Games: Pittsburgh Pirates, June 9: Judging the Royals with Lee Judge

Games » Pittsburgh Pirates

Jun9

One weird inning

I guess we should’ve known it was going to be an unusual game when Billy Butler stole a base. A Royals pitcher also got a hit and an RBI, we almost saw a 9-2 force-out, Mike Moustakas missed first base, the bottom of the 4th inning took 29 minutes and I’m fairly certain a cat married a dog (or whatever it was Bill Murray said in “Ghostbusters”).

Let’s go back and examine the train wreck that was the bottom of the fourth inning. Vin Mazzaro just got a hit and drove in a run in the top of the inning. The Royals were up 3-0 at that point and I’m guessing Mazzaro went out to pitch the bottom of the 4th inning with a song in his heart.

Mazzaro then walked the first batter, never a good sign, and hit the second batter, which brought the tying run to the plate. After that it was a montage of bleeders, jam shots and weird plays. Eric Hosmer had a bases-loaded fly ball that everybody thought was going to get caught land at his feet. (There’s gotta be a story behind that one.)

Hosmer had the presence of mind to pick up the ball and throw a one-hop strike to Brayan Pena at the plate. The throw beat the runner (before he left for Pittsburgh, Hosmer told me he wanted to throw a runner out from right field—he almost did), but Pena bobbled the ball and the runner was safe. Billy Butler had a possible double play ball—a tough double play, but still a possible double play—go off the heel of his glove. Mike Moustakas had a slow roller he had to put in his back pocket. It was just weird play after weird play with occasional bad defense thrown in and before the inning was over, the Royals had given up five runs on three hits.

Here’s the problem: In 2011 interleague play, the Royals outfield was hitting so well they thought they could afford to use Billy Butler as a pinch hitter. In 2012, the team isn’t hitting that well and they felt they needed to keep Billy’s bat in the lineup. That means four of eight players are either out of position or subpar at their position: Francoeur, Hosmer, Butler and Betancourt.

Let’s say you go the other way and keep the best defense on the field. You’re then talking about benching the Royals’ best hitter on a team that is struggling offensively. Take Yuniesky Betancourt off the field—the defense doesn’t get better—and most of the Royals offense for the last two days goes with him. Ned Yost is damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t.

Watching bad defense should make us appreciate how good the defense was early in the season—and have us counting down the days until the Royals play by American League rules once again.

Game notes

During an in-game interview, Pirates pitcher A.J. Burnett said he was watching the Royals hitters to find out if they “ambushed.” As previously explained, that’s baseball slang for hitters who jump on first-pitch fastballs. Pitchers want to know if they can get ahead by throwing a fastball for a strike. If hitters never ambush, they’ll constantly find themselves behind in the count.
The Royals ambush a lot, and I plan on asking Kevin Seitzer the team philosophy on this.
With 15 teams in each league, the interleague problems will go on all season in 2013. They need to figure out how to set this up so one league isn’t at a disadvantage throughout the year.
The Pirates are extremely aggressive on the base paths. Clint Hurdle picked this up from Ron Washington the year Hurdle served as the Texas Ranger hitting coach. Hurdle knew his team would run itself into outs and make mistakes while they learned what was possible and what wasn’t, but he wanted to establish a culture of aggressive base running. Sound familiar?

As Doug Sisson told me in spring training, this is the new direction of baseball. Without the power provided by performance-enhancing drugs, teams are emphasizing speed.

Speaking of speed, the Pirates pulled off a double steal in the 3rd inning. Brayan Pena went after the trail runner. This is often a better bet than the lead runner because the runner on first has to wait to make sure the runner on second is really going. Vin Mazzaro’s full leg-kick took too long and both runners were safe.

With multiple runners on, the catcher will step out in front of the plate and give a series of signs. He’s alerting the infielders about what he plans to do with the ball if a runner takes off.

Some things went right: twice Eric Hosmer doubled to lead off innings and twice Brayan Pena did his job and moved him over to third base (although Hosmer got lucky when he broke for third and the pitcher fielded the ball, but fell toward first base and decided to get the easy out).

