Games » Chicago White Sox
Aug7How Bruce Chen won
Lee Judge
The Kansas City Star
After Bruce Chen’s last start (two-and-two-thirds innings pitched, seven hits, four earned runs), manager Ned Yost said Bruce needed to pitch better. Ned said he thought Bruce needed to establish his fastball, speed the hitters’ bats up and then slow the bats down with his off-speed stuff. That was exactly what Chen did in this one.
Bruce was in the upper 80s right away. He actually threw a 90-mph fastball at one point, and, despite giving up a leadoff homer to Gordon Beckham, the formula worked. A quality start, six-and-two-thirds innings, seven hits, two earned runs, and Bruce had his first win in a month.
Game notes
With Chen on the mound, the Royals’ corner defenders need to be ready. Bruce got 20 outs. Two were strikeouts, and the other 14 were made by corner defenders. Low velocity means hitters will tend to pull the ball down the lines. Mike Moustakas told me he has to be ready with Bruce on the mound. Chen runs a cutter in on right-handed hitters, and they tend to pull the ball to keep it off their hands. That means plenty of business for Moose.
In the second inning, Chicago starter Jake Peavey tried to get Eric Hosmer to chase balls out of the zone. Hosmer wouldn’t and walked. If you chase pitches, big-league pitchers won’t give you anything to hit. If you don’t chase, they come into the zone. In Hosmer’s next at-bat, Peavey was more aggressive. Eric crushed a ball, but hit it to the deepest part of the park.
To his credit, Hosmer really went after Alexei Ramirez, the pivot man on 4-6-3 double play that followed the walk. Hosmer didn’t get there, but teammates appreciate the effort.
- Also in the second, Chris Getz probably saved a run. Chicago’s Alex Rios stole second and Royals shortstop Tony Abreu covered the bag. Catcher Brayan Pena’s throw tailed off to the right-field side, but Abreu — who might be unfamiliar with Pena’s throws — was tangled up with the runner.
Chris, who is a little more familiar with Brayan’s tendencies, ran to the spot a bad throw would go and kept the ball on the infield. If Rios had jumped up and made it to third, he might have scored on A.J. Pierzynski’s subsequent groundout. Pena once told me he loved Getz for all the times Chris kept a bad throw from costing him an error.
Alex Gordon singled in the sixth, stole second when Getz could not get a high pitch in play on a busted hit-and-run and moved to third when Getz hit the ball to the right side. That meant Gordon could score on a Mike Moustakas lineout to right. Gordon got a hit, a stolen base and a run scored. Moose got an RBI and a sac fly, but don’t miss Getz moving the runner over, which made the run possible.
In the seventh, Jeff Francoeur came to the plate, saw Chicago’s third baseman, Ray Olmedo, playing back and bunted for a hit. After Pena flew out, Hosmer singled to right. Frenchy went first to third. When their run is meaningful, base-runners want to get to third base with one down whenever possible. Get to third with one down, and the run can score without a hit.
Abreu hit a fly ball that landed in the left-center gap. Frenchy scored, and Hosmer also tried to go first to third. The ball was picked up by Chicago’s leftfielder, Dayan Viciedo who is right-handed. That meant Viciedo was going away from third and would have to do a pivot to throw the ball. Both those things meant Viciedo would not have much momentum behind his throw.
Still, Viciedo got off a good throw, and the ball beat Eric to third base. Hosmer then did a swim move — reaching out with a hand, getting the defender to try to tag that hand, then pulling the hand back — and may have beaten the tag. Unfortunately, the throw beat Eric, and umpires tend to call people out when that happens.
I never saw a replay that showed how far Hosmer had advanced on Abreu’s fly ball. (I think everyone thought it would be caught.) If Hosmer was all the way to second, advancing was not a bad idea. If he was well short of that, it was a risky move.
- Kelvin Herrera followed Chen. Yost seems to like that move — the Royals’ softest thrower followed by their hardest. Herrera’s changeup is as hard as Chen’s fastball. That means Kelvin has to follow the same formula as Chen: speed their bats up before slowing them down. His 87-mph changeup isn’t effective following Chen’s 87-mph fastball.
