Comments on: The Stench of Losing

By: scott H

scott H — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 12:00:20 +0000

I like the 6 man rotation because I think it is keeping Duffy here to learn and keeping Davies off the mound 1 extra day. DDJ would be an upgrade over Cabrera on D, Melky has trouble covering ground, streaching out Soria would be a mistake I don’t think we would have a closer if that was the case, do you all reallywant to see B. Wood in those situations ? Stretching out Crow who has been a starter as recently as last year would be the way to go, he has to be better that KD. Whoever said that trading Moose to the mariners was a good idea is crazy from the heat. Good hitters last longer than good pitchers, and who is to say that Pineda come here and stinks up the place or gets injured and Moose takes off in seattle and has a great 20 career

By: Big Lee

Big Lee — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 02:43:40 +0000

“The next round of trades has to secure at least one back of the rotation starter, who can be counted on to keep the team in games”=We only gave up DeJesus and Callaspo. We may still get a back of the rotation guy from Mazarro or SOS, but we didn’t give up gold.

Starting pitching was supposed to be a future strength, and still may be, but young guys have struggled. It must be posted again: Why not stretch out Crow or Soria? We have several college guys doing the job in the pen, and bullpen guys are fungible. Both of these guys have the tools to start, where they will be more valuable. Yost (or DM) can be criticized for not maximizing strengths in this instance.

By: DanL

DanL — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 02:38:24 +0000

Was curious enough about Pittsburg’s success to look at their pitching stats from last year to this year compared to the Royals – easy to see why Pittsburg is winning this year.
Pitt SP 2010 ERA 5.28 WHIP 1.53 Pitt RP 2010 ERA 4.57 WHIP 1.43
Pitt SP 2011 ERA 3.55 WHIP 1.32 Pitt RP 2011 ERA 3.15 WHIP 1.32
KC SP 2010 ERA 5.25 WHIP 1.47 KC RP 2010 ERA 4.46 WHIP 1.46
KC SP 2011 ERA 5.13 WHIP 1.51 KC RP 2011 ERA 3.71 WHIP 1.35

Huge improvement in Pitt’s starting pitchers, and a bigger improvement in their bullpen compared to the improved Royal’s bullpen. The Royal’s starters are essentially the same (or only slightly better if you factor the loss of Zack’s ERA 4.17 WHIP 1.25).

Point is Pittsburg has proven you can have a quick turnaround with better starting pitching (or maybe a new pitching coach). So next time Dayton say the process takes time…not for Pittsburg.

By: COOLcalmT

COOLcalmT — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 00:49:14 +0000

Just a few random items…
Being born in 1986 in KC, my dad has called me the curse of the Royals, even though I would give up almost everything to see them win. I live for the Royals and watched them win today on my phone at work. Winning is fun.

I now live in Colorado and this past weekend went to all three games. Friday was embarrassing, Saturday a little better (after Kyle Davies was pulled) and Sunday was a blast.

On Saturday I was seated 5 feet from Dayton Moore and his family (assuming it was Family). I watched him all game and he just scowled the entire game. Which I respected because if he would have been cheering that would have been a little disheartening. Even though I wanted to bring up the process to him, I didn’t want to be the drunk jack ass that ruins the family night especially when it was fireworks night. Anyways, it was BRUTAL watching Kyle Davies take the mound and accept that he is a starting pitcher for the Royals. I’m only a fan. I can only pray that Dayton Moore was watching that and realized, ‘hey, maybe I’ve made some mistakes…let’s not do that again.’ The young guys looked good and there is some real promise but as you and everyone has preached there are still a lot of huge issues.

I’m still waiting on someone to explain the Mike Jacobs trade from a couple years ago. Come on!

Finally, since no opposing team fan is threatened by the Royals and many fans feel sympathy for the true fans…I received about $70 of free drinks after the games this weekend just for being at the bars with my Royals shirt on. So while this year continues try and squeeze out all the perks of a losing baseball team!

By: Thaddeus

Thaddeus — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 21:22:58 +0000

At least we haven’t had a 1st baseman hit by a relay throw this year. That’s a plus. This team looks better then any Royals team in recent memory, yet they find ways to lose. That is what is troubling to me. I am hoping this is just part of being a young ballclub and not part of the culture. When the starting pitching is ok, the bullpen blows a game or there is no hitting and when the team hits, there is no starting pitching. This team, right now is good at finding creative ways to lose. Maybe when Kendall comes back he will give the team the leadership and intangibles to pull these close games out. That is what I am counting on!
And can we address how the Pirates process seems to have taken shape much quicker then the Royals? How the heck did that happen?

By: wizscape

wizscape — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 20:55:53 +0000

Would what happened be called a balk-off?

By: Tyler

Tyler — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 20:54:10 +0000

Ah! I hate those seaguls, Im sure CoCo Crisp hasn’t forgot about that.

By: DanL

DanL — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 19:54:29 +0000

And the reverse is true – gave up on pitchers that have had, not great, but decent stretches on other teams like Jorge DeLaRosa, Phil Humber, Ramon Ramirez, Leo Nunez, JP Howell, others?

By: Connor Oberkrom

Connor Oberkrom — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 19:50:51 +0000

Also another worry has been the timing of calling up someone which hopefully they’ve caught onto.

By: Sean

Sean — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 18:53:46 +0000

The culture, the talent, and the decision making all factor in. Tell me why Teahen batted 3rd for years, maybe 1000 ab’s and now can barely get off a bench. Why was DeJesus pretty good here yet can’t get off a struggling A’s bench. Is it easier to play in KC w/o pressure of winning or are they just bad players. Lots of questions and never answers or solutions. Johnny G and Aviles are tearing up Omaha right now…yet Getz leads off getting 5 ab’s a game. What’s Getz’ upside and would he play anywhere else? Would any other team employ a 6th man rotation in order to get Davies more starts?