Games » Cleveland Indians
Apr15The bright side
Lee Judge
The Kansas City Star
Look on the bright side. Nobody is this bad. So just how bad are we talking? Pitching meltdowns in four consecutive games. Big innings in the last three games. Allowing the opposition to bat around four times since they played the national anthem on Friday. I said that the first trip through the pitching rotation could not have gone much better for the Royals. The second trip could not have gone much worse.
Let’s break the big inning down: there were two errors in the bottom half of the third inning — first baseman Eric Hosmer’s dropped pop-up and first-base umpire Lance Barrett’s missed call. Chris Getz had just made a spectacular play to get Michael Brantley for the third out when Barrett called Brantley safe. Royals starter Luis Mendoza let his frustration show, and, whether the call hurt Mendoza’s concentration or not, the inning ended six runs later. You can’t blame Barrett for all six runs. He may have opened the door for the Indians, but Mendoza let them through.
After the missed call, Mendoza gave up a single, a double, an intentional walk, a home run, a walk, a walk and a single. Over the course of the three hour, 20-minute game, the Royals’ pitchers walked seven batters and four of them scored.
Pitching like this raises an important question: How come Mitch Maier is not in the rotation?
Game stuff
Getz advanced on a wild pitch in the first inning. I watched the Royals work on this in spring training. The coaches want the runners to read the angle of the ball and break before it hits the dirt. The Royals have already pulled off this trick three times in this home stand. First-base coach Doug Sisson says that being able to do this becomes more important as pitchers speed their delivery times to prevent stolen bases.
Getz banged a ball off the base of the wall in right-center field for a triple, showing some of the power that hitting coach Kevin Seitzer and manager Ned Yost said they were seeing on the back fields of training camp in Surprise, Ariz.
Catcher Brayan Pena made an outstanding play to keep an Alex Gordon throw from getting loose at home plate. Stuff like this doesn’t show up in the box score, but Brayan’s play kept a runner out of scoring position, at least temporarily.
Twice after giving up home runs Mendoza walked the next batter. Not a good sign. On the other hand, after giving up a home run to Casey Kotchman, reliever Louis Coleman went right after Jason Kipnis — and gave up another home run. At least give Louis credit for continuing to throw strikes.
Speaking of Louis, he replaced Jarrod Dyson on the Royals’ roster. The starting pitching has forced Yost to get into the bullpen early for three straight games so the Royals needed a fresh arm.
Which brings up Danny Duffy. He needs to get deep in the game on Monday night. One of the starters has to give the bullpen a breather. If it’s going poorly, Yost may have no choice but to leave Duffy out there a while.
When the Royals get down by a lot early, it takes them out of their game. They can’t steal, bunt or take the extra base. Being down by a lot means they have to play a conservative brand of baseball, which is not their style.
The bright side to the bad start at home has been the offense. They have battled back. Hold the opposition down to a reasonable number of runs and they ought to have a chance.
By the way, the Royals’ “Our Time” theme is probably going to take a beating for a while. Just remember, Yost and the players didn’t come up with that slogan. They were given copy to read for the cameras, and they read it.
Practice makes perfect
2:30 Saturday afternoon. The catchers are on the field doing early work. Bench coach Chino Cadahia has Brayan Pena and Humberto Quintero going through the process of throwing a baseball. They go over the footwork, taking the ball out of the glove and delivering the ball from the correct arm slot. Everything is broken down into its smallest parts and examined.
I don’t understand much Spanish, but I can see Chino demonstrating the correct arm motion. If Humberto and Brayan get their fingers on top of the ball and throw straight down through it, the ball flies true. If they get lazy and have their fingers even slightly on the side of the ball, it tails to the right.
Former Royal Jason Kendall, who is also helping with the catchers, steps in as a right-handed batter while Brayan and Humberto practice throws to third base. Pena and Quintero come up and throw from behind Kendall, the ball whizzing just a few inches from Jason’s right ear. Kendall stands there unconcerned, looking like a man waiting for a bus.
