Games: Pittsburgh Pirates, June 10: Judging the Royals with Lee Judge

Games » Pittsburgh Pirates

Jun10

Striking out looking

OK, so Ned Yost went for a better defense in this game and that didn’t work out either. Still a couple of errors, but also a couple plays that almost certainly wouldn’t have been made (Jarrod Dyson‘s catch in center and Mitch Maier‘s tumbling “catch” over the wall in foul territory) with the defense set up the way it was Friday and Saturday night.

With less offense in the lineup and Pirates starter A.J. Burnett dealing, the Royals didn’t get their first hit until the 6th inning, but give them credit—they kept battling and got back in the game.

Unfortunately, they went 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position, including a couple of strikeouts looking with the game on the line. We’ve had this argument before: Is a strikeout looking any worse than a swinging strikeout? I think it is. With runners in scoring position and two strikes, I think hitters need to hit the zone and a little more. Put the ball in play and anything can happen. The Pirates proved that Saturday night.

Game notes

Alex Gordon swung at the first pitch of the game for a reason. He occasionally does this to prevent pitchers from confidently grooving a fastball for strike one. In this case it didn’t work and three pitches later A.J. Burnett had two outs.

Eric Hosmer took the opposite approach to extend the inning. Hos took a hittable fastball, swung at a curve and was then at Burnett’s mercy. Damned if you do damned if you don’t—at least with a good pitcher.

This is why pitchers need to pound the zone; force hitters to swing the bat early. If a pitcher has a reputation for doing this—throwing a first-pitch fastball for a strike—Kevin Seitzer will let the hitters know they need to be ready to dial it up right away.
After doubling, Andrew McCutchen stole third base. Easier to do when a lefty is on the mound (he has his back to the runner), so it’s something you can look for in future games.
According to the guys on TV, Chen has the fewest walks per nine innings and hasn’t given up more than two walks in any game this season—a big part of his success.
With Rod Barajas at the plate, Chen shows what pitching’s about: an 84 MPH sinker, followed by an 81 mph cutter, followed by an 88 mph sinker. The 88 mph pitch locked Barajas up. Good pitchers either slow a hitter’s bat down and then speed it up or vice versa. 88 mph can look like 98 mph in the right pitch sequence.
Doug Sisson pointed out that Eric Hosmer may have struggled in right field because of the third deck that major league parks have and minor league parks don’t. Even seasoned outfielders can struggle with the third deck when they arrive in the big leagues. They have to learn to pick up the ball with a crowd in the background.

This can’t be practiced during BP either—no crowd. So the first time you’re looking at a fly ball with something other than empty seats behind it is in a major league game.

We’ve discussed whether a base stealer helps the hitter at the plate. Bruce Chen had six pickoff attempts during Andrew McCutchen’s at-bat before McCutchen homered. Maybe there was no negative effect there, but it probably didn’t help Chen’s rhythm.
Eric Hosmer had an 11-game hitting streak going before this game. Looks like he’s slowly coming back.
The Royals stole four bases off Burnett. A.J. has an inward turn—a coiling move—before he comes to the plate and that takes time. He seemed to cut the move down with a runner on, but I still had him over 1.7 seconds delivering the ball home when I had a stopwatch on him. Looks like the Royals picked their spots and were successful.
Jarrod Dyson made a great play in right center and started an 8-4-3 double play. The defensive switch paid off in this case.
Mitch Maier made another great “catch” going over the fence head first and landing on a concrete walkway. Replays revealed the ball rolling around on the ground after he took his swan dive, but Mitch picked it up and showed it to the umpire and got the call.
Brayan Pena hustled a single into a double, and it paid off when Alcides Escobar bounced another double into the stands. If Pena doesn’t hustle into second, he only gets third on Esky’s double and would not have ended up scoring.
Billy Butler pinch-hit for Mike Moustakas in the 8th inning with a lefty on the mound. That move put Yuniesky Betancourt at third, in most people’s minds (and mine) a defensive downgrade. But when behind, managers will go for offense, when ahead they’ll stick with the good defense.
Clint Hurdle brought in Juan Cruz to face Brayan Pena, which kept Pena on the left side of the plate. Brayan was 0-3 against Cruz, probably one of the reasons Hurdle made the move.
In the 9th inning with the tying run on first, Ned Yost had Jarrod Dyson bunt the runner over. Probably two reasons for that: Even though it violates the “play for the win on the road and the tie at home” rule, asking Dyson to bunt is not an automatic out. Also, Yost has done this before when he thinks his bullpen is in better shape than the home team’s. He figures to get the game to extra innings and win it there. Joel Hanrahan, the Pirates closer, was not available—he’d already pitched three days in a row, one more than Hurdle prefers—and that may have figured into Ned’s thinking.

Comments

Dave O'Brien
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Taking a called third strike is inexcusable. There should be a mandatory $5000.00 fine for doing so. At the ML level, you should know when a pitch is hittable.

Billy Butler looks at far too many called strikes on the first and second pitch before he starts fouling off bad pitches. He’s have many more hits, if he would swing the bat at those that go right down the middle.

Teams that win, hit the ball. They don’t TRY and walk at every at bat.
Dave O'Brien
11 months, 2 weeks ago

“He’d have many more hits”

Sorry.
Matthew LaMar
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Lee, what did you think about the whole Quintero doing ‘Chinese-eyes’ during the Chen interview yesterday/was anybody mad about it within the clubhouse?

Also…blech. The Royals are playing badly. There’s not much really to say. Hope they come out of it soon, or else Tuesday vs. Greinke will be embarasing.
Jim Fetterolf
11 months, 2 weeks ago

“So, Jim, with regards to this “fad” Wil Myers….you’re saying that if there are better options at AAA, they should be ignored until the most recent crop starts playing better?”

No, I’m saying that a month at Omaha qualifies as a small sample size on a team, in a park and in a league where hitting is cheap. Johnny Giavotella hit .338 there last year and .320 this year. Irving Falu is hitting .350, to Myers .341.

As for the fad, everyone is on the Free Wil bandwagon, just as there was a different fad last year and the year before. Hope springs eternal in the minor leagues. I expect Myers up after the ASB, probably in CF, where another month of game conditions might help, and after any Super Two considerations are past.

“And why, exactly, is any opinion contrary to yours a “talking point”, a “fad” or the like?”

Because everyone in the niche beats the same drum pretty much on the same day. I’ve been having this sqame discussion with Mike Engel and it is widespread on the “screen name” boards. Yesterday everybody wanted to fire Ned for the line up changes and not walking and were railing on Yuni’s D. Those points won’t work too well today.

