Games » Minnesota Twins
Jul22‘The walks were the biggest mistakes’
Lee Judge
The Kansas City Star
That was what Jeremy Guthrie had to say after the Royals lost this one 7-5. No wonder. Two of his three walks scored. Manager Ned Yost actually thought Guthrie threw pretty well. The Royals’ newest starter worked quickly and kept the ball down in the zone, getting beat, for the most part, on decent pitches.
Afterward, the players said they liked what they saw from their new teammate — mostly. Eliminate the walks, and this would be a decent outing. Let’s hope Guthrie eliminates the walks next time out.
Second inning: Jeremy Guthrie gave up a home run to Minnesota’s Ryan Doumit on a curveball away from the switch-hitter. Despite the fact that Doumit had to reach for the ball, he still pulled it into the right-field stands. Hitters say the ball carries better when it gets hot in Kauffman Stadium. It was 98 degrees when the game started, and it only got hotter.
The opposite is true in a night game. Billy Butler says it gets harder to hit a home run as the game goes on when it’s a 6:10 or 7:10 p.m. start. So home runs are easier in the later innings of a day game and the early innings of a night game.
I don’t know if this theory is true, but this game did nothing to disprove it.
Third inning: Guthrie got himself in trouble with the previously mentioned walks. He gave up a single to Jamey Carroll, struck out Denard Span then walked the next two batters to load the bases. Josh Willingham made a bad decision and swung at the first pitch after seeing two straight walks. Willingham popped the pitch up, and it looked as though Guthrie might get away with loading the bases — right up until Doumit hit a two-run single. Guthrie then fell behind to Brian Dozier and had to come into the heart of the zone when Dozier knew he would. Dozier doubled, and the Twins led 5-0.
Fourth inning: Mike Moustakas walked, Butler singled to right and Moose went first to third. The ball took the Twins’ right fielder, Ben Revere, toward the right-field line. Being a right-handed thrower, Revere had to make a pivot before letting the ball go. That delay meant the base-runners could have taken an extra base if they had paid attention to who is right- or left-handed in the outfield.
(In spring training, Eric Hosmer told me that Jason Kendall had urged — if that’s the right word — Eric to pay attention to this and know when he could advance 90 feet.)
Mike’s ability to take the extra base made a difference when Lorenzo Cain hit a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring the Royals’ first run.
Sixth inning: Doumit homered from the other side of the plate — and the temperature was rising.
Seventh inning: Tim Collins got in trouble when he threw Span a fastball in a 2-1 fastball count. Span roped it into the right-field corner, and Carroll scored from first. Fans should pay attention to what happens in the hitters’ count: 2-0, 2-1, 3-0 and 3-1.
(After pitches are thrown, the scoreboard will have the radar-gun reading. Anything 90 mph or more is probably a fastball. There are a few guys with 90-mph sliders, but it’s rare.)
In the bottom of the inning, the Royals had two outs, Eric Hosmer was on second and Chris Getz was on first. Alcides Escobar hit a ball to the right of Twins shortstop Brian Dozier, and Dozier went to second for the force. Getz appeared to beat the ball easily but was called out by second-base umpire D.J. Rayburn. Getz argued with the umpire, and Yost came out of the dugout to do the same.
The call cost the Royals a bases-loaded at-bat with their No. 3 hitter, Mike Moustakas, at the plate. In a game decided by two runs, that was a pivotal call.
Eighth inning: Moustakas led off with a double, and Butler homered. The theory that the ball flies in Kauffman when it’s hot just got more evidence.
Ninth inning: Alcides Escobar was ejected between the top and bottom of the inning. Escobar lost a hit on the call in the seventh and said something about it to Rayburn. Yost came out to argue, and Rayburn also ejected the Royals manager. Then the Royals manager did his best to eject Rayburn, imitating the umpire’s “you’re out of here” motion.
Yuniesky Betancourt hit another homer in the afternoon heat, and the Royals wound up losing 7-5.
