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?

[CoMoChief]

Great comeback btw - at some point that magic is gonna wear off.

I just can't wait til this team puts it all together. It's either the pitching that wins us the game when our offense sucks ass or it's the bats that rarely wake up late in the game and come back when our pitching hasn't been so great.

I just hope Hosmer and Moose turn the corner and start hitting w/ power. That's the only way this team is gonna be a true and real contender. The corners have to start knockin around multi base hits and drive runners in.

[SPchief]

Originally Posted by CoMoChief

Well I dunno about that. A lot of people here give him a lot of love when he's nothing special, no more than your average bullpen guy that can eat away some innings. Don't think he should start. I think Crow needs to get the nod to start. Not to mention Duffy and Paulino will come back this season (I think) at which point Mendoza should go back to the pen.

What makes you think Crow should start over Mendoza? What has he shown to be a starter?

[SPchief]

Originally Posted by CoMoChief

Well I dunno about that. A lot of people here give him a lot of love when he's nothing special, no more than your average bullpen guy that can eat away some innings. Don't think he should start. I think Crow needs to get the nod to start. Not to mention Duffy and Paulino will come back this season (I think) at which point Mendoza should go back to the pen.

Originally Posted by CoMoChief

Yeah Franceour does a little John Cena bit......makes everyone in KC ****ing puke.

Originally Posted by CoMoChief

Great comeback btw - at some point that magic is gonna wear off.

I just can't wait til this team puts it all together. It's either the pitching that wins us the game when our offense sucks ass or it's the bats that rarely wake up late in the game and come back when our pitching hasn't been so great.

I just hope Hosmer and Moose turn the corner and start hitting w/ power. That's the only way this team is gonna be a true and real contender. The corners have to start knockin around multi base hits and drive runners in.

Damn, I just got COMO'ed. It's worse than being Penzed because Penz actually knows baseball

[Chiefspants]

Originally Posted by CoMoChief

Well I dunno about that. A lot of people here give him a lot of love when he's nothing special, no more than your average bullpen guy that can eat away some innings. Don't think he should start. I think Crow needs to get the nod to start. Not to mention Duffy and Paulino will come back this season (I think) at which point Mendoza should go back to the pen.

Crow doesn't have a reliable third pitch that could get him into the starting rotation. He will not be able to mix up his pitches well enough once he starts seeing batters in their 2nd and 3rd at bats.

[Saul Good]

Davis and Mendoza both need to pull it together soon, or Yost is going to have some tough decisions to make after the All Star break.

[mr. tegu]

Mendoza has shown what he is. I am not worried about him and in no way should he be replaced by anyone not named Duffy or Paulino. The guy is basically pitching every ten days. Once the rotation goes back to normal I expect Mendoza to look much sharper.

[eazyb81]

What in the hell?

We seriously won last night?

Wow.

[ChiTown]

Originally Posted by eazyb81

What in the hell?

We seriously won last night?

Wow.

Amazing, isn't it? Even with that masterpice by Medozchevar

[Discuss Thrower]

Originally Posted by eazyb81

What in the hell?

We seriously won last night?

Wow.

[eazyb81]

Originally Posted by ChiTown

Amazing, isn't it? Even with that masterpice by Medozchevar

I stopped paying attention after Mendoza gave up his sixth run. What a nice surprise this morning!

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by eazyb81

I stopped paying attention after Mendoza gave up his sixth run. What a nice surprise this morning!

Can't give up on these guys...

[AndChiefs]

Originally Posted by eazyb81

I stopped paying attention after Mendoza gave up his sixth run. What a nice surprise this morning!

I almost did. If they didn't score the next half inning I planned on turning it off. I got lucky because it was awesome.

[Saul Good]

I turned it off for a few minutes after Cain grounded into the double play with the bases loaded. I thought we blew our chance right then (especially after he fouled off ball four on a check swing).

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by Chiefspants

Crow doesn't have a reliable third pitch that could get him into the starting rotation. He will not be able to mix up his pitches well enough once he starts seeing batters in their 2nd and 3rd at bats.

Because of this, Crow has HEAVY platoon splits. LHP has traditionally beaten him up quite a bit (needs that changeup to really mess with their bat speed).

It doesn't make sense. I saw him pitch a lot in college, and he flashed a 40/45 changeup consistently there. That's a good enough pitch to project to MLB average, but it just never came.

[Great Expectations]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

I turned it off for a few minutes after Cain grounded into the double play with the bases loaded. I thought we blew our chance right then (especially after he fouled off ball four on a check swing).

Same here, but I kept checking At Bat and put it back on at the right time.