The group then worked on blocking pitches, and I moved on to another part of the field. But it’s good to remember the effort these guys put in. The only reason they can make some of these plays look so easy is by working so hard.
Easy for you to say
Indian pitcher Chris Perez sent out a tweet saying that if you hit us, we’ll hit you. Because of the American League’s designated-hitter rule, Perez does not have to go to the plate. Apparently there have been American League pitchers who were well known for pitching inside who quit doing it once they moved to the National League.
Pay attention
I’ve mentioned Alex Gordon’s outstanding play on opening day, holding Carlos Santana to a single when it looked off the bat to be a sure double. Alex ran a great route and got his momentum going to second base before he even picked up the ball. He followed that with a great throw. Alex said the cool part about the play was that the Royals turning a double play immediately afterward. I hadn’t made that connection.
It’s a good thing to keep in mind: when you see a play like that, or a catcher blocks a pitch in the dirt, pay attention to what happens afterward. It will give you an idea of just how important those little things can be.
Word gets around
Santana seemed reluctant to challenge Gordon’s arm, and I mentioned that the Royals outfielders’ reputation for throwing well must finally be getting around. Alex pointed out that the only guy who has challenged an outfielder’s arm so far this season has been the Angels’ Albert Pujols — and Pujols ran through a coach’s stop sign to do it. Sometimes the best outfield arms record no assists — nobody runs on them. Pay attention to runners who don’t advance because of an outfielder’s reputation and you will get a deeper understanding of the game.
Getz
Pena
Escobar
Erik Avery
1 year, 1 month agoThe season isn’t two weeks old and some who were saying that the rotation looked so great the first week are ripping away the second. You may be right and the rotation will be awful but isn’t it early?
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month agoErik: I haven’t said the rotation is awful. I said they looked good the first trip through and bad the second: which is pretty much undisputable.
And yes, it is too early to make a judgment about the starting pitching. In fact, I’ve quoted Dayton Moore who says it takes 40 games to have some idea of what you have.
Erik Avery
1 year, 1 month agoLee: When I commented there was no text under “The Bright Side”. I was being overly sensitive to all those “the sky is falling” critics. Didn’t mean to lump you in with them.
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month agoErik: Oops, my bad. When I submit the game stats it creates a new page. It takes a while for the editors to go through my copy and get it posted. So if you come to the site at the right (or wrong) time there won’t be any story.
I was wondering what I’d done to create the impression that I was saying the rotation would be awful.
I think people (and that sometimes includes me) rush to judgment. The rotation won’t be as good as they were the first time through (I think they put up something like a 1.85 ERA) or as bad as they’ve been in the second week.
The players are not thrilled with this start, but they all understand it’s a long season and this is a very small slice of the 162-game schedule.
Cody Poell
1 year, 1 month agoThis is from yesterday’s game lee but just got around to ask it. After Sanchez picked off a guy in the first I noticed he stayed in the stretch for the remainder of the at bat even though nobody was on base anymore. Any idea why?
Jim Fetterolf
1 year, 1 month agoMy take on the rotation is that even very good pitchers have a bad game every fifth outing or so, just as great hitters can look helpless a couple of times a game. When we get twenty-five games in, about five times through the order, we’ll have a much better idea of what we have.
Good point on what is needed from Danny Duffy tomorrow. He needs to go after hitters and take his chances and get seven or eight innings against Justin Verlander. I think he has it in him and he’ll have a great role model on the mound against him.
Larry Tindle
1 year, 1 month agoErik: There are a lot of chicken little’s out there that just can’t wait to start yelling the sky is falling. They are right beside the people that keep telling me what big fans they are. While asking me why Gio is not playing today, instead of Getz, and then are surprised when I tell them Gio is in Omaha.
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month agoCody: It didn’t register that Sanchez was staying in the stretch with nobody on. good for you for spotting it. Sometimes pitcher’s do that to simplify their mechanics. Obviously Jonathan was struggling with his control and maybe he thought it would help. I’ll ask if I get the chance.