“I’m sure the Washington Nationals and Bryce Harper would be in lock-step with you on that premise, no?”

As would the Royals and their last two AAA saviors.

“Are we worried that Dyson…one of the fastest men in the game… would hit into a double play?”

He had already hit into one, as I recall.

“By the look of things, keep doing what they’re doing…and hope for the best.”

Yep. We know the kids can hit, we saw that last year, we’ve got five 1st round picks in the usual starting line up, and the team is having a bit of trouble driving in runs. The team can panic and send Hosmer down and release Gordon, or they can let them work through it. Surprised you’re not upset by the steals and the team not taking walks:)

“Talking points are usually generated by a cohesive group or body…you know, like a political party, industry, or in this case, a Major League Baseball team”

Or a talk radio show or an influential blogger.

“grossly underperformed for the better part of three decades”

And that suggests “talking point”, as folks with either business or baseball experience know that three decades is a meaningless number. Chen may have been the only current player alive then. Six years is the only history that matters with Dayton Moore or to me. I won’t blame him for Mr. Kauffman’s actions or David Glass’ learning curve. I will blame him for Jose Guillen and Yuni. I think he’ll agree that that is fair.

“And if so, why not a straight steal, which with Escobar running, has about a 76% chance of success (Escobar’s career successful steal percentage).”

Probably the match up. Esky won’t steal three of four bases against every pitcher in every situation. Of course, with the Royals RISP lately, I probably would have had Escobar steal second and third and Dyson squeeze him in.

For our readers, here’s the box score from today’s ‘Chasers’ victory:

http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?sid=milb&t=gbox&gid=20120610rreaaaomaaaa1

I enjoy keeping an eye on the next wave. Free Irving!
Lee Judge
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Matthew: Couldn’t tell you how the players feel about Quintero’s gesture. I only get to talk with them when they’re here in town.

Humberto is from Venezuela and I don’t know if cultural differences played into the incident, but I can tell you a major league clubhouse is not the most politically correct place on Earth.
Brendan Woodbury
11 months, 2 weeks ago

The Royals are last in the American League by a pretty significant margin in walks drawn. This is part of the reason our good batting average isn’t translating into good run scoring. I don’t think that this is a team that is reluctant to swing the bat. I’d rather see the players taking more pitches, even if it means a few strikeouts looking.

Also, I’d like to have seen Escobar try for the steal of second. Barajas has thrown out 2 of 33 runners who have attempted to steal this year, and Escobar is fast. I like those odds.
Brendan Woodbury
11 months, 2 weeks ago

According to pitch f/x, the Royals swing at 32.9% of pitches out of the strike zone (4th highest in the majors) and 63.0% of pitches in the strike zone (9th lowest in the majors).

Either we’re getting squeezed by the umpires (which is possible — most umpires strike zones are different than the pitch f/x strike zone and players need to protect the strike zone as the umpire calls it, not as the rulebook defines it) or our players are really bad at pitch recognition.
Brendan Woodbury
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Here are some of the major individual contributors to the Royals poor strike zone judgment.

Most frequent swinging at pitches outside the zone (min. 100 plate appearances): Jeff Francouer at 42.8% (7th in MLB); Humberto Quintero at 41.6% (12th); and Brayan Pena at 41.3% (14th) are all in the Top 25 in MLB.

Least frequent swinging at pitches inside the zone (min. 100 plate appearnces): Jarrod Dyson at 54.4% (15th in MLB) is the only Royal among the bottom 25.

I wouldn’t have a problem if Dyson were just being selective (a walk is truly as good as a hit for him), but he’s swinging at 36.7% of pitches out of the zone, which suggests he’s not showing particularly good judgment.
Jim Fetterolf
11 months, 2 weeks ago

“David Glass has been running the team since ‘93, and has owned it outright for 12 years.”

David Glass was a career employee and the early part of a “running the team” was under a very difficult transition regime demanded by Mr. Kauffman’s will in favor of his Foundation. The learning curve is shown by his change in style after he acquired the team, starting out looking cheap and lost and transitioning into the Moore era where he is now committed to providing the financial resources and flexibility to his GM to build a solid organization, which they are doing. If you wish, though, we can consider it as 19 years or 12 years, neither of which is three decades and only 6 years of which involved current management and finacial resources.

“If so, can we agree that he was wildly over-matched to start with on this task?”

Quite possible. The jump from being an employee to being an owner is larger than from AAA to the majors.

“especially the guy who owns it and who’s been behind the wheel, effectively, for 18 years.”

Agree. That’s the learning curve thingie. Since he hired GMDM I think he is doing a much better job of it.

“Lastly, Cain should be in CF when he’s healthy, and he certainly should be if Myers is forced to wait until after the AS break.”

Cain is back in KC with the doctors, apparently a problem with the hip flexor, a major injury for a speed guy. I’ld be surprised if he’s back in center before August, which should get Myers a call after the ASB.

“the domino effect of keeping Myers down artificially longer than is necessary.”

Only if you buy the idea that Frenchy is the weakest OF we have, that a month in Omaha is enough time to get competent in center and is a useful sample size, and that Super Two status is meaningless, even in light of some other young stars that pulled down five to ten million in first arbitration.

“he’s swinging at 36.7% of pitches out of the zone, which suggests he’s not showing particularly good judgment.”

That may be a reason Wil Myers is being tried in CF.

“Most frequent swinging at pitches”

I would note that three of the four listed are back ups pressed into duty by injuries. Good numbers, Brendan. Thanks. The good news is the Royals got lots of walks today, benched Frenchy, used a more normal defense, didn’t get thrown out stealing, and had an offensive explosion of two runs. I don’t know what the fix is. The RISP numbers show a team-wide problem. My guess is they are back to pressing again.
Tim Block
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Thoroughly enjoying the “Jim vs Mark” banter. So far, I’m in Jim’s corner. Mostly because I’m Royal loyal through and through - and am a “cup half full” kind of guy. Thanks again for the baseball education Lee.
Tim Block
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Lee, I’m baffled by the management’s infatuation with Betencourt and Giovetella. Aren’t Fulu and Getz better options? I have been keeping up with the Getz banter on this site, but personally feel like he’s a “smarter” option. I’m certainly not the most knowledgeable baseball poster on this site, but how is Betencourt a better option than Falu?
Thayne Griffin
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Brendan, do you have Alex’s swinging numbers for in and out of the zone? I thought he’s had pretty good numbers in that respect and walks a good amount (especially in relation to the rest of the team - good for a leadoff man if he could get the bat going).