Coors Field
The addition of Jeremy Guthrie from the Colorado Rockies reminds me of a conversation I once had with Clint Hurdle, the Pirates manager who once managed the Rockies. I asked Clint how a pitcher was supposed to pitch in Denver’s hitter-friendly Coors Field.
“The same way you pitch every place else,” he said. “We know you’re going to give up home runs, just don’t walk two people first.”
That’s pretty decent advice no matter what mound you’re on. Hurdle went on to say that pitchers needed to adjust their ERA expectations. Pitchers who can’t do that struggle mentally.
Sliders in the dirt
I finally got to talk Royals reliever Greg Holland and, sure enough, he bounced those pitches intentionally the other night with the game on the line and a runner on third. Holland said he just makes sure the slider is in the middle of the plate and down. Catcher Salvador Perez is wide enough that the bounced sliders will be blocked by Perez and hitters with two strikes have to react to a pitch that appears to be headed for the middle of the plate.
The unwritten rules — until now
When you visit a major-league clubhouse or sit in the dugout or step on the field, there are a whole bunch of rules you’re supposed to follow, and they don’t tell you any of them. It’s a baseball tradition to let you do something dumb and then point it out.
So just in case you ever get the opportunity to step into their world, here are a few of the rules that professional ballplayers will expect you to follow:
1.) Never touch their stuff.
2.) Do not watch the TVs in the clubhouse. You can glance at them, but if you look as though you’re killing time, someone might ask if you have a home. If you do, it might be suggested that you go there and watch your own TV. This is their home.
3.) Don’t sit down without an invitation, for the same reasoning as Rule Two.
4.) Have a reason to be in the clubhouse. If you’re waiting on someone, fine. If you’re just hanging out, do it somewhere else.
5.) When you’re on the field, do not stand on the grass unless you’re talking to a player. The grass is for them, mortals stand on dirt.
6.) Do not venture beyond first or third base, even if you’re in foul territory. If a player doesn’t feel like talking, he will go beyond the bases and avoid the media. This rule also keeps dim-witted media members from getting smoked by foul balls in BP.
7.) During BP, face the field at all times. A hitter can drill a baseball off the pitching screen, and balls will come whistling into the dugout at some interesting angles.
8.) After the game, don’t ask questions before the rest of the media is ready. This prevents a player from having to answer the same question numerous times.
9.) After the game, don’t ask questions until the player is ready. Most ballplayers prefer to be interviewed with their pants on.
So far I’ve broken every rule on this list with the exception of Rule One. I’m sure there are more rules and I’m sure they’ll let me know what they are—just as soon as I break one.
West Coast games
The Royals play in Los Angeles and Seattle this week. With the exception of the Thursday game, the start times are around 9 p.m. I’ll go as late as I can, but game notes may not make it up on the website until the next morning. Be patient.
Butler
Betancourt
Moustakas
Greg Tatro
10 months agoYeesh…I’ve seen fewer and less strict unwritten rules in church.
Lee Judge
10 months agoGreg: I just scratched the surface.
Thayne Griffin
10 months agoLee,
Who ended up pointing these out to you?
George Reschke
10 months agoWhat’s up with you and Clint Hurdle. I was going to write something else but the box said “be nice”. :-)
Seriously. You quote him alot. For those of us less educated, care to explain?
Brent Morgan
10 months agoIt’s so frustrating that it seems the defensive side of the team ‘gets it’, in terms of walks (bad for defense!) and outs (good for defense!), but they apparently do not invite the offensive side to their meetings.
Tim Bruggeman
10 months agoAir density changes with temperature, humidity, and elevation. Very hot, humid air is less dense than cool, dry air. Therefore the resistance a ball has due to the air is less when its hot and humid, that is, the ball should fly farther.
I haven’t done the math to know how much this factor affects home-run distance balls, but I believe it “can” be enough to make the difference between a home run and a warning track out.