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month agoJim: The other day I asked Duffy if he was dialing himself back once in a while during his last outing. I thought he’d overthrow a pitch, then take a breath and get back under control.
Danny said that was exactly what was happening and he knows he needs that skill to be consistent.
He probably knows the team needs him to go deep and I hope what he learned Oakland helps tomorrow.
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month agoLarry: You’re right, people are too quick to panic. People who haven’t been paying attention are ready to say “same old Royals.”
153 games left and that’s a lot of baseball. Fans should try to be like the players: not too high after a good game, not too low after a bad one.
zack_delmont
1 year, 1 month agoWe all knew the SP would be bad. We now have no reason to believe it will be better. Sorry, this is the same old Royals. Gonna be a long season. C’mon, just got swept (raped) by the Indians in the opening weekend series. Reminds me of the late 90s team. Good offense. No pitching.
Jim Fetterolf
1 year, 1 month agoZack, small sample size, really means no more than the first week of very good starts, just provides fodder for those predisposed to predict failure. Did you say “Same old Gordon” when he started 0-for-a-bunch? Baseball’s a funny game of streaks and trends, good luck and bad luck, but you’re right, it is a long season with 153 games to go for the youngest team in the game. I’m still good with 82 wins and am not ready to jump ship and become a shudder Cardinals’ fan or something equally disgusting:)
Terry Payne
1 year, 1 month agoLee, keep up the great writing. You have a very distinct voice and we local baseball fans are lucky to have you. I think somebody has to “pick up the ball” so to speak and lead this rotation. I don’t see anybody doing that, nor do I see anybody, other than perhaps Bruce Chen, capable of doing it. Perpahps Danny Duffy will finally fulfill his promise. Love the offense. Too bad it has to come from so far behind every game.
Chuck Smith
1 year, 1 month agoI don’t think I like that slogan, “Our Time”. Talk about foolishly adding pressure. I’d been more happy with a slogan like “It’s Fun Time” Winning is fun. This is a young team, a fun young team. “Our Time” is almost tedious.
Of course loosing will bring out the naysaying fans. It’s programmed into us from a long time now. We all want to go to the recaps and say “HA! Another win” instead of “Whew, got that one”. Naysaying fans will not be won over on promises.
That said, I won’t engage them in an argumentative conversation. My belief and how I see this team is what makes my Royals experience enjoyable even when dealing with disappointments.
That’s what i like about “Judging the Royals” It helps me enjoy the movement throughout the game. There is SO MUCH going on. What i really need is Lee with a teleprompter slowly going through an entire game using a wide angle view on MLB TV actually showing me everything he’s writing about!! (But only if they let you use Royal’s games Lee!).
Matt Davis
1 year, 1 month agoLee - you are a voice of reason, and of course, you’re right.
But…
While we might recognize these are better players than we’ve had in the past, the fact remains that 2 weeks ago we literally couldn’t wait for the season to start and today we are back to deciding whether to even turn on the TV tonight to watch power hitters face our young starter and our young hitters face a phenom. We’ve had so much go wrong over the last 25 years that even though we can rationalize that it’s a small sample size and the world isn’t ending, it feels like it. We can easily envision a scenario in which the Tigers also sweep the Royals, and we’re just that quickly looking at needing to make up 6 games just to get to .500, and it only gets worse from there.
I agree with your statements, and I want to believe the rest of the season will be better. I’m just having a hard time mustering it after a weekend of watching our starters give up slow pitch softball innings. “Our Time” puts expectations on the team, and they need to earn our trust. This weekend didn’t help with that at all.
Donald Wilson
1 year, 1 month agoI don’t know if it’s just me noticing but I haven’t seen any other comments. Just what is our pitching coach doing??? He never came out ONE time when Hochaver was in his mess the other night and I’m not sure he came out to meet with Mendosa. Surely he should have seen SOMETHING about Hoch to tell him if nothing more than give him encouragement. It sure seems like all he and Ned do is stand in the dugout and talk to each other. Whatever it is it isn’t working and I think the pitching coach ESPECIALLY needs to be more involved. If I can see this I don’t know why someone else can’t. It’s very disgusting!!!
