Power vs. contact: what a hitter does to improve one can hurt the other. Hit a ball out in front and it improves the chances of hitting a home run. Ball parks are shorter in the corners, so pulling a pitch allows a hitter to take a shot at leaving the yard. But to hit a ball out in front, also means starting the swing earlier and that means a hitter can be fooled much more easily. Increasing your power can reduce your average. Reducing your average can increase your power.
And there you have the difference in hitting philosophies at the center of Kevin Seitzer’s firing.
Seitzer teaches hitting the ball back up the middle. That’s the big part of the park and it’s easier for a hitter to get a ball to drop because the centerfielder has more ground to cover. That’s a high-average approach and Seitzer’s hitting philosophy has kept the Royals team batting average near the top of the American League in hitting. Letting the ball travel deeper also makes the Royals hitters harder to fool and they proved that by having fewer strikeouts than any team in baseball.
But hitting the ball back up the middle means it’s harder to hit the ball out of the park. A routine fly ball caught near the warning track in centerfield would be halfway up general admission in left.
So here’s Ned Yost’s argument: the Royals were near the top in batting average, but near the bottom in runs scored. Ned believes a high-average, opposite field approach often means having to string three singles together to score a run. (And if Billy Butler is the lead runner, it might be four singles.) Ned would like to have more opportunities to score quickly: a walk, a bloop and a blast and—boom—three runs are on the board.
A power-hitting approach might also increase walks: smart pitchers go right after singles hitters unless there’s a runner in scoring position. Why not? Kauffman Stadium is huge and if a guy is only going to hit a three-hopper for one bag, be aggressive in the strike zone. A pitcher is still two singles away from damage.
A power-hitting approach might also decrease walks: if hitters are swinging sooner, their pitch selection will get worse. The hitters will be pulling the trigger before they know where the pitch is going.
But can’t we all get along? Isn’t there a middle ground? Sure; many hitting coaches (and that includes Seitzer) teach a hitter to take a high-average approach in certain counts and look to pull the ball in others. (Usually 2-0, 2-1, 3-0 and 3-1 counts.) I don’t think Ned wants his hitters to pull the ball all the time either, so it’s a matter of degree. When do you look to pull and when you do try hit the ball out in front, do you have the right hitting mechanics to make it work? But combining hitting philosophies is kind of like wanting a hot wife who can cook: nice if you can get it, but often hard to pull off.
Part of Seitzer’s argument is that the Royals hitters are very young and would eventually learn to do that: go for broke at the right time. But Kevin has run out of time. If that happens, it will happen on someone else’s watch.
Where do they go from here?
Don’t be surprised if the Royals team batting average goes down and their strikeouts go up. If run production increases, then Ned Yost got what he wanted and it may be worth the tradeoff. But letting Seitzer go means Ned has more responsibility for what happens next.
Since Yost took over, Bob McClure, John Gibbons, Doug Sisson and Kevin Seitzer have been let go. Ned now has the pitching coach, bench coach, first base coach and, eventually, hitting coach that he wants (although you never know everything that goes into a coach’s selection). Dayton Moore made it clear that he had high regard for Seitzer’s abilities, but, at the end of the day, it was Ned Yost’s opinion that mattered.
One more point
Kevin Seitzer’s critics can alo point to the sub-par years suffered by Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Jeff Francoeur. Seitzer’s defenders can point to the very good years put up by Alex Gordon, Billy Butler, Alcides Escobar and Salvador Perez.
As long as I’m writing when I thought I’d be drinking margaritas…
Here are some other points of interest from the Royals post-season press conference:
The Royals still believe in Luke Hochevar. They still believe he can turn the corner and want to be the team that benefits when he does. (I believe that if you only look at Luke’s totals, you’re missing the point: if he pitched like a guy with a 5.39 ERA every time he went out, there wouldn’t be a controversy. Hochevar is excellent to decent more often than he’s bad, but when he’s bad he’s so bad, he blows his totals through the roof.)
Dayton Moore believes that there are few questions left when it comes to position players, but the Royals still need to stay healthy in centerfield, figure out who’s playing second base and give Wil Myers a chance to put himself on the field.
