Hillman's Gotta Go..

..And fast.

I'm very frustrated writing this post to the point where it's more difficult than usual.  Trey Hillman cost the Royals the game today, and it was the second time *by my count* this has happened this season, and we're only 12 games in.

The Royals sit at 7-5, and if a normal, even semi-intelligent manager had made the calls these first two weeks there is no doubt in my mind the Royals could be 9-3 and sitting pretty atop the AL Central.  But no, Hillman HAS to use Joakim for the 9th inning when we have a lead.  Let's be honest, Joakim Soria is PROBABLY our best pitcher.  If the Royals need one batter retired, Joakim is the guy.  SO WHY IN THE WORLD DO YOU LIMIT HIS INNINGS? Sure, he pitched 4 straight games, so let him sit two, fine.  But why do you bring in the likes of Jamey Wright and Kyle Farnsuck to pitch instead of Soria?  It's gotta stop.  Soon.

Oh, and more AWFUL news.  Hillman has decided Gil Meche needs an extra day off, so instead of pitching Wednesday on normal rest *like he's done all his career with KC* Trey is going to give Horacio the Ball and throw off Meche's schedule, and essentially forfeit the game.  Boy, if Cliff Lee ever got an opportunity to turn his season around this would be it.  In yesterday's post I talked about what Lee did to the Royals in his 4th start last year.  I can only imagine he's already licking his chops seeing what he can do to us on Wednesday.  If the Tribe scored 22 runs in a game that Wang started, I wonder how many they can score against Horacio.. over/under at 30.. anyone?

Anyway, on to the routine stuff:

Hitter of the Game

DDJ and Jacobs both had good offensive games, and they both had defensive.. err.. miscues.  I'll go with Jacobs for the hitter of the game here, simply because his home run came at a more crucial time, at least by my estimation.  Jacobs was 2-4 with a home run, 2 rbi, 1 run scored and 1 strike out, 0 walks.

Pitcher of the Game

We'll go with Kyle Davies, the innings 3-6 version.  Kyle's line ended up at 6 ip, 3 h, 5 bb, 8 k.  Not bad for a #3 starter.  Davies has become very useful, even in his not-completely-effective current form.  He's one of those players that's very close to putting it all together *I think* and when he does, look out!

Tomorrow

The Royals have off tomorrow, creating a perfect opportunity for DM the GM to fire Hillman the game loser.

Zack Greinke is The Chosen One..

Today was one of the more interesting days in baseball this season.

The Yankees lost 22-4, the Marlins are now 10-1 after their 2nd straight 9th inning comeback in as many days, and Zack Greinke set a new Royals record.

The record I'm speaking of, of course, is for the most consecutive innings spanning one or more seasons without allowing a run.  The previous mark, 33, was held by Kevin Appier and set all the way back in 1993.  Greinke one-up'd the Ape, as the record now stands at 34.

I didn't get a chance to watch the game until well after it ended, but I must say, it was easily the most dominating pitching performance by a Royal that I can remember seeing.  Greinke had everything working tonight, and what's most encouraging to me is how he performed with men on the bases.  Zack has always been a player who strives for perfection, and at times in the past it seemed like he would be a little frustrated with himself after making a mistake.  It was obvious tonight, however, that he really buckled down and made his pitches with men on base.

Greinke's line looked like this:  9 ip, 7 h, 0 r, 0 er, 10k, 0 bb.  

His combined line for the season is this:  3-0, 20 ip, 16 h, 0 r, 0 er, 26 k, 5 bb.

Remember Cliff Lee's ridiculous start last spring?  In his first three starts, he had this line:

3-0, 22.2 ip, 8 h, 2 r, 1 er, 20 k, 2 bb

Cliff Lee had a ridiculous start last year, and Zack Greinke is right there with him this year.  

In his 4th start last year, Lee faced the Royals and threw a 9 inning shutout, allowing 3 hits and striking out 9 while walking 0.  Greinke is set to face the Indians next Thursday in his next start, so it will be very intriguing to see what happens.