Also to Brendan, I thought Maier got absolutely screwed on 2 pitches out of the zone that were called strikes..needless to say, he struck out..

Can’t believe we put Yuni at 3rd…my guess is Gordon hasn’t taken balls at 3rd recently…he’d be a much better option there.

AND HOW DO YOU STRIKEOUT LOOKING AT 3 FASTBALLS, ALL HITTABLE, OVER THE FREAKING PLATE GIO? Swing the ***** bat. Go back to AAA!!!!!!

Would have loved an Esky steal in the 9th and not a Dyson bunt..if Esky was on 2nd I would have felt better about the bunt.

Regarding Myers, I heard for him to absolutely no questions asked avoid Super 2, he can’t be called up until July 11 (no idea if this is accurate though). Might be a reason we haven’t seen him..

Kudos to Dyson for the DP too, no way anyone else makes that play on our team right now.

Still wishing the bats would wake up…trying to stay optimistic…
Josh Heer
11 months, 2 weeks ago

If the Royals want to say it is “Our Time” they need to answer for this poor play.. And why can’t Wil Myer be the answer… He dominated winter ball AA and now AAA… We brought up Moose and Hos when they raked. Dyson is struggling, Cain is still hurting what can we lose by bring him up. Dyson is batting around 220 last 20 games… Will Will hit that bad? … Lee stop trying schedule a play date with Ned and call him out on his blunders like you want to so quickly call all out other players not named Getz. And Jimmy stop trying to defend Lee, I don’t know your motive.
Jim Fetterolf
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Tim, Lee won’t play GM, but I’m not that smart:)

Just as a hypothetical, if I’m GM at the moment I’m thinking that Irving Falu is the best option as UIF and also remain convinced that Chris Getz is my best option at 2nd, perhaps platooning with Falu, who has a better RH bat and is a competent fielder. But I’m also trying to maximize offense, which team-wide has gone AWOL, and Yuni is hitting. I’m really rooting for Johnny Giavotella, likable kid, hard worker, got some hits in his bat, gives the team everything he’s got, but the glove is still a challenge and the bat isn’t clicking. When Chris comes back I’ll have to send Gio to Omaha. Yuni and Falu isn’t so simple and Falu is making it much harder by hitting .350 in Omaha as of today.

With all those factors I’ve got to try to put the best team together, maximize value of the guys I won’t keep, and try to do what I can for their futures within the parameters of the job. Gio has options, as do Getzie and Irv, Yuni is making the most money and is producing with the bat, Getz is the best defensive 2nd baseman and fastest and most athletic of the bunch, Irving Falu can play six positions and is a switch-hitter. Having more options really doesn’t make the job easier. This might take some getting used to.
Robert Sailler
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Lee, are there league stats as to how many times a player swings and misses? Gordon had three or four fastballs in his wheelhouse his last at bat. He just missed on several, fouling them straight back, before actually missing on some high heat. He has not developed into the hitter the Royals thought he would be.
Matthew Tiemeyer
11 months, 2 weeks ago

It’s interesting: For certain cases, “careers don’t take the field.” For other cases, “a month at Omaha qualifies as a small sample size on a team, in a park and in a league where hitting is cheap.”

So I guess the logic goes like this: If someone is loved by scouts and sabermetricians alike, rakes for years throughout the minor leagues, and starts by embarrassing AAA pitching immediately, he’s just a talking point to be ignored. Someone else who’s widely recognized as an organizational soldier and is already 29 years old, who has never carried an OPS over .751 over his long minor-league career prior to 2012, and who gets two weeks and a couple of extra-base hits with the big club has “earned the job.”

Can we all agree, by the way, to use triple slash lines rather than batting averages for comparison of performance? Myers’s .341/.388/.714 pretty easily hammers any other line at Omaha, including Falu’s .350/.389/.510. 200 points of OPS is beyond a substantial difference.

Mind you, I don’t think there’s a lot of point in promoting Myers at this moment. The Royals have a long history of promoting stud prospects too early and watching them struggle (and sometimes crash and burn). We’re not going to the playoffs, even if he duplicates his AAA numbers with the big club.

I just think that we have to have some reasonable sort of way to compare apples to apples, because not doing so leads to advocating for some truly bizarre personnel moves.
Derek Taylor
11 months, 2 weeks ago

I would much rather have another year with Myers on the team at the end of his contract (when he’s probably at his peak) than bring him up now and shorten the time before we can’t pay him the contract he will deserve (that pesky Super 2 clause). Heck, he doesn’t even need to be protected on the forty man roster until the start of the next season. Could we please shelve the ‘promote Myers’ discussion, at least until after the Super 2 cutoff this year?
Josh Heer
11 months, 2 weeks ago

The other day Ryan and Joel( I don’t know how dependable) were saying Wil could come up and it won’t have an effect on his years of service
Matthew LaMar
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Josh,

That’s correct; bringing him up now will not technically impact his service time, but calling him up now will impact salary considerations. The rules are pretty confusing, but the basics are as follows:

A club owns the initial contract of a player for six full years. If a player is called up in the middle of the year, that does not count against the six years. For instance, Hosmer was called up last year in May, but this is his first full year of service; the Royals have him under team control for another 5 years after this one.

A player’s salary structure during this initial 6-year contract is simple. The first three years they are payed the major league minimum—about $500,000 a year. The last three years, ‘arbitration’ occurs, and the player’s salary is determined by their relative performance to their peers with similar service time. It prevents salaries from rising out of control, but it does result in a higher paycheck.

What Ryan and Joel did not grasp the specifics of is the impact of the Super Two rule. The Super Two rule is put in place in order to deter teams from gaming the system, and states that the first 22% of players called up in a given season are eligible for arbitration one year earlier (making 4 years of increased salaries as opposed to 3). The date for avoiding it is usually late June or early July. As you can probably figure out, arbitration a year early for a money-strapped team like the Royals is not good. This means Moose, who is a Super Two, will make like $5 million or more his 3rd year as opposed to $500 K. Eric Hosmer is a Super Two as well. If Myers or Jake Odorizzi were called up today, they’d be a Super Two.