Moore generally believes free agency is a flawed way to build a team, but that doesn’t preclude the Royals making the right deal with the right guy.
Don’t be surprised if a trade is necessary to acquire the starting pitching the Royals need.
The Royals defense in 2012 ranged from spectacular to solid and pitchers have no excuse for not throwing strikes.
The Royals bullpen (assuming I wrote this down correctly) set an American League record for strikeouts.
Moore also believes that running a team is by trial and error. It’s not easy and there are few sure answers. (Pretty much the same thing Angels GM Jerry Dipoto said when he was here.)
OK, that’s it
I didn’t think I’d be writing anything the day after the season ended, but Kevin Seitzer’s firing changed a few things. (More for him than me, I’m sure.) I’m heading to Columbia to watch some playoff games with my son and, in the meantime, please feel free to use the site to express your thoughts.
Jeff Frost
8 months, 2 weeks agoSeitzer theory is Lau’s theory- use the field. We play in the largest park in the American League. Homeruns are not the solution. Charlie’s theory proved to be a boon for the Royals in the 1970s and 80s. Thing of Brett, McRae, White, etc… hitting it in the gap and run, run, run. Don’t like this! This will be Ned’s last excuse and it will fail. This move will ultimately cost Ned his job.
Daniel Wesley
8 months, 2 weeks agoJeff, this isn’t the 1970s or 1980s anymore. Those Royals played on turf and a hard hit groundball could roll all the way to the wall and turn into a double or triple. Those days are long gone and they’re not coming back.
There is a very clear and direct correlation between home runs and wins. We have to hit more.
Terry Payne
8 months, 2 weeks agoNed will soon have tucked in the last corner of the bed he will have to lay in.
I wish him the best and I hope we can keep the core of this team together as much as possible.
Best of luck to Seitz. I wonder how Hos and Mous are reacting to this?
Daniel Wesley
8 months, 2 weeks agoThe top 7 home run hitting teams in the American League: Yankees, Orioles, White Sox, Rangers, Blue Jays, A’s, and Angels. The only non-competitive team from that list is the Blue Jays.
Jeff Frost
8 months, 2 weeks agoDaniel, I agree, but here is the thing, and our biggest problem. It’s not hitting home runs, per se, it is hitting more than your opponents. We can hit 150 home runs, but with Luke and the crew pitching, it does us no good if we give up 200!
Terry Payne
8 months, 2 weeks agoIf Kaufman Stadium was a bandbox and/or had a jetstream blowing out most nights, then I could get more behind Ned’s idea.
Kaufman is symetrical, built at a time when speed was in vogue, and PEDs were, as far as anybody can tell, NOT in vogue.
You build a team for the stadium you have, not the one you WANT to have.
And the teams with good power, who have short porches and/or power alleys, where guys can go yard consistently, are the most successful when their power hitters are veterans who can work counts, be selective, and be willing to take a walk if they don’t get a ball to drive. Like the Yankees, like the A’s, NOT like the Blue Jays.
Aaron Cooper
8 months, 2 weeks agoThis organization is run by monkeys. Maybe someone in this organization should get a clue and start following major league baseball. The Royals are operating with beliefs, values and ideas about baseball that come from the 1980s. It’s 2012, most of the other teams in the league are operating with innovative ideas and statistical analysis, while DM and the monkeys continue to spit in the wind and pretend it’s 1983.
Royals can’t win with DM in charge. Simple as that. He doesn’t understand 21st century baseball.
John Murphy
8 months, 2 weeks agoOk. Luke Hochevar. “Hochevar is excellent to decent more often than he’s bad.”
I’ll try a couple extra basic metrics, in addition to Quality Starts:
Starts: 32 QS (<=3 ER, >= 6 IP): 13 (41%)
That should be enough, but how about how many starts where his individual game ERA was at least league average. That sounds like a decent start: DS(9*ER/IP<=4.08): 14 (44%).
Finally, let’s say pitching like the top 15% of pitchers (ERA again) is excellent. That means ES (9*ER/IP <= 3.082): 5 (16%).
Your point is well taken, Luke can pitch excellently, say 1/5th the time. Decent more often than not? Definitely not the case.
