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?

[Tytanium]

Originally Posted by gblowfish

He is the yang to Frenchy's ying.....

He also set the record for fewest strikeouts in a full season with 3.

If only, Frenchy. If only...

[Hootie]

Originally Posted by mr. tegu

Gordon was the third batter in an inning 4 times yesterday.

the point of putting him at 3rd is to surround him by better hitters...rather than him following up our worst hitters (Francouer, Getz, Dyson, Johnson, etc...)

the idea is to score runs

putting your two best OPS guys at 3 and 4 is done with the idea that, statistically, lumping those two together will equal doubles, RBI's, and homeruns (with one another on base etc...)

I don't give a shit about Gordon at 3 I'd just rather have him batting directly in front of Billy Butler

[Archie F. Swin]

I wonder if recent events will affect the scheduled Royals/Red Sox series?

[KChiefs1]

Originally Posted by Archie F. Swin

I wonder if recent events will affect the scheduled Royals/Red Sox series?

Checking the Directv guide for 672-1 & they don't have the Red Sox game on Wednesday morning on the schedule. They have tonight's game on it though.

[warpaint*]

Originally Posted by KChiefs1

Checking the Directv guide for 672-1 & they don't have the Red Sox game on Wednesday morning on the schedule. They have tonight's game on it though.

We play the Braves Wed, Bosox series as scheduled won't start until Fri.

[Great Expectations]

I'd be very surprised if our games vs the BoSox is rescheduled. I've always thought that when things like this happen everyone needs to resume their normal lives as quickly as possible. The more that the tragedy affects things like this the more sick people think they accomplished something with their behavior.

[siberian khatru]

So, if we're in "win now" mode, how about Moose for Chase Headley?

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/0...y-suitors.html

* The Royals appear set at third base with Mike Moustakas, but they could upgrade to Headley and include Moustakas in the trade. This is another team that has invested a lot in winning now.

[alnorth]

Reposting here, because some may be done with that last game thread.

The Royals are convinced that Herrera must have been tipping his pitches.

Herrera started the inning by retiring B.J. Upton on a grounder to third, but Heyward sliced a 98-mph fastball deep over the left-field wall. Upton followed by crushing a changeup.

Upton’s homer -- he seemed to be waiting on the 0-1 pitch — is what convinced the Royals that Herrera must be tipping. When Uggla turned around an 0-2 inside fastball...the Royals had little doubt.

“They say I was doing different little movements with my breaking ball and my fastball,” Herrera said. “But that’s no excuse. They just got me today. If I was (tipping pitches), I’m going to fix it.”

[Al Bundy]

He had to be tipping them, and once it got out of control he had no shot.

[Al Bundy]

Originally Posted by siberian khatru

So, if we're in "win now" mode, how about Moose for Chase Headley?

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/0...y-suitors.html

* The Royals appear set at third base with Mike Moustakas, but they could upgrade to Headley and include Moustakas in the trade. This is another team that has invested a lot in winning now.

I would do this immediately. I would give them Hosmer as well.

[Great Expectations]

I'm going to meet Frank White in a couple of weeks and I'd like to have him sign a jersey. Does anyone know a good place to buy an old replica jersey?

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by Al Bundy

I would do this immediately. I would give them Hosmer as well.

I wouldn't.

Headley is a nice player, but you should take a look at his career stats BEFORE last season.

He has been a largely punch-less hitter from the 3B spot before last year. I'm not convinced the uptick in HR and slugging a season ago is more than a one year flap.

I'd be all for trading for Headley, still. But I'm not convinced he's a major upgrade over Moustakas immediately, and having him for only a season and a half is a problem. I probably wouldn't swap Moose straight up for him. And certainly would not include Hosmer in addition.

If you could get it done for prospects, however... fire away.

[Demonpenz]

When the pressure is off I fully expect Moose and Hosmer to play well.

[Discuss Thrower]

Call up Seratelli!

[siberian khatru]

Hosmer, Moustakas not looking good so far

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/po...ng-good-so-far

Snippet:

In Hosmer's case, he just isn't driving the ball -- at all. He had his one double to deep left-center and one fly out to deep left, but after flying out twice and striking out twice on Tuesday, he now has 12 ground balls in play and six fly balls. He has hit seven line drives, but those lines drives aren't being driven into the gaps.

This is somewhat similar to the issue he faced last year when he had trouble pulling the ball with much authority -- he only pulled three home runs all season (he hit seven to the opposite field and four just to the right of center). You can be a good hitter even if your natural stroke goes to the opposite field, but unless you possess the raw power of someone like Ryan Howard or David Ortiz, you're not going to develop into a big home run hitter unless you pull the ball more. Hosmer hit .284 and slugged .444 against fastballs last year, which sounds pretty good, but the major-league averages were .295 and .485 for qualified regular. Hosmer ranked in the 42nd percentile in batting average and 32nd percentile in slugging percentage against the fastball. The trouble is, he was even worse against "soft" stuff -- he hit .177 and slugged .245, well below the .242 and .393 marks of the 144 qualified regulars.

I would argue that it all stems off hitting the fastball. If he can't catch up to the good fastballs, he's going to struggle much more against offspeed stuff. So far in 2013, he's 0-for-14 in plate appearances ending in fastballs. Until he shows he can hit the hard stuff with authority, Hosmer isn't going to meet the lofty expectations everyone had for him after his rookie season.