The Royals don’t really care about Super Two otherwise Hosmer and Moose would have been called up in mid-July. But if they also call up Myers and Odorizzi before Super Two passes this year, they will run into a major salary crunch down the years, which impacts both future and current free agent considerations.
Mark Harkins
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Lee, Good point about picking up the ball in Right field. I get the Nationals on my local TV, and the first week or so the Nats brought Bryce Harper up, he had his moments in the field too, but he’s clearly more comfortable now… so you may be on to something.
Donald Wilson
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Am I the only one wondering why our pitching coach hasn’t figured out yet (after a third of the season gone) why our pitchers are allowing all those stolen bases??????????? This has got to the point beyond being ridiculous to where you just expect it now! Nice going for the brain trust of “this is our year” team!
Chris Campbell
11 months, 2 weeks ago

I’m pretty sure that I could have done no worse than Johnny G in that last at bat. I’m pretty sure I could have stood there with my thumb up my tailpipe as I watched three fastball sail by me.

At this point I’d like to know what approach the Royals hitters are taking (if there actually is one for some of them). At times we see them hack, hack, hack when a pitcher is struggling to find the zone, then take, take, take when a pitcher is dealing. In short, they are doing the exact opposite of what you would think they SHOULD be doing.

As much as I hate to say it, I’m starting to see why Seitzer was fired by the Diamondbacks. I’m also seeing why Milwaukee parted ways with Ned Yost. I think it’s time to send the former (Seitzer) packing. Ned has made some good moves, and his handling of the pitching staff (lack thereof) is why the Royals can even dream of sniffing .500 this year. The sac bunting needs to stop though. He does it WAY too often.
Matt Ungashick
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Lee, a disturbing trend I have seen is opposing players stealing bases without a throw. I can’t find any data to support this other than my own eyes. Seems to me 90% of the time, if not more, it’s on the pitcher. Am I right? Is this happening more since Eiland has been the coach?
Brendan Woodbury
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Thayne -

Alex Gordon is worse than his career averages, but still much better than the Royals averages this year.

He’s swung at 25.6% of pitches out of the zone and 63.5% of pitches in the zone.

You can look up the stats for any player on fangraphs. Enter their name in the search box, and then click on the plate discipline tab. O-swing% is out of the zone; Z-swing percentage is in the zone.
Brendan Woodbury
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Matt LeMar -

I’m not sure that Moose is proof that the Royals don’t care about Super Two. The Super Two class was expanded in the new collective bargaining agreement (CBA), which pushes back the deadline. Under the old CBA, Moose would almost certainly have been safe from Super Two.

Also, holding Wil Myers back until 20 days after the start of next season would mean the Royals control him through 2019, instead of 2018 if they bring him up now. I believe that is their intent.
Jim Fetterolf
11 months, 2 weeks ago

“For certain cases, “careers don’t take the field.” For other cases, “a month at Omaha qualifies as a small sample size on a team, in a park and in a league where hitting is cheap.”

Agree with that.

“If someone is loved by scouts and sabermetricians alike, rakes for years throughout the minor leagues, and starts by embarrassing AAA pitching immediately, he’s just a talking point to be ignored.”

He isn’t a talking point, but the recent “Free Wil” fad is. I’ve covered the reasons, as have others, why bringing Myers up right this second isn’t a good idea and have also suggested why CF is the likely place for him to arrive.

“Mind you, I don’t think there’s a lot of point in promoting Myers at this moment.”

Millions of dollars agree with you. We’ll probably have a better ETA for Myers after the doctors get through with Lorenzo Cain.

“Myers’s .341/.388/.714 pretty easily hammers any other line at Omaha, including Falu’s .350/.389/.510.”

The point was that everyone seems to hit in the PCL at Werner Park. “.341” is impressive to KC fans who have Billy and Yuni as the big offensive threats, but not so impressive when a career minor leaguer at UIF is also doing it at Omaha. I wasn’t trying to claim that a middle infielder was a better fantasy pick than Myers, although Myers SLG will take a hit at the K where homers become doubles or fly outs. I would note that I think we see Falu again before we see Myers.

“It’s RF….Unless they’ve decided to completely give up on both Cain AND Dyson, they’d be foolish to put Myers in center.”

Cain is hurt, Dyson isn’t seizing his moment, CF is the obvious need. When Cain gets back and if he hits and the flexor hasn’t hurt his range, then other options can be addressed. No giving up on, just dealing with the current reality. When that reality changes then Myers might move. If Cain loses a step but can hit, he might be the one moving to RF or LF.
Lee Judge
11 months, 2 weeks ago

OK, a few responses (in no particular order), then back to my day job:

Yes, it does seem the pitchers have been slow to the plate and allowing uncontested stolen bases more often than you’d like.

If a pitcher is over 1.4 seconds, the catcher has a very poor shot at throwing anyone out. Get up around 1.7 and there’s no point throwing the ball at all.

The Royals are well aware the game is speeding up and pitchers are getting quicker to the plate, but there’s a price to be paid for that. Speeding up the delivery can affect location and stuff. There are some pitchers who say the heck with it, I’m concentrating on the guy with the bat in his hands.

When I was at spring training the pitchers were working on a “quick step” somewhere between a full leg quick and a slide step, but I don’t know where things currently stand. I’ll ask Dave Eiland when I get a chance.

Next: Alex Gordon. Lots of people thought Alex was rushed to the big leagues and had to do his developing here instead of in the minors.

Last season he seemed to figure it out and had a great year. Alex told me it was the first time he’d ever gone to the plate with a plan. This year he got off to a rough start, but has hit well since being moved back to the leadoff spot.

That may seem unimportant—and I don’t know that one caused the other—but for a guy who needs the right kind of chewing gum to feel comfortable on the field, finding a spot in the order and staying there may provide a mental comfort zone.

In my own experience I’ve seen too many guys react well or poorly to a move in the lineup to entirely dismiss it as a factor in performance.

Betancourt: The Royals needed a utility player capable of playing shortstop and, as I understand it, the other guys they looked at were older and wanted more money.

Yuni, for all his faults, was capable of playing three position in a pinch, had some pop in his bat, was a good fit in the clubhouse and was also willing to come to KC to play (not everybody is).

I think the Royals felt getting the starting shortstop from a playoff team as a backup was an OK deal. Injuries have made Yuni’s role more prominent.

Falu is the ultimate “organizational guy” and I don’t know whether they see him as a long-term answer at the major-league level.

Swings and misses: I’m sure they have that stat, seems like some of the guys have found it, so maybe someone could provide a link.

I didn’t get delivery times on Grilli yesterday (I should have) so I don’t know if it was feasible to have Escobar steal the base instead of having Dyson lay down a bunt.