Elevation from sea level also makes a difference, because air is naturally denser at sea level than at higher elevations like Denver. In other words, balls should fly really well on a hot day in Denver, and not so well on a cold day in Baltimore.
Pilots are keenly aware of this factor, as it takes a lot more speed and runway to get an airplane airborne on hot humid days than on cold dry days.
Matthew Tiemeyer
10 months agoI had a friend who works for the National Weather Service tell me the something similar about humidity and baseballs. Water molecules are lighter than oxygen molecules or nitrogen molecules, which are the main components of breathable air. The more water is in there, the story goes, the lighter the air will be, and the farther a ball will carry. I’ve heard that ballplayers know that the ball carries better in high humidity, but that they believe it helps their bodies to “get loose” rather than affecting the flight of the ball itself. I’d be curious about what players think.
Tim Bruggeman
10 months agoMatthew. Not just a story…its fact.
Many people believe that since humid air “feels” thick, it is thick.
In reality, water has a molecular weight of 18, while air, a mixture of mostly nitrogen and some oxygen, and some other stuff, has a molecular weight of about 29.
Less density = less wind resistance, therefore (all other things being equal) the ball will travel farther.
But a lot of things affect how far a ball flies, like spin of the ball, air temperature, and air pressure (both due to elevation and weather), and I suspect humidity is relatively (pun intended) low on the list.
And THAT, my friends, is your “Physics of Baseball” tip of the day. (BTW, the book “The Physics of Baseball”, by Robert Adair, is a really cool book, especially for geek engineers like me, who understand physics and aerodynamics, a bit.)
Lee Judge
10 months agoThayne: I knew not to touch a player’s stuff on my own. I’d played and I didn’t like it when someone picked up my glove or bat.
The other rules were dsicovered through being an idiot. I was once talking to Dan Quisenberry and sat down next to him. A player came up and told me I was in his seat. I stood up and realized there was one chair per locker and said, “There’s no chair for me in here, is there?”
Quiz and the other guy started laughing.
After that I kept my eyes and ears open and I’d hear someone complain about someone else or someone will say something to you about what you’re doing.
Jason Kendall once called me over to talk, then walked off to do something and one of the grounds crew asked if I could go stand on the dirt while I waited for him to come back.
You can’t take it personally. Rookie ballplayers make many of the same kind of mistakes and get aired out for not behaving like a big-leaguer.
They don’t write the rules down, they just let you know when you’ve screwed up.
Joel Kallem
10 months agoBy the way, where have all the “get Myers up here right away because the Royals management doesn’t know what it is doing” guys gone? According to the Star article today, he is hitting .206 and has one homer since the All-Star break. Can we agree that as fans we don’t have access to all of the pertinent information and thus have to trust their decisions. We know they will get some right and some wrong, but unlike them, we won’t know which it is until after the fact rather than before it.
Lee Judge
10 months agoGeorge: The people that have followed this site from the beginning know the story, but here it is again:
My wife sent me to fantasy camp in 1990 and I met Clint Hurdle. We hit it off and he invited me to Williamsport, Pennsylvania to visit his Double A team. The Williamsport Bills were in the Mets system.
I had a blast and was basically doing the same thing I’m doing now: talking to players and hearing how they saw the game. It was enlightening. I’d been a baseball fan all my life, but the players would explain things I’d totally missed. They often thought the key moments in a game went undetected by most people.
I started visiting Clint’s teams (he and most of the players were eventually promoted to Tidewater) a couple times a summer and at one point I knew about 3/4s of the players in the N.Y. Mets clubhouse.
When they gave me this web site my goal was to bring the conversations I’d been having for 20 years back to other fans.
Clint and I still stay in touch on a regular basis. He’s still a regular source of information.
Darral VanGoethem
10 months agoLook at the Pirates record. 54-40. The Royals, 40-54. Want to know why the Pirates are 14 games better than the Royals this season?? It’s their pitching b/c their offense is WAY worse than the Royals in every major category except Runs Scored with RISP. It has been said many times but the Royals would be competing this season, in spite of their at times inconsistent lineup, which I would argue was mostly due to injury, if they had better SPing. I know that some of you feel like they are not ready to compete until 2014 at the earliest. Well, the numbers say differently.