Terry Payne
8 months, 2 weeks agoI know it can’t be quantified, seamhead-wise, but I still think it’s pretty cool that on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight, Esky received the most nominations by the analysts for:
most Web-Gem plays for the year - 14 most #1 Web-Gem plays for the year - 6
So there.
Kevin Flanagan
8 months, 2 weeks agoI think Les Norman nailed this one: The Royals fired the wrong guy yesterday.
It was clear from Dayton’s comments that this decision was made by Yost, and DM is committed to giving his manager the final say in his coaching staff. I’m disappointed that Dayton didn’t stand up and do the right thing here.
But I’m glad somebody mentioned Charley Lau; that was my exact thought when I heard the news. Ned sounded exactly like Whitey when he fired Lau: My hitting coach is turning my best young hitters into punch-n-judy. Well, George turned out to be okay, didn’t he? And still to this day credits Lau for his success.
So we fire one of the best hitting coaches in the game while retaining Nervous Ned…meanwhile we let someone else in our division (Cleveland) hire the most successful and highest profile manager available in Terry Francona, who adds instant credibility to their franchise. In an offseason where the Royals are trying to convince top tier free agents to take their money that could have been an incredible recruiting advantage.
Terry Payne
8 months, 2 weeks agoOne way to look at it is Moore could be giving Ned enough rope to hang himself, one more chance to prove to the org that his ideas are the right ones.
In one way, it could be win-win for Moore. If Ned’s hitting theories prove right, and the team is competitive, then the fan base will be satisfied, and Moore/Glass will be off the hook for awhile.
If Ned’s hitting theories prove wrong, Moore can scapegoat Ned, bring in someone else, and perhaps still keep his own job.
John Ritz
8 months, 2 weeks agoI got real tired of watching so many foul-balls by our hitters, on very hittable pitches. The good and bad about letting the ball travel through the strike-zone so far. And tired of hearing good ol’ “Hud” saying, well that’s a great at-bat, he fouled off 8 pitches! No, a good at bat is when you stroke one of those pitches into the gap.
I loved Seitzer as a player, and he’s probably smarter than anyone on the “art of hitting”, but this is a performance business - You’ve got Trout out in L.A., and Harper in D.C., our young guys should be able to keep up, and they’re regressing. Maybe Seitzer had them thinking too much. See the ball, hit the ball.
Blair Bieser
8 months, 2 weeks agoIt makes no sense to try to play the power game when you’re a small-market team with a big ballpark. I think what Royals hitters need to do is see more pitches, especially from the other team’s starter. They need to be better at not chasing pitches out of the zone and better at fouling off borderline pitches. If they see more pitches, they’ll score more runs because they’ll be more likely to (1) see a pitch they can drive, (2) draw a walk, or (3) run up the starter’s pitch count so they can face the other team’s middle relievers for a few innings. I also think if Royals hitters improve their plate discipline, they’ll be more efficient at cashing in when they get a lead-off hit or walk, or when they have a runner at third with less than two outs. With the Royals’ lack of power, they have to be way above average at taking advantage of those opportunities.
Harold Bradley
8 months, 2 weeks agoNed Yost should go back to the National League. I watched him bunt runners into scoring position during the second inning in a game we lost against the Yankees early in the season.
In recent years, we suffered from too many strikeouts and not a whole lot more power. From all of the reports around baseball, the problems with Hosmer and Moose had as much to do with Boros trainers than with Seitz — too many cooks spoil the broth you know.
Yost is a national league manager who is masquerading in the American League. He is a small ball guy dreaming of a Yankee home run production with Year 2 players. Anybody go back and look at Arod in year 2 in Seattle or perhaps Jim Thome in year 2 (he was sent down and signed to a long term deal).
The Royals played beautiful defense, hit well in the second half of the year (except for Hos and for an Atlanta retread who had one last hurrah last year), and wretched starting pitching until the trade deadline.
Seitzer was one of the links to the Royals glorious past. With Frank White and Seitzer gone, I’m counting on another long, hot and boring summer in 2013.
Devan Shopinski
8 months, 2 weeks agoHarold
The Royals actually had the fewest number of strikeouts in the AL this year and third fewest last year. The bigger problem I see is finishing last in walks this year. I think that’s a direct correlation to why they went from 6th to 12th in runs scored from the previous year.
