Obviously, the big news out of Surprise on Sunday morning was the decision to option Johnny Giavotella to Omaha. Ned Yost said that Giavotella didn’t lose the second-base job; Yuniesky Betancourt and Chris Getz just played better than expected. Yost thought that Getz looked like a different hitter this spring, and both Betancourt and Getz give the Royals better options on defense.
Yost said he wouldn’t name a starting second baseman, nor is it a platoon situation. Yost won’t paint himself into a corner by making that kind of statement. It will be a day-by-day, mix-and-match process. We’ll see how that plays out in reality, but, like the closer situation, I’m guessing Yost wants to keep all of his options open — who wouldn’t?
Later, Doug Sisson said that unless you’ve seen Getz play every day, you just won’t get it. There’s just too much that Getz does to help a team that doesn’t show up in any number. The Royals have made a commitment to defense, and the feeling is Giavotella would be better off working on his in Omaha while getting at-bats every day.
I’m pretty sure I didn’t just end the Chris Getz debate, but it’s clear that the people who play the game tend to hold a higher opinion of him than the people who don’t.
So what about Yuni? I got a chance to talk to infield coach Eddie Rodriguez and asked about Betancourt’s defense. When Yuni was here in 2010, he had the tendency to take his shuffle steps forward and wind up with his left foot ahead of his right. (Watch infielders as a pitch is delivered and you’ll see them shuffle forward to bring their weight to the balls of their feet.) Rodriguez said it was like Yuni was facing the third base dugout instead of home plate.
Then, when Betancourt had to go to his left, he’d basically run around his left hip. (Try putting your left foot in front of your right and then take a crossover step to your left and you’ll see what I mean.) Eddie is solving this by starting Yuni with his left foot behind his right. It’s like a hitter who strides too far toward the plate and compensates by starting with an open stance. The object is to end up in a balanced position.
Rodriguez also wants Betancourt to position his feet wider. If an infielder has his feet too close together, he’ll stand upright—a poorly balanced position.
The other moves: Vin Mazzaro and Jarrod Dyson were also optioned to Omaha. Yost said if Dyson stays in the big leagues, he’d be a pinch runner and defensive replacement—and the Royals think he can be more than that. They want him to work on his offense and become the everyday player the Royals think he can be.
Yost said Dyson needs to use his legs more on offense. Translation: hit line drives and grounders, bunt for hits and keep the ball out of the air.
The lineup: If you want to speculate (and what baseball fan doesn’t?) try figuring out who hits second in the Royals’ lineup. It would be a bit unusual to have three lefties in a row (Gordon, Getz, Hosmer) — it makes it too easy on the other team’s bullpen. Even so, Yost says he’s got no problem with having those three at the top of the order.
You could try to figure out who has number two-type bat-handling skills or you can just decide which five hitters you’d want to have an extra at-bat. Most nights, the top of the order gets one.
Moustakas’ glove: Mike Moustakas was using a very small glove while taking grounders Sunday morning. It was a “training glove” and the fingers were about three inches shorter than his regular model. The smaller glove forced Moose to keep his head down all the way through the catch—there was no room for error with such a tiny piece of leather. Catch the ball clean or you don’t catch it at all.
Mike was also working on the angle of his wrist. Apparently, Moose has the tendency to flatten out his palm (which means it’s facing the sky). The correct angle is to have the palm facing the hitter—which increases the area of the glove presented to the ball and that increases the chances of fielding the ball cleanly.
The scoop: Saturday night against the Diamondbacks, first baseman Eric Hosmer made a terrific scoop to save an infielder an error. Later in the game, Hosmer made one of those giant scoops on a throw from Alcides Escobar, didn’t catch the ball cleanly and knocked it almost all the way back to second base. Sunday morning I asked Hosmer if the ball hit him in the palm, and he said he just got a little carried away with the scooping motion. Watch to see what adjustment he makes this season.