So, what do they do to improve SPing. Well, they need to trade some of their young position talent for top notch, major league ready, SPing. I have been saying for a year now that Hosmer should be pkged with a low minors prospect or two and shipped to a team like the Rays for one of their many young arms. Not James Shields mind you. But Hellickson or Moore. That way they would have team control of that pitcher for more than a yr or two. In the case of Hellickson they would have control thru 2015. Moore, 2016. It is much easier to find a 1st baseman to replace Hosmer than it is to find a SPer with talent and team control. Trading a strength for a weakness is how you do it. Then they also need to sign a veteran SPer like a Marcum or Greinke. I would prefer Marcum. Like his makeup much better. Alright Jim. Tell me why I am wrong. :)
Lee Judge
10 months agoMost ballplayers don’t know the exact science behind why a ball carries better when it’s hot (neither do I), but they’ll all tell you it does.
I was sitting there yesterday, as it was getting hotter and hotter, thinking back on the conversation I had with Billy Butler after he hit the walk-off homer. He said it got harder to hit the ball out as the evening went along.
Until yesterday, I never thought about how that could affect a ballgame. It’s possible that pitchers could be more agressive in the later innings of a night game and the opposite during a day game.
But that’s probably slicing it pretty thin: best to keep the ball down no matter what the temperature.
Lee Judge
10 months agoJoel: Final comment for a while, time to do my day job, but…
The reason I stay out of a lot of GM-type issues isn’t a lack of willingness to be critical, it’s a lack of knowledge.
Pretty much every day there’s something on this site that’s critical of how a game was played. They don’t play perfectly and when they make an on-field mistake I point that out. But that’s because I understand and can recognize—for the most part—onfield mistakes.
If Doug Sisson tells me the policy on a line drive is for the base runner to go back to the bag and then Salvador Perez doesn’t do that and gets doubled off, I recognize and understand what just happened.
Deciding who should get what contract and what player should be called up from the minors is beyond my understanding—I just dont’have enough information. Plus, there are plenty of other people willing to play imaginary GM so I don’t think the world needs another.
I have noticed the ebb and flow of fan interest in certain players. Everyone wanted Clint Robinson to be called up, he was, had four at-bats, struck out in three of them (I think) and I haven’t seen his name on this web site since.
Baseball people are much more patient than baseball fans. They’re slower to promote somebody and slower to give up on them. I’ve said it before: you can’t run a team based on sports-talk radio.
Terry Payne
10 months agoWhat happens if you fart in the clubhouse? Do they have you shot?
Jim Fetterolf
10 months agoSince minor-leaguers have come up in conversation, here’s last night’s recaps and box scores, lots of names we’ve heard of from Myers at Omaha on down to Bubba at Burlington. I think it’s handy to follow the guys on the way up:
http://pinetarpress.com/17308-royals/
As for why C Rob was mentioned, the current 1B was hitting .180 at the time and Robinson has been a long-time productive player who is seriously blocked by Hosmer and Butler. He earned a chance and it would get him some major-league exposure for possible trade, as the assumption was that Hoz would turn it around eventually. The chance has now passed.
Joel Kallem
10 months agoLee, didn’t realize we were in Florida the same year. There were a lot of us there, so no surprise that I missed the connection. Really enjoyed that experience, and still have to laugh as I remember (vividly) Clint Hurtle telling the group one morning about the proper way to wear a baseball uniform. Those early morning talks before the games were the second best part of the experience next to taking one of the players to dinner and talking baseball with them.
Darral VanGoethem
10 months agoIf anyone TiVo’s Baseball Tonight’s show right before the Home Run Derby they explained why the ball carries better when it is hot/humid. I don’t remember the why’s but it was pretty interesting. May be worth it to see if it is on youtube.
