Games: Detroit Tigers, Oct. 2: Judging the Royals with Lee Judge

Games » Detroit Tigers

Oct2

The Alcides Escobar show

The system we use on this website to measure a player’s contribution to his team says that Billy Butler has contributed more to the 2012 Kansas City Royals than any of his teammates. A .313 batting average, .370 on-base percentage,.511 slugging percentage, 29 home runs and 107 RBIs is a pretty good argument.

But if anyone wanted to make the case that Alcides Escobar was the best player on the Royals, I wouldn’t spend a lot of time arguing — and this game could be Exhibit A.

Alcides opened the scoring with a home run in the first inning and picked up two more hits in his next three at-bats. He also drove in another run … and stole a base … and helped turn a double play. Heck, if the game had gone on long enough, he might have cured cancer and won the lottery. He was having that kind of night.

And I haven’t even talked about the two ridiculous plays he made on defense. In the eighth inning, Escobar went back on the grass, caught the ball, jumped, spun around and threw out Detroit’s Avisail Garcia. You have to the see play to realize how good it was.

Esky made another diving stop in the ninth inning and jumped up to throw out Bryan Holaday. After watching Esky for two years, it is a measure of how much I’ve come to expect out of him that I thought the ninth-inning play was merely terrific. After what he did in the eighth inning, I thought, “Sure, he’ll pull this play off in the ninth.” He’s that good.

So Billy Butler or Alcides Escobar — either one could be player of the year. And Alex Gordon hasn’t been too shabby, either.

Game notes

• Jeremy Guthrie won his final start of the season and once again showed the ability to pitch out of trouble. In the third inning he had given up two runs, had the bases loaded with one out and ran the count to 3-0 on Delmon Young. Guthrie threw two strikes and then got Young to pop up on the infield. A good defensive play by Tony Abreu and a bad base-running play by Prince Fielder resulted in a double play, and Guthrie got out of the inning.

• After the game, manager Ned Yost said that pitchers who minimize damage and get themselves out of trouble have the ability to continue to make pitches under stress. They don’t let the game speed up on them. They stay calm and focused.

• After the third inning, pitching coach Dave Eiland suggested a small adjustment in Guthrie’s motion. Guthrie needed to get the ball out of his glove sooner, which allowed his arm to be on time. If a pitcher gets his body too far out in front, he throws uphill because his arm never catches up to his body. If a pitcher gets the arm on time, he can throw downhill and keep the ball low in the zone.

• Guthrie made the adjustment and pitched three more scoreless innings.

• In the first inning, Irving Falu was in on grass with Ramon Santiago at the plate. Watch the third baseman and he will show you by his positioning if the hitter is likely to bunt. With two strikes on Santiago, Falu was playing back and with Miguel Cabrera at the plate. Falu was playing waaay back.

• With two strikes, one of the Detroit hitters sliced a ball into the stands and it banged off an empty seat. Fans want souvenirs, but they might not like getting one at 100 mph. If you’re in the stands down low, pay attention all the time, but pay even better attention when the hitter has two strikes. He will wait as long as he can and sometimes use an emergency hack to foul off nasty borderline pitches.

• Detroit center fielder Quintin Berry broke back on an Alex Gordon fly ball, then reversed field and came forward to make the catch. That’s much better than the reverse, coming in and then breaking back to make the catch. Moving forward is easier, and a ball that drops is a single, not extra bases. If you’re going to make a mistake, make it in front of you.

• Billy Butler cost Falu an error when he missed a short-hop throw from third. Billy then cost himself an error when he muffed a throw that didn’t bounce. I’ve counted 71 outstanding defensive plays by Eric Hosmer this season and most of those are scoops of bad throws by teammates. First basemen make everyone on the infield better or worse.

• In the seventh, Escobar was ruled safe on a ball that got away from Tigers first baseman Prince Fielder. Alcides feinted toward second base then walked back to first. No one on the Detroit team seemed to notice Esky’s move, and no one made an attempt to tag him.

• Jeff Francoeur added an insurance run with a 424-foot home run in the eighth inning. That was 424 feet on a cool night when the ball didn’t carry. That’s a lot of feet in October.