Mirror image: If they’ve been there the entire time, I don’t know how I missed them. Today I noticed the Royals had fashioned crude mirrors (some type of film stretched over sheets of plywood) and positioned the mirrors next to the batting cages. While standing at the plate, a hitter could look up and see a full-length image of himself. There were mirrors on both sides of the plate, so it didn’t make any difference if the hitter was right or left-handed. Pros don’t hit too many balls sideways, but the “mirror” materials used make sure if it does happen, nobody has to pick up shattered glass.
No early work: Day game after a night game means no early work and no team fundamentals. The Royals did their usual stretching, throwing and batting practice, then got ready for the 1:05 game against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Joel Kallem
1 year, 1 month agoNot a big surprise. Gio yet to establish himself while Getz and Yuni have proven themselves at the big league level. I think the same thing will happen in the outfield where our new player from Houston will stick over Dyson.
Joel Kallem
1 year, 1 month agoSorry. Just read the whole article like I should have before commenting and lo and behold the second part of my thought was laid out there. Can’t get ahead of Lee :-)
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month agoTough day for Felipe Paulino: five earned runs, three walks and an error in two and two-thirds innings. Felipe said his stuff was good, but he wasn’t hitting spots. After the game, Ned Yost said stuff is what they’re watching for at this point, but pitchers need to be able to make adjustments and today Paulino didn’t.
Yost said that at this point in spring training, guys on the bubble are feeling pressure and guys under pressure tend to try too hard. But there is a bit of pressure in the major leagues, too. Showing you can handle it is important.
Jim Fetterolf
1 year, 1 month agoLee, been crunching some career numbers on Getz, with the usual small sample size caveats, and Chris does best hitting 7th, next best batting 9th, third best at 8th, worst hitting 1st. Chris Getz batting 7th and following Frenchy against righties looks possible, or 8th following Frenchy, Moose, and Esky against lefties looks best on paper and keeps the LRLR thing going.
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month agoJoel: You got it right: when I asked about Bourgeois over Dyson I was told Bourgeois was more of a proven commodity.
He doesn’t have Dysons’s speed (who does?), but he ain’t bad either. I was also told he was “our kind of player.” I think the Royals are trying to establish an identity: good defenders, good base runners, line drive hitters.
It also seems they want kids who aren’t going to play every day to go to the minors and develop.
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month agoJim: One member of the Royals organization I talked to agreed with you and thought Cain in the two-hole was a possibility.
Two coaches I talked to thought we were going to see a return to National League style baseball (post-steroid era). That means a Chris Getz-type player is at least a bit more valuable.
The thing everyopne should remember is nothing is written in stone. This is the decision the Royals made for now—a different decision might be made in a month.
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month agoOK, I’m almost sure there is no “p” in the word “everyone.” Of course, I’m on my second beer after a smoking hot day in the sun and I’m a little less sure of everything.
We need a way to edit comments and don’t have one.
I’m going to drown my sorrows with a third beer.
Kurt Vancil
1 year, 1 month agoI hope Getz and Yuni are able to produce and play good defense at second and prove me and the other doubters wrong, but I do not like this decision.
As Joel said Getz and Yuni have “proven themselves at the big league level” but what have they proven? Yuni - by many accounts and according to my eye ball - is a bad defender and has a career line of .268/.292/.391. He has proven to have terrible plate discipline and I think the only reason he has stuck around the big leagues is he has some pop in his bat.
Getz has proven to be a good defender and good “situation batter” with a career line of .254/.315/.307. Yost says his approach at the plate has changed this spring giving him more pop but I won’t believe it til I see it.
On the flip side Gio has not been given a chance to see what he can do for a full season in the bigs. I know (and am thankful) the Royals will be in compete mode this season and playing to win every game unlike previous developmental years. I think they need to see exactly what they have in Gio for a season. How come Esky was able to learn on the fly at bat but Gio can learn on the fly in the field?
In my opinion (which I know Dayton Moore values a ton!) they need to know what they have in Gio going into 2013. If they think he is Chuck Knoblauch post-Twins with the glove and not a legitimate big leaguer than they need to find a two-bagger from somewhere outside the organiztion for 2013.