Today's game had a bunch of pluses, in my opinion.  Hillman let Greinke stay in even over 100 pitches after he allowed a 2 out single in the 9th.  Hillman put in Mitch Maier in the 7th.  Hillman didn't have any player bunt.  These are all good things.  I did think it was kind of dumb to put Maier in for Bloomquist and leave Callaspo at 2nd.  If he was going to make some defensive moves I think it would be best to put Maier in RF, Bloomquist at 2b and Pena at SS.  Although both Aviles and Callaspo batted again, so I understand the thought process of leaving them in until the bottom of the 9th inning, when neither of them (hopefully) would get the chance to bat again.

Maybe there is a big disadvantage to bringing in a player who has sat the bench the whole game to play one half inning of defense, but if Pena Jr. isn't on the roster to play SS in the bottom of the 9th inning of a two run game when your best pitcher is going for his first career shutout and the Royals record for consecutive innings without a run, then what the hell is he on the roster for?

Hitter of the Game

The Royals didn't have a great offensive night, but Billy Butler doubled in the winning run in the 6th inning.  Oh, and it was his 23rd birthday, so he'll get some special consideration for that, as well.  Billy has been off to a slow start this season, but he has looked better now that he has been playing 1B pretty consistently.  I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but I imagine we'll soon find out.  

Pitcher of the Game

It's pretty easy to decide a pitcher of the game when there is only one pitcher in the game.  The Chosen One will earn his 3rd award in as many appearances this season, and he also gets me to hop on his MVP and Cy Young award bandwagon.

Tomorrow

Kyle Davies will face off against Vicente Padilla in a 2:05 central time start tomorrow.  Kyle looks to bounce back from a "shaky" start that saw him give up 3 runs in 5.2 innings to the Tribe.

Thanks for reading, look for my minor league updates to start soon..

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.

I'm dreaming.. Right...?

Whew, after a long day I can barely keep my eyes open!  Then again, why would I want to, knowing that TPJ made the roster.. maybe if I go to sleep I'll wake up and it'll all have been a dream.. TPJ making the roster.. HoSucky and Sucky Ponson making the rotation..  Yeah.. All a dream..

Anyway, we'll look at the game quickly, but expect a longer/better post tomorrow.  I'm just not able to write much tonight!  Sorry!

The Game

Zack Greinke struck out 7 but allowed 4 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks in 5 innings.  Greinke's ERA is at 9.21, so we'll see if he can turn it around for the season, as this was the last game he will pitch in before he will pitch Wednesday in Chicago.  The Rangers outhit the Royals 9-7 and also scored more runs, winning 7-2.  The hitters managed 5 walks and struck out 8 times, not great, but an improvement.  The pitchers struck out 12 Rangers but walked 5.  The strikeouts are fine, but they could stand to walk less hitters.  

Hitter of the Game

David DeJesus was 2-3 today with 2 doubles, netting him the HoG award.  David had 1 RBI, 1 run, 1 K and 1 BB.  He is batting .303 on the spring.  David was in the two hole tonight.  I think I really like him there.

Pitcher of the Game

Hamulack pitched a third of an inning.  But he was the only pitcher who was successful, in my opinion, so he will be the pitcher of the game.  He gave up 0 hits and struck out and walked none as he retired the only batter he faced and stranded his lone inherited runner.  Hamulack has a 2.45 ERA this spring, but it appears he will probably not make the 25 man roster.

Tomorrow

The Royals will play the Rangers in their first game in a big league ball park tomorrow at 1:05 central time.  Kyle Davies gets the nod for the Royals, while Anna Benson's husband will start for the Rangers.  Joakim Soria is also scheduled to pitch.

Thanks for reading!

Gload's Gone but HoSucky Still Sucks!

No More Gload

Well, the Ross Gload era officially ended yesterday, as the Royals sent him and 1.5 of his 1.9 million dollar salary to the Florida Marlins for a PTBNL.  Checking out the blogs I frequent, I was somewhat surprised to see so many intelligent people sad to see him gone.  Ross Gload was awful, he was pegged as a defensive player but had many lapses where he would not pay attention at all on defense.  (An attempted pickoff from Gil Meche (I think) where Gload was asleep and almost got nailed in the face comes to mind.  He was a "high average" hitter who never hit above .288 as a Royal.  And he was left handed.  While that is good, or at least is usually good as a hitter, it severly limits the positions you can play, and as a bench player, limits your usefulness.  Ross Gload was pegged as a decent outfielder, but I personally cringed every time I saw his name penciled in to play there.  Sure, we may get nothing good back, (I was hoping for Robert Andino before I saw he had been traded for Hayden Penn already), but either way, hopefully DM learned that it isn't good to give a player a multimillion dollar extension when he A. is not yet free agent eligible and B. sucks.