Although, times are not the only issue—some guys represent a problem when it comes to “keys” the physical movement they use to read the pitcher’s intentions.

The Royals were too aggresive early in the season—running when the times weren’t right—and backed off that. Yesterday they were running with guys who don’t usually run—A.J. Burnett was very slow to the plate—so they were willing to steal a base when the opportunity presented itself.

I’m guessing the lack of a steal against Grilli tells us something about the chances of a steal succeeding in that situation.

And finally, Jim is right: I am reluctant to play GM. That doesn’t mean I’m reluctant to criticize the Royals however.

Every day, because they don’t play the game perfectly, there’s something critical in what I post. Every day, because they always do something well, there’s something positive in what I post.

I try to keep it between the white lines because that’s what I understand the best. Each day I’m at the park I try to learn something new that adds to that understanding.

But as Matthew point out in his explanation of the Super 2 rule (and thanks for that) GM issues get quite complicated and I think I’m unqualified to get too deep into those issues.

There’s always information unavailable to the public. With the players and coaches I can often find out what was really going on between the lines—sometimes I can reveal it, sometimes I can’t—so I feel pretty confident about the information I bring to the site on those issues.

I wouldn’t feel the same way about saying we should’ve signed Roy Oswalt, for instance. Too much I wouldn’t know (how much money was availble, what kind of shape is he in, has he been working out during the winter, is he looking for one last paycheck, how is he in the clubhouse kind of issues).

In general, I think things have gotten better with the team since Dayton Moore’s arrival: they’ve changed the way they go after players, they’ve hired people to fill spots that had been left unfilled, they’ve signed some big contracts that might not have been signed in the past and the product on the field—despite what we saw in Pittsburgh—is getting better.

So I’ll continue to bring the information about how the game is played and why players did what they did to this site, but I’ll still be reluctant and feel unqualified to play GM.

That’s Mark and Jim’s job.
Brendan Woodbury
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Robert Sailer -

I’m not sure this is exactly the stat you’re asking for (you said swings and misses, but also referenced Gordon fouling balls off, which is not a swing and a miss), but you can find everybody’s contact% on fangraphs, both overall and broken into z-contact% (contact made on pitches swung at in the zone) and o-contact% (contact made on pitches swung at out of the zone).

The Royals, as team, are very good contact hitters, although our relative strength is in pitches outside of the zone, which might just indicate a lot of weak contact.

Royals contact% is 83.3% (2nd in MLB). Our z-contact% is 89.4% (3rd in MLB), and our o-contact% is 73.8% (1st in MLB).

Gordon is pretty close to team average on z-contact% (88.1%), but is much worse on pitches outside the strike zone (o-contact% is 65.8%), which drags down his overall contact% to 80.5%. All of these numbers are above his career averages.
Randall Hanson
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Ten runs in the last five games. Pitching is not the current problem, though it certainly is in the long run. Anyone wonder how many more runs would have been scored with Melky .364/.403/.531 batting second. Everyone, including me, loved the trade when it was made but Sanchez has been a minus factor so far and with Melky in center and batting second I am confident the Royals would be scoring more runs and winning more games.
Ben Weddle
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Following a 15 minute rant after watching Johnny “My Glove Goes Klank in the Night” Giavotella, take a called 3rd strike, with two out and the tying and winning runs on base, I think I might finally be composed enough to comment on the fiasco I just witnessed. Inter league play be damned, this team couldn’t beat anybody but themselves. I’ve been a supporter of Ned from the beginning. He is still light years better than Hillman but it’s time to show some passion! I’m sick of his monotone post game condolences. “We just didn’t get it done today.” Really??? How insightful! You had hitters, with either the tying or winning runs on base, take called 3rd strikes in the 8th and 9th innings for the third out of the inning. And I don’t want to hear any crap about how he was looking for a slider, curveball, spitball or a solar eclipse. You’ve got two outs and two strikes, you protect the plate. You wanna watch, buy a ticket. Take a cue from Hal McRae and throw a phone at your hitting coach.

And I think it’s safe to say, the “Hosmer to right and Butler to first experiment.” was a dismal failure. From Butler’s inability to run fast enough to apply the tag in a rundown, to Hosmer’s circus act in right field, this plan was as well conceived as the reformulation of Coca Cola. Did anyone, outside of Hosmer, think he wasn’t going to catch that ball? I know our catcher was rather surprised, as he bobbled an easy throw to negate the 9-2 force out. 9-2…Now that’s not something that comes up in the official scoring of a professional baseball game very often.

Anyone who thinks Chris Getz isn’t our best option at second base, has let prejudice cloud their reason. Every proposed substitute has failed in one way or another. Getz is a steadying influence on a team devoid of leadership. He’s not flashy but he’s better than the rest and deserves the position until someone takes it from him. And I mean “devoid of leadership.” Who is going to wrest control of that locker room and start holding his teammates responsible for such lackadaisical efforts?

Sorry if I lost focus. It’s just that there are now so many holes in this boat, I doubt we’ll still be relevant by the All Star break. So much for it being “Our Time.”
Brendan Woodbury
11 months, 2 weeks ago

For anyone interested in links to the percentage of swings and percentage of contact on those swings, based off of the pitch f/x data, you can get it at fangraphs.

The easiest way to get a player’s career stats is probably to google a player’s name and the word fangraphs as in ‘Alex Gordon fangraphs’ which will take you right to his stat page. Once you’re there, you can get other players with the search box in the upper left.

On the player stat pages, there are several sections of stats, any one of which you can jump to in the bar that says Standard | Advanced | Batted Ball | Win Probability | Pitch Type | Plate Discipline | Fielding | Value. The Plate Discipline tab has the stats I’ve been citing.

Fangraphs does a poor job of linking to definitions of their stats, so I’d use google. If you google ‘zone% fangraphs” the first link takes you to an explanation of it (and all of the other plate discipline stats) where you learn that it’s the percentage of pitches a batter sees that are in the strike zone.

If you want stats for every member of the team, you can use the team tab in the black naviagation bar at the top or just google ‘kansas city royals fangraphs’ and it will take you there.

On the team stat page, you have more options. On the top row of tabs (Player Stats | Team Stats | League Stats), you can switch between individuals and team or league aggregate stats. On the third row of options, you can choose to look at all teams or just one league’s teams or just the players currently on the active roster. On the fifth row of options, you can set a minimum number of plate appearances (useful if you’re looking at individual batting statistics and you want to screen out pitchers) and look at individual past seasons.