Of course I understand Yost, Moore and the rest of the coaches know more than me and they know Gio and maybe they think sending him to Omaha will light a fire in him and he will earn his way on the field and I am trusting that they know what they are doing, but I just thought I would share my two cents. And I hope that Getz and Yuni can prove me wrong.
I think we can all agree that we are eager for April 6th!
Jim Fetterolf
1 year, 1 month ago“How come Esky was able to learn on the fly at bat but Gio can learn on the fly in the field?”
Same reason Moose and even Perez had a long leash: no competition for the spot. Until Giavotella was sent down it was a three man race. Now that he’s at Omaha he’ll likely be turning the double-play with a 1st round draft pick who projects as a 2nd baseman with some pop in his bat and who has Escobar blocking him at short.
“Of course I understand Yost, Moore and the rest of the coaches know more than me”
I think what they know is that Gio is still bothered by the hip, which makes the decision to send him down more a rehab assignment than a demotion. Another pair of eyeballs who was in Surprise posted that Gio was getting slow jumps and taking bad angles on balls and not getting to three in one game that he should have made plays on. That says injury to me. If he can get better in Omaha and get the glove a little better and light up with the bat he’ll get another chance. Competition for positions is going to take some getting used to for many of us, including some players.
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month agoKurt: It’s impossible to know everything that went in to this decision—there may be some factor that hasn’t occurred to any of us. And none of us were in the meeting where this was decided.
I always assume the team knows things we don’t, mainly because every time I’m given some inside information, the team knows things we don’t.
If I recall correctly, the Royals led the American league in errors in 2010. To compete, it would seem that needed to change and since then, the Royals defense has improved dramatically. I’m guessing the Royals didn’t want to take a step backward, especially at second base.
The old formula is defense up the middle and offense in the corners. The Royals seem to be willing to accept what they get offensively from players like Alcides Escobar, Lorenzo Cain, Chris Getz and, even earlier, Jason Kendall, if those players do (or did) the job defensively. As Ned Yost once said of Escobar, “His RBIs are in his glove.”
That may be the difference between Escobar and Giavotella: Esky was giving the team what it wanted (good defense) and the team was willing to let his offense develop (plus they might’ve felt the team wasn’t going anywhere last year).
If Gio played a corner position, maybe they let him develop defensively in the majors. But if they think they’ve got any shot this season, developing a poor defender up the middle may not be a part of that plan.
As for Betancourt: I watched him play every game of 2010 and thought he was better than his reputation. He seemed to be a good defender when going to his right or in, but well below par when going to his left. (The reasons are explained in the piece above.) The Royals at least have a plan to fix that.
Finally, you’re right, everybody’s ready for Opening Day…and that definitely includes the players.
Kevin Flanagan
1 year, 1 month agoLee, what kind of buzz (if any) are you hearing about Everett Teaford? Although 2/3 of his innings this spring have been in AAA games, he’s now pitched 15 scoreless.
He doesn’t have the dirty raw stuff of Duffy, but he has better command and seems to have a lot more pitchability. Is there any chance Teaford takes his spot in the rotation while Duffy goes to Omaha? It’s hard for me to tell if the Royals are really taking Teaford seriously as a rotation candidate.
On a related note, Teaford is part of a group including Collins, Hottovy, and Herrera who have all been nothing short of brilliant this spring, yet it is highly unlikely that more than 1 of these guys breaks camp with the big club. That’s a great problem to have.
BTW, great job as always with the column. I love that you are posting daily now.
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month agoKevin: One of the things that struck me when I first started doing this, was how many media people didn’t go to games, yet talked with great expertise about the team.
I don’t want to be part of that problem and pretend knowledge I don’t have, so when I’m speculating, I want it to be clear I’m speculating. So, here goes, I’m speculating.
This is not based on any inside information from the club, just talk among media members. (Man, hope I threw enough qualifiers out there.)