John Wilson
1 year, 1 month agoMy wife was asking the same question all weekend Donald about nobody going to the mound during a meltdown to talk to the pitchers. With a young staff and overworked bullpen, I would think calming the pitcher down would be an imperative.
Greg Tatro
1 year, 1 month agoIf you want to see the example of fair weather fans…just wait for the Royals to have a stretch like they have now. Then watch the bandwagon fill when they win in September.
Put this into perspective…the rotation still doesn’t have Kyle Davies, SOS, Vin Mazzaro, or Jeff Francis in it. That meant a guaranteed loss.
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month agoEverybody: I turned in the numbers and the copy last night, then turned off my laptop. It was the only night I’ll get to spend at home until Thursday, so I’ve been absent.
I’ve read all your comments and I’ll try to sum things up from my perspective:
Don’t panic nine games into a 162-game season. Remember when the Royals got off to a terrific start last year? Bob Dutton, who knows more about the team than anyone, told me they’d be lucky to play .500 ball. He was right, they didn’t.
This year Bob thinks the starting pitching will be somewhat better than expected, he’s not sure they’ll hit as well as everyone thinks, but he still believes .500 or a little better is reasonable.
The trick in baseball is to stay even—no matter what happens, good or bad. Every year when my men’s amateur team would play for the championship, I’d tell them something bad was going to happen—to both teams. It’s baseball. The winner would be the team that reacted in the correct way.
If we’re asking kids in their twenties to understand that, to accept that the umpire blew a call and they need to get right back to what they were doing without getting emotional, shouldn’t we be able to do the same?
Heck, we’re just sitting in the stands, they have their careers on the line.
I have no idea what the final record will be. If I knew, I’d go to Vegas and win some money. People get hurt or play better than expected or play worse than expected. People have things happening in their personal lives that affects their play on the field. I don’t like to predict. It just seems like a media game to get everybody worked up and give people something to talk about. It’s the sports version of gossip.
I tell people I have a hard enough time understanding what HAS happened, much less what will.
But here’s what I know: defensively this team is much better than in the past. In 2010 the Royals led the league in errors, this year, after Salvador Perez returns, they’ll have five legitimate Gold Glove candidates on the field. I’m also counting Francoeur, Gordon, Escobar and Hosmer.
When Chris Getz is at second, the other three positions aren’t bad either.
This team runs the bases better than they have in years. I’ve watched Doug Sisson prepare the base runners hour upon hour.
This team is much better fundamentally than they’ve been in years. I haven’t seen anyone climb the wall and have the ball hit the warning track behind him or seen a cutoff man get hit in the back with a throw or a runner take off for third while the shortstop was holding the ball. Remember how bad they were—they’re no longer that bad.
Kevin Seitzer is one of the best hitting coaches in the majors. He’s helped just about every hitter he’s worked with. The team hitting has improved since he’s been here.
The bullpen is better. Guys who were major parts of the pen last year are no longer here (Soria, Wood) and yet the relievers were still deep enough to send people pitching well down to the minors. Heck, Kelvin Herrera was out there throwing 102 and his best pitch might be his change-up. And he’s not pitching in the 8th or 9th most nights.
I’ve been accused of being overly optimistic or a shill for the players (which means the accuser isn’t paying attention—you’ll read specific criticism of players here that you won’t find any place else). I tell people this would be a very different web site if I was writing about the team a few years ago.
These are not the same old Royals.
I can’t tell you what their record will be, but I can tell you they play better baseball.
Players will tell you focusing on the results is a mistake—there’s too much you can’t control. Focusing on the effort is good baseball. These guys are playing better baseball and that’s good enough for me.
P.S. Pitching coach Dave Eiland did visit the mound during both Mendoza and Hochevar’s bad innings. If you go to MLB.com one of the most helpful features is the “Play-by-play.” Eiland’s visits are recorded there.
Although, I wouldn’t trust the list of pitches: according to them, Mitch Maier has a knuckleball, a changeup, a slider and a cutter. He’s got none of that, he was throwing BP.