Too many first pitch swings/outs made on pitches out of the zone and horrible situational hitting all year. How many times did they score 2-3 runs early and then nothing? Let the other pitcher settle in and get deep into a game. How much of that is the coaching and how much is young, impatient players who weren’t able to make adjustments during the season, I don’t know.
Sadly, for all the credit Seitz got working with Perez, Escobar, and Gordon, he’s taking the blame for bad seasons from Moustakas and Hosmer. But I think your memory of him being connected to any past glory is a bit overstated. He had some good years in KC and there were some good teams, but not one made the post season.
Terry Payne
8 months, 2 weeks agoBaseball is the only sport where the defense controls the ball. Meaning, notwithstanding one’s intentions, a hitter is still at the mercy of the unknown, and must adjust.
As Hank Aaron famously said, “A pitcher only has a ball, I have a bat.” But a bat is still a worthless wand if the one weilding it has no clue. A batter has to approach the plate with a plan, and intel, on his side. Otherwise, he is at the mercy of the pitcher making a mistake. BTW, it is my understanding that most HRs are the result of a pitcher making a mistake, NOT the best execution of a batter’s plan.
Yes, Hos and Mous had disappointing offensive seasons, in the final analysis. Both had exceptional defensive seasons, which should not be overlooked. But they were both able to gather a lot of intel, ammo to plan future at-bats.
I, for one, am hopeful about these two, regardless of WHO the future hitting coach is.
And, as Ned has famously said, Billy Butler can hit in his sleep. Of course, Billy studies video, can recognize pitches, approaches each AB with a plan. Yes, being DH, he has the luxury of being able to do this. The point is, he makes the effort.
Howard Taylor
8 months, 2 weeks agoThis is just another indicator of the incompetence of the management of the Royals organization. Kevin was one of the best hitters the Royals ever had and he did wonders with Alex Gorden and Escobar. I’m not going to try to get into specifics about batting here.
I sit here in my modest home and Royals management sits in their Leawood/Palm Beach homes. They are in and I am not but I contend I should be managing the Royals. Let me ask you one question that will clearly show the Royals management operate on one level and from my level I look down on them: where are the Royals players right now and what are they doing? I’ll bet they have dispersed across the country to where ever they live in the off season. Not on my team they wouldn’t.
How can you run a competitive marathon if you have never run a marathon? You can’t. How can the Royals make it through post season play if they have never played that many games? They can’t. They need to be still working out and playing as long as the play offs go on. That accomplishes two things: 1) they learn what it takes to play as many as 181 games and 2) they get simulated post season experience.
Ron Glass was spewing on tv during the game earlier in the week about commitment. That blow hard doesn’t know a damn thing about baseball. If he did Ned Yost wouldn’t be the manager. The Royals keep doing the same things expecting different results.
Ned Yost has to go - he is weak and incompetent.
Two things about batting before I go: 1) did you notice all season long how well Butler hit when there were either no runner son or just a man on first? When runner got past first his batting average went down a little. To me that suggests his “inner game” needs adjustment. 2) What do you think of Frenchy’s hitting this year? I think he was a wild man out of control. He would swing at ANYTHING that was thrown to him and the other teams knew it so he didn’t get jack for pitches. For the most part the only time he got a hit was when they made a mistake and threw him a strike.
If I have one complaint about Seitzer it is that he didn’t seem to recognize this and work on discipline at the plate.
Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go, Ned Yost must go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Howard Taylor
8 months, 2 weeks agoI can’t leave without pounding on my “… weak and incompetent …” statement above about Ned Yost.
One of the dumbest things I saw him do this past season was juggle the line up when they went to Pittsburgh. He was hell bent on keeping Butler’s bat in the game so he put Hosmer in right field so Butler could play first. DEFENSIVE DISASTER. Then he did it again the next day. NOT SMART. By the third game he admitted it was a mistake (being kind) and went back to our normal line up (we lost that game too).
Fast forward to about three weeks ago (forgive me for not remembering exact specifics) and something happened where I think we had an injured player. What does Ned do? He puts Hosmer back out in right field. Where does the first hitter go with the ball? RIGHT FIELD!! It goes over Hosmer’s head and we lose (I believe in extra innings and I think Frenchy would have caught that 3rd out).