Yost has a stated preference for two lefties in the pen and two guys who can throw long relief, Teaford fits both those bills. Unless his arm falls off or his head explodes, Jose Mijares seems to be one of the lefties. That leaves Teaford and Collins battling for the other spot. If Teaford makes the team it sounds like it would be in a bullpen role.
I don’t know how the team views Duffy at the moment, but over the long run, they think he can be a premier pitcher. What that means in terms of making the rotation right now, I don’t know.
Felipe Paulino didn’t do himself any favors with a bad outing yesterday. I think Luis Mendoza pitches today, and if he pitches well, that might lock up a spot in the rotation for him (and that’s pure speculation).
But, apparently, either Mendoza (0.77 ERA) or Paulino (7.71) goes into the rotation and the other one goes into the pen (that lonbg-relif-spot starter role) and it doesn’t look like that tough a choice. But I’m the guy who keeps saying spring training stats are overrated, so take that with a grain of salt.
And you’re right, some very good pitchers won’t make the team. And you’re also right about it being a good problem to have.
Thanks for visiting the site and I’m glad you’re enjoying my daily work—I am, too.
Got up at 5AM this morning. First we go to Surprise for the morning workout and then drive over to Scottsdale to watch the Royals play the Giants.
Brian Robinson
1 year, 1 month agoCall me old school but I just don’t like Alex Gordon batting leadoff. He’s got too much pop in his bat and needs the opportunity to drive someone in at the start of the game. I’m hoping Lorenzo Cain can be the leadoff hitter KC needs because Gordon would thrive in the 2-hole with Eric Hosmer hitting behind him. Gordon batting second still allows the Royals to utilize his speed yet also take advantage of his bat if Cain manages to get on base.
I also like Alcides Escobar hitting ninth because of the speed factor coming back to the top of the order. It also enhances Gordon’s chances at driving in runs if Escobar can get on base at the bottom of the order and moved around the bases by Cain.
Cain’s bat is red hot and I’m hoping Yost takes advantage of that by giving the young man a chance at the slot he was traded for to hit in.
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month agoBTW: As for the notion that Ned Yost has some kind of fixation on Chris Getz: apparently, when Yost called Getz in to tell him he’d made the team, Yost also told Getz that at the beginning of camp he didn’t think there was any way that would happen.
So if Yost had made his mind up about Chris Getz, it was that Getz wouldn’t be coming to Kansas City. But it sounds like Yost kept an open mind about Getz and Getz changed it.
If I’ve heard it once down here, I’ve heard it a dozen times, “Believe what you see.” Clear your mind of preconceptions and concentrate on what’s happening in front of you.
Of course, the only problem with that advice is you have to know what you’re looking at.
I’m working on it.
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month agoBrian: You’re right, Gordon isn’t a typical leadoff hitter, but there is an advantage to having pop in the leadoff spot and we saw it Friday night (as I recall):
When pitchers come into games, they’re often uncomfortable. They have to get used to the field mound and have only eight pitches to do so. And some teams make sure the visiting bullpen mound is different than the field mound to make the problem worse. (The Royals say they don’t do this.)
Alex presents a problem for a starting pitcher trying to get comfortable: make a mistake and it’s sometimes 1-0, not just a runner on first.
Later in the game Gordon can be in an RBI spot if the bottom of the order does it’s job and gets on for him.
You’re not wrong and plenty of people see it the way you do. But there is another way to look at it and until the Royals find a better alternative, this is what they’re doing.
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month agoOne more reason not to listen to my speculation: we kind of forgot to talk about Tommy Hottovy in the battle for the bullpen. Another lefty that’s had a good camp.
Jim Fetterolf
1 year, 1 month agoHave you had a chance to watch Getz in BP and get a take on his stance, stride, and stroke adjustments?
Kurt Vancil
1 year, 1 month agoIf Yost sees improvement in Getz than I will give him the benefit of the doubt, but if Getz hits less than 10 extra base hits I will not be suprised.
