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?

[Bowser]

Originally Posted by Canofbier

God ****ing damn...they FINALLY put a Royals game on MLB.tv, and I get to watch this cluster****. That settles it - the Royals are terrible in all games broadcasted online, and will lose 90 games again this year.

BREAK DOWN THE SHOP GUYS OUR WORK HERE IS FINISHED

[Mama Hip Rockets]

Heck of a WBC for Kelvin Herrera. Love having that guy on our team.

[DeezNutz]

Relax. At least Frenchy is having a good spring, assuaging any worries we might have about RF.

[Archie F. Swin]

The fact that Hoch is in the pen and Frenchy is batting 8th (I almost typed "hitting") at least suggests that there is *some* common sense at play in Royals camp.

[CoMoChief]

Originally Posted by Archie F. Swin

The fact that Hoch is in the pen and Frenchy is batting 8th (I almost typed "hitting") at least suggests that there is *some* common sense at play in Royals camp.

I don't think that makes up for the fact they're still on the team though...esp when Wil Myers was sitting behind Frenchy.

But the end game was to trade Myers all along, that's why he was never brought up. I've warmed up to the Shields trade....a little bit. Still think it's ****ing stupid in the grand scheme of things.

[Archie F. Swin]

I think every Royals fan will tussle with the "what if" narrative concerning Myers. I will remain optimistic knowing that we were able to (on paper) make significant rotation improvements without giving up any of our front line guys.

Yes, Wil, might be a star some day, but I'm happy we still have Butler, Gordon, Escobar, Perez, Moustakas and (to some degree) Hosmer.

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by Archie F. Swin

I think every Royals fan with tussle with the "what if" narrative concerning Myers. I will remain optimistic knowing that we we're able to (on paper) make significant rotation improvements without giving up any of our front line guys.

Yes, Wil, might be a star some day, but I'm happy we still have Butler, Gordon, Escobar, Perez, Moustakas and (to some degree) Hosmer.

I will mostly be mad if Hosmer flops and Myers becomes a breakout star.

[Archie F. Swin]

Has there been any chatter on Starling and Zimmer this spring?

[KevB]

Originally Posted by Archie F. Swin

Has there been any chatter on Starling and Zimmer this spring?

Rany was on Twitter the other day talking about Bubba. It wasn't positive.

[Infidel Goat]

Originally Posted by Ebolapox

how the **** is jason kendall a notable?

He caught over 2000 games, had over 2000 hits, and had a lifetime OBP of .366. Almost all of his hits came while playing catcher, so I'd guess that he would be in the top 5 for career hits while playing catcher and likely in the top 5 for stolen bases while playing catcher as well. The OBP is also pretty stout.

He was well past his prime when he when he donned a Royal jersey, but he was also one of the best catchers in baseball for a number of years.

To be honest, he's a guy who is probably just a little shy of a ticket to Cooperstown...

[Archie F. Swin]

Originally Posted by KevB

Rany was on Twitter the other day talking about Bubba. It wasn't positive.

Rany always skews pessimistic. I can only take so much of him.

[Prison Bitch]

Rany is the sunshine, it's Rob who was the rainclouds.

[Fansy the Famous Bard]

Originally Posted by Archie F. Swin

Rany always skews pessimistic. I can only take so much of him.

Rany is not like that at all, he's a realist that crunches numbers and uses sabermetrics to discuss things. He loves the royals and when he sees things to like about them he points those out, however it's been hard over the past 15 years.

[WhawhaWhat]

James Shields directing traffic this morning.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by KevB

Rany was on Twitter the other day talking about Bubba. It wasn't positive.

There are serious and legitimate questions about Bubba Starling's hit tool.

He's a 6 grade or higher on every other skill (power - 6; run - 8; throw- 6; field- 8). The only question is whether he will make enough contact. He's incredibly raw, still, and there's been a lot of talk about adjusting his swing/approach to leverage his skills.

The struggles this spring have focused on hm having slow/not natural reactions. That could be one of two things:

1) He is still adjusting to the mechanical swing work and doesn't have the muscle memory built up yet
2) He just isn't a good reaction guy.

Even if his hit tool doesn't improve, Starling's defense, running ability and power could make him a Drew Stubbs-like player at the MLB level.

He's going to move slowly, regardless. And that's not necessarily a warning sign.