Unfortunately, twice Alcides Escobar couldn’t finish the deal by getting Hosmer home. Once he got to a 1-2 count and hit a curveball back to the pitcher (Vin Mazzaro picked him up with his single), but the second time—in the 8th inning—Esky chased a sinker down and in on the first pitch.

Escobar needed a pitch up in the zone he could drive to the outfield or a pitch out over the plate he could drive up the middle. A grounder to short or second would get the job done, but a grounder to third—and that’s about the only place a righty can hit a sinker down and in—wouldn’t. Esky chased the sinker, hit it to third and Hosmer had to hold and never scored.

In the 6th inning with runners at first and second, Clint Robinson hit a fly ball to left field. Hit the same fly ball to right and the runner on second—Brayan Pena—could have advanced from second to third. Then Pena might have scored on the subsequent fly ball Alex Gordon hit.

Better situational hitting and the Royals pick up two runs.

Brayan Pena deserves credit for blocking a pitch in the dirt with a runner on third.
According to the TV announcers Aaron Crow had an ERA over 5.00 as a starter in the minor leagues. Being a reliever allows Crow to use just two pitches—fastball and slider. If those numbers are correct maybe the bullpen is where he belongs.
In the 8th inning the Royals guessed right and pitched out on an attempted steal, but Brayan Pena’s throw was off-line. Alcides Escobar did a nifty job—making the catch and then the tag to get an out.

Just so you know

After Friday night’s blown rundown, a reader claimed that Ned Yost must not be doing his job. The reader took the blown rundown as evidence that the Royals have not been properly drilled on conducting the play.

This is untrue. I was there in spring training and watched them work on this multiple times. They even brought over the fastest base runners from the minor league fields to make the exercise more realistic. The base runners were told to try to embarrass the major leaguers. In other words: Give us your best shot and make this a realistic drill.

Unfortunately, reality tends to be different than practice. There’s only so much you can do to prepare for what is actually going to happen when the game begins. If the Royals messed up the play, it’s not because they didn’t practice the play.

A likable player

A couple of people I respect seem to like Clint Robinson. After what he had to say upon getting called up, I can see why. Robinson refused to whine about being blocked from a shot at the big leagues by Eric Hosmer and Billy Butler: “It’s just a business. When you have guys in front of you like Billy and Hosmer…they’re proven stars. You can’t get mad at that. That’s what you want the Royals to do. You want to take one of those guys out of the lineup and call me up? That doesn’t make sense.”

Why not leave him in?

There are people who hate the concept of pitch counts, but I get why teams use them. When a starting pitcher takes the mound there are only so many bullets in the gun—and nobody’s sure how many. There has to be some number of pitches that will injure an arm. So somewhere between 0 and 1,000 is a number that will be too much, depending on the guy, the situation and the mechanics, just to name a few factors.

I once read an article in Sports Illustrated that said a pitcher could be fine at 115 pitches and need surgery just a few pitches later. When it happens, it will happen very fast. As the arm gets tired, it falls into different slots. As the muscles fatigue, more strain is carried by the joints.

The reason I’m writing this is Johan Santana threw a no-hitter in his previous start, but he needed 134 pitches to do so. In his next start, Friday night, he gave up four homers and six runs over five innings.

If you go to the mound and ask a pitcher how he is, he’ll often tell you he feels fine…but that’s not the point. The larger question is not how do you feel now, but how will you feel tomorrow or a week or a month from now? I have no way of knowing whether Santana’s poor outing had anything to do with throwing 134 pitches in his previous start—but I’m pretty sure it didn’t help.

Minor league phenom

I just wanted to alert you to a player that might be the answer to the Royals’ current problems at second base. During his time in Triple A, this player has hit .303 with a .373 on-base percentage and a slugging percentage of .444. He’s known as an excellent situational hitter, a great bunter, a very consistent and smooth defender, and a stolen base threat. He’s considered a great teammate and a smart ballplayer. He’s currently hitting .429, has an on-base percentage of .500 and is slugging .714.

His name is Chris Getz.

Chris and I were talking about fans who get excited about minor league numbers. Here’s what he had to say, “We were all that guy at some point in our career, that’s how we got here.” Apparently, the grass is always greener on minor league fields.