Lesson to learn from Pittsburgh fiasco - DON’T PLAY A FIRST BASEMAN IN THE OUT FIELD.
Lesson actually learned - NONE OR AT LEAST FORGOTTEN.
I’ll bet on any given day Ned Yost either a) has his under wear on backwards or 2) has his wife’s underwear on.
Howard Taylor
8 months, 2 weeks agoOn Hud - At first I thought he was goofy but I have grown to like him. My friends tell me I am a funny guy and I have to say Hud had me laughing toward the end of the year. He still says goofy things sometimes but I hope they have him back.
FRANK WHITE is my favorite.
The best baseball announcer is/was Joe Morgan. The guy knows baseball like no other and is always right on. He doesn’t get caught up in garbage and stays on topic. I love the guy.
One night he had an insight into a play (ESPN Thursday Night Baseball) and it struck me as absolute genius - I quickly forgot and regularly rack my brain trying to remember what he said that night - Doh! It drives me nuts. If I ever win the lottery I will buy every game he ever announced so I can catch that moment again.
Darrell Pierce
8 months, 2 weeks agoAwful decision by the Royals and one that will eventually cost Ned his job, IMHO. Our stadium, even with grass, is made for the gap hitter. It’s reasonable for the young guys to have gone through growing pains. I’d expect to see both Hos and Moose much better next year and wouldn’t be surprised if Salvy doesn’t struggle a bit. It’s a shame Meyers won’t have Seitzer to work with him next year. Dumb, dumb move.
Daniel Wesley
8 months, 2 weeks agoDarrell, regardless if Seitzer is a scapegoat or not, we have to hit more home runs if we’re going to seriously compete for a postseason spot.
Jeff Frost
8 months, 2 weeks agoDaniel, I still disagree with you. Yes, the teams that made the playoffs were tops in home runs in both leagues, but all teams are different. This park is for gap hitters. So we hit 150 HRs next year, if we give up 200 it won’t mean a thing. We will see Hoz and Moose go from .230 and .240 hitters with 14 and 17 HRs to .220/.230 with 20. Big Deal! Not good!
Daniel Wesley
8 months, 2 weeks agoJeff, the facts are simple: We do not hit for enough power (10th in the AL in team SLG%) and we do not get on base enough (8th in the AL in team OBP).
How do we solve those? We know we need to draw more walks because we were dead last in all of baseball in that regard. How, though, do we hit for more power? We were 2nd in the AL in hitting triples and 3rd in the AL in hitting doubles. We’re already a gap hitting team, as you put it.
How do we close the gap? (Pun not intended). There isn’t much room to hit for more doubles and triples… the bottom line is we need to hit more home runs.
Also, your point about giving up 200 home runs is non-sequitur. The issue of giving up home runs has nothing to do with analyzing the offense.
Curtis Ruder
8 months, 1 week agoLuke Hochevar had the second highest ERA in the American League this year, ahead of only Ricky Romero.
Which is about par for the course, since he has the second highest ERA for any starting pitcher to make 125 starts, ahead of only Kyle Davies, in all of baseball history.
And frankly, the team never recovered from his first inning in the home opener.
There may not be sure answers, but there are sure wrong answers. Paying Hochevar arbitration money is a sure wrong answer. If this guy was a free agent who had put up his numbers for another team for the last several years, would we have even the first hint of interest? I wouldn’t.
Terry Payne
8 months, 1 week agoOK. C’mon Seamheads, explain the seasons of the O’s and the A’s to me. I dare ya.
Daniel Wesley
8 months, 1 week agoThe Orioles went 29-9 in 1-run games, which is ridiculous and practically impossible to repeat. The same crew is just as likely to finish under .500 next year.
The A’s have really, really good pitching and their home park makes really good pitching become really great pitching.
Terry Payne
8 months, 1 week agoI’m still waiting for a good Seamhead explanation for WHY the O’s go 29-9 in 1-run games and WHY the O’s have won something like 16 consecutive extra-inning games.
And WHY the A’s, despite setting a Major League Record for strikeout, still managed to win the Western Division.