It’s a very powerful site, but sometimes a bit confusing to navigate. I’ll try to help if people post questions.
Matthew LaMar
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Brendan-

I believe the new CBA came into effect this year, though it is possible some rules might be retroactive. Regardless, under the previous CBA, Super Two status was at 17%, which meant that the safe call-up was earlier in June. Moose was called up June 9—if the Royals were really worried about it they would have waited a few weeks to be safe. Likewise, they would have waited another 5 or 6 weeks to call up Hosmer, who only had about 100 AAA plate appearances when he was called up.

You are right in saying that they could wait till a few weeks into next season and get another year of control, but at a certain point you just have to bring up a 21 year old who is on pace to hit 40 minor league home runs. I think they call up Myers on June 22, the first day after the final NL ballpark.
Brendan Woodbury
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Matt LaMar -

Here’s the list of super two deadlines under the old CBA:

2007: 2 yrs 130 days (approximately May 21 using last year’s calendar)

2008: 2 yrs 139 days (~ May 12)

2009: 2 yrs 141 days (~ May 10)

2010: 2 yrs 125 days (~ May 26)

2011: 2 yrs 146 days (~ May 5)

I think Moose would definitely have been safe under the old system on June 9, and Duffy would have been close.

My understanding is that the CBA applies to the year a player comes up for Super Two consideration, not the year he came into the league, so players who came up in 2010 or 2011 will be subject to the 22% cutoff when they’re up for Super Two at the end of this season or next.

I think the Royals will hold Myers down all year to work on his defense, especially after the fiasco of watching ill-prepared players bungling defense this weekend. Myers only has about a season’s worth of games in all outfield spots combined. I think he’ll make good use of the next several months in AAA.
Jim Fetterolf
11 months, 2 weeks ago

“Everyone, including me, loved the trade when it was made”

Injuries are the hardest thing to predict. This winter the memes were “regression to the mean” and “the Royals needs SP” and most of us in the chattering class thought that it was a good deal, especially with the inclusion of Verdugo. But pitchers coming back from an injury year sometimes still have injury problems and even without new injuries often take awhile to get fully right again, and Lorenzo Cain’s injury negated the second benefit from moving Melky, bringing up the player that many had demanded replace Melky throughout most of last year.

“Moose was called up June 9—if the Royals were really worried about it they would have waited a few weeks to be safe.”

That’s the curse of being a GM, more responsibilities than just plugging in bodies. I thought they moved too soon on Hosmer although I agreed on Moose, being later in the year and replacing the Aviles/Betemit soccer team at 3rd, but there are also marketing considerations in promoting the Hoz, just as we have now with the demand to promote Myers sparked by what would have been a Kauffman Stadium double against a pitcher with disc problems in his equivalent of spring training. Balancing team performance, marketing, and finances can get tricky sometimes.

“I think they call up Myers on June 22, the first day after the final NL ballpark.”

Possible, but I think the health of Lorenzo Cain will be a much more important consideration than anything. I don’t expect Myers up if Cain is back after the ASB. If Cain’s rehab takes a lot longer, Myers becomes possible before September, but even then there are 40-man roster considerations. I wouldn’t be surprised to see David Lough called up before Myers.

“It’s just that there are now so many holes in this boat, I doubt we’ll still be relevant by the All Star break.”

A valid and often attractive view, but I still think the talent is there, just in a slump. And even if we don’t reel off a big bunch of wins, I expect Chicago, Cleveland, and Detroit to consider the Royals relevant simply because they still have to play us a bunch.
Matthew LaMar
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Brendan,

Thanks for the info; I was unsure if 22% applied to those promoted last year. Sports CBA’s can get pretty hairy sometimes.
Jim Fetterolf
11 months, 2 weeks ago

“I think the Royals will hold Myers down all year to work on his defense, especially after the fiasco of watching ill-prepared players bungling defense this weekend. Myers only has about a season’s worth of games in all outfield spots combined. I think he’ll make good use of the next several months in AAA.”

Very good, but most of the bungling defense came from players at their normal positions. Yesterday’s bunglers were Moose and Alcides, as I recall. Just a team-wide funk at the moment, which does happen in a 162 game season.
Ben Weddle
11 months, 2 weeks ago

“The Aviles/Betemit soccer team?” Now that’s funny! I believe the talent is there too but all the dynamite in the world remains inert without a fuse. Team leadership, both coaching and on the field, is missing. We have this bevy of talented bats who are sleep walking their way through this season of “Our Time.” How about a little heat directed towards Seitzer’s inability to get them to perform? How about Ned showing some fire? Yell at a player, (Yuni) bump an umpire, kick a dog, hell, do something. Give the fans a reason to feel we”re in a fight and not just in a summer long stupor of uninspired baseball.
Jim Fetterolf
11 months, 2 weeks ago

“Give the fans a reason to feel we”re in a fight and not just in a summer long stupor of uninspired baseball.”

That’s that marketing thing. I don’t know the kids and what it will take to light them up. I still think part of the problem is that they are trying too hard and getting outside their abilities. Maybe it is my age, but I’ld probably do what Ned Yost is doing, let them work through it.
Jim Wilson
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Kudos to GMDM for putting together an incredible bullpen. Without it, things would be bleak. Bullpen for Pittsburg series (which seems typical): 11.0 IP; 5 H (4 singles, one double); 0 ER; 5 BB; 11 SO.
Jim Fetterolf
11 months, 2 weeks ago

“David Glass ran Wal*Mart. The ONLY thing he responds to is money”

David Glass has more money than G*d, so is now in the “legacy” stage of his life. Again, you obsess over the distant past and don’t notice the changes in the trends.

“Unfortunately, if people stopped coming,”

That was the big thing on MLB and Dutton’s comments last night, the mob wanting to run David Glass back to Bentonville.

“How’s THAT for a statistic of ineptitude and desperation?),”

Irrelevant. Enron used to be a really good stock.

“That’s gonna be hot!”

All Frenchy, all the time.

“I can’t WAIT to hear the pre-written defenses of the lineups.”

If I was to comment now, I’ld say injuries have been a big impact as well as several of our star 1st round picks slumping. The pitching has been surprisingly good, Moose has taken a step up, Big Bill has been fairly consistent, but two or three runs a game just won’t get it done.

