Games » Arizona Diamondbacks
Jun23Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades
Lee Judge
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Ned Yost said that the first seven hits against Felipe Paulino came on breaking pitches. He sent Bob McClure to the mound tell Felipe to establish his fastball first and then go to his off-speed stuff. From there on in, Paulino gave up a total of two hits, one for a home run. A great adjustment: but too little, too late.
Everyone around the team believes the Royals are getting better. Everyone around the team believes they’re close. And everyone around the team is tired of losing and that includes Dayton Moore. We spoke for a minute or two and that was pretty clear.
I think everyone wants to be upbeat (and that includes me), but at some point you’ve got to win. Mention the close games in St. Louis and the response might be, “Good teams find a way to win those.” For a lot of people, close is no longer cutting it.
A short interview
In the second inning Matt Treanor got doubled off when Chris Getz had a line drive carry further than Matt thought it would. The ball got caught and Treanor was already on his way home. After the game I asked Matt how he was doing and he said, “Good, as long as you’re not going to ask me about base running.”
“Well, I guess this is going to be a short interview.” Getz, who lockers next to Matt, started laughing.
“Hey, don’t feel bad, it was clearly Getzie’s fault. I’ve spoken to him repeatedly about not hitting the ball all the way to the outfield.”
“Yeah, when I get barrel, it’s generally not a good thing.”
There is a baseball philosophy that it doesn’t help to be fast when you hit a fly ball. The same thing applies to Dyson as well as Getz: keep the ball on the ground and use your speed. When Getz does that, he can cause some problems.
They’re not pitching machines
Getz and I talked about the tendency to forget there’s another team out there. Fans can sometimes view the game solely through their team’s efforts and six hits isn’t very good. Chris pointed out that the Diamondbacks’ Daniel Hudson is top of the line in the National League. He’s now 9-5 with a 3.58 ERA.
“They’re not pitching machines.”
Facing different pitchers will give you different results. That seems dumb when you say it (or post it on a website), but saying our guys sucked doesn’t take into account who they faced.
Now if they face some bottom of the division punching bag and still put up lousy totals, fans might have a complaint.
Ned’s explanation
There was still talk around the park about Wednesday night’s 9th inning. Ned said that Hosmer made a mistake in swinging at the first pitch when Dyson was stealing and Getz made a mistake stealing third when he did. Yost thought Chris should stay where he was until Dyson got on and then they’d both steal while Hosmer took a pitch. He also said it was part of the learning process they had to go through as ballplayers. Ned knows a 10,000 times as much baseball as I do, but it still seems like there were several legitimate ways to look at the situation and if the manager wanted to Chris to stay put and Eric to take a pitch, a “don’t steal” sign (which they have) and a ‘take’ sign would be in order.
Different managers might handle things in different ways. Putting the signs on would have made sure the players knew how Ned wanted to handle the situation.
Making Hosmer look good
The Diamondbacks had two errors, an E2 on a pickoff and an E5. The E2 cost a couple runs. Both probably could have been avoided with a better glove at first. Juan Miranda swiped at the short hops, but came up with nothing but air. It should make fans appreciate Eric Hosmer. He’s been bailing out his teammates since he arrived. This infield would look a lot worse without Hosmer at first.
Interleague pain in the neck
Tonight the Cubs are in town. Playing interleague is bad enough, but playing interleague against a team you haven’t seen in a few years is even worse. Why? Preparing the scouting reports.
When you play the same teams over and over, you just update the reports. When you play a team you don’t see very often, everything has to be built from scratch. There are a lot of people losing a lot of sleep every time a team like the Cubs comes to town.
Playing interleague is a pain in the neck - or lower.
Quality time with Frenchy
Before the game Jeff Francoeur and I sat in the indoor batting cage and shot the breeze. Frenchy said about a hundred interesting things and I’ll repeat a few:
First: He’s been holding a pity party for himself because he’s been hitting the ball hard and getting nothing out of it. He knows he’s got to change his attitude because guys like Hosmer and Moustakas are watching.
“You mean you can’t send the message that this is the way you deal with scuffling?’
“Exactly.” In Atlanta he had veterans who would tell him to shake it off and pick it up. Here, Frenchy’s the veteran and he’s the guy that has to set the example. If he scuffles, so be it, but he doesn’t want to walk around moping, bringing everybody else down.
Second: Frenchy says it’s easy to sign autographs afterwards when you went 3 for 4 with two doubles. Signing when you took an 0-fer and the team lost for the sixth time in a row is little tougher. He said he was in a lousy mood the other night, but as he walked out of the park, 20 kids were waiting, so he signed. They don’t care if he had a bad night, getting an autograph is a big deal and Jeff understands that. He was one of the kids who would wait outside the Braves clubhouse to get a ball signed.
