For the first seven innings today the game against the White Sox was a model for the way baseball is supposed to be played. Pitchers threw strikes and defenders made plays.
Zack Greinke battled Jose Contreras in a marvelous pitchers duel for the first seven innings. Greinke had complete control over all three of his main pitches and while he threw his slower-than-molasses curve ball on a number of occasions, he also threw a faster variation of his curve and it kept the White Sox off balance.
Tony Graffanino broke the scoreless tie with a home run in the top of the seventh inning and it looked like that's all we would need to win this one.
Greinke, who had never pitched into the eight inning before, opened the eighth inning with a walk and he seemed to be out of steam. He then hit Jermaine Dye in the middle of the back and his day was done. At that point, the game became a debacle.
Andy Sisco took over for Greinke and walked two guys to tie the game at 1-1. Pena removed him and gave the ball to Burgos who walked in the go ahead run. And without one hit in the eighth, the White Sox scored all the runs they needed to win the game 2-1.
Thursday, May 05, 2005
Pena's Smile Fades
Tony Pena stopped smiling long enough to shut the locker room door last night and give his team a little talking to after yet another loss. Reporters who waited outside said they heard what sounded like a fist pounding on a table and a thump against a wall that might have been a bat.
He apparently wasn't upset about the effort that the Royals are giving, but instead about the attitude that some players have that seems to be more concerned about individual statistics and performances than wins and losses.
"He's just asking for guys to play with heart and really care—care about winning and losing and not just be here to worry about getting a hit or pitching a good inning or two," Sweeney said.
"It doesn't matter if you're 0-for-4. If we win the game, it's time to celebrate. If you're 4-for-4 and we get our tails kicked, you should be ticked off."
I've been hoping for this day for the past several years. Now I wonder if people are going to start saying that the players can't relate to Pena since that seemed to be so important when Tony Muser was here.
He apparently wasn't upset about the effort that the Royals are giving, but instead about the attitude that some players have that seems to be more concerned about individual statistics and performances than wins and losses.
"He's just asking for guys to play with heart and really care—care about winning and losing and not just be here to worry about getting a hit or pitching a good inning or two," Sweeney said.
"It doesn't matter if you're 0-for-4. If we win the game, it's time to celebrate. If you're 4-for-4 and we get our tails kicked, you should be ticked off."
I've been hoping for this day for the past several years. Now I wonder if people are going to start saying that the players can't relate to Pena since that seemed to be so important when Tony Muser was here.
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
Everett Steals Game in the End
I wish I could remember who the Royals were playing that hot summer day at Royals Stadium in the early 1990's, but it doesn't really matter. What mattered, and what I'll never forget, is how George Brett seemed to sense that the Royals needed a boost that day. He single-handedly picked the ball club up, slid them on his back, and carried them to victory.
The game was close—tied if I remember correctly. You could see the steam rising off the astroturf. Remember those days? Brett hit a looping shot in front of the center fielder and slightly to his right. A single. But Brett was running hard and turned the corner at first like he intended to take second. Wait a minute! He is going to try to take second. The outfielder was shocked by Brett's aggressiveness and then he was shocked a second time when the ball bounced on the astroturf and seemed to keep climbing towards the moon. Brett slid into second and ended up scoring the winning run.
We haven't had a guy on our club who could do something like that in a long time—until Mike Sweeney. On Sunday, the Royals needed someone to pick them up and carry them across the finish line. Especially after giving up a five run lead. Mike Sweeney socked his second home run of the game and the Royals had their first two game winning streak of the season.
Then last night the guys opened a new series against the White Sox. They were up against the ace of their staff, Mark Buerhle. Mike Sweeney smashed a ball over the left field wall in the first inning to give the Royals a two run lead and you could just feel the rest of the team relax. The White Sox countered with a two run shot of their own to tie the score. Sweeney blasted another home run to put the Royals up 3-2, becoming the first Royal to hit two home runs in two successive games since Darrell Porter in 1977. How’s that for perspective.
Later in the game, with the Royals up 4-3, Carl Everett doubled in two runs and gave the Sox a 5-4 lead and unfortunately, the fairy tail ended with a Royals loss. But you get the feeling that Mark Buerhle doesn’t want to see Mike Sweeney again any time soon unless he bumps into him at a restaurant. And you also get the feeling that the Royals are still not even close to giving up.
Brian Anderson pitched well, picking up a quality start, giving up 3 runs in 6 innings. He had all three of his pitches working. His change was sharp and he was able to keep it on the outside of the plate and down most of the game. His curve had bite and he placed his fast ball relatively well.
Unfortunately, Everett got to Sisco out of the pen late in the game. That’s going to happen sometimes.
Mark Teahen was activated and went 1-for-3. He made another poor throw on a dribbler up the third base line. He probably should have just held on to the ball because he had no chance to throw the runner out. Hopefully his discernment will improve with experience.
Tonight, Runelvys Hernandez (1-3, 5.06) goes against Freddy Garcia (2-1, 2.83).
The game was close—tied if I remember correctly. You could see the steam rising off the astroturf. Remember those days? Brett hit a looping shot in front of the center fielder and slightly to his right. A single. But Brett was running hard and turned the corner at first like he intended to take second. Wait a minute! He is going to try to take second. The outfielder was shocked by Brett's aggressiveness and then he was shocked a second time when the ball bounced on the astroturf and seemed to keep climbing towards the moon. Brett slid into second and ended up scoring the winning run.