• It’s official: The Royals were better this year. The Royals won their 72nd game Tuesday — one more than last season.

How to tell when a base-runner is cheating

If you’re watching a game on TV and they show the runner at first base, check his eyes. If they are darting back and forth, he is probably doing what any self-respecting ballplayer would do. He’s cheating.

Kind of.

It’s not against any rule, but the other team doesn’t like it when a player steals signs from the catcher. Of course, when one of your players does it, he’s a smart ballplayer.

Some runners peek in toward home plate to steal signs. If the catcher has his knees too far apart, the runner can see the signs. (With a runner on second base they use a more complicated system.) Runners, especially base-stealers, want to know what pitch is being thrown because it’s easier to steal a base on an off-speed pitch than a fastball.

A non-base-stealer might not like to look into the plate for fear that the pitcher will pick him off while he’s looking the wrong direction. And just to make it more complicated, what if the catcher is intentionally letting the runner see the signs in order to bait the runner into going? If the catcher knows a base-runner peeks, he and the pitcher could switch up the signs.

(The Royals have told first baseman Eric Hosmer to give them a heads-up if he can see the Royals catcher’s signs. That way, they coaches can signal to the catcher to hold his knees closer together.)

Limping toward the finish line

Eric Hosmer is hurt, Mike Moustakas is hurt and Jarrod Dyson is banged up. In fact, hardly anybody feels great at this point in the season. The other day, I wondered what would happen if the Royals had made the playoffs and faced another month of baseball.

According to Jeff Francoeur, being in the playoffs give players a boost of adrenaline just when they need it most. Guys are so excited about participating in postseason play that they forget the nicks and bruises and get a second wind as they head into October.

Frenchy may have a point. None of the Detroit Tigers looked tired Monday night.

Comments

Terry Payne
7 months, 2 weeks ago

Esky’s backhander in the hold and jump-throw voted the #1 Web gem of the night for the 2nd night in a row by Baseball Tonight, Late edition.
Sean Fite
7 months, 2 weeks ago

went to my last game of the year, and was quite pleased with the effort. from pitching to defense, to hitting, i thought i saw a good product on the field. and this is mostly the same product we’ll see begin the year next spring.

this is why i’m not hoping for next year, but actually looking forward to next year. obviously, the pitching issue must be remedied, but we have a great group that has a real chance in the Central division.
Sean Fite
7 months, 2 weeks ago

oh, and Esky was absolutely ridiculous! kept waiting for him to tip his cap to the crowd after both ovations. simply a joy to watch!
Daniel Wesley
7 months, 2 weeks ago

Historically speaking, shortstop has been the weakest position in Royals history. Only three times in team history has a Royals shortstop played a full season and ended up with an OPS+ over 100. (Jay Bell’s 115 OPS+ in 1997 is the team record).

If Escobar and Perez can continue to play outstanding defense and hit at a league average clip, that’s a huge competitive advantage.

Now we just need to make sure our 3B and 1B produce at the level we all hope they will.
Terry Payne
7 months, 2 weeks ago

With Guthrie the obvious key to an improved rotation, all efforts must be made to achieve this mission. But I heard Guth say in the postgame on-field interview, without actually saying it, that he would be exploring the market. This will, of course, drive his price up and make him more difficult to sign.

I think the team has little to no chance of signing a frontline FA SP, outright, other than perhaps Guthrie.

There doesn’t seem to be much significant help coming from the minors. Some adequate candidates, perhaps, but no innings-eating frontliner on the horizon.

A quality SP could emerge from the bullpen, but most of these guys are failed starting pitchers, anyway. Perhaps Aaron Crow, although he has difficulty beyone his first inning.

Assuming Herrera to be setup, and Holland to be closer, one possibility would be to buyout Soria’s option, hope that nobody else signs him, and try him out as a starter. Even though he’s coming off his 2nd TJ operation, pitching is spread so thin I bet somebody else WOULD sign him.

So, as far as I can see, the only option left is trading. Personally, I think Esky and Salvy are untouchbles. (Great move by GMDM to lock them up, cheaply, for a while.) I would not trade Gordon, who has, at long last, fulfilled his promise.