Comments

Thayne Griffin
11 months, 2 weeks ago

1-12 RISP (the 1 being from the pitcher) and the bottom of the fourth pretty much sums up the game.
Andy Heer
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Lee, we all know Chris is your guy…it seems you remind us daily with your praise of him or your exuberance to critique any competitors of his at 2nd base…I’m not a Getz hater…actually I wish he had a stronger arm or better range and could be our utility infielder…it does seem to me he has reached or nearly reached his potential…Getz is a 250 MLB hitter with little or no pop in his bat to drive in many runs…on a team like the Rangers he may be a great fit…with the Royals we need all the help we can get…when I look at the minors and see a 2nd round draft choice who is a few years younger than Getz by the name of Giavotella batting well I want to see what he can do at the next level…maybe he will continue to develop and provide some needed offense while improving his defense…Royals fans have seen this happen to more than one player in the past…G Brett.

I assumed when we went out and signed Yuniesky Betancourt this past off season that it was the last days for Getz as a Royal…I assumed Yuni was our utility infielder and we would give Giavotella a shot at 2nd base…I’m just curious why Giavotella is sitting on the bench with the Royals…if he needs some work to improve his defense why not send him to Omaha…have we given up on Giavotella developing into our everyday 2nd baseman? Are we just waiting for Colon to develop as our 2nd baseman? Do we believe Yuni will cut back on his average of 20 errors per season at SS by playing second base? Do you have any insights or speculation?
Bob Wheeler
11 months, 2 weeks ago

After these last two games I am ready to put the defense back to normal (and if Getz were here that would mean him at 2B). We could have Butler or Hosmer at first depending in the starting pitcher and then have the other (along w/ Clint Robinson) available to pinch hit.
John Wilson
11 months, 2 weeks ago

“After these last two games I am ready to put the defense back to normal”

I agree with Bob on this one.

Mark, I do believe Lee’s point in posting Getz’ current AAA stats was to show that AAA stats are meaningless when it comes to playing in the Show - not that he was the answer for all of the Royals’ ills :-)
Lee Judge
11 months, 2 weeks ago

John: Thanks for getting my point. For a minute there it looked like nobody would. We’re more familiar with the guys who play in the major leagues and have a better idea of their strengths and weaknesses.

But some fans get excited about minor league numbers, which is fine, but they should keep in mind those numbers are only part of the picture and those numbers are being put up against lesser competition.

If Chris Getz had changed his name on the drive to Omaha and someone saw Joe Blow with the same numbers Getz has put up at Triple A, that fan might be lobbying for Chris Getz to replace Chris Getz.

I don’t think I’m going to change anyone’s mind on Chris if they’ve already decided he’s awful—or at least subpar.

But the people who actually play, coach, manage and general manage the game have a higher opinion of players like Getz and Jason Kendall (another hot button for some people) because they have a more complete picture of what those players bring to the table than the people who don’t actually play, coach, manage or general manage the game.

I don’t think the defense has looked the same since Chris went down. Six (or are we up to seven?) errors at second base in that time span and another half dozen plays that could’ve been made, weren’t, but didn’t get recorded as errors.

I think the coaching staff is ready to drive to Omaha to give Getz a ride back to KC just to make sure he’s here for Tuesday’s game.
Aaron Bailey
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Lee, in Aaron Crow’s ONE minor league season he had a 5.66 ERA in 22 AA starts and then was dropped to high-A ball for 7 starts where he posted a 5.93 ERA. That winter, Baseball America reported the problem to be his delivery to be fast hurting his command. The next year he was an All-Star. My belief has been that he wasn’t given a real chance to develop as a starter. He basically missed two years of development because of the old draft rules (he didn’t sign with Washington in ‘08 and then waited till September of ‘09 to sign with the Royals. So either the Royals really don’t believe he can make it as a starter or they wanted a quick return on their investment (which rarely happens for starting pitchers, so readers, don’t look for Kyle Zimmer anytime soon).

Regarding Johan Santana, I don’t have official data, but I think most pitchers who have thrown no-hitters struggle for much of the rest of the season, similar to the power numbers of the home-run contest hitters decreasing. If I was a manager, I’d skip the pitchers next start entirely.
Lee Judge
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Andy: Giavotella was given a long tryout at the end of the 2011 season. Before it was over, they were sending Chris Getz out for late-inning defense. Gio wasn’t tearing the cover off the ball at this level and wasn’t playing D as well as Getz.