We haven't had a guy on our club who could do something like that in a long time—until Mike Sweeney. On Sunday, the Royals needed someone to pick them up and carry them across the finish line. Especially after giving up a five run lead. Mike Sweeney socked his second home run of the game and the Royals had their first two game winning streak of the season.
Then last night the guys opened a new series against the White Sox. They were up against the ace of their staff, Mark Buerhle. Mike Sweeney smashed a ball over the left field wall in the first inning to give the Royals a two run lead and you could just feel the rest of the team relax. The White Sox countered with a two run shot of their own to tie the score. Sweeney blasted another home run to put the Royals up 3-2, becoming the first Royal to hit two home runs in two successive games since Darrell Porter in 1977. How’s that for perspective.
Later in the game, with the Royals up 4-3, Carl Everett doubled in two runs and gave the Sox a 5-4 lead and unfortunately, the fairy tail ended with a Royals loss. But you get the feeling that Mark Buerhle doesn’t want to see Mike Sweeney again any time soon unless he bumps into him at a restaurant. And you also get the feeling that the Royals are still not even close to giving up.
Brian Anderson pitched well, picking up a quality start, giving up 3 runs in 6 innings. He had all three of his pitches working. His change was sharp and he was able to keep it on the outside of the plate and down most of the game. His curve had bite and he placed his fast ball relatively well.
Unfortunately, Everett got to Sisco out of the pen late in the game. That’s going to happen sometimes.
Mark Teahen was activated and went 1-for-3. He made another poor throw on a dribbler up the third base line. He probably should have just held on to the ball because he had no chance to throw the runner out. Hopefully his discernment will improve with experience.
Tonight, Runelvys Hernandez (1-3, 5.06) goes against Freddy Garcia (2-1, 2.83).
Sunday, May 01, 2005
Sweeney Comes Up Big
What a bizarre game. Jose Lima took a five run lead and a no-hitter into the sixth inning and before the inning was over, the Indians tied the game at five. But just as the Royals have done all year, they kept battling—even when the momentum seemed to put on the opposing team's uniform.
Mike Sweeney hit two home runs. The second one was the game winner in the eighth inning. It's hard to imagine the Kansas City Royals without Mike Sweeney. When the game is on the line, you just know that he's going to do what it takes to win.
And for the first time this season, the Royals have a two-game winning streak. It's nice to win the series, but it would be even nicer to get over the no-series-sweep-in-the-last-70-series hump. Going that long without a series sweep almost doesn't seem possible, does it?
Ambiorix Burgos picked up his first major league save. He certainly seems to have the temperament for the closer's role.
"It's not difficult, like you guys say, to be a closer," Burgos said.
I guess we'll have to see how he feels after he's blown his first save, but he doesn't seem to be easily intimated and he appears quite willing to challenge hitters. Both major pluses.
Let's talk a little about the rotation. Here are the statistics for the starting pitchers in April:
Lima: Not exactly putting up numbers you would expect from your ace. He's showing signs of turning things around, but continually seems susceptible to the big inning—usually the first. The Royals aren't giving him a lot of run support, but with only 1 quality start and an ERA over 6.00, he doesn't have anybody to blame but himself for his poor record.
Hernandez: Very similar start to Lima's. He's not getting a lot of run support, but his ERA is bad and he only has 1 quality start to date.
Greinke: Has looked like the ace, posting a respectable ERA. Hasn't won a game yet, but with 1.4 runs per game of support, it's easy to see why. Greinke eventually has a chance to be the first legitimate Royals Cy Young contender since David Cone and baseball people in Kansas City often mention his name in the same sentence with Bret Saberhagen—probably justifiably so. Time will tell.
Bautista: Had one bad outing and several good outings—including 3 quality starts. If Pena can get Bautista to go along with Buck's pitch selections, Bautista could turn in a fine season. He's getting a lot of run support though, so we'll have to see what happens when the Royals aren't scoring 5 runs per game when he starts.
Anderson: New delivery, same poor results. One wonders if we'll ever see the 2003 version of Brian Anderson again. With an ERA over 7.00, things aren't looking up for Brian.
Tomorrow is an off day. The Royals travel to Chicago to open a new series against the White Sox on Tuesday. Brian Anderson (1-2, 7.54) goes against Mark Buehrle (3-1, 3.89). Let's see if we can extend the winning streak to 3.
Mike Sweeney hit two home runs. The second one was the game winner in the eighth inning. It's hard to imagine the Kansas City Royals without Mike Sweeney. When the game is on the line, you just know that he's going to do what it takes to win.
And for the first time this season, the Royals have a two-game winning streak. It's nice to win the series, but it would be even nicer to get over the no-series-sweep-in-the-last-70-series hump. Going that long without a series sweep almost doesn't seem possible, does it?
Ambiorix Burgos picked up his first major league save. He certainly seems to have the temperament for the closer's role.
"It's not difficult, like you guys say, to be a closer," Burgos said.
I guess we'll have to see how he feels after he's blown his first save, but he doesn't seem to be easily intimated and he appears quite willing to challenge hitters. Both major pluses.
Let's talk a little about the rotation. Here are the statistics for the starting pitchers in April:
| Starters | Starts | ERA | Runs | Runs/Start | W-L | Quality Starts |
| Lima | 5 | 6.40 | 16 | 3.2 | 0-2 | 1 |
| Hernandez | 5 | 5.06 | 17 | 3.4 | 1-3 | 1 |
| Greinke | 5 | 3.65 | 7 | 1.4 | 0-2 | 2 |
| Bautista | 5 | 4.55 | 25 | 5.0 | 2-1 | 3 |
| Anderson | 4 | 7.54 | 22 | 5.5 | 1-2 | 2 |
Lima: Not exactly putting up numbers you would expect from your ace. He's showing signs of turning things around, but continually seems susceptible to the big inning—usually the first. The Royals aren't giving him a lot of run support, but with only 1 quality start and an ERA over 6.00, he doesn't have anybody to blame but himself for his poor record.