“For instance, you just KNOW that Myers will split time with Frenchy,”

More likely is with Gordon in a platoon or Hosmer, both being lefties. But that is also unlikely. CF is most likely this year, they won’t waste service time on a part-time player that they consider part of the future. Clark Fosler looks at a lot of these ideas in an earlier blog today.
Jim Wilson
11 months, 2 weeks ago

The poor run differential is the result of the runs scored column. IMO, it was unlikely that we were going to win this year so it was premature to make a big move (in FA or trades) to improve the starting rotation, particularly in light of the (lack of) options. To win, no doubt the starting rotation needs to be addresses and then some. And Glass will need to spend some money. GMDM has done a stellar job drafting and assembling bullpens. So far, he’s been spotty on the FA front (although certainly some of that is the result of the undesireable (losing) location and budget constraints). GMDM doesn’t set the budget —your ire is correctly pointed at Glass on that front (and probably deservedly so).
Jim Wilson
11 months, 2 weeks ago

CHRIS GETZ: I’m sorry I missed out on the fun —yet again! Getz isn’t GREAT and he doesn’t SUCK. He’s probably a below average ML 2B, but still a valuable player. Go check out the numbers league-wide for 2B. It’s ugly after the top 10 or 11. EVERY ML team has starters who are below average — that’s the nature of averages. Every player who is below average doesn’t SUCK.

It seems that I rarely agree with Jim F., but I thought he summed it up perfectly:

“At the moment, Getz is the best combination of offense and defense that is available for that position.”

I’m absolutely certain that the Royals want Gio to succeed. The arguments to (or effectively to) the contrary seem bizarre to me.
KC Guy
11 months, 2 weeks ago

I guess one thing the Royals have to have that fans don’t is a whole lot of patience. It’s really easy (and pretty much instantaneous) to criticize the things that have already went bad, but really hard to sit back and let things play out to see if they get better. And, really, that’s one of the biggest roles of the GM: identify the players that have the best opportunity to provide a positive return to the team, and put them in the best position to help the team. Does Royals management feel that Myers would make the team better now? Probably. Is bringing him up now the best for the team? No. What good would it do to bring Myers up now? Are the Royals in the playoff hunt or not? If they are, then, yeah, bring up a talented young player. But they’re not, they weren’t expected to be, and they’re making moves accordingly..

After months of consternation, Giovatella is up, and he looks lost. Who knew there would (eventually) be a small clamoring of fans hoping for the return of Getz? Doing nothing spectacular, but a lot of things pretty good, is definitely underappreciated. To me, it’s still kind of like continually playing for the big inning: it looks really good when it happens, but if all you do is chip away, you cash in a lot more.

Obviously, the starting pitching has to get better at some point. Everyone knew that before the season started. It wasn’t that the Royals thought they had 7-8 quality starters to sort through…it was that they had 7-8 starters to sort through. This season is not a “win now” thing, so the impatience with the fact that they’re not winning now is a little misguided.

By the way…Lorenzo Cain is still out with his (initially) strained groin. While the Royals sounds a lot more positive about Paulino’s injury, I’m still pretty worried about his prospects for the rest of the season. Hopefully he doesn’t rush back too fast..
Jim Fetterolf
11 months, 2 weeks ago

“Who knew there would (eventually) be a small clamoring of fans hoping for the return of Getz?”

I think most fans appreciate Getz, it’s more a segment of fans that don’t value anything that doesn’t help them in a fantasy. Chris’ value is as a team player, not as an isolated individual.

“By the way…Lorenzo Cain is still out with his (initially) strained groin.”

Now a torn flexor, tough injury for a speed guy. Might be time to give David Lough his cup of coffee and a month or two of major league paychecks, see what we have. I admit I have a fondness for the idea of rewarding the good corporate guys when possible. Free Irving:)!!
Larry Tindle
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Hey bring up Wil now, then all the bloggers can jump on that as a plan by Glass just to sell tickets.
Jim Fetterolf
11 months, 2 weeks ago

What Larry said.
KC Guy
11 months, 2 weeks ago

“After doubling, Andrew McCutchen stole third base. Easier to do when a lefty is on the mound (he has his back to the runner), so it’s something you can look for in future games.”

What’s weird is Chen has an affinity for being extra attentive to a runner on 1st base. Yet, even as a reader, he’ll sometimes mail in his delivery and let runners steal at will. Out of all of the things he does well, it’s one thing I don’t really understand. He has to have a “tell” that other teams know. Of course, even when he picks guys off, the Royals keep turning it into a stolen base..

“The Royals stole four bases off Burnett. A.J. has an inward turn—a coiling move—before he comes to the plate and that takes time.”

Technically, a pitcher is not allowed to swing their foot behind the pitching rubber and still throw to a base (except 2nd). An inward turn makes that blatantly obvious. As long as the umpires call it correctly, every time Burnett makes that turn, you should be advancing a base..
Josh Heer
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Mark Owens keep it going ! I agree with 100%
Jim Fetterolf
11 months, 2 weeks ago

“asking Dyson to bunt is not an automatic out.”

I checked some numbers and Dyson is hitting .259 and his bunt-hit percentage is 25, a wash.

Given this some thought and concluded the thought was that the best chance to get Dyson on was a bunt, playing for the win. A bunt to the right with the 1st baseman holding the runner makes a little bigger hole and, worse case, you get the runner advanced. Just didn’t work. that’s been happening a lot, lately.
Josh Heer
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Btw Myers has hit his ninth HR and 28 RBI… In just AAA… But don’t worry these are just meaningless stats over a small sample size
Jonathan Tucker
11 months, 2 weeks ago

So…listen. I know I should stop reading after the end of the game recap/Lee’s unique perspective. Let’s get that out of the way right now…

However, Mark/Jim - Seriously guys? This blog isn’t about what the Royals front office does, this blog isn’t about career triple slashes, this blog isn’t about being an armchair GM, this blog isn’t about gathering the thoughts of every Royals fan except the two or three that agree with everything Ned Yost does.

You guys are missing the forest for the trees here! The point of this blog is to hear from the players — ya know, the ones you guys keep throwing out triple slashes for that don’t mean a thing in this context!

Use the comments to talk about the game that was just played, what you saw and didn’t see, what things could have been done differently, maybe even throw in some saber stats. Instead, all you’re trying to do is battle for the cyber trophy of the “Mine’s Bigger Than Yours Is” game!

You guys need to let this blog get back to what it was intended to be instead of trying to make it what you want it to be. If you have a giant opinion that MUST be heard, there’s tons of free blogs that you can start and plenty of other blogs that welcome your drivel.

