2013 Kansas City Royals Repository Thread

[duncan_idaho]

Proposed 2013 Slogan: Tigers: They're what's for dinner
Actual 2013 Slogan: Come to Play
A better, more accurate, or alternative slogan: All in, no panic, we promise.

Dayton Moore has pushed all his chips in and is riding on King/Jack suited, hoping it comes together, he gets some good luck, and he hits the nuts by the river card. There's potential, oh yes, there's potential. There's also risk.

At the midway point, Dayton is left counting on the river card. The flop and turn didn't help him, and he's looking at the Tigers holding a pair of Queens and the Indians holding a pair of 9s. His 2013 plan hasn't failed - yet - but the odds are not in his favor.

Burning questions updates below.

Burning Questions for 2013:

1) Will the improve rotation be improved enough? Does James Shields pitch like a fringe No. 1 away from Tampa Bay? Does Ervin Santana pitch to his highest upside in his walk year? Can Jeremy Guthrie build on his strong performance as a Royal in 2012? Can Wade Davis bring his new mentality- and velocity - back to the rotation?

Midseason check-in: Yes, the rotation is certainly improved enough. Shields has pitched like a fringe No. 1 and Santana is having his best season. Guthrie has horrible peripherals but has continued to perform well at his home park and eat innings on the road. Davis brought neither his kick-ass mentality or improved velocity back to the rotation and is in Luke Hochevar/Hiram Davies territory.

2) When will Luke Hochevar be shown the door?
Midseason check-in: It appears, never, at this point. Hochevar has been solid in non-leverage situations, though pretty much every time he has been used with men on base in an inning, it has been a disaster.

3) Does Hosmer bounce back?
Midseason check-in: It took some time, but Hosmer's performance from June 1 on is probably the most encouraging thing about the 2013 season so far.
4) Can Moustakas hit for a whole season like he did in the first half of 2012?
Midseason check-in: Nope. Moustakas was god-awful, then great for about 3 weeks, then god-awful again. He has been better since he started working with Brett and Grafol but still has a long way to go.
5) Who regresses?
Midseason check-in: Welp, Alicides Escobar is not a surprising name here (though Yost's stubborn insistence on hitting him second is ridiculous). Billy Butler is a surprise. He isn't having a terrible year - still contributing a lot to the offense - but he's not hitting for the average or power he has displayed over the past several years.
6) Who plays 2B?
Midseason check-in: A whole bunch of people, and not that great. Gio is at least getting a shot, though he once again is not doing much with it.
7) Can Jeff Francoeur be at least replacement level, rather than epic horrible level?
Midseason check-in: Hahahahahahahahahahaha
8) Will Dayton Moore survive to see 2014?
Midseason check-in: Outlook uncertain. Probably still around, unless the team completely tanks in the second half and he does something foolish. My guess - he sacrifices Ned Yost this offseason and gets one more shot with a new manager in 2014.
9) Will Danny Duffy come back healthy? And if he does, is he the same, better or worse?
Midseason check-in: Yes. Velocity looks the same, and it looks likely he is the same guy as before.
10) And the big one: Has KC added enough to run down the big-money Detroit Tigers?
Midseason check-in: Doesn't look like it, does it?

[mr. tegu]

Off days suck!

[Archie F. Swin]

Originally Posted by Strongside

Try living in Phoenix, bro. I just moved to the River Market in KC after being in PHX for a couple years and it's LIGHT YEARS better. Phoenix is the mothership of sprawl. .

I drove from downtown PHX to Surprise to catch a game back in March. I wanted to off myself by the time I got to Sun City. Christ!


not to mention their BBQ is a bunch of bullshit!

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by Discuss Thrower

So what happens if his bat never comes around but his fielding skill stays where it is or improves?

"Hello, my name is Drew Stubbs..."

[Deberg_1990]

Royals #5 in the CNNSI Power Rankings!




Kansas City Royals
The Royals' lack of home runs (four, tied for last in the AL) isn't such a problem since, you know, they're in first place -- but also because they have gap power, having hit a league-leading 22 doubles that included a streak of seven straight games with at least two. Incidentally, Kansas City pitchers have allowed the fewest doubles in the AL (seven).

Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/mlb...#ixzz2QBShD3gX

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

"Hello, my name is Drew Stubbs..."