Hernandez: Very similar start to Lima's. He's not getting a lot of run support, but his ERA is bad and he only has 1 quality start to date.
Greinke: Has looked like the ace, posting a respectable ERA. Hasn't won a game yet, but with 1.4 runs per game of support, it's easy to see why. Greinke eventually has a chance to be the first legitimate Royals Cy Young contender since David Cone and baseball people in Kansas City often mention his name in the same sentence with Bret Saberhagen—probably justifiably so. Time will tell.
Bautista: Had one bad outing and several good outings—including 3 quality starts. If Pena can get Bautista to go along with Buck's pitch selections, Bautista could turn in a fine season. He's getting a lot of run support though, so we'll have to see what happens when the Royals aren't scoring 5 runs per game when he starts.
Anderson: New delivery, same poor results. One wonders if we'll ever see the 2003 version of Brian Anderson again. With an ERA over 7.00, things aren't looking up for Brian.
Tomorrow is an off day. The Royals travel to Chicago to open a new series against the White Sox on Tuesday. Brian Anderson (1-2, 7.54) goes against Mark Buehrle (3-1, 3.89). Let's see if we can extend the winning streak to 3.
Saturday, April 30, 2005
It's Finally Over
As relieved as Tony Pena and Allard Baird surely were to see Ken Harvey turn on a pitch in the third inning and plant it in the left field seats for a grand slam home run, I can't help but wonder if they also thought, "Uh oh. Maybe we should have had Harvey in the line up from day one."
Last weekend, I heard the post game show guys discussing the Harvey situation. One of them wondered whether the Royals buried Harvey in Triple-A rather than putting him on the 25-man roster because of Harvey's arbitration status. I have no idea if that idea has any merit, but if Baird pushed for such a thing, he's going to lose respect. I hope it isn't true.
The game this afternoon looked a lot like many other Royals games this season. The Royals loaded the bases in the first inning and failed to score. That goes beyond the "they just can't get a timely hit" criticism to a team who just doesn't execute well.
But in the third inning, the Royals loaded the bases again against Cliff Lee and Mr. April, Ken Harvey, looked the part, slamming his first career grand slam home run. Harvey is on fire right now, picking up hits in his first three at bats this afternoon.
Eli Marrero looked like he knew which pitch was coming every time he came up to the plate. He hit two home runs and picked up another hit to raise his average over the Mendoza line. Angel Berroa had a big day at the plate, matching Marrero's and Harvey's three hits.
Bautista struggled at times, but managed to get through the sixth inning only giving up one run. Sisco pitched a scoreless seventh, even though Angel Berroa let a ball go right through the wickets. Jaime Cerda got in trouble in the eighth inning, giving up a hit and walking two guys to load the bases. How a guy can walk one hitter, let alone two, with an 8-1 lead in the eighth inning is beyond me. But he reached back and struck out Sizemore to end the inning without giving up any runs. MacDougal finished off the Indians in the ninth.
And the losing streak was finally over. How good does that feel? The Royals finished April with a 6-18 record. Now let's see if the Royals can extend their winning ways to what would be their longest winning streak of the season—two games.
Jose Lima (0-2, 6.08) goes against Scott Elarton (0-1, 8.05) tomorrow afternoon. RSTN isn't carrying the game.
Last weekend, I heard the post game show guys discussing the Harvey situation. One of them wondered whether the Royals buried Harvey in Triple-A rather than putting him on the 25-man roster because of Harvey's arbitration status. I have no idea if that idea has any merit, but if Baird pushed for such a thing, he's going to lose respect. I hope it isn't true.
The game this afternoon looked a lot like many other Royals games this season. The Royals loaded the bases in the first inning and failed to score. That goes beyond the "they just can't get a timely hit" criticism to a team who just doesn't execute well.
But in the third inning, the Royals loaded the bases again against Cliff Lee and Mr. April, Ken Harvey, looked the part, slamming his first career grand slam home run. Harvey is on fire right now, picking up hits in his first three at bats this afternoon.
Eli Marrero looked like he knew which pitch was coming every time he came up to the plate. He hit two home runs and picked up another hit to raise his average over the Mendoza line. Angel Berroa had a big day at the plate, matching Marrero's and Harvey's three hits.
Bautista struggled at times, but managed to get through the sixth inning only giving up one run. Sisco pitched a scoreless seventh, even though Angel Berroa let a ball go right through the wickets. Jaime Cerda got in trouble in the eighth inning, giving up a hit and walking two guys to load the bases. How a guy can walk one hitter, let alone two, with an 8-1 lead in the eighth inning is beyond me. But he reached back and struck out Sizemore to end the inning without giving up any runs. MacDougal finished off the Indians in the ninth.
And the losing streak was finally over. How good does that feel? The Royals finished April with a 6-18 record. Now let's see if the Royals can extend their winning ways to what would be their longest winning streak of the season—two games.
Jose Lima (0-2, 6.08) goes against Scott Elarton (0-1, 8.05) tomorrow afternoon. RSTN isn't carrying the game.
Royals Flat, Drop Ninth Straight
The losing streak reached nine games last night and rather than following their normal relatively silent locker room routine following a loss, the guys cranked the stereo hoping to trick themselves into thinking that everything is okay.