That’s probably why Gordon Beckham saw nothing but heat from Herrera: 97, 97, 98 and 98 mph to finish him off. Generally speaking, Herrera probably doesn’t want to use a change until he’s set it up. If it’s the first pitch a hitter sees, the changeup is less effective. Throw a couple of 99-mph fastballs, and 87 will have the hitter coming out of his shoes.
- Finally, in the ninth inning with nobody out, Abreu doubled. For the third time in a row, Ned has not asked a left-handed hitter to bunt in that situation, but has allowed them to try and pull the ball to move the runner over. Getz did it early in the game, and this time Jarrod Dyson got the job done. The run didn’t score, but it’s always worth noting good situational hitting.
Adding and subtracting
Adding and subtracting refers to a pitching tactic: subtly adding and subtracting a few miles per hour on pitches to disrupt a hitter’s timing. Say the hitter is in a 2-0 count and expects a fastball, but instead of the pitcher’s normal 95-mph fastball, the hitter gets one at 92. This very slight difference in velocity can make a hitter miss the sweet spot on the bat, and a line drive becomes a pop-up.
OK. Sounds great. Why doesn’t everyone do it?
Several reasons. First, the pitcher has to know how to physically do it. It might be a slightly different grip, spreading the fingers or burying the ball back in the palm — either of which will make the release less efficient. Second, the pitcher has to have the confidence to do it. Throwing less than your best stuff with the game on the line takes some huevos rancheros. Third, the pitcher also has to have the seniority to do it.
Bruce Chen explained. Chen has been around for a while and is known as a smart pitcher who uses all the tricks in the book to get a hitter out. If Bruce gives up a home run on less than his best fastball, it’s OK. He’s just pitching. It’s the same with Justin Verlander. The Detroit star can throw 91 mph, give up a hit, and it’s OK even though he’s got a 100-mph fastball when he needs it. Verlander is pitching.
But if Kelvin Herrera does the same thing, someone might ask why he wasn’t going with his best pitch. Herrera doesn’t have the reputation necessary to get away with making the same mistake that’s OK for Chen or Verlander. So the young pitchers on the Royals’ staff may eventually get around to mastering the art of adding and subtracting, but it’s something that will only come with time.
Butler
Chen
Gordon
Luke Healy
9 months, 1 week agoYou’ve talked a lot about leadoff walks and how often they score. I couldn’t help but notice that the Royals led off this game with not one, but two leadoff walks—and still didn’t score. The Royals don’t tend to walk a lot (though it seems like maybe they’re doing better lately) so this really stood out. The offense made up for it later in the game, but facing a pretty good pitcher this seemed like a huge missed opportunity at the time.
Lots of good stuff in this game though. Glad to see Chen have a long needed good start. Appreciated the piece on adding and subtracting—so it’s really just pride that gets in the way mostly from pitchers trying to adjust speeds more? Seems a little silly if they know how to do it and don’t just because of how it might be viewed.
Lee Judge
9 months, 1 week agoLuke: One of the theories I’ve heard is that the Royals don’t hit for much power as a team, so pitchers aren’t reluctant to come right after them.
I brought this up before and someone mentioned Gordon, but Alex is someone who’s seen as capable of taking a pitcher deep at any time, Chris Getz isn’t, so pitchers are more aggressive with Getz than Gordon.
Last night both walked to lead off the game, but Moustakas folowed with a K, Butler flied out and Frenchy also struck out. Moose and Frenchy got fastballs in fastball counts, didn’t do anything with them and I began to wonder how much movement Peavy had.
That would explain the walks and the strikeouts. After the game Ned said Peavy’s movement was outstanding and he was afraid their only chance of winning was running his pitch count up and getting into the bullpen. Fortunately, they got to him in the sixth and seventh.
As for adding and subtracting: I wouldn’t say it’s just pride that prevents it. Many of the young guys have been encouraged to throw as hard as they can up until this point and learning to take a few miles an hour off without a hitter being able to detect it is a skill that has to be learned.
Dave Eiland told me most of the staff wasn’t ready for that. They had other things to work on first.