Joel Kallem
1 year, 1 month agoLee, your comments are right on. Most of us come to this site because we are interested in the details of the game, not because we need another critical or supportive blog. Your system does that, and it has helped us understand the game on a deeper level. For those that want to “rant and rave”, there are plenty of other blogs and sites.
Sara Reser Keenan
1 year, 1 month agoI appreciate your level-headed take on what has happened so far. As I said to my 1st grade Little Leaguer…you win some, you lose some. That is just the way baseball is. The pitching will settle down. Last week they were the best in the league, this week they were (probably) the worst. Both weeks were flukes…I’m sure that the Royals picthing will end up being neither the best nor the worst.
I also agree about these not being the “same old Royals”…this year will be different, whether or not the record shows it right now. I only wish that those horrible fans that were booing on opening day would realize that and not turn on the team 10 mintues into the season. It’s disgraceful.
How much of our current misfortune to you attribute to the list of players on the DL? We’re missing Salvy Perez, Cain, Soria, now possibly Hochevar. I wonder how much the pitchers are missing Perez…a great catcher can make a big difference during a pitching meltdown.
PS…How great would a win against Verlander be tonight? That would go a long way toward helping us all forget about this weekend!
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month agoJoel: Thank you. I think things will even out and the panic will subside.
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month agoSara: The injuries certainly don’t help. The lineup has been duct-taped together since opening day.
It’s also hard to appreciate how much the wind has been affecting games out at Kauffman this weekend unless you’ve been out there. (Although, the other team has to play in the wind, too. It’s not an excuse, it’s an explanation.)
But to me the biggest factor has been the big inning. The pitchers have to a better job of sticking with the plan and staying aggressive.
Hochevar failed to do that in the first inning on opening day and yesterday, after giving up a home run, Mendoza would walk the next batter. They just can’t do that.
Bob McClure lost his job because the pitchers didn’t throw strikes and when they did, they didn’t throw enough low strikes. That may be the single biggest factor in the success or failure of this team.
When you watch on TV, pay attention to the catcher’s mitt and where it winds up. If the mitt is moving up or toward the middle of the plate, that’s trouble.
It’d be nice to beat Verlander and, as my wife said this morning, he’s got to lose sometime. But whatever happens, don’t be surprised if Yost leaves Duffy out there a while. He may need to rest the bullpen.
And thanks for visiting the site.
Rob Wilson
1 year, 1 month agoLee, great stuff as usual. I’m going to try hard to stay up to date on your articles, I appreciate your passion and knowledge. I was at the game yesterday and started chuckling out loud when I noticed Maier take the mound remembering your interview with him about his first outing. It reminded me of a kid throwing to his friend and announcing every pitch before he throws them and there all straight. Here comes a curve…straight, here comes a slider…straight, here comes a knuckle….straight, etc. Funny how a fastball could look like all those other pitches.
In the bottom of the 9th (yes I stayed to the end) with the Royals down 8 did you have any issue with them stealing 2nd base twice? I know the runners weren’t being held but I still wasn’t sure how to take that one. Did they simply take the bag since they were conceding it to them? As you know when you have a big lead, you put the brakes on and just play station to station ball and stop the aggressive type of play. On the flip side, shouldn’t that also take place? I’m going to guess since they were handing them second, they took it and stayed out of the force so the play would have to be made at first. Thanks Lee.
Lee Judge
1 year, 1 month agoRob: I think we had pitchers on our team that had the same problem: five pitches and they all did the same thing.
I plan on interviewing Mitch about his second outing, but I’ll probably wait until they get a couple wins under their belt first.
As for stealing the bases: I think they were just staying out of forces and the Indians were conceding the base. If someone had a problem with it, I didn’t hear about it. I think it’s pretty accepted practice in the majors, but I’ll ask around.
You may have noticed Eddie Rodriguez sending runners home for the same reason: the Inidians weren’t going to throw home up by six.
Good to know you’re still alive. We need to get together and catch up.