As a writer, I've tried this trick a few times myself. As someone who makes a living from my writing, I don't have the liberty to only write when the muse strikes. I have to write every day whether I feel like it or not. On the days when I'm writing about things that don't exactly thrill me, I just open my word processing program and say to myself, "Just write the lead, and come up with a transition so I can work on the body of the article later." I did this the other day and ended up writing for over two hours on a project—making good progress on it.
This nine game Royals skid ties their fourth longest in club history. They couldn't blame this one on bad breaks though. Greinke seemed to be in love with his big arching curve ball. He threw it repeatedly and the Indians started looking for it. When he did go to the fastball it didn't have much pace or any movement.
Pena called it a "batting-practice" fastball.
“I wasn't trying to throw batting-practice fastballs,” Greinke said in typical Greinke fashion, “but that's what they were. Usually when I throw them, it's because I'm trying to throw them. Today, they were just coming out like batting-practice fastballs.”
I'm trying to figure out when Zack would intentionally throw batting-practice fastballs, but trying to figure out Zack is like trying to figure out the Patriot Act. Not possible.
Sabathia pitched well and shut the Royals out for seven innings and the Royals only managed 3 hits for the entire game.
Kyle Snyder pitched well in relief: 3 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 0 BB. I'm wondering if Kyle is going to get a shot in the rotation soon. We're a month into the season and some of the starter's ERAs are awful.
We've got Denny Bautista (1-1, 5.33) going against Cliff Lee (2-0, 3.12) in Cleveland this afternoon.
As a writer, I've tried this trick a few times myself. As someone who makes a living from my writing, I don't have the liberty to only write when the muse strikes. I have to write every day whether I feel like it or not. On the days when I'm writing about things that don't exactly thrill me, I just open my word processing program and say to myself, "Just write the lead, and come up with a transition so I can work on the body of the article later." I did this the other day and ended up writing for over two hours on a project—making good progress on it.
This nine game Royals skid ties their fourth longest in club history. They couldn't blame this one on bad breaks though. Greinke seemed to be in love with his big arching curve ball. He threw it repeatedly and the Indians started looking for it. When he did go to the fastball it didn't have much pace or any movement.
Pena called it a "batting-practice" fastball.
“I wasn't trying to throw batting-practice fastballs,” Greinke said in typical Greinke fashion, “but that's what they were. Usually when I throw them, it's because I'm trying to throw them. Today, they were just coming out like batting-practice fastballs.”
I'm trying to figure out when Zack would intentionally throw batting-practice fastballs, but trying to figure out Zack is like trying to figure out the Patriot Act. Not possible.
Sabathia pitched well and shut the Royals out for seven innings and the Royals only managed 3 hits for the entire game.
Kyle Snyder pitched well in relief: 3 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 0 BB. I'm wondering if Kyle is going to get a shot in the rotation soon. We're a month into the season and some of the starter's ERAs are awful.
We've got Denny Bautista (1-1, 5.33) going against Cliff Lee (2-0, 3.12) in Cleveland this afternoon.
Friday, April 29, 2005
A Pattern
Anybody noticing a pattern yet? The Royals fall behind early, battle back, and then lose at the end. This time they lost 6-5 in eleven innings to the Twins.
This is already starting to look like a long season and we're not even out of April yet. As a fan, I'm frustrated with the lead off walks, the poor fielding, the lack of fundamentals, and many of Pena's unorthodox decisions. But at the same time, I feel for the players. No doubt, good teams take advantage of teams who are not fundamentally sound, but our guys are still battling even though they appear to be overmatched and under-prepared.
Last season, I was in the locker room in late April to interview Joe Randa for a national sports magazine. Tension was already high among the players because they'd lost so many games. A few guys were doing things to try to liven things up—Jason Grimsley rode a motor scooter (that sounded a lot like a chain saw) around the club house. That brought a few smiles. And for some unknown reason, Curtis Leskanic slapped me on the butt when he walked by me. Yes, I checked to see if he strategically placed a "kick me" note on my backside, but he didn't.
Beyond a few funny tactics, I got the feeling that the players were already feeling the weight of expectations. They had just come off the first winning season in nearly a decade and the people of Kansas City expected (or at least optimistically hoped) for more of the same. Not necessarily division titles, just .500 or slightly better. Summers are so much more fun during pennant chases.
Part of being a fan though, is sticking with your team when things aren't going well. I do think it's legit to abandon a team when or if a team owner and his GM clearly show that they do not care about the product. We can't say that about Glass and Baird. We can disagree about personnel decisions. I certainly have. One of which is sticking with Tony Pena. Nice guy. Bad manager. But Glass and Baird are concerned about the product on the field. They've moved high profile players whose star had risen for prospects that almost everyone in baseball praised. Unfortunately, none of those prospects (with the possible exception of Berroa—who has never lived up to his rookie season) are producing yet.
We won't be in a pennant run this summer, but let's stick with the team and see what happens. Let's watch Buck, Teahen, and Gotay to see if they develop. Let's enjoy watching David DeJesus roaming center field in Carlos Beltran-like fashion. Let's marvel at Zack Greinke. And let's keep it all in perspective. Bad baseball is better than no baseball.
This is already starting to look like a long season and we're not even out of April yet. As a fan, I'm frustrated with the lead off walks, the poor fielding, the lack of fundamentals, and many of Pena's unorthodox decisions. But at the same time, I feel for the players. No doubt, good teams take advantage of teams who are not fundamentally sound, but our guys are still battling even though they appear to be overmatched and under-prepared.
