  It doesn't help that he was a key figure in the book "Moneyball".  Mark never asked to be such an important piece in an organization.  And I honestly believe that if he had never been traded from Oakland he would easily have been playing third base for their big league squad since 2006 when Eric Chavez figured out how to not know how to hit AND be hurt all the time.  

The point is, this is an important year for Mark, because he finally has the opportunity to be what he really is.  And that is a good player.  Mark hustles, can draw walks, can hit for doubles, can steal bases, etc. etc.  Mark also will usually have a low BA, will strike out too much and will probably disappoint people with his power.  What I mean by this is that Mark, while having average power, will never wow people with the light tower HRs that people expect of an athlete of his size and strength.  

I'm sure everyone has heard the story about Mark and his whiffle ball days.  His dad and brothers would play at the top of a hill and his dad would tell him that if he would hit the ball the other way than he would go get the ball but if he pulled the ball down the hill than Mark would have to go get it.  This has essentially turned Mark into an opposite way only hitter.  However, Mark has been pulling a lot of balls this spring.  Mark is currently tied with 7 other players for third in home run this spring, and of all the hitters with at least four, Mark has the fewest at bats.  In fact, the next fewest at bats is Wilson Betemit who has 6 more.  Mark's line this spring sits at .455/.520/1.136.  Not bad.

I guess my whole thinking on this subject is that if everyone's expectations changes a little this year, I think that Mark will be a lot more loved this season.  Mark brings a lot of things to the table, we just need to sit back and see what he can do for the Royals this season.

Thanks as always for reading.

Teahen Tees off Twice..

The Royals lit up Barry Zito today for 6 runs in 5 innings on 10 hits, beating the Giants 11 to 3 today.  As bad as the Royals were yesterday is as good as they were today.  The offense managed 17 hits including 6 extra base hits and scored 11 runs.  The hitters drew 6 walks against just 4 strikeouts, a trend that has been continuing as of late (drawing more walks than strikeouts).  The pitching was stellar as well, although they gave up 12 hits, they only allowed 3 runs.  The pitchers did only walk one batter however, which is awesome, and did strike out 6 giants.  Overall, a very good game for the boys in blue.

Hitter of the game

Mark Teahen gets the award for hitter of the game today, as he went 3-4 while drawing a walk and not striking out.  Teahen scored 4 runs and drove in 2 runs as well.  Mark's three hits were a double and 2 home runs.  His spring batting average sits at .400.

Pitcher of the game

Luke Hochevar will be the pitcher of the game today, as he went 4.1 innings, allowing just 1 run.  Luke did give up 6 hits, including a double and a triple, however he only walked one batter, while striking out two.  Luke's spring ERA sits at 2.92.

Tomorrow

The Royals will travel to Camelback Ranch for a 3:05 game against the Chi Sox tomorrow afternoon.  Gil Meche gets the nod for the good guys, he will face Bartolo Colon.

A couple of hitting prospects to keep your eye on this summer

I figured I would let you in on a couple of prospects that I am going to keep my eye on this summer.  They're not really unheard of, but they don't get a lot of press either.  Adrian Ortiz and Paulo Orlando are both centerfielders that intrigue me because of their abilities.  Both Orlando and Ortiz will probably start the year in Wilmington.  Neither of them may every amount to more than Joey Gathright, but I think that both of these young players have a lot of potential.

Thanks as always for reading.