David Shaw
10 months ago@ Joel, fans want Myers up because he would be an improvement over the current right fielder and to better prepare him for next year. His stats in the last few weeks shouldn’t change that.
Jim Fetterolf
10 months agoFans hope he would be an improvement. We went through this last year with Johnny Giavotella. It’s a big step up from Omaha, especially for a .290 hitter having trouble with AAA breaking stuff and outfield routes in a smaller stadium. At the moment, I’ld give David Lough a chance first.
William Wolfe
10 months agoJoel—I have to agree completely with David Shaw. I can’t believe you actually think that Wil Myers hitting .206 for a 10 day to 2 week period is proof that the front office knows more than we fans. Case in point: through April 22, 1980, George Brett;s batting average was .209. Please tell me how 2 weeks matters when it took me 2 seconds to find that looking specifically at one of the greatest hitting seasons in baseball history. Another point to raise here that should not be overlooked in this discussion, again David was spot on: Frenchy is killing us. He is doing literally nothing, and the “eye test” people could probably even agree that his throws home haven’t even been very good lately. But he’s such a great guy!
David Shaw
10 months ago@ Jim, Giavotella should be with the big league team now. Yuni has no business being on a team that is rebuilding and Getz doesn’t (or shouldn’t) factor into the team’s future, either. Why is there such a reluctance to see what was once dubbed one of the greatest farm systems ever has to offer?
William Wolfe
10 months agoEven if we accept Gio as a “bust”, he’s one guy. I think I can name a few guys who were called up and did just fine right off the bat. Don’t know why we have to assume he will fail. Mike Trout did just fine, as an example. Why is Gio a better representative than Mike Trout?
Jim Fetterolf
10 months agoGio has had two shots at the bigs plus spring training and his glove won’t even play at Omaha. Nothing against the kid, but last year at this time Gio was the cause celebre as the next savior, year before it was Kila. Myers may be the next Gio, he may be the next Perez, but he needs a little more time in Omaha to address his issues.
David, Yuni isn’t blocking Gio, who can only play 2nd and DH, Getz is blocking him. Yuni is blocking Irving Falu, whom I would rather have defensively, but Yuni keeps driving in runs, something important to the team as it is currently performing.
As for the greatness of the farm system, Perez, Hosmer, and Moustakas are pretty good evidence, as was Duffy before his arm blew. Myers may be the next exhibit for the defense.
As for Frenchy, he’s playing himself out of a job, which I’m sure he knows. He knows what the options are I’m sure, so he’ll do his best and let it play out, all a pro can do.
William, you’re seriously comparing Trout and Gio as prospects? That’s a first that I know of.
David Shaw
10 months agoTo be fair, most fans clamoring for the “next big thing” are doing so because the player that is blocking them, shouldn’t be blocking them. In the case of Kila, he was locked behind players that were not performing (Jacobs, Gload, et al.). Why not give him a chance? When he wasn’t hitting and Hosmer was killing the ball at AAA, a move had to be made. Such is the case with right field this year. And Gio’s 1/3 of a season of at bats really isn’t enough to say he’s had a legitimate shot to prove he can’t hit MLB pitching. Look, if the Royals were winning games, this wouldn’t be an issue. But at tied for the worst record in the AL, there’s no justification for not trying something different. Fans are justified in calling for new faces when the team isn’t winning.
Jim Fetterolf
10 months agoSome fans were calling for new faces last year when Melky and Frenchy were having fine seasons.
I do agree on the “blocking” and that is why I originally looked at sending Hosmer down and bringing Clint up to give him a chance. That’s why I would also rather have Falu right now, who has performed in his brief time up and is hitting .325 or so at Omaha playing several positions. Myers will get his chance, but he isn’t forcing the issue like Hosmer or even Gio did last year. And then there are contract considerations for a guy everyone expects to be an elite bat, which may push him off until next summer and give David Lough an opportunity in the meantime.