Last season, I was in the locker room in late April to interview Joe Randa for a national sports magazine. Tension was already high among the players because they'd lost so many games. A few guys were doing things to try to liven things up—Jason Grimsley rode a motor scooter (that sounded a lot like a chain saw) around the club house. That brought a few smiles. And for some unknown reason, Curtis Leskanic slapped me on the butt when he walked by me. Yes, I checked to see if he strategically placed a "kick me" note on my backside, but he didn't.
Beyond a few funny tactics, I got the feeling that the players were already feeling the weight of expectations. They had just come off the first winning season in nearly a decade and the people of Kansas City expected (or at least optimistically hoped) for more of the same. Not necessarily division titles, just .500 or slightly better. Summers are so much more fun during pennant chases.
Part of being a fan though, is sticking with your team when things aren't going well. I do think it's legit to abandon a team when or if a team owner and his GM clearly show that they do not care about the product. We can't say that about Glass and Baird. We can disagree about personnel decisions. I certainly have. One of which is sticking with Tony Pena. Nice guy. Bad manager. But Glass and Baird are concerned about the product on the field. They've moved high profile players whose star had risen for prospects that almost everyone in baseball praised. Unfortunately, none of those prospects (with the possible exception of Berroa—who has never lived up to his rookie season) are producing yet.
We won't be in a pennant run this summer, but let's stick with the team and see what happens. Let's watch Buck, Teahen, and Gotay to see if they develop. Let's enjoy watching David DeJesus roaming center field in Carlos Beltran-like fashion. Let's marvel at Zack Greinke. And let's keep it all in perspective. Bad baseball is better than no baseball.
Thursday, April 28, 2005
Harvey Called Up
Ken Harvey went from a guy who didn't make the 25-man roster as the Royals broke camp in Surprize, Ariz. to a guy who Pena inserted into the clean up spot on the day he was called up to the majors just three and half weeks into the season. I've been expecting this for the past ten days and given the Royals inability to score runs, I can't imagine what took them so long to bring Harvey up.
Not surprisingly, Harvey was tearing up the PCL with a .375 average (27-72) in 18 games, with 3 HR and 14 RBI. He hit safely in 16 of his 18 games—including 11 straight.
The Royals sent Shawn Camp to Omaha before the game today to make the roster spot available for Harvey.
Not surprisingly, Harvey was tearing up the PCL with a .375 average (27-72) in 18 games, with 3 HR and 14 RBI. He hit safely in 16 of his 18 games—including 11 straight.
The Royals sent Shawn Camp to Omaha before the game today to make the roster spot available for Harvey.
Losing Streak Reaches Seven
As the consecutive loses pile up, it would be easy for the team to give up. I've certainly seen signs of some guys who do not appear to be giving it their all, but five of the seven games that the Royals have lost during this streak have been by one run. That's not the sign of a team who is giving up. It's the sign of a team who can't take advantage of mistakes and opportunities granted by opponents. And it's a sign of a team who can't get the big hit when they need it.
In the game against the Twins yesterdays, the Royals were down 4-1 going in to the sixth inning. When Gotay's two-run shot in the sixth brought the game even at four, you had to feel for the players. Here was a team who had lost six games in a row, almost all of them by a 1-run margin, and this one looked like it might get out of hand early, but they fought back…and then fell short.
Brian Anderson walked Michael Cuddyer to start the seventh and you just had a feeling that he would score. Nick Punto singled and Pena brought Shawn Camp into the game. His first pitch hit Shannon Stewart to load the bases and then Camp buried a pitch allowing Cuddyer to score from third. Camp got a pitch up to Jason Bartlett and Bartlett hit the ball to right field where Terrence Long made a great diving effort, but couldn't come up it—a bases clearing triple and this one was history.
One base on balls, one hit batter, and one buried pitch set the stage for a loss and the Twins were happy to act the part of winners.
This afternoon, we've got Runelvys Hernandez (1-2, 4.62) going against Kyle Lohse (1-2, 6.62). Let's hope we can at least win one on getaway day. The Royals go to Cleveland to open a new series against the Tribe on Friday.
In the game against the Twins yesterdays, the Royals were down 4-1 going in to the sixth inning. When Gotay's two-run shot in the sixth brought the game even at four, you had to feel for the players. Here was a team who had lost six games in a row, almost all of them by a 1-run margin, and this one looked like it might get out of hand early, but they fought back…and then fell short.
Brian Anderson walked Michael Cuddyer to start the seventh and you just had a feeling that he would score. Nick Punto singled and Pena brought Shawn Camp into the game. His first pitch hit Shannon Stewart to load the bases and then Camp buried a pitch allowing Cuddyer to score from third. Camp got a pitch up to Jason Bartlett and Bartlett hit the ball to right field where Terrence Long made a great diving effort, but couldn't come up it—a bases clearing triple and this one was history.
One base on balls, one hit batter, and one buried pitch set the stage for a loss and the Twins were happy to act the part of winners.
This afternoon, we've got Runelvys Hernandez (1-2, 4.62) going against Kyle Lohse (1-2, 6.62). Let's hope we can at least win one on getaway day. The Royals go to Cleveland to open a new series against the Tribe on Friday.
Exclusive Interviews
I'll be in the Royals locker room covering the Royals for a couple of newspapers in the Midwest on May 12 and 13. I'll post excerpts from some of the interviews as soon as I get a chance. If you can think of any questions that you would like me to ask, leave them in the comments section. Please only leave serious and respectful questions.