Switch to spring training of 2012: guys make adjustments in the off-season. Witness Mike Moustakas’ improvement with the glove and Getz coming in with a new stance and some more power—not a lot—but more.

Giavotella got a look, but was sent back to the minor league fields. They still felt he had work to do defensively. Apparently, they still feel that way: when given a choice, they’ve played Betancourt, Falu and Getz over Gio in situation where they’re looking for defense. If you’re defensively subpar in what’s considered a defensive position (anything up the middle) you need to hit a ton to make up for it.

Nobody’s told me this, but I’m assuming Johnny is here because of injuries and when everybody’s healthy, he’ll go back to Triple A to work on that defense—but that’s pure speculation on my part.

I’ve been told they haven’t given up on Gio—that was from one person—but they still feel he needs work. Right now that process has been delayed while they try to get through this injury-plagued period.
Lee Judge
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Aaron: Thanks for looking up those numbers on Crow. The Fox announcers said that and I was pushed for time last night, never getting around to checking out the complete numbers.

Nobody has told me this, but there may be concern about Crow holding up as a starter over a major league season. Walk through the clubhouse and the starters are big guys. Felipe Paulino is a horse, Hochevar is big, Bruce Chen is much bigger than you’d think.

Crow is a pretty normal-sized guy. Obviously, there have been small starters, but if you want 100+ pitches per start out of a guy, his frame may be a concern.

Interesting about guys who throw no-hitters struggling later. It wouldn’t surprise me. Obviously they’ve throw a complete game and I wonder how many pushed their pitch count to do it.

And if I was a hitting coach, I’d pay my guys to avoid the home run hitting contest at the All-Star game. I don’t know what the contestants have done in general after competing, but standing there pulling and lifting is a great way to jack up a swing.
Jim Fetterolf
11 months, 2 weeks ago

“In short, we’ve got a great idea about what kind of player Getz is.”

You folks also had a great idea about the players in the Worst Outfield Ever last year and about Bruce Chen a couple of years ago. For the rest of us, we’ve seen the alternatives since Chris got hurt, so look forward to competent glove work and quality at bats.

Careers don’t take the field, young men do and they make constant adjustments to keep playing.
John Wilson
11 months, 2 weeks ago

I agree Jim. All the complaining about how subpar one player may be doesn’t make the others suddenly better options because of it. It is what it is.
Joel Kallem
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Lee,

Small correction. Vin drove in the run in the top of the 4th not bottom of third (Pirates were the home team).

Last night clearly illustrated to me what has become the “bell-weather” of our latest struggles. We can’t seem to get more than one hit per inning. The total number of hits is not that bad, but we consistently spread them out so that fewe or no runs result from them. Unless the pitching and defense is outstanding in a given game, we are not scoring enough runs to win. The pitching and defense while having some problems has not been so bad that we are getting blown out of most games. Last night was a perfect example. Even with all of the “oddities”, it was still a game we could have won if we could have gotten a second (key) hit in the many opportunities we had to pick up a run.
Jim Fetterolf
11 months, 2 weeks ago

“So either the Royals really don’t believe he can make it as a starter or they wanted a quick return on their investment”

Likely both. Management has a phobia about a #1 being a bust, so they needed Aaron Crow to make some sort of impact and he did force himself onto the roster in the spring of ‘11. There have been enough cases of relievers working back into the rotation to think that Crow may yet get a shot after he smooths out his mechanics and develops a strong 3rd pitch. I was of the opinion that he should have started this year in Omaha in the rotation, but management, correctly it appears, thought that they needed the strength in the bullpen and couldn’t afford not having Crow.

“But some fans get excited about minor league numbers, which is fine, but they should keep in mind those numbers are only part of the picture and those numbers are being put up against lesser competition.”

Irving Falu is hitting .340 at Omaha, Tony Seratelli hit his 11th homer last night. With the exception of Cody Clark, everyone in last night’s lineup was averaging over .270.