I agree that the Royals 2010 defense was very bad but we have come a long long long way from that team. That team had Jose Guillen playing in right field, Billy at first, Aviles at 2nd and 3rd, Betemit, Callaspo, Gordon playing seemingly a new position each game. And… Betancourt at one the most important positions in the field. Yuni lead the team in E’s that year. Maybe Yuni is better suited to play second but his track record is pretty bad.
Now our outfield is tremendous (maybe one of the best in the majors) and Hosmer is great, Moose is serviceable at 3rd, Quintero is hailed as a defensive catcher and Esky is the best shortstop I have seen in years. This is a far better defensive team than 2010 even if Gio plays at 2nd. I think we are already sacrificing hitting for gloves at two spots in the lineup (SS and C) and I think the defense absolutely justifies that decision (like you said Esky’s RBIs are in his glove) but I think making 1/3 of our lineup weak to slightly improve our defense at second doesn’t bode well.
Again I will say I put my support behind them but this decision honestly lowers my expectations for this year.
Joel Kallem
1 year, 1 month agoKurt, I am hopeful the Esky we see at bat resembles the second half Esky rather than the first half Esky, so I take issue with your assumption that we are sacrificing hitting with him. Shortstops will generally lead or be near the top in terms of the number of errors committed because of the nature of the position. As Lee reported, the Royal coaches have made an adjustment in Yuni’s stance which should help significantly. I’m not so sure that he is a bad choice if he keeps his head in the game. Also Getz contributes in a number of ways which don’t always show up on the box score in an obvious way. He certainly is adequate on the days Yuni might play third or ss.
Kurt Vancil
1 year, 1 month agoJoel: I agree that Esky improved at the bat as the year went on and I hope he shows continued improvement. What I meant was that even if he does not show marked improvement at the plate his glove justifies his playing time. If he hits that is an added bonus.
Jim Fetterolf
1 year, 1 month agoFor what it is worth, what I was hearing this time last year was how the Royals would have the worst outfield ever with the below replacement level players Frenchy, Melky, and the “bust” Gordon. The year before it was that terrible pitcher Bruce Chen. During the season it was “pinch-hit for Esky, he’ll never hit”. This off-season it was all about Luis Mendoza’s career. I think players can make adjustments and become better players. Competition forces that and Chris Getz at least took the challenge and worked on becoming a heavier hitter rather than a slappy one. The young man is bigger than Mickey Mantle was and was motivated by the prospect of Omaha.
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month agoJim & everybody else: Just arrived in Scottsdale for the Royals-Giants and I’m kind of rushing around getting ready, but…
The most obvious change in Getz’s stance is his more upright stance. The bat still seems pretty flat, but what may seem like a minor tweak to us can feel huge to a player.
I don’t know how many extra-base hits his new appraoch will result in, but Chris and I talked about how hitting the ball harder also results in more grounders getting through the infield for singles.
Yost, Sisson and a few others all say how Chris looks like a different hitter, but I assume they can spot things we can’t. Bottom line will be results.
Kurt, you’re also right about giving a third of the lineup over to defense, at least according to conventional wisdom. Most people seem to think you can afford two defensive specialists, but you’re pushing it with three. At least in the AL, but as we’ve talked about earlier, if the league is moving toward an NL-style of play, that might change.
And I totally agree with Jim, players do change. A lot of them talk about changing and don’t, but there are too many people who suddenly seemed to “get it” and changed their careers.
Brian Courington
1 year, 1 month agoDo the guys who get sent down to minor league camps (Gio, Dyson and others) have to wear the gray pants or do they still wear the white pants and work the regulars?
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month agoBrian: I’ll have to ask, but now that you mention it, I don’t think I’ve seen a minor-leaguer in white pants—at least during practice.
They do have to wear their pants high. That’s how you can immediately tell what field the big leaguers are on—low pants.
They also have to move their stuff to the minor league side of the clubhouse and do their work on the back fields (farther from the clubhouse).
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month agoGood outing by Mendoza today: 5 innings, 3 hits, 0 runs, ERA now 0.54.
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month agoBourgeois just turned a fairly routine single into a hustle double, then stole third. I can see what the Royals like about him.