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Losing Streak Hits Six
Tony had the guys out early today working on fundamentals. April 26th and our guys are still working on covering first base and hitting cut off guys. I can't believe that it's necessary, but it is obviously is, so I'm glad to see it.
The KC Royals official game notes has had a rather unbelievable statistic on the first page for the past couple of weeks: "PENA APPROACHING 200: Tony Pena is in his 4th season as Royals manager and is approaching his 200th career victory…he is 195-274 since taking over the Royals…with 5 more wins he will become the 8th Royals manager with 200 victories."
What the game notes don't say is—Tony Pena has the worst career winning percentage of any manager in Royals history. Yes, even worse than Tony Muser—whom I believe was a far better manager than Tony Pena.
Jose Lima struggled though the first inning tonight, giving up 1 run, but after that his change was nearly unhittable. He kept the ball down and his change had all sorts of life and that set up his fast ball nicely.
Johan Santana on the other hand didn't look sharp, but his numbers were impressive. He missed badly with a number of pitches early and the Royals were unable to take advantage until the fifth inning when Matt Diaz muscled one down the right field line and drove in Terrence Long to tie the game at 1-1.
Diaz made two critical mistakes on Saturday (missing a cut off man that cost the Royals a run, and getting thrown out at home after a pitch got away from the catcher), but one thing impresses me about him. He hustles. In the game on Sunday against the Sox, he hit a routine grounder to second but he ran hard down the line. The second baseman bobbled the ball and Diaz beat the throw. Tonight, Diaz hit a chopper to third, ran hard and forced a bad throw. I don't know if he'll be able to hit major league pitching, but I love his hustle.
Oh yeah…after Lima pitched 7 2/3 innings and gave up 1 ER, it wasn't enough to win the game and the Royals lost again to make it 6 in a row.
Tomorrow night Brian Anderson (1-1, 7.02) goes against Joe Mays (0-0, 3.21).
The KC Royals official game notes has had a rather unbelievable statistic on the first page for the past couple of weeks: "PENA APPROACHING 200: Tony Pena is in his 4th season as Royals manager and is approaching his 200th career victory…he is 195-274 since taking over the Royals…with 5 more wins he will become the 8th Royals manager with 200 victories."
What the game notes don't say is—Tony Pena has the worst career winning percentage of any manager in Royals history. Yes, even worse than Tony Muser—whom I believe was a far better manager than Tony Pena.
Jose Lima struggled though the first inning tonight, giving up 1 run, but after that his change was nearly unhittable. He kept the ball down and his change had all sorts of life and that set up his fast ball nicely.
Johan Santana on the other hand didn't look sharp, but his numbers were impressive. He missed badly with a number of pitches early and the Royals were unable to take advantage until the fifth inning when Matt Diaz muscled one down the right field line and drove in Terrence Long to tie the game at 1-1.
Diaz made two critical mistakes on Saturday (missing a cut off man that cost the Royals a run, and getting thrown out at home after a pitch got away from the catcher), but one thing impresses me about him. He hustles. In the game on Sunday against the Sox, he hit a routine grounder to second but he ran hard down the line. The second baseman bobbled the ball and Diaz beat the throw. Tonight, Diaz hit a chopper to third, ran hard and forced a bad throw. I don't know if he'll be able to hit major league pitching, but I love his hustle.
Oh yeah…after Lima pitched 7 2/3 innings and gave up 1 ER, it wasn't enough to win the game and the Royals lost again to make it 6 in a row.
Tomorrow night Brian Anderson (1-1, 7.02) goes against Joe Mays (0-0, 3.21).
Monday, April 25, 2005
Disastrous Season
On Saturday night, I had great seats for the game against the White Sox. Five rows up, directly behind home plate. Here's a photo of Zack Greinke delivering a pitch to Carl Everett.
On Sunday, the Royals lost their fifth game in a row. Bautista pitched well after a shaky first inning, giving up just 2 ER, and 2 H in 7 innings. The bullpen let this one get away and the Royals dropped to a major league worst 5-14.
We knew that this team would have problems scoring runs. Besides Sweeney and Stairs, they don't have any pop in their line up. The line up had a lot of question marks going into the season: Teahen, Berroa, Gotay, Buck, and Pickering. Not one of the question marks is contributing at the plate right now. Teahen got hurt after a horrible start and is due back soon. Berroa is hitting .230 and is still a free swinger. Gotay is hitting .241 and looks overmatched—he struck out four times on Sunday. Buck is hitting .189—enough said. And the Calvin Pickering experience didn't work. He's already back in Omaha.
We hoped that the rotation was going to be much improved over last season. Runelvys Hernandez was back. Jose Lima was resigned. And Denny Bautista looked to be the real deal. Here are the starters stats so far:
Lima: 0-2, 8.05
Hernandez: 1-3, 4.62
Greinke: 0-1, 2.66
Anderson: 1-1, 7.02
Bautista: 1-1, 5.32
As bad as Lima, Anderson, and Bautista have been, all three of them have shown stretches of quality major league pitching. But I'm not going to push that too far given their inflated ERAs. I feel good about this rotation and time will tell whether Mike Wood, Kyle Snyder, or Jimmy Gobble needs another look if one of the other guys can't get the job done.
I had relatively high hopes for the bullpen, but with Affeldt already on the DL and Mike MacDougal (3.86 ERA) being unable to get outs when he needs them, this bullpen looks to be in huge trouble with the exception of Andy Sisco who has a 1.29 ERA, here are the rest of the ERAs in the pen:
Mike Wood: 4.85
Shawn Camp: 9.45
Nate Field: 9.45…and recently shipped to Omaha
Kyle Snyder: 4.15
Jaime Cerda: 12.27
That's just not going to get the job done.