I also would not trade Hosmer. The guy is already highly valued for his glove and can steal you a base now and then. He has such a high upside, I’m convinced the Royals would rue the day they moved him.

I might consider moving Mous, but again, excellent glove, power which should only improve, along with on-base percentage.

Both Hos and Mous went through a painful sophamore season, but I suspect they’ve both learned a ton about hitting and playing MLB. They may have just gotten worn down at the end. I don’t think either of them had played this many games before, let alone at such a high level of competition.

The obvious trade candidate is Frenchy. Who knows, maybe there IS a sucker, I mean taker, out there if Francouer is packaged well.

I’m sorry, but I would definitely consider trading Billy Butler. He’s a terrific hitter, the team’s best run producer finally breaking out with the power. But he’s also a one-dimensional player, who can play only one position, and that one not very reliably. He also clogs the bases. I’d just make sure I traded him to the NL.

IF the team decides to move the Chosen One, Wil Myers, the time to pull the trigger could very definitely be THIS offseason. One theory explaining why they didn’t bring him up in Sept could be that they were afraid if they showcased him, and he failed, his trade value could plummet.

The point about any trade is that if you wanna get, you gotta wanna be giving. IF any significant position player is traded, it had better be for a significant SP, which would probably mean a valued prospect, also, or a package of valued prospects. Any significant starting pitcher acquired would have to have an existing affordable contract, or be able to be signed affordably. Despite Glass’ avowal that he will spend, I’m still dubious. I say his idea of spending is far different from the market’s idea of spending.

Good luck out there, Dayton.
Jim Fetterolf
7 months, 2 weeks ago

Frenchy has no value. Among current starters that aren’t young saviors, Billy and Alex have the most value with Alex top. I’ve suggested trading him for half a dozen minor-leaguers, the Reds are a possibility. Billy is worth more to us than to another team, and neither will bring back a young, top-30 sp. Best bet is to spend the $25-$30 million available for an SP or two, Guthrie most obvious, Anibal Sanchez possible if Alex was traded to free up another $10 mil and Luke non-tendered or traded. Those two along with Mendoza and Smith form a decent core with Odorizzi on the horizon as a 3-4-5 and Yordano Ventura not far away as a 2-3. Then we wait out the healing process, if one of the three TJS starters comes back to expectations, we’ll have a good enough rotation. I wouldn’t trade Myers, that’s not the way to long-term success.
Aaron Reese
7 months, 2 weeks ago

I don’t see any other option but to fix the rotation by either slowly massaging it into working order by 2014, or simply overpaying this off-season.
Jim Fetterolf
7 months, 2 weeks ago

I think overpaying is a given, KC in the AL with a building team is not a top destination. I read that Shaun Marcum has already expressed unwillingness to come here, just as an example. But being a young, cheap team we may be in position to overpay if the FO thinks that wins the division, at least.

A premium to step up five games over what the current line-up is capable of makes future FAs easier to sign if it shows that the team can contend and win.

Going to be a challenging FA market, especially with the new media money flooding in the year following, that prospect will make long term contracts this winter outrageous. Best might be to overpay Guthrie and maybe Brandon McCarthy on pillow contracts, McCarthy needing to show he’s healthy, Guthrie needing to show that now is for real and Colorado the aberration. This is the most interesting time of year for me.
Jim Fetterolf
7 months, 2 weeks ago

I would add that if an impact pitcher can’t be obtained, that some effort go into trying to extend Moose and And still trade Alex for six or eight quality arms from A, A+, and AA.
Terry Payne
7 months, 2 weeks ago

JF - are you suggesting that Alex himself could bring that big a package?

If not, who else would have to be thrown in.

And what’s a pillow contract? A guess - just one to let a guy briefly lay his head?
Jim Fetterolf
7 months, 2 weeks ago

Based on what Greinke got for two months, I figure Alex, 3/30, should be worth six to ten good low minors’ pitchers. The Reds need a LF and they have some nice looking arms below AAA, last I looked.

“Pillow” is used for one year signings, like Edwin Jackson last year.

Judging the Royals