I imagine Mitch Maier will make the club out of spring training in Ross's spot, and then will get sent down when the Royals bump up their pitching to 12 players.

The Game

Horacio Ramirez sucks.  Period.  While following this game I almost wanted to throw up.  I surely don't want to write about his performance, so I wont.  Horacio is practically as bad as Joe Mays, Scott Elarton, Fatelvys Hernandez, DJ Carrasco, Brian Anderson, and all the other trash pitchers we've rolled out since 2004.  Awful.  Not any improvement.  Pathetic.  Frustrating.

I can't even type in real sentences anymore!

Anyway - the hitters had 7 hits and 3 runs, but more importantly they finally walked more than they struck out.  (4 walks to 2 strikeouts).  However, I'd prefer more walks, with more strikeouts being acceptable as long as there are more walks (like.. 6 a game would be nice! haha).  Well, regardless, the offense wasn't good enough to overcome Horacio's suckiness (kind of light trying to escape from a black hole..) and the Royals lost to the Rangers 9-3 in front of a crowd of 3,204.  The pitching was bad, giving up 9 runs on 13 hits, though they did strikeout 6 and walk 3. 

Hitter of the Game

The HoG award goes to Shane Costa, the only hitter with 2 hits on the day.  Shane was 2-2 with an RBI and no walks or strikeouts.  Shane is hitting .484 this spring, but likely faces a demotion to AAA Omaha before Sunday's 2 p.m. deadline.

Pitcher of the Game

Kyle Farnsworth once again wins the pitcher of the game award.  Kyle has been excellent since his first few apperances, as he pitched a scoreless 8th inning, walking one and striking out one, while allowing no hits.

Tomorrow 

The Royals will again take on the Texas Rangers tomorrow, but the location will be outside Arizona for the first time this year.  The game is scheduled for 7:05 Central Time and will take place in "Dr. Pepper Ballpark" which is the Rangers' AA affilatie's stadium in Frisco, Texas.  Zack Greinke will take on Vicente Padilla as each of them gears up for the regular season.

Expect my final "breakout candidate of the year" (relievers) post on Saturday and my "official predictions" post on Sunday.

As always, thanks for checking it out.

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.

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.

Royals ride Gil's Gem past Dodgers..

After 35 straight days of blog posting, I needed a few days off, so excuse my short sabbatical.  Anyway, I'm back and ready to hit my stride right as spring training finishes up and the boys in blue pack up and come back home to KC.  The Royals were in action today against the Dodgers, and won handily, 4-1, behind a strong start by Gil Meche.

In fact, all of the pitching was very good today, as the pitchers allowed just one run on 5 hits while striking out 9 and walking just three.  No extra base hits were allowed.

The offense was not bad, either, banging out 10 hits for 4 runs.  2 of the ten hits went for extra bases, both being doubles smacked by John Buck and Jose Guillen.  The offense continues their struggles as of late as far as drawing walks however, as they drew just 1 while striking out 8 times.

Hitter of the Game

Mike Aviles, back in the three hole, continued his torrid pace at the plate today.  Mike was 2-3 with one walk and one RBI.  Aviles is hitting .407/.469/.704 in 27 spring at bats.  

Pitcher of the Game

Gil Meche, no ifs ands or buts.  Gil had the kind of outing that will hopefully quiet critics who had been speaking quite loudly as of late.  Gil pitched 7 shutout innings, allowing just 4 singles.  Gil also struck out 6 batters while walking just one.  Remember, this was a Dodgers lineup that started 7 of its 8 projected starters, including Manny, as only Casey Blake was missing.  Overall a VERY impressive start from Gil, it sounds like his back is just fine.

Tomorrow

Horacio Ramirez will get ANOTHER start tomorrow as the Royals take on the Rangers tomorrow at Surprise Stadium.  First pitch is scheduled for 3:05 central time.  Getting the nod for the Rangers will be Scott Feldman.

John Buck is slugging 1.053? Nice..