As bad as this team looks and as overmatched as they appear to be, Allard Baird and Tony Pena are ultimately responsible for the product on the field. Greinke and DeJesus came through our system and they are producing. But so many of the other young guys that Baird drafted, traded for, or signed aren't even close to contributing.
And no matter how overmatched these guys may be right now, that is no excuse for not playing fundamental baseball. From missed cut off attempts, to botched picked off plays, to a manager who calls for sacrifice bunts and squeeze plays in the craziest of situations, this has all the makings of a disastrous season.
On Sunday, the Royals lost their fifth game in a row. Bautista pitched well after a shaky first inning, giving up just 2 ER, and 2 H in 7 innings. The bullpen let this one get away and the Royals dropped to a major league worst 5-14.
We knew that this team would have problems scoring runs. Besides Sweeney and Stairs, they don't have any pop in their line up. The line up had a lot of question marks going into the season: Teahen, Berroa, Gotay, Buck, and Pickering. Not one of the question marks is contributing at the plate right now. Teahen got hurt after a horrible start and is due back soon. Berroa is hitting .230 and is still a free swinger. Gotay is hitting .241 and looks overmatched—he struck out four times on Sunday. Buck is hitting .189—enough said. And the Calvin Pickering experience didn't work. He's already back in Omaha.
We hoped that the rotation was going to be much improved over last season. Runelvys Hernandez was back. Jose Lima was resigned. And Denny Bautista looked to be the real deal. Here are the starters stats so far:
Lima: 0-2, 8.05
Hernandez: 1-3, 4.62
Greinke: 0-1, 2.66
Anderson: 1-1, 7.02
Bautista: 1-1, 5.32
As bad as Lima, Anderson, and Bautista have been, all three of them have shown stretches of quality major league pitching. But I'm not going to push that too far given their inflated ERAs. I feel good about this rotation and time will tell whether Mike Wood, Kyle Snyder, or Jimmy Gobble needs another look if one of the other guys can't get the job done.
I had relatively high hopes for the bullpen, but with Affeldt already on the DL and Mike MacDougal (3.86 ERA) being unable to get outs when he needs them, this bullpen looks to be in huge trouble with the exception of Andy Sisco who has a 1.29 ERA, here are the rest of the ERAs in the pen:
Mike Wood: 4.85
Shawn Camp: 9.45
Nate Field: 9.45…and recently shipped to Omaha
Kyle Snyder: 4.15
Jaime Cerda: 12.27
That's just not going to get the job done.
As bad as this team looks and as overmatched as they appear to be, Allard Baird and Tony Pena are ultimately responsible for the product on the field. Greinke and DeJesus came through our system and they are producing. But so many of the other young guys that Baird drafted, traded for, or signed aren't even close to contributing.
And no matter how overmatched these guys may be right now, that is no excuse for not playing fundamental baseball. From missed cut off attempts, to botched picked off plays, to a manager who calls for sacrifice bunts and squeeze plays in the craziest of situations, this has all the makings of a disastrous season.
Friday, April 22, 2005
Eight Games Out Already?
This could be the longest season in Royals history. It's April 22nd and with the 8-2 loss at home against the White Sox tonight they are already eight games back. That almost doesn't seem possible. How can a team be eight games out of first after only seventeen games?
Beyond a number of already questionable managerial decisions, the Royals have major problems and there don't appear to be any fixes on the horizon. They are playing less than average defense. They haven't hit well. With a few exceptions, the starting pitchers have struggled—in seventeen games, they have only five quality starts, none of which have come from Jose Lima, the number one starter.
This is a young team that is going to make mistakes. We can all accept that. But the nonchalant attitudes are something we can't accept. We don't want to see flippant throws to first base. We don't want to see guys not running hard. And we don't want to see smiles after errors. At least I don't.
This isn't to take anything from the White Sox. They are in first place in the Central and they look like they deserve to be there. But the Royals line score tonight is unacceptable: 2 runs, 4 hits, 2 errors. They won't win many games posting numbers like this.
One thing I am happy about though—we don't hear the cheesy "believe" slogan on the radio. I don't even think Tony Pena believes any more.
The Royals declared that the Calvin Pickering experiment failed by sending him to Omaha and purchasing the contract of OF Matt Diaz who was hitting .373, 4 HR, 13 RBI in the PCL. How we are going to find time for another OF on the roster (he's number six) is anybody's guess.
The Royals moved Scott Sullivan to the 60-day DL.
Tomorrow night, Zack Greinke (0-1, 3.38) goes against Jose Contreras (0-0, 3.63). Let's hope that the Royals score more than their average 1.7 rpm when Greinke pitches this year.
I probably won't post again until Monday. I'm traveling to Kansas City tomorrow to catch the remaining games against the White Sox this weekend. I'll try to take photos and post them here next week.
Beyond a number of already questionable managerial decisions, the Royals have major problems and there don't appear to be any fixes on the horizon. They are playing less than average defense. They haven't hit well. With a few exceptions, the starting pitchers have struggled—in seventeen games, they have only five quality starts, none of which have come from Jose Lima, the number one starter.
This is a young team that is going to make mistakes. We can all accept that. But the nonchalant attitudes are something we can't accept. We don't want to see flippant throws to first base. We don't want to see guys not running hard. And we don't want to see smiles after errors. At least I don't.