Everett Teaford told me if he was going to get beat he wanted to get beat on his best fastball.
Chen is the one who told me about seniority: being around long enough to learn to do it, having the confidence to do it and having the reputation to do it, fail and get away with it.
Jim Fetterolf
9 months, 1 week agoLee, how did Tony Abreu look at short last night? Does he seem to have adequate range and arm for the position? He had quite a few errors at Omaha, but I haven’t seen any footage of him there.
At one time Tony Abreu was a highly regarded prospect before injuries wiped out his 2008 season. His last five full or partial AAA wOBA’s were, from oldest to newest, .404, .425, .397, .333, and .364 at Omaha this year. For comparison, Johnny Giavotella’s two seasons in AAA have been .383 and .402. Abreu is a switch hitter I think.
Royals may be seeing Abreu as possibly more than a utility guy if his glove plays. I think he starts tonight at 2nd.
Luke Healy
9 months, 1 week agolee—thanks for the info on peavy’s movement. that explains the walks and why it was harder for the royals to do anything with them, assuming peavy made adjustments to the movement he was getting after the first two batters.
and yes, i could see how the pitching staff has other things to work on first, and how it could be difficult to learn how to do that without tipping it.
thanks for the response.
John Wilson
9 months, 1 week agoAbreu seemed to look ok to me in both games so far. I’ll be curious how he looks at second tonight. He and Falu seemed to start hot at the plate when they got called up.
Jim Fetterolf
9 months, 1 week agoI think Falu plays at UIF due to his versatility, even if his hitting returns to projection, but trying to get some feel for Abreu and his quickness on the infield. He showed some athleticism snagging Hosmer’s throw on the bunt DP, but his minor-league steal record doesn’t suggest exceptional speed. Thanks for the observation, John.
Lee Judge
9 months, 1 week agoJim: Hard to tell range on TV unless they show a wide shot and let you see where the player started. Abreu went back on a pop fly and caught it, but didn’t make it look as easy as Esky does.
Before Sisson’s departure he told me bench players don’t have to do anything to help you to be useful, but they can’t hurt you.
I don’t know if it still works that way, but lots of guys seem to get challenged with a fastball when they come up and get off to a hot start. If they hit the heater, then they start getting off-speed stuff.
Sam Miles
9 months, 1 week agoHere is the bottom of the AL in home runs: 10th Cleveland, 11th Tampa, 12th Minnesota, 13th Seattle, 14th Kansas City.
In terms of walks in the AL, Cleveland is 2nd, Tampa is 1st, Minnesota is 5th, Seattle is 9th, and KC is 14th.
That the Royals lack of power means that pitchers are more apt to come after them sounds like something that would be right, but the correlation doesn’t show itself at all with the other low-power teams.
Perhaps the Royals don’t walk because they are partial to high-contact free-swingers…
Thayne Griffin
9 months, 1 week agoBig Bill with another bomb last night. On pace for 32 right now, would love to see him pick it up a bit and set the record. He’s been a great hitter for us throughout his career.
Jim Fetterolf
9 months, 1 week agoSam, last I looked our highest iso-OBP guy also led the team in called 3rd strikes. Probably lots of variables including that, power, even spot in the batting order, a weak hitter on deck makes it easier to work around a good hitter in the box, Bill’s walks dropped last year when moved ahead of the hot Hosmer in the order. Of course, some hitters do have better eyes than others. And some parks are easier to hit homers in, making it a touch safer to challenge even a strong hitter at the K.
Sam Miles
9 months, 1 week agoJim -
I’d agree that the K has, in the past, suppressed homers, and that good hitters can be worked around in favor of poor hitters…but I think it’s a bit naive to think that’s the major reason for the HR/BB disconnect.
First of all, Kauffman is playing at a slightly above neutral rate for home runs this season, meaning it is actually aiding homers a touch. Secondly, each of the other teams - Cle/TB/SEA/MIN - are playing in stadiums that are suppressing homers.
The reason that the Royals don’t walk is - primarily - because they make tons of contact and are comprised of hitters who - power or not - don’t take many walks.
