So far I like what I'm hearing from Trey Hillman. He's talking about pitching, defense, and spending extra time in Spring Training on fundamentals. It's the way he's found success in Japan and it's the way he expects to find success in Kansas City. In Sam Mellinger's article about Hillman in the Star on Monday, he pointed to an acronym Hillman uses: AAO--which stands for adapt, adjust, and overcome. His current team in Japan, which is playing in the Japan Series as we speak, got to the series even though they were last in every major offensive category except stolen bases.
Hillman should feel right at home in Kansas City. The Royals were 27th in the Major Leagues in runs scored last season. They were 23rd in hits, 30th in home runs, 28th in RBI, 22nd in BA, 26th in OBP, 29th in SLG, and 29th in OPS. Oh, and they didn't steal bases very well either. They were 21st with just 78 steals. I still can't get over the fact that Emil Brown led the team in RBI with just 62 and John Buck lead the team in HR with just 18. It was a pathetic year offensively, so Hillman better know how to get the most out of pitching and defense. Presumably Moore will find a legitimate free agent bat or two, but I wouldn't count on a lot of help if I were Hillman.
Now let's just hope that he can do here what he did in Japan.
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