This isn't to take anything from the White Sox. They are in first place in the Central and they look like they deserve to be there. But the Royals line score tonight is unacceptable: 2 runs, 4 hits, 2 errors. They won't win many games posting numbers like this.
One thing I am happy about though—we don't hear the cheesy "believe" slogan on the radio. I don't even think Tony Pena believes any more.
The Royals declared that the Calvin Pickering experiment failed by sending him to Omaha and purchasing the contract of OF Matt Diaz who was hitting .373, 4 HR, 13 RBI in the PCL. How we are going to find time for another OF on the roster (he's number six) is anybody's guess.
The Royals moved Scott Sullivan to the 60-day DL.
Tomorrow night, Zack Greinke (0-1, 3.38) goes against Jose Contreras (0-0, 3.63). Let's hope that the Royals score more than their average 1.7 rpm when Greinke pitches this year.
I probably won't post again until Monday. I'm traveling to Kansas City tomorrow to catch the remaining games against the White Sox this weekend. I'll try to take photos and post them here next week.
Twins Find a Way to Win
As hard as the Royals fought, they came up one short in Minnesota yesterday afternoon and lost 10-9 in the tenth inning. Watching them fight through mistakes was encouraging and frustrating at the same time.
One particular moment in the game is really difficult to understand. In the top of the sixth inning, the score was 8-8. Gotay is at third with one out and Graffanino is at the plate. The Twins brought their infield in to cut down Gotay at home. And Tony Pena calls for a suicide squeeze. Graffanino failed to make contact and Gotay was hung out to dry.
What made Pena believe that one more run would win a game after 16 runs had already been scored in the first five innings? I would understand it if it were the eighth or nine inning, but the sixth? Why not just let Graff hit away? He faced a drawn in infield and he can handle the bat. The pitch he couldn't get the bat on during the squeeze play looked like a slider or a cutter that was down and away.
Bringing in MacDougal for the ninth was the right decision though. The Royals were up 9-8 at the time and Mac is the closer for now. But he walked Torii Hunter on four straight pitches. That just can't be allowed to happen. To make matter worse, Mac tossed the ball into center field when he should have easily thrown Hunter out at second after he took off from first prematurely. And like good teams do, the Twins found a way to get Hunter home to tie the game.
Brian Anderson gave up 10 hits and 7 ER in 3 innings of work.
"I don't think he pitched that bad," Pena said. "They had a lot of cheap hits and we didn't play real well behind him."
As much as I'd like to, it's hard to argue with Pena on either count.
Wood and Sisco were outstanding in relief--combining for 5 shut out innings and only giving up 1 hit and 1 BB.
Notes:
One particular moment in the game is really difficult to understand. In the top of the sixth inning, the score was 8-8. Gotay is at third with one out and Graffanino is at the plate. The Twins brought their infield in to cut down Gotay at home. And Tony Pena calls for a suicide squeeze. Graffanino failed to make contact and Gotay was hung out to dry.
What made Pena believe that one more run would win a game after 16 runs had already been scored in the first five innings? I would understand it if it were the eighth or nine inning, but the sixth? Why not just let Graff hit away? He faced a drawn in infield and he can handle the bat. The pitch he couldn't get the bat on during the squeeze play looked like a slider or a cutter that was down and away.
Bringing in MacDougal for the ninth was the right decision though. The Royals were up 9-8 at the time and Mac is the closer for now. But he walked Torii Hunter on four straight pitches. That just can't be allowed to happen. To make matter worse, Mac tossed the ball into center field when he should have easily thrown Hunter out at second after he took off from first prematurely. And like good teams do, the Twins found a way to get Hunter home to tie the game.
Brian Anderson gave up 10 hits and 7 ER in 3 innings of work.
"I don't think he pitched that bad," Pena said. "They had a lot of cheap hits and we didn't play real well behind him."
As much as I'd like to, it's hard to argue with Pena on either count.
Wood and Sisco were outstanding in relief--combining for 5 shut out innings and only giving up 1 hit and 1 BB.
Notes:
- John Buck went 4-for-5 and hit his first HR of the year…
- Mike Sweeney went 3-for-5 and raised his average to .343…
- Emil Brown went 2-for-4 and hit his 3rd HR of the year…
The Royals return home for a series against the White Sox this weekend. Runelvys Hernandez (1-2, 4.19) goes against Freddy Garcia (1-1, 3.43) tonight. RSTN is carrying the game.
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
Error Costs Royals the Game
Neither starter looked sharp tonight. Santana started off well, retiring the first eight guys he faced, but the Royals had successive singles from McEwing, DeJesus, and Graffanino before Mike Sweeney crushed a slider that was right down main street to give the Royals a 4-3 lead after three innings.
The Twins were all over Lima early. He threw a change off the plate to Joe Mauer in the first inning and Mauer hit a line shot the other way over the left field wall. In the second inning, Jacque Jones annihilated a ball over the right field baggie. They jumped out to a 3-0 lead before the Royals stormed back and took the lead on Sweeney's 3-run shot.
The Twins got a run in the middle innings to tie it and the scored stayed that way until the eighth with Joe McEwing made a poor throw to first that Marrero couldn't scoop. And as usually happens, the guy who took second on the error ended up scoring to put the Twins up 5-4. The Royals went quietly in the ninth...game over.
Anybody else missing Joe Randa as much as I am?
Notes:
- McEwing was 2-for-3…
- Sweeney as 1-for-4 with a three run HR…
Tomorrow night Brian Anderson (1-1, 3.95) goes against Dave Gassner (1-0, 1.50).
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