Speak to me in Seamheadedness, or speak not at all.
I’m waiting.
Daniel Wesley
8 months, 1 week agoWhy did the Orioles win so many 1-run games? Primarily, luck. The typical distribution of 1-run games is almost always about 50/50, which is why I believe the mantra: “Good teams don’t try to win more 1-run games, good teams try to play fewer 1-run games.”
The A’s managed to win their division because they scored 99 more runs than they allowed. The number of strikeouts is inconsequential.
Terry Payne
8 months, 1 week agoLuck. My point, exactly. Always a factor. Take THAT Seamheads.
Aaron Reese
8 months, 1 week agoTerry, if you’re being serious, I’m not sure what you were trying to say. Are you saying that it’s better to ignore all statistical analysis? Run-differential accurately predicts 99% of team wins with a nominal statistical variance. To argue that extreme outliers negate 100 years of clear, repeated correlation to actual results is willful ignorance.
Now, other than luck, which is a huge part of how many wins they’ve accumulated, they are a good team. They’ve gotten better throughout the year. About half-way through the season, they began putting together a pretty solid day-to-day team, which was enough carry their early lead into the post-season. They also had a pretty good manager who handled an excellent bullpen well.
In the early year, they had a lights-out bullpen, so if they were up by one run, they tended to stay up by one run. Also, if they got blown out, they tended to stay blown out, which is why they had so few 1-run games this year. When a team is winning by 5 or 6 runs,they will not finesse batters they face; they will throw strikes and let the losing team make outs. If the trailing team scores a few runs along the way, who cares? That’s why you saw the Royals close to within 1 run so many times before losing. Most teams do. The Orioles had a bad offense early in the season and never came close to catching up in those games, otherwise you’d see more one-run losses, although their overall record would be the same.
You wanted an explanation of all that. There.
Daniel Wesley
8 months, 1 week agoTerry, methinks you’re attacking a strawman.
Terry Payne
8 months, 1 week agoAaron. of course I don’t mean ignore all statistical analysis. You seamheads can be as touchy about your seamheadedness as we non-seamheads are touchy about our non-seamheadedness.
My point, and I DO have one, is that every once in a while fluky things just happen, even to a team throughout a whole season. That’s why I love this game so much. Not everything has to be analyzed to the point of exhaustion. Can’t we just sit back and say, “Wow, those baseball gods. Ain’t they something?”
Josh Cooper
8 months, 1 week agoDidn’t realize any “seamhead” has ever said fluky things NEVER happen. If they did, they are an idiot.
Put Kyle Davies back in a major league rotation and there’s a chance he wins 15 games with an ERA under 3. But why would you want to hope for the fluke when you could try for something that has far better chance of succeeding?
If you bought a lottery ticket that had a 1% chance of winning or one that had a 50% chance, which one are you going to buy?
I don’t even know who you were arguing with since no one had posted here for awhile. Someone must have really turned you off of statistics. Bad math teacher or something?
Terry Payne
8 months, 1 week agoJosh - I may have bad math skills, but that does not mean I don’t appreciate those of you are sabremetrically advantaged.
I’m of a more artistic temperament. I tend to appreciate the game for it’s simple beauty and for it’s sometimes outrageous personalities and stories.
I understand that it lays itself wide open by scorecards being kept, etc., and I first got interested in numbers when I learned how to compute batting average, then ERA.
I just hope that my favorite game doesn’t get overwhelmed in an age where today’s Ipad becomes tomorrow’s outmoded plaything, in the blink of an I.
Larry Tindle
8 months, 1 week agoNot much going on on this site so thought I would give some of my observations of the playoffs.
Verlander is more fun to watch when he isn’t playing us.
Yankees look old and tired.
Never figured I would root for the Giants, but when they play the Cards, what the heck.
You can get to the playoffs without great starting pitching but you won’t get far after that.
Things I have learned on this site makes any game I watch more interesting.
Terry Payne
8 months, 1 week agoFor once it’s the Yankees who are screwed by an umpire’s terribly blown call in the postseason. Maybe it’s karma finally getting around to addressing the Jeffrey Maier clown call 1n ‘96. Better late than never I sez.
