Royals Select Matt Moustakas

The Royals took shortstop/third baseman Matt Moustakas with their first pick in the 2007 draft. He's put up some rather freakish offensive numbers in high school, including:

• hitting .577 this spring with 24 HR and 52 RBI
• hitting .427 his junior year with 14 HR and 47 RBI
• hitting .482 his sophomore year with 12 HR and 51 RBI

Read more about him:

• Royals draft young infielder in Round 1
• Vanderbilt's Price selected first overall by Devil Rays

 

UPDATE (June 14): Thanks to guys over at In Dayton We Trust for pointing out that I mistakenly identified the Royals first round draft choice as Matt Moustakas when his name is Mike Moustakas. I initially took his name from Bob Dutton's column, in which Dutton listed his name as Matt.

2007 Draft Day

Bob Dutton is reporting that the Royals are turning their first round interests in the draft today toward these four players:

• Josh Vitters, who I discussed here.
• Jerrod Parker, who I discussed here.
• Matt Moustakas, a 6-0, 185 pound high school shortstop who would probably switch to a corner infield position. The report on him is that he has "quick hands that generate impressive power."
• Devin Mesoraco, a 6-1, 195 pound high school catcher who is a pull hitter with power. He's reported to have a "plus" arm that is also considered to be accurate. He's said to have "plus" hands behind the plate, as well as being "outstanding" at blocking balls in the dirt. He had Tommy John surgery and missed most of the 2006 season, but is said to be completely healthy at this point.

If Tampa Bay passes on David Price (Vanderbilt) with the first overall pick though, expect the Royals to nab him instead. 

The Royals were originally considering Rick Porcello, who is considered to be the best high school pitcher available in the draft and the second best pitcher behind Price, but they've decided to steer clear of him since he's represented by Scott Boras and Boras is believed to be looking for a deal in the $8 million range. The Luke Hochevar situation last summer apparently ended the Royals interest in dealing with Boras any more. 

Bannister Sharp in Royals Win

Game Date: June 6, 2007
Royals 4, Indians 3 / Box Score
WP: Bannister (2-3), LP: Byrd (6-2), SV: Dotel (2)
Royal Home Runs: Shealy (3)
Royals Record: 22-38

The Royals jumped out to an early lead in this one when David DeJesus doubled in Joey Gathright in the third inning. Mark Teahen singled in DeJesus and the Royals were up 2-0. Ryan Shealy hit a solo home run in the fourth and in the fifth he hit into a fielder's choice to drive in Mark Grudzielanek to give the Royals a 4-0 lead.

That was all Brian Bannister needed. He was outstanding over the course of seven innings. He gave up no earned runs on five hits. He also didn't give up any walks, which was nice to see. The Indians clawed their way back into the game though after Bannister left. Zack Greinke gave up an earned run and so did Dotel in the ninth, but thankfully the Royals held on to prevail.

I was so happy to see Angel Berroa sent back down to Omaha. I'm not sure that Joey Gathright is the long term answer to any question, but he is fast and plays good defense. And he had two hits last night. Sounds like the plan is to play him in left field once in a while to give Emil Brown a break.

This afternoon, Odalis Perez (3-5) goes against Fausto Carmona (6-1, 3.29). Perez is 1-0 against the Indians in his career with a 3.60 ERA. Carmona is 0-0 against the Royals with a 6.23 ERA.

2007 Baseball Draft, Part 2

Here are a few more players that the Royals are looking at for the 2007 draft on Thursday:

Matt Harvey / RHP / High School (Groton, CT)

• 6-4 190 pounds
• Throws 92-94 early in the game but loses velocity as the game goes on
• Fastball has good life when he keeps it down
• Throws an overhand curve with tight rotation
• Still developing his change up, tips the pitch off with slowed arm speed
• Slow delivery which sometimes leads to flawed mechanics
• Listed by Keith Law (from Scouts Inc.) as the number two best available player in this year's draft
• Read more about him here

Jarrod Parker / RHP / High School (Norwell, IN)

• 6-2 195 pounds
• Sometimes compared to Tim Lincecum
• Fastball ranges from 94-97
• Fastball has the most life when he throws it inside
• Curve clocks in at 78-79, but he hasn't used it a lot
• Change is 81-82, but he hasn't used it a lot
• Great command of his fastball
• Competitive, great athlete
• Considered to be a little undersized (his weight is listed anywhere between 175-195
• Read more about him here

Andrew Brackman / RHP / North Carolina State

• 6-10 240
• Fastball ranges from 92-97, throws both a two-seamer and four-seamer
• Throws a knuckle curve in the 78-81 range
• His change up clocks in between 82-84 and it's considered to be average
• Goes right after hitters
• Some concern about his durability since he was shut down late in the season with a tired arm
• Read more about him here

Royals Beaten by Blast from the Nine Hole

Game Date: June 5, 2007
Indians 1, Royals 0 / Box Score
WP: Sabathia (9-1), LP: De La Rosa (4-6)
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 21-38

One mistake cost Jorge De La Rosa dearly. He left a pitch out over the plate against Franklin Gutierrez in the third inning and Gutierrez hit a solo home run to left field for the only run of the game for either team. The guy has just two home runs in his entire career (both against us), not to mention the fact that he's a .231 hitter who hits in the nine hole.

