Comments on: Putting The Wraps on Zack Greinke As A Royal

By: A weary fan

A weary fan — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 22:41:21 +0000

Lets face it, the one season he was really good with the Royals really doesn’t matter. He got sick of playing for a team who has constantly been losing for the past ten years. He saw an opportunity to play for a team that has alot of promise this coming year and he jumped. My family has season tickets and this last year it was amazing when I saw Zack pitch, but there was something missing. HE DIDN’T CARE. I know we have a bunch of minor league talent coming up with in the next few years, but the are playing in the MINORS, not the MAJORS. They guys we are so excited about have not faced major league pitching yet. The organization tells the fans to be patient. Well we have been patient, we have been patient for thirty years. I for one, as a fan, am sick of waiting and watching all of our major stars walk out the door to bigger and better things. EX: Carlos Beltran, Raul Ibanez, Jermaine Dye. If I ever hear about the Royals having a chance at going into the off season and winning it all, i will believe it when I see them holding that world series trophy at the end of it all.
I know I seem mad and negative, but 25 years of bad decisions and poor baseball can do it to you. I pray to god that they will prove me wrong someday, but for now, all I can do is watch as they drag their feet.

By: Adam C.

Adam C. — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 23:17:24 +0000

I call BS on Cassel inspiring the chiefs team. They are winning because they have a good O-line and Charles. Cassel just does his part by not screwing that up. The first half of the year they had to win in spite of Cassel.

But this is a baseball blog so I’ll talk baseball. You could have had Tony Robbins on the mound and you still wouldn’t have inspired those teams to play any better defense or put up more runs. If anything I think the players were pressing too much when Zach was on the mound because they DID want to gets some runs on the board for him.

Also the teams he played with didn’t “win for” too many other pitchers on the team either. Maybe those other players weren’t very inspiring either, but I would guess it was probably because they just weren’t good.

By: Zack Daddy

Zack Daddy — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 22:02:10 +0000

“His team didn’t win for him. It’s one of those intangibles that’s tough to quantify.”

“He did not bring out the best in his teammates, like a champion does.”

That strikes me as magical thinking, and has no bearing whatsoever on how we should judge Zack’s career as a Royal. How was Zack supposed to make his defense not be terrible, and the offense score more than two runs when he was pitching?

The same way Matt Cassel has somehow “inspires” his team. Haley is winning with many of the same players Edwards had. How can we call a pitcher “great” when he cashed in last season cuz he wasn’t interested in his PROFESSIONAL CAREER or helping his team? He is paid MILLIONS to be professional. He ditched his slider cuz it was taxing on his arm and the games were “meaningless”. How can you as a fan not be outraged by this? This is Guillen-esque behavior and Greinke is being defended for ONE great season. If a player is disinterested, why would the defense go balls out for that pitcher. We all know that the Chiefs would go balls out for their quarterback cuz he’s laying it all out there. And, he isn’t as capable athletically and potentially as Greinke.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 16:15:08 +0000

“His team didn’t win for him. It’s one of those intangibles that’s tough to quantify.”\

“He did not bring out the best in his teammates, like a champion does.”

By: Nick Scott

Nick Scott — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 15:53:03 +0000

500 ip or 50 decisions. Soria has 255 IP and 18 decisions. So he isn’t quite qualified for these.

By: Chaim Mattis Keller

Chaim Mattis Keller — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 15:43:09 +0000

What’s the minimum innings pitched for your ERA and K/9 list? Because you have to figure that Joakim Soria has numbers that rank in there as well.

By: Ted

Ted — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 03:34:37 +0000

Agree with Nick: Greinke’s 2009 was the best season by a Royals starter. Sabes had great seasons, but neither of his Cy Young years were as good as Greinke’s Cy Young year. Which brings up a couple stats that Nick didn’t post. One is ERA+. Greinke’s 205 ERA+ in 2009 was second best for a Royal behind Quisenberry’s 210 in 1983. Sabes best was 180 in 1989. For their career, Saberhagen had Greinke beat, ranking 5th for his Royal career with a 128 ERA+, to Greinke’s 7th at 116.

The other is WAR. Greinke’s 2009 ranks as the single best season, measured by WAR, for a Royals pitcher. It was 9.0. Saberhagen’s 1989 is a close second at 8.6, though 0.4 WAR is more significant than it seems. For their careers, Saberhagen is second all-time with 37.3 WAR. Greinke is sixth with 22.8. And though Saberhagen pitched nearly 600 more innings as a Royal than Greinke did, it is not a lock that Greinke could have equaled Saberhagen’s total with the extra innings, as he would have had to averaged nearly 5 WAR per season over three seasons of 200 innings pitched.

By the way, Quisenberry gave the Royals 25.2 WAR in only 920 and two-thirds innings pitched. Goodness! And for as good as that is, Mariano Rivera has given the Yankees 52.9 WAR in only 1150 innings.

By: Nick Scott

Nick Scott — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 02:55:42 +0000

“But, I don’t think it’s any coincidence that Zack lost so many close games or that so few runs were scored. ”

you’re right, it isn’t coincidence. He had historically pathetic offenses in the seasons he was with the royals.

By: Nick Scott

Nick Scott — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 02:54:17 +0000

I don’t think any season was better than zacks 2009. It was not only one of the best seasons by a royals pitcher, but one of the best seasons by any pitcher. It was that good.

By: Zack Daddy

Zack Daddy — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 02:54:15 +0000

No way to prove this “stat”…but Zack is simply not the best pitcher, or even close, to be part of Royals baseball. His team didn’t win for him. It’s one of those intangibles that’s tough to quantify. Maybe I’m not being fair. But, I don’t think it’s any coincidence that Zack lost so many close games or that so few runs were scored. He did not bring out the best in his teammates, like a champion does. I think we can all find pitchers who possess that inspiration and pitchers who lack it.