KC Guy, Brendan, Matt LaMar — Keep on posting the interesting stuff you do! It’s the only reason I read the comments…

And, finally, Lee — Thanks for the hard work that you do night in and night out. It makes for great insight and here’s to hoping it stays that way!
Jim Fetterolf
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Point taken, Jonathan.

“You guys need to let this blog get back to what it was intended to be instead of trying to make it what you want it to be.”

In my defense, I’ve taken as large a role as I have for two reasons; first to free Lee up from handling most of the commentary, as he has two jobs, a family, and maybe a social life, and second as a balance to some commentators who periodically show up to insult Lee and disrupt the board. I think I have done both jobs fairly well, but it is counterproductive if my presence diminishes enjoyment for our regular readers. I’ll take a break for awhile and we’ll see how it goes. Thanks for the comments.
Joel Kallem
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Great comments Jonathan. I agree with you completely. Jim, I hope you continue to respond to those who are hijacking the site from Lee and those of us who want to look at the game and not the front office or owner.
Jonathan Tucker
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Sorry Jim, I probably came off a bit harsh. I appreciate the defense of the blog, don’t get me wrong. I just think it’s gone a bit too far…forgive me for overstepping there. I’d just like to see things the way they were intended to be seen…no more, no less. Thanks again for what you all do…
KC Guy
11 months, 2 weeks ago

“Now a torn flexor, tough injury for a speed guy. Might be time to give David Lough his cup of coffee and a month or two of major league paychecks, see what we have.”

Groin injuries have a way of becoming other things, which is why I hate to see Paulino come down with one..

..that being said, I would love to see what Lough can do. Except Dyson is still feeling his way into his chance, so it’s a tough alternative..
Larry Tindle
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Jonathan I couldn’t agree more. Jim F, thank you for taking the lead to defend this blog.
Lee Judge
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Jonathan (and everybody else): This web site is a work in progress and I imagine it always will be.

But you’ve put your finger on a problem we’ve been discussing here at the paper; where does the site go from here?

The reason for the site’s existence is to provide insight into what the people who play, coach and manage the game think. Why they do what they do and what we can observe to increase our understanding of what’s happening on the field.

But talk about the Royals base-running philosophy and someone is sure to want to debate the merits of the stolen base.

Is that wrong?

Or do we get bogged down in an argument that ultimately won’t change a thing? Is it like having a crazy neighbor who wants to argue about the Gold Standard every time you walk by his house until you start taking a different route to avoid the harangue?

The Royals aren’t taking a poll of fans to see what we want them to do. What I think of the stolen base is ultimately meaningless—what the Royals think, isn’t.

I haven’t looked at every site dealing with the Royals or baseball, but I gather from what I have seen and heard that this site is different in several ways:

First, access to the players and coaches. If I see something interesting I can go ask about it and bring the information back to the readers.

Second, my background. I was taught to see the game by major-league players, so it’s not a traditional journalistic approach. Even though it was just a men’s amateur league—the ex-pros on the team thought we were playing what amounted to a “low-college” level of baseball—I’ve managed and played in over 500 ballgames. I’ve stood in the coach’s box and had to make game-time decisions. That’s given me great respect for the people who do the same at the highest level.

Third, this site is dedicated to the idea that the people who play and manage the game know more than I do (they prove it every day). I’m not using the site to prove my intellectual superiority—just the opposite.

I don’t think I know as much about the game as Ned Yost, so I want to know what he knows. I want to understand why he does what he does and bring that information to the people who have the same interest.

So where does that leave us?

If Ned Yost says, “Here’s why I bunted” and someone else wants to say, “The bunt is stupid” don’t they have that right?

I’d say yes, but I’d also say I have no obligation to debate that with them. I’m doing two full-time jobs and spend hours on the field every day (when the team is at home) trying to learn more baseball.

An endless back-and-forth between two parties, neither of whom will agree or have any effect whatsoever on what the team does, doesn’t seem that interesting to me.

Enter Jim Fetterolf: Jim is a very knowledgeable fan who does seem to enjoy the debate. The web site is richer for his presence and, as he points out, he’s filled a role I’ve vacated.

When I started this site i tried to respond personally to every reader who commented. Thanks to its increased popularity, that’s become impossible.

So now I skip through the comments looking for someone who has a baseball question regarding what happens on the field.

If the comment looks like someone wanting to demonstrate how much smarter they are than they people who actually play, coach and manage the game, I tend to skip it. They got what they wanted: a public platform to express their opinions.

Getting in an argument about those opinions seems unproductive—but if Jim has the time, he has my blessing.

For those not interested in those debates, do what I do: skip through them or do what Jeff Francoeur does—he stops reading when he hits the word “comments.”

If anyone has a better way for me to handle this, don’t be shy, let me know what you think. As I said at the beginning, this site is a work in progress.
Joel Kallem
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Lee, your comments describe what I hope the site will be and why I began following the game here rather than on some other site. I’m not interested in percentages, front office moves, owner moves, etc. There are plenty of sites for that. I just want to be a fan sitting on my duff watching the game and understanding what I see in front of me and if possible knowing what the alternatives were in a given situation. Everyone is welcome here, but take the other stuff to another site - there are plenty of choices where you can rant about sabermetrics, fantasy baseball, Yost, Yuni, Glass, et. al.
Larry Tindle
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Maybe it’s my ADD or something but any post that requires me to scroll my screen, to read it all, gets skipped. Some peoples posts I do not read because I can go back to their old posts and they say the same thing. I come to this site to learn the inside thinking of the professionals. An insite I never had access to before.

Lee, I will scroll my screen to read your posts.
Larry Tindle
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Forgot to mention my favorite posters. I call them sea gull posters. They fly in and crap all over everything then fly away.
KC Guy
11 months, 2 weeks ago

“Even though it was just a men’s amateur league—the ex-pros on the team thought we were playing what amounted to a “low-college” level of baseball”

We likely played back to back a time or two when I played in the KC MSBL — if the ex-pros thought your level was “low college”, what was a step or two down from that?

I always say you develop a whole new appreciation for making the routine plays when you get out there and have to do it yourself..
Lee Judge
11 months, 2 weeks ago

KC: I agree, nothing will make you appreciate what these guys do like trying it yourself.
KC Guy
11 months, 2 weeks ago

Yeah, you learn to appreciate strike throwers, catchers who can keep the ball in front of them, catchers who can throw base runners out, guys who can put the ball in play, guys who can make routine plays, guys who actually know what they’re doing, etc etc..