I believe I heard an announcer or analyst say that more enhanced review procedures will be available in ‘13.
I hate to see Jete get hurt. I am not a Yanx fan by ANY means, but you gotta admit, he plays with intensity and represents his team with class at all times. Still, I was looking forward to him going down with the Yanx’ sinking ship.
A-Rod had best be overhauling his swing or doing SOMEthing if he is to fulfill my hope of somebody, anybody, beating out the disgraceful Barry Bonds. A-Rod may not be anybody’s idea of a gracious person, but at least he’s not, by and large, generally abusive like Bonds.
Joel Kallem
8 months, 1 week agoTerry, like Bonds he was clearly on “roids” for at least part of his career. He would just replace one cheater with another.
Terry Payne
8 months agoJoel - I understand that. My point was about how abusive Bonds was to people, not the needle or the cream. If we’re going to let the stats of the “roid” era stand, then I hope Bonds gets beats out by someone at least a shade more decent of a human being, who at least admitted what his “crime” had been.
Terry Payne
7 months, 3 weeks agoThe Volstad Act - straight out of the 30’s and just about the right speed for the Royals.
Daniel Wesley
7 months, 3 weeks ago“We’re looking to add as much pitching as we can, and Luke’s had a measure of success in the Major Leagues,” Moore said. “He hasn’t been as consistent as I know he would like, but we believe there are better days ahead for Luke.”
http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20121028&contentid=40096614&vkey=newskc&c_id=kc
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Kansas City Royals will not win with Dayton Moore as General Manager.
Daniel Wesley
7 months, 3 weeks agoLet’s try the link again. Not sure why the forum changed the first link I pasted.
http://kansascity.royals.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20121028&contentid=40096614&vkey=newskc&c_id=kc
Daniel Wesley
7 months, 3 weeks agoOkay, well this forum system doesn’t like the links generated by the MLB site, so you’ll have to go to Royals.com and read the current top story.
Josh Cooper
7 months, 3 weeks agoIt’s typical. And you know what is funny? The same guys that always look past everything that Moore does badly will forget how poorly Hochevar pitched this year. And they will be all for giving him another chance in the rotation next year after some sort of strong spring.
We are getting close to needing our own SaveOurRoyals.com campaign with banners flying over the stadium.
Joel Kallem
7 months, 3 weeks agoSantana could be a good pickup for the Royals, especially if he returns to second half of 2012 form. Now we need to get Guthrie or another quality pitcher signed to give us a good chance next year.
Terry Payne
7 months, 3 weeks agoIf there are any economists out there who also happen to be baseball fans, riddle me this, Batmen: Is there any way for GMs to hedge their bets in the free agent market? In other words, is there any other method, other than the draft, that can be used as a future’s market to soften the blow of a bad bet?
Terry Payne
7 months, 2 weeks agoMight as well name a bridge after Santana, b/c that is exactly what this move is. The only other athlete I know named Ervin is better known as Magic. Who knows, perhaps the Royals get lucky and get one season of that. I remain optimistic.
Terry Payne
7 months, 2 weeks agoSantana eats innings. Hochevar eats innings. Chen eats innings. Mendoza is showing that he, too, can eat innings. When you have an outstanding bullpen, like the Royals do, innings eaters are a good thing.
When you have an underperforming offense, like the Royals had in 2012, innings eaters ain’t enough.
I think Mous, in his 1st full MLB season, got a little wore down at the end and I expect him to improve, offensively, as I do Hos. If The Chosen One can at least make the team, and be adequate this season, then the Royals, with their outstanding defense, can compete.
One of the keys to a successful season is getting the better part of a full year from an injury-cursed Chris Getz. He is a quiet wizard with the bat and an excellent baserunner, base stealer, and he has a very good glove.
Only about 110 shopping days left before the first sign of spring: pitchers and catchers report.
Robert Blakey
7 months, 2 weeks ago“Is there any way for GMs to hedge their bets in the free agent market?”
Options, buyouts, and incentive bonuses. Soria’s buyout for example. It hedged against a bad deal. Any contract that is low base salary loaded with bonus incentives.
If Francouer’s contract was a million base with more money if he hit targets, i.e. homers, OBP (lolz), etc it would protect the team against terd years.