Third: He talked about pitching and how much tougher it is than when he came up. Why? Bullpens. When Jeff started, more guys were throwing complete games. Frenchy thinks that was to the hitters’ advantage. No matter how good a guy was, seeing him four or five times helped the hitters out. Seeing a pitcher for the fifth time, when he was gassed and lost some velocity and movement really helped the hitters out.
Now you see a guy three times, maybe, and every at-bat after that is a new guy who’s fresh. Maybe all this bullpen specialization makes sense. Jeff also said that guy like Hoz and Moose have a lot of adjusting to do. In Triple A they may have seen someone who’d pitched in the big leagues every 4th or 5th night. Now every night and every at-bat is tough. Makes you think twice about getting too worked up about minor league numbers.
Fourth: He really dug me getting hit by that pitch. “You showed everybody what we go through.” Guys up in the clubhouse have massive bruises and still go out and play the next day. Even though what I did was painful, he said fouling one off the shin was even worse. “I’ve never fouled one off my shin and not had the next pitch in the exact same place.”
Later that night Jeff doubled and scored a run, but win or lose, multi-hit game or 0-fer, Jeff Francoeur signs autographs afterwards.
Seems like quite a few people get quality time with Frenchy.
Paulino
Treanor
Escobar
Interesting that Ned and Getz had polar opposite views of Getz's decision to steal 3rd base Wednesday night. The local talking heads have been highly critical of both Getz and Yost since. This losing is getting really old - which is making everyone cranky these days.
Frenchy looks to me like he is going "Vlad" these days as he is beginning to expand his strike zone lately. He's swinging at just about everything these days from his shoe laces to his chin.
Lee, I know you don't like to play GM - but this team needs a shakeup. I like our outfield arms, but Dayton might have to package one of those guys (Melky?) and Butler or a couple of prospects for a true number one in the rotation. Anything to spice things up as we impatiently wait for this team to start winning.
Don: I don't like to play GM, but that doesn't mean you can't. Getting a true number one in here seems like a good idea, so fans are free to speculate about who the team might package to make that happen.
The hot start has put us all in the wrong frame of mind. The Royals were never expected to contend this year so in my estimation it would be huge mistake to make any midseason moves with this season at all in mind. If they do trade for a number 1, he better be one with 3 years left on his contract, and how many of those are out there? Look what the brewers had to give up to get Greinke who had two?
That being said, Melky and francoeur should be considered in the Rick Ankiel vein; mid-season trade fodder to build the system for 2013.
Lastly, I know Francoeur and Melky and Getz want to win now and are pushing for that, and why wouldn't they? They are not part of the long range plan. So let's not worry about accommodating them to the detriment of the future no matter what a super group of guys they are. This goes for Kendall as well.
Matt: I agree that the Royals should be looking at the future, but Cabrera and Francoeur are still very young (they've just been playing a long time). They could be part of the future if the Royals chose to spend that money.
Having said that, I have no doubts that Dayton Moore has a better handle on the situation than I do.
Lee- last night on the broadcast, Frank White talked about "secondary leads", can you explain exactly what a secondary lead is? Thanks!
Good point about this never originally being the year the team was supposed to start winning Matt. I wasn't necessarily implying that trading for a true #1 would turn this year into a winning season, but I think we need to start winning more than we're losing the second half of this year to get the team on the right trajectory for next year. If there are no true #1's out there with sufficient years on their contracts, next season looks pretty bleak with this group of starters returning.
I assume Paulino was breaking in a new "blue glove"? Seems like after he went back to his other glove, he pitched better. #justarandomobservation
Jeff: The runner takes his lead before the pitcher throws and that's his 'primary lead.' Runners are in their primary lead when a pitcher comes over to first and you see the runner dive back.
Once the pitcher goes home, the runner goes into his 'secondary lead' a couple shuffle steps towards the next base. This gets him in motion and shortens the distance he has to run.
When you see a guy picked off it's almost always because he was convinced the pitcher was going home, the pitcher didn't, and the runner got caught moving the wrong way.
This is why lefties have such an advantage (or at least one of the reasons), they can delay the decision to go home for a long while and take a step that's inbetween going home and first which fools the runner. (If they go too far towards home, it's a balk, but the umpire gets to decide what's too far and that may not coincide with what the runner thinks).
You'll also see catcher pickoff attempts after swinging strikes or missed bunts because he knows the runner has taken a secondary lead that might've been too aggressive if the runner thought the ball was going to be put in play.
If you're at the game or they show it on TV, keep your eyes glued to a runner when the pitcher goes home and you'll see a secondary lead.
Vinnie: Missed Paulino's new glove, I'll ask him about it when I get a chance.
Interesting chat with Bruce Chen and Mike Moustakas on kansascity.com this morning. When Moose was asked what his goals were for this year he said "Win a championship."
Probably the way players think early on, but if the handwriting on the wall tells you it's over, things will change for everybody.
The trading deadline will tell you what the Royals believe: you either become 'buyers' (we have a chance) or 'sellers' (let's use what we have to get ready for next year).