It shouldn’t be overly controversial.
Jim Wilson
9 months, 1 week agoSam, Jim F. loves to be contrarian. However, he seems to consistently believe that the ability to draw a walk does not have much value (or is not even an ability). That’s why he’s been so happy with the Royals’ roster for the past 20+ years.
Lee Judge
9 months, 1 week agoSam: It’s not a perfect correlation, but if you look up the guys in the league with the best slugging percentage and the guys with the best OBP, you see a lot of the same names.
Just to make the picture more complicated: the Royals have the lowest strikeout total in the AL and they get to two-strike counts as often as the rest of the league. They’re also near the top in team batting average.
So the image of them swinging wildly out of the zone isn’t very accurate. Cal Ripken once said that when he was hitting well he didn’t walk much because he didn’t swing and miss as much. That may be part of it as well.
Lee Judge
9 months, 1 week agoSam: Looks like we got to the same place—kind of—the Royals put the ball in play a lot when they swing the bat. AB over, no chance for a walk.
Thayne: Billy is a special hitter and even his teammates marvel at his ability. Last season the Royals asked him to sacrifice some average for more production and he’s complied.
Not many hitters could change their approach (he held his hands higher so he was hitting down on the ball and used more bottom hand to get backspin line drives) and make it work this quickly.
Sam Miles
9 months, 1 week agoLee -
I don’t mean to imply that I think successful power hitters (those who hit home runs) don’t also draw walks - they tend to do just that. Power hitters often get in deeper counts for any number of reasons - pitchers working around them, greater swing/miss rates, deeper counts).
That said, I think it’s very easy to see why the Royals don’t walk and strike out that much - they make a ton of contact. When contact is made early in the count, it’s tough to walk.
As to our batting average, Kauffman has been the 9th best hitting park in baseball this season. Fill a hitters park (always true for hits, not always HRs) with high contact guys, and you tend to get a high batting average.
As to how they do it while getting to two-strike counts as often as the rest of the league, I’m a bit stumped. I can’t find that data (or haven’t), but you’d still have to imagine that it’s because they make contact more often than most teams, weak or otherwise.
I just think it’s ok to acknowledge that the Royals/Moore haven’t made it a priority to acquire players with strong on-base skills.
Jim Fetterolf
9 months, 1 week ago” I think it’s a bit naive to think that’s the major reason for the HR/BB disconnect.”
I gave six reasons for low walks. The low homers have something to do with the park, homers becoming doubles at the K, but also Melky gone, Alex not clearing fences, and Frenchy and Hosmer both off their paces from last year is a big factor. We lost about 15 homers with Melky gone and Cain out.
“I just think it’s ok to acknowledge that the Royals/Moore haven’t made it a priority to acquire players with strong on-base skills.”
That may be true. Perez isn’t up because of OBP, he doesn’t walk much, Moose isn’t a walking machine. Matt Treanor did walk a lot and is no longer with us, just as an example. But our high iso-OBP guy was just given a four-year extension, the second guy was extended a couple of years ago. I would phrase it as, “The Royals don’t think OBP is the single most important factor in a ball player’s game.” I think we can both agree on that. If we ever reach the point where two players at the same position with nearly identical other skills are available at the same time, we may see what the team’s preferences are on the issue. We just haven’t really had that opportunity yet for the most part.
William Wolfe
9 months, 1 week agoJim you have hit the nail on the head. The Royals don’t think OBP is the single most important factor. But guess what the single most important factor is in baseball—scoring runs. And how do you score runs? Get on base. It has been proven over and over again that higher OBP = more runs scored. So, the Royals don’t think OBP is the most important, but it turns out that it is. That’s the worst part of this whole thing. It’s why signing Frenchy and Yuni were so terrible. That single fundamental attitude puts us in the dark ages, and it shows on the field. Do you need strong defensive play from the catcher and SS? Absolutely, don’t get me wrong. But the underlying notion that Dayton doesn’t value OBP is part of the reason we’re in the crap state we’re in right now. That and no starting pitching. But at least we’ve got a RF with 33 homers and a 2B with a .410 OBP…in Omaha.