Steve Massey
10 months agoBaseball physics is the same as golf physics. Golf balls carry further in hot, humid weather so baseballs will, too.
Brendan Woodbury
10 months agoDavid and William -
I assume this is just Jim trying to be contrarian or discredit stats or something, but it doesn’t seem to actually reflect his beliefs on minor league stats or less-than-one-season samples of MLB performance.
He doesn’t actually think that a guy with, say, 412 plate encounters, and absolutely terrible major league results but outstanding AAA results is likely to be a failure on the MLB level. He thinks minor league success is likely to be reflected in major league success.
He just said this a week ago: “Luis Mendoza is no longer a long guy, he has quietly become the staff’s best starter, reflecting his PCL pitcher of the year award last year”
This is the same Mendoza who had a 8.43 ERA over 36 MLB games (412 plate appearances against) coming into last year.
William Wolfe
10 months agoJim—I don’t think you could misread my comments any worse than you did. I never said Trout and Gio are comparable…your point was Gio failed so Myers will likely fail as well because AAA doesn’t predict anything basically. My point is not every minor leaguer that posts good numbers in AAA fails upon callup. Case in point, Mike Trout. I just think it’s silly to say that Gio’s results mean Myers can’t handle it. I for one am glad you’re not in the GM’s chair or we’d never call up a prospect.
Jim Wilson
10 months agoHe would call up only those players that the “cool kids” said should not be called up. Lol! Contrarian to the core.
Josh Heer
10 months agoJim are the Royals going to make the playoffs this year? Are the getting a bit of production at RF? What harm would it be to have Keith Laws number or hitting prospect come up, and get at least 200 plate appearances? What’s te worse he can do? He can’t do worse than Frenchy, let him learn! And Jim if you seriously think Gia after a little of a month last year and a split role this year is a bust then you have not watched many young hitters develop. Was Billy not sent down at first? Heck even Trout got sent down after last year? Did Moose not struggle last year? But I would not be surprised if you truly feel that way because you also said our pitching is underrated and not as big of a problem as as the hitting.
Jim Fetterolf
10 months agoJosh, no. Any chance ended with 1-5 against Detroit and Chicago.
As for Gio, his biggest problem is his glove. If he had hit in his chances he could have bought more time.
As for “problem”, Josh, at the time I said it hitting was the problem. Getting better with Cain, Perez, and Getz back, and Gordon and Hosmer heating up. Those five being productive make a major change in hitting, so maybe Hoch and Mendoza will lose less 2-1 games. Had we had all five in the line-up from opening day performing like they are now we might be in first place.
William, my point was that neither of us know whether Myers will come up and be Perez or Giavotella.
Brendan, I probably pay most attention to a pitcher’s game score chart on Martin’s site. That gives a good idea of trends, which I find more useful than career averages or aggregates. What suggests that Mendoza could be effective is that he reinvented himself in Omaha late 2010, won the PCL in ‘11, had a good September in ‘11, so at least had a chance to be a much better pitcher than his career numbers before his inflection point would suggest. I think Luis has demonstrated that. What substantive change has Gio made that makes him taller, faster, more limber, with longer arms and softer hands that suggests he can play defense? He’ll probably hit in the bigs but DH seems his likely position.
Aaron Cooper
10 months agoHey Lee, do we get to start criticizing Dayton Moore yet, or do we have to wait six more seasons before we can start holding him accountable. The Pirates, Rays and Athletics are all contenders with tiny budgets…what is the current excuse now?
Darral VanGoethem
10 months agoMyer’s and Gio aren’t coming up until Sept unless the Royals trade Frenchy and/or Yuni b/c with how terrible the SPing has been they need the roster space for RPers. SO let it go about them.