It would've been funnier had you said Elder Stubbs...

/bookofmormonreference

[mr. tegu]

Originally Posted by Deberg_1990

Royals #5 in the CNNSI Power Rankings!




Kansas City Royals
The Royals' lack of home runs (four, tied for last in the AL) isn't such a problem since, you know, they're in first place -- but also because they have gap power, having hit a league-leading 22 doubles that included a streak of seven straight games with at least two. Incidentally, Kansas City pitchers have allowed the fewest doubles in the AL (seven).

Read More: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/mlb...#ixzz2QBShD3gX

Since when did Oakland become a power hitting team?

[duncan_idaho]

One final thing on Starling...

I don't understand why his pitch recognition is a problem (I haven't seen consistent problems listed on that) when his plate discipline is pretty good. Those two things usually go hand-in-hand.

[seaofred]

Originally Posted by La literatura

It's the only reason I go. Beautiful lot.

I'm talking about the tailgating portion of the parking lot. If you had a downtown stadium, you wouldn't be able to tailgate like a lot do.

[siberian khatru]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

One final thing on Starling...

I don't understand why his pitch recognition is a problem (I haven't seen consistent problems listed on that) when his plate discipline is pretty good. Those two things usually go hand-in-hand.

I don't buy that either. I think it's all mechanical. Either they didn't fix his swing, or they "fixed" it and he hasn't taken to it yet.

[WoodDraw]

His plate discipline is good? Doesn't he have like 100 Ks already?-

[Nightfyre]

So, is the Royal's success sustainable. Sure we probably won't be like 108-54 at the end of the year, but can we win first place? Can we win it with a comfortable margin? Can we compete in the playoffs? Anyone care to offer any analysis towards one argument or another?

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

One final thing on Starling...

I don't understand why his pitch recognition is a problem (I haven't seen consistent problems listed on that) when his plate discipline is pretty good. Those two things usually go hand-in-hand.

I've not seen him play so I'm just going by what I've read. It does seem at least a little counter-intuitive.

That said, low-level minor leaguers often struggle to throw strikes. You can draw walks at the lower levels simply by not swinging; you don't exactly have to be discerning about it. It doesn't suggest a good feel for the strike zone, just that he has a ton of raw power and that guys are throwing him carefully to deal with it.

Finally, you can absolutely have a good feel for where the strike zone is without knowing what a pitch is going to do. If you throw me a fastball, I may be able to determine that it's going to be out of the zone fairly easily and lay off it. That doesn't mean I'm necessarily going to be able to pick up that little red disc on the ball when you throw me a slider, gauge the tilt and do anything with it.

Yeah, strike zone judgment and pitch recognition often do go hand in hand, but not always. Starling could very easily be sitting fastball, spotting them when they're wide, punishing them when they're not and simply getting eating alive when they're not fastballs at all.

One doesn't strike out 70 times in 200 ABs in rookie ball if he has an easy time picking up breaking balls.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Nightfyre

So, is the Royal's success sustainable. Sure we probably won't be like 108-54 at the end of the year, but can we win first place? Can we win it with a comfortable margin? Can we compete in the playoffs? Anyone care to offer any analysis towards one argument or another?

Sure it is. The Royals are a legitimate 85-90 win team and if they suddenly start believing in themselves, they could do more. Confidence can steal you 5+ wins.

But today you saw that claws that the Tigers do have. Sure, they're spinning they're wheels a bit right now, but bludgeoning the Blue Jays today, the darling of many a prognosticator, is something they're eminently capable of doing on any given day.

They've not been pushed for several years. If the Royals give them a rabbit to chase, the Tigers may just find another gear and go catch the thing. If the Royals win it, they'll be in for a dogfight, IMO.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by WoodDraw

His plate discipline is good? Doesn't he have like 100 Ks already?-

Plate discipline isn't just about Ks. It's about strike zone judgment. Starling walked 14.25 percent of the time last season, which is well above average (average is about 8 percent).

It actually was the most encouraging thing about his debut season.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by siberian khatru

I don't buy that either. I think it's all mechanical. Either they didn't fix his swing, or they "fixed" it and he hasn't taken to it yet.

I'm hoping it's the latter. Time will tell. Early returns are awful, though.