Comments on: Annual Report Card – The Hitters

By: % (in the UK)

% (in the UK) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 18:49:35 +0000

Cheers Adam,the home of Chase Daniel & all that eh?

I did know but your right to point it out,especially apt in the “Show Me State”,lazy writing on my part i’m afraid!

I would be similarly irked if someone mixed up York & Yorkshire

By: Adam C.

Adam C. — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 17:33:33 +0000

% (in the UK) Just for future reference the Royals play in Missouri. (although most of their houses are probably in Kansas.)

By: Craig Brown

Craig Brown — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 15:55:26 +0000

BrettFan1 – Interesting point on Callaspo. I checked the numbers at Fangraphs and his BA on flyballs this year is .195 – down from last year’s .249. That’s indeed the difference in this year’s BA vs. last year. However, I’m not sure he’s changed his approach since he’s hit more HRs. His type of batted ball rates are pretty similar over the last two seasons. So it would seem he’s just finding the outfielders more this year as compared to last. Bad luck, perhaps?

One concern has to be his walk rate. Last year, he was at 8.2%. This year, it’s 5.2%…

By: Craig Brown

Craig Brown — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 15:49:12 +0000

gbewing – You’re point is a good one… If presented with a slash line of .305/.332/.386, that’s not too good… A bunch of empty singles I tend to rail about.

Still, his WAR (despite not playing the full year) is promising, and I probably did give him the benefit of the doubt after returning from surgery. Still, in the context of the “grades” I handed out, he’s pretty close to the other guys in the “C” range. Like Clark said, the power will (hopefully) return. If his slash line is the same in September, I’m sure he’ll grade lower.

Even though he’s the teacher’s pet!

By: Clark Fosler

Clark Fosler — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:42:05 +0000

Until Alex Gordon learns that balls hit to the left side of second base are still considered ‘fair balls’, I would keep him in Omaha. A dink single into shallow left always beats rolling over and grounding out the second baseman.

One last thing on Aviles, are we really prepared to bench him in favor of Yunieksy Betancourt and Chris Getz? Is .305/.332/.386 coming off a year lost to injury so bad that we make that leap? Again, the move in my opinion should be to send Getz to Omaha for everyday duty with the idea of opening 2011 with Aviles at short and Getz at second while we await Christian Colon and Johnny Giavotella.

By: Nick Scott

Nick Scott — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:15:28 +0000

I still don’t see this blinding love for Aviles though. Where am I missing it? He is better than kendall and he is better than yuni. This season and every season. Aviles also had one of the best offensive seasons in Royals history a couple of years ago, so I think that one can get a little more leeway when he does that. Yuni has had no good seasons, and kendalls are long, long ago.

I am absolutely ready for Gordon to come and play in the outfield in Kansas City.

By: % (in the UK)

% (in the UK) — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:00:33 +0000

I’m agreeing with gbewing on Aviles,both on the point he’s making about the player,he’s not having a great season & also the point he makes in general,there seems to be a lack of principle stateside that certain players enter the mindset of an organisation,scout ,blogger,fan etc & its very hard to shift it,in turn these players get all the breaks (generally high draft picks) from the franchise or stats are contrived by the blogger (to his chosen one),whilst memerable plays linger in the mind of the fan & any negatives are eradicated from his hero!

Butler- Great analysis of his batting Craig & you were kind enough not to mention his 21 GIDP’s,you explained exactly what the problem is,Petro said on 810 the other day that he would be his first pick for a trade for top pitching prospects,if he doesnt get to put more balls in the air quickly you have to agree with him especially with the cluster of players we have at 1b

Betancourt- Craig,i prefer your writing style a lot more than Rany’s but he was probably the most outspoken critic of the Betancourt trade,he has now gone on record & said the trade has been a success for the Royals both in terms of value & production,if he has bought into that “school of thought” i have no shame in doing so myself,he’s a streaky player but he’s doing a more than reasonable job for the Royals!

Gordon-Anyone who thinks he can just come back up to Kansas & waltz back into the side in the outfield should take a long hard look at the bottom of the 9th innings on
June 22nd in Iowa,tied ball game 7-7,2 outs & a dribbler is put into play in the shallow outfield
with a man on third,a routine ball that would have had the runner out by a mile,Gordon nonchalently attacks it & allows it to trickle under his glove to give the I-Cubs a victory,do we really want that scenario in Kansas?

By: Clark Fosler

Clark Fosler — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:50:22 +0000

As I indicated in my comment above, I believe Aviles will begin to show more power as he gets farther away from his surgery and also be able to move back to shortstop (should the Royals allow it) on a more regular basis.

I agree the Royals have some issued in the middle of the infield. Given that, why are you so eager to give up on the one guy who has had at least one good year in the majors? Especially given that his ‘mediocre’ numbers are better than four other regulars on the team?

By: Nick Scott

Nick Scott — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:33:07 +0000

I am still confused. Aviles was given a B- grade. Nobody on the team who is playing better was ranked worse. I really don’t get your complaint. Is it that Aviles should have gotten a C+? I don’t see any glowing love for Aviles’ play this year. The only thing I said is that he is better than kendall, which he is.

By: Nick Scott

Nick Scott — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 13:28:10 +0000

err, .386 not .286.