Wil Myers isn’t the only player brutalizing PCL pitching and taking a home run trot on balls that would be warning track or off the wall doubles at the K. Big step up from the minors. Ask Kila, recently released by the most brilliant GM ever. Here’s last night’s box score from Omaha, to offer a context for discussion of AAA:

http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=gbox&gid=20120609rreaaaomaaaa1

“I’m just curious why Giavotella is sitting on the bench with the Royals”

Unfortunately, because he has earned it. A glove like Yuni’s and a bat worse than Getz won’t get much time in the bigs, especially with the much more versatile Irving Falu waiting in the wings. And when he goes back to Omaha he’ll join a crowd at 2nd there. He’s had some chances but he is going to have to seize the moment. Colon is on the horizon, Tony Abreu is hitting and most SS can make the transition to 2nd, Falu and Seratelli are producing. Just a symptom of the strength of the Royals’ farm that a lot of players don’t have a year to show what they have like Moose and Hoz last year or probably Dyson this year or even Lorenzo Cain.
Matthew LaMar
11 months, 2 weeks ago

I do think the Royals screwed up in Crow’s development. Even assuming their rotation is completely healthy, it is very weak, especially considering all the injuries that have happened. Crow might not be well suited to starting, but in Crow you have a guy who has proven he can get major league ballplayers out and has promise. I just think it’s a pretty bad allotment of resources—if you have a talented pitcher like Crow, I don’t understand why the Royals have refused even trying him in an area of need (rotation).

Getz has been stellar this year. Well, not Robinson Cano stellar, but pretty useful. If he can keep hitting like he has, there isn’t really an argument to keep him from playing. I’d like to see if Getz can continue at his current pace.

Also, as for the minor league stats, they essentially become irrelevant if a player has significant major league time. Getz has had 1000+ ML PAs. His AAA stats are absolutely worthless in projecting or evaluating anymore.
Jim Fetterolf
11 months, 2 weeks ago

“His AAA stats are absolutely worthless in projecting or evaluating anymore.”

True, but the point is that just about everyone was a prospect at one time. Another point is that the next prospect, or wife or job or president, will be better than the current one.

“I’d like to see if Getz can continue at his current pace.”

Doesn’t really matter, what matters is whether Irving Falu can take the job, or some other guy next year. Giavotella hasn’t been able to take it, Yuni really hasn’t, not able to hit enough better than Getz to compensate for defensive shortcomings. At the moment, Getz is the best combination of offense and defense that is available for that position.

“Getz has had 1000+ ML PAs.”

How many did Melky have before last year? History is only good until something changes to disrupt the trends. Then it is pretty much worthless to anyone but historians.
Lee Judge
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Joel: Thanks for the catch, all fixed now.
Andy Heer
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Lee: But the people who actually play, coach, manage and general manage the game have a higher opinion of players like Getz and Jason Kendall (another hot button for some people) because they have a more complete picture of what those players bring to the table than the people who don’t actually play, coach, manage or general manage the game.

Does opinion include salary? Getz is paid $967,500 and Yuniesky Betancourt is paid $2,000,000 for 2012

I’ve been a Royals fan since I was a kid in the early 70’s…we (ignorant fans who have not played, coached, managed or been general manager) have all seen some pretty poor “opinions” on display for the past 20 years by the people who “actually play, coach, manage and general manage” the Royals…could you forgive me for questioning their all knowing wisdom?
Lee Judge
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Andy: Hold any opinion you like. But don’t be surprised if someone finds it unlikely that fans know more about baseball than the people who do it for a living.
Jim Fetterolf
11 months, 2 weeks ago

“SERIOUSLY?”

Of course, lots of AAAA players, just thought Kila and Gio might be two you had heard of.

“It’s just that the Royals need more amazing players,”

Of course, and what they need before that is the current crop of amazing players to start performing. The last two saviors aren’t doing much at the moment, the savior before them has seriously struggled this year, even the savior before that is in a bit of a slump and not making much of an impact. A team scoring two runs isn’t going to be saved by one rookie coming up after a month in AAA. But promoting Myers is the latest fad generated by whatever “Talking Points Central” is, so I’m seeing it everywhere, most often from people who don’t follow AAA.

Judging the Royals