The Royals split their split squad series today.  (Say that 5 times fast).  They Beat the Rangers 4-1 but lost to the Brewers 5-1.  Instead of recapping both games I'll just name the HoG and PoG for each game.

Hitter(s) of the Game(s)

JR House will be the hitter of the game for the Brewers game.  He didn't get a hit (only four players managed one single each) but he drew the lone walk and didn't strike out (as a team the Royals struck out 12 times) so basically House earns the award for not sucking as much as everyone else.

Buck will earn the hitter of the game award for the Rangers game.  Buck was 1 for 3 with 2 RBI, a run and a strikeout.  Buck's hit was a 2 run home run against Frank Francisco.  John Buck is hitting .421/.522/1.053 this spring.  (No joke).  Oh, by the way, Olivo is hitting .400/.400/.800 in 10 at bats.  How about that for some slugging catchers.

Pitcher(s) of the Game(s)

Kyle Farnsworth earns the pitcher of the game award for the Brewers game.  After a disappointing debut, Farnsworth bounced back for two scoreless innings Friday.  Kyle gave up 2 hits and walked none while striking out 2 batters.  Kyle's ERA sits at 9.0 on the spring.

Robinson Tejada earns the pitcher of the game award for the Rangers game.  Tejada pitched 4 solid innings, giving up just one run on 4 hits.  Tejada walked 3 but struck out 7.  Tejada's ERA this spring rests at 1.74 in 10.1 innings.

Tomorrow

The Royals will play host to the Arizona Diamondbacks and Jon Garland on Saturday.  Brian Bannister gets the nod for the Royals, and he will be followed by Brandon Duckworth (ew), Juan Cruz (woo), and Yasuhiko Yabuta (boo).  First pitch will be at 3:05 central time.  (I think).

Thanks for reading.  Check in tomorrow for an article on a hitting prospect to watch this summer.

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.

No more Neal - Musser signs with 'Stros

No game today, so it'll be just a short post.

No More Neal

I noticed this little nugget on MLBTR today.  

If you recall, when the Royals claimed INF Timothy "Tug" Hulett off of waivers a few weeks ago, they subsequently DFA'd LRP Neal Musser.  Well, I hadn't heard any news on Musser's status until today.  Apparently the Houston Astros signed Musser today to a minor league deal with an invite to Spring Training, and he reported to the 'Stros camp today.  

*note*

I just checked Royals.com and Neal Musser cleared waivers and was released on the 27th of February.

The Impact.. at least according to me

While it is unfortunate to lose a player like Musser in the sense that it's always good to have extra lefties stashed away in AAA, it's also a very positive sign of where the Royals are headed.  While Musser might not make the Astros out of ST, I think it's only a positive sign that the guys that we get rid of are being picked up by other big league teams.  There was a time when the players that we DFA'd would have to go to an independent league or to Japan, because there were no teams lower than the Royals to pick up our scraps.

Sure, it may not be a big deal, as it surely is just a small sign.  But it's important to keep everything in perspective.  While it definitely takes a long time to turn such an awful franchise as KC around, this is one more sign that we're on the right track.

DFA's in '05 and '06

All of the crappy players we designated for assignment in 2005 and 2006:  RHP Ryan Jensen 6/4/05, Eli Marrero 5/31/05, Calvin Pickering 9/6/05, Kyle Snyder and Devon Lowery 1/6/06, Chip Ambres 3/28/06, Joe Nelson 4/26/06, Steve Andrade 4/1/06, Aaron Guiel 6/30/06, Kerry Robinson 6/21/06, Kyle Snyder 6/11/06, Steve Andrade 6/11/06, Chris Booker 7/9/06, Donnie Murphy and Juan Cedeno 11/20/06, Scott Dohmann 12/8/06, Brandon Duckworth 12/11/06, Paul Phillips 12/15/06

It's proof positive that we're getting better because Neal Musser is better (and at least has a better combination of youth and usefulness (being a lefty) than just about all of those players.  Sure, you can make an argument for some, but I hope you get my point.

Tomorrow

The Royals will take on the Texas Rangers once again, with Heath Phillips, Ron Mahay and Kyle Farnsworth scheduled to pitch.  No official word on the starter, but I imagine it's Heath.  Also, the Royals have a B game against the Rangers in the morning on the side field, getting the start will be Gil Meche.

Thanks again for reading!