Aaron, as I pointed out in my post earlier yesterday on this string, the Pirates (and the same can be said for the A’s & Ray’s) are contenders b/c they have superb SPing. The Royals statistically are better than all 3 of those teams in EVERYTHING but SPing stats. I believe that Moore will address SPing in the off season and the team will be competing for the division next season. This is no surprise. It is also no surprise that the Royals SPing is terrible this year. We knew it wouldn’t be great AND that was WITH the thought that Duffy, Paulino and Sanchez would pitch relatively effective for this team. Now Duffy & Paulino are out for a yr with TJ & we all know about Sanchez. GMDM tried to piece together a rotation with a lot of promise in the hope that it would pay off and they could finish at .500 or a few games over. That didn’t work. He has publicly acknowledged his need to acquire SPing. The Royals are ready to contend next season with the offense and the ‘pen they have. Jim will have you believe it won’t be until 2014 or 2015 & that the cost for the SPers make it prohibitive. But, with the salaries they are going to have come off the books this off-season totalling almost $12mil, bringing the payroll down from the $61 mil it is to about $50 mil combined with the Glasses previously spending upwards of $75 mil in 2010 & 2011 I don’t think it is crazy to think that Glass has about $25 mil to spend this offseason to replace a closer and to get 2 SPers via Free Agency. Then if he can trade for another one, that would be 3 quality SPers to add to the mix to go along with Hochevar, who I am predicting will be back, Mendoza & Odorizzi. That makes a nice 6 man competition for the starting 5 with the loser being a long reliever. Hell, he may even save the the $4-5mil it would cost to sign a closer and promote someone already on the team, like a Collins, Holland or Crow.
BTW, the Tigers just got even better yesterday when they added Anibal Sanchez. Who I had pegged as a pitcher that the Royals could have traded for this off season without giving up a top prospect.
Brendan Woodbury
10 months agoDarral -
In addition to having much better starting pitching, the Pirates, A’s and Rays are also the best, 5th best and 6th best baserunning teams in baseball while the Royals are the second worst. Over a full season, that adds up to 2-4 wins difference.
Also, all three teams are substantially above average on fielding stats while the Royals are well below average.
I don’t think the Royals are as bad as they look right now, but they’re more than a couple pitchers away from contending. If we keep giving away runs with a bad baserunning approach (aggressive!) and questionable defensive fundamentals (both in terms of positioning and in putting the statuesque Betancourt in the middle infield), this team will need more talent than the typical playoff team just to keep pace.
Brendan Woodbury
10 months ago2 other notes:
Anibal Sanchez is a free agent after this year. I very much hope the Royals will pursue him.
If we wait until the third week of April next year, we’ll control Myers through 2019. If we call him up in September, we lose him after 2018. Since this season is lost, I’d rather wait until next April.
Darral VanGoethem
10 months agoBrendan,
I am not going to keep going round and round with you about the Royals defense. I don’t see them “giving away” runs on defense at all. The outfielders aren’t having balls hit over their heads often and there aren’t bobbled grounders or overthrown bases. They are turning a lot of dbl plays. I also believe that their baserunning has improved significantly from the beginning of the season. I wonder if whatever stat you looked at to judge baserunning rankings is still somewhat weighted to the first quarter of the season b/c they were having some serious issues at that point. I think that baserunning/defense is very important but I think that SPing is the MOST important thing. The Tigers SPing is finally playing as they should and the result is the Tigers are ON FIRE. Even with that lineup. But their defense/baserunning is sloppy.
Agree on Myers if the service time/control aspect that you point out is true. However I am not sure you are correct about how September call-ups work as far as service time is concerned. If what you are saying is true then I would think most teams wouldn’t call up their prize prospects in September. However, I must admit, I am not sure about this. May need to DM Joel Goldberg and have him check that out.
Brendan Woodbury
10 months agoThat’s fine. I don’t have all the answers (although I’m pretty sure about the service time information). I just wanted to throw out some other factors that may be contributing.
I know people have different opinions on defensive statistics, and I’m not sure of them myself (it’s more the fact that they all agree on the Royals being below average than any given datapoint that carries weight with me). The baserunning statistics are filling up the next day’s thread, so we don’t need to rehash here, but I pretty sure that they’re continuing to get more negative as the season progresses.