Although, ALWAYS preparing for next year can get pretty frustrating. Can't some of the guys who are here now be part of next year?
Selling off your best players in order to stock the shelves the future shouldn't be a permanent game plan. (Oops...drifted into GM territory.)
TRUE- we are rock, stock solid with the players we have for the future. I would hate to see Frenchy or Melky go because of 1) They show great leadership, 2) ALWAYS play hard, 3) ARE talented, 4) Can be part of the success, and 5) Have built great relationships with all the players on the team and that in itself can demoralize current players who look up to them. I know this happened when Sabes was traded for the Jeffries, McReynolds, and Miller. Bret's presence alone, plus ability was more important then anything those three brought to the team. They were decent players, but not true Royals that knew the Royal way of playing ball. Dayton has some tough decisions to make. We have some STRONG outfield talent with the current three starters of Gordon, Melky, and Frenchy, plus Maier is so under-rated. I truly think he could be a legit VERY GOOD player if given the chance. Then throw in Cain, Dyson, and Myers. Some will be staying, some will be going. We CAN'T trade Butler. I don't care what people say- he is YOUNG, TALENTED, and will be a contributor on Championship teams! He has proven his value already at the MLB level. Robinson is putting up crazy numbers, but it is at Omaha. We need to keep Butler. So many options, so many things that could happen. I know you don't like to put on your GM hat, but I truly think some of the above names potentially need to be traded for a TOP pitcher and a Catcher (We are SO in need of a catcher, though Trainor is doing a decent job with OBP. I know that contradicts a lot of what I said earlier, but trade Cain, Robinson, Dyson, Maier, maybe either Melky or Frenchy. Again confusing! So many options!!!! We are so close, but I like the grenade analogy! I digress! :)
I like Butler also, and realize how young he is, but he brings one (and only one) tool to the club. He is also a warning track power guy in one of the largest ballparks in MLB, so he'd be more valuable to a team like Boston than KC.
But- line drive, gap hitter that often hits to right field. Way down on DPs. He could win a batting title some day. To me he could become the next Edgar Martinez- another one-tool player that plain and simple can hit! He is young and averages about 45 doubles, 90 RBIs (Though down this year- as is scoring in MLB and with the Royals), and a .300 average. Can't risk trading away a sure commodity on Robinson as the future- think Kila, Hamelin, and others.
I'm with you on the pitching, Don, I really am. All I'm asking Dayton Moore to avoid is either trading away talent to get someone to pacify us for a couple of years, or signing another Guillen just so he can say he did something while the kids get older. While the casual fans may need that, I surely don't if it in any way derails the likelihood that their talent pool will have them contending soon and for a decade after. What happened to Boston for a decade when they traded top prospect Jeff Bagwell to Houston for journeyman Larry Anderson, just to try to "win now?"
Strange... As I get older and as I suffer through yet another disappointing year I have found myself getting more patient. This of course has everything to do with the difference between trading for Neifi Perez or Roberto Hernandez and developing a Moose or Aaron Crow. I will wait for the latter, perhaps completely give up and become a hockey fan over the former.
I hate to say it, but the performances of our top pitching prospects in the minors this season is making a case for the Royals needing to trade for a legitimate top of the rotation starter.
Look at what those prospects have run into over the course of the first halves of their seasons. Each has struggled with the learning curve of moving up the ladder.
Montgomery is scuffling at the AAA level. Having seen him in person, he does have good stuff. I'm on the bandwagon (been to 10ish games this season) that Werner Park is a hitter's park in a hitter's league. However, top of the rotation? I'm just not sold.
John Lamb...on the DL. Hope he gets those arm problems taken care of, but I'm not counting on him any time in the next year.
Danny Duffy has been a good addition to the rotation, but they're preparing to send him back down to Omaha with the return of Davies. If he's the next number 1 starter (or even #2), it wouldn't hurt to let him hone his skills against the top competition.
Dwyer is having a rough go of it at AA and doesn't seem to be zipping through the Texas League as easily as some had predicted to begin the season.
Jake Odorizzi looks fantastic on paper .....wait for it.....at high-A Wilmington.
My ultimate point here is that we have an amazing amount of offensive talent that seems to be progressing and moving through the levels at a ridculous speed, but our pitching is lagging behind. When you look at performances this year, and factor in the innings cruches that these young arms need to acclimate to (150-180 to 250-300 in the majors) I just don't see them making a significant impact with the big club by 2013.
The challenge of the system is addressing the short-comings of the major league club, and that is the miserable performance of the starting rotation this year. (Bruce Chen IS back. But...) I know that developing pitching from the bottom of the system up is something that Dayton has been preaching since day 1, but at some point you need to lure/trade for a PROVEN commodity at the top of the rotation. I know that this is a difficult proposition in KC, but couldn't we use some of those impressive minor league sticks to get what we really need now and presumably next year...effective starting pitchers.
Got to spend some time today talking to Holland, Duffy and Paulino. Interesting stuff that I'll try to get written up soon.