The Royals couldn't get anything going against C.C. Sabathia. He's throwing more change ups and curve balls than he used to, and he still has the ability to hit 96 mph on the radar gun when he needs to. He came in on Mark Teahen and tied him up a number of times. Sabathia struck out eight, gave up just five hits, and didn't walk anybody.

De La Rosa gave up just five hits on two walks in 7.1 innings. After Gobble gave up a walk in relief, David Riske came in, and for his 16th straight appearance, he didn't allow a run. But no matter how good our pitching is, we've still got to score runs to win and right now this team looks clueless at the plate.

Tomorrow night, Brian Bannister (1-3, 3.89) will go up against former Royal Paul Byrd (6-1, 3.57). Bannister has never faced the Indians. Byrd is 1-3 against the Royals in his career with a 5.10 ERA.

Offense Struggles Again

Game Date: June 4, 2007
Devil Rays 4, Royals 2 / Box Score
WP: Shields (5-0), LP: Meche (3-5), SV: Reyes (14)
Royal Home Runs: Buck 2 (10)
Royals Record: 21-37

Gil Meche pitched his 10th quality start of the season this afternoon, but he lost his fifth game. Other than John Buck, who had two solo home runs, the Royals managed just four hits.

If you look up and down our line up today, not one player has a batting average over .288. Some have averages that are just downright pathetic for this stage of the season, namely:

• Alex Gordon (.172)
• Emil Brown (.221)
• Ryan Shealy (.219)

Throw in the fact that David DeJesus is hitting .256 and Mike Sweeney is at a paltry .243 and it's no wonder we are struggling to score runs.

Check out where the Royals rank in comparison to the other 29 teams so far this season in these hitting categories:

Category	Totals	Rank
Runs	213	27th
Hits	483	22nd
HR	40	26th (tied)
RBI	212	27th
AVG	.248	27th
OBP	.317	25th
SLG	.380	25th
OPS	.698	26th
BB	170	25th (tied)
K	402	6th worse

You might think our offense couldn't be worse than last season, but it is. Here's were we finished the 2006 season in the same offensive categories listed above:

Category	Totals	Rank
Runs	757	20th
Hits	1515	13th
HR	124	30th
RBI	718	19th (tied)
AVG	.271	12th
OBP	.332	19th
SLG	.411	28th
OPS	.743	26th
BB	474	24th (tied)
K	1040	19th worse

So, we finally got our pitching headed in the right direction and our offense declined greatly. Maybe it's because guys are pressing. Maybe a couple of them shouldn't even be in the major leagues (Alex Gordon, Ryan Shealy). I don't think bringing Billy Butler up to play DH is the answer, but we do have a couple of options we might consider in Omaha.

• Mike Aviles, Omaha's 26 year-old third baseman, is hitting .326. The Royals are committed to Gordon for the long term, and I understand that, but at some point you have to send the guy down and let him find his swing again--much like we did with Mark Teahen last year. Aviles isn't the swiftest fielder (he has nine errors), but he drives in runs (29 RBI) and hits for average. He should be able to fill the gap until Gordon makes his way back to the big leagues. For the record, I don't expect this to happen.
  

• Craig Brazell, Omaha's 27 year-old first baseman, is hitting .315 with 13 HR and 25 RBI. Why not give him a shot until Shealy gets going? Or why not give Justin Huber a chance for a month or so? He's only hitting .265 in Omaha, but he has 23 RBI. And surely with Billy Butler taking over the DH spot in the years to come, we need to find out whether Huber can hold his own in the major leagues at first base.

Tomorrow night, the Royals begin a new series in Cleveland. Jorge De La Rosa (4-5, 4.97) goes against C.C. Sabathia (8-1, 3.78). De La Rosa is 1-1 in his career against the Indians with a 10.13 ERA. Sabathia is 11-6 against the Royals with a 3.34 ERA.

Howell's Revenge

Game Date: June 3, 2007
Devil Rays 5, Royals 1 / Box Score
WP: Howell (1-0), LP: Elarton (1-2)
Royal Home Runs: LaRue (4)
Royals Record: 21-36

Well, J.P. Howell got his revenge. He threw a career-high eight innings against us and gave up just five hits, while striking out seven.

The Royals only really had one chance to break through against him. In the fourth inning, we had the bases loaded with one out, but Ryan Shealy struck out and Tony Pena flew out.

Scott Elarton continues to struggle. He allowed four runs in 5.2 innings. The funny this is, he lowered his ERA from 7.65 to 7.36. This was Elarton's fifth start since coming back and his numbers aren't pretty. He's given up 7 home runs, 31 hits, 22 runs, and 14 walks in just 25.2 innings of work. His WHIP is 1.75 and opponents are hitting .295 against him. Obviously, he isn't fooling anybody.

Tomorrow afternoon in Tampa, Gil Meche (3-4, 3.00) goes against James Shields (4-0, 3.13). Meche is 1-3 against the Devil Rays in his career with a 5.52 ERA. Shields is 1-0 against the Royals with a 0.00 ERA (in six innings of work).

Two Straight in Tampa

Game Date: June 2, 2007
Royals 9, Devil Rays 4 / Box Score
WP: Perez (3-5), LP: Jackson (0-7)
Royal Home Runs: Brown (2)
Royals Record: 21-35

Maybe we ought to play more games on the road, huh? We're 8-2 in our last ten road games. And nobody needs to be reminded of how awful we were during our last homestand.

The last two nights, the Royals have jumped on Devil Ray starting pitchers early and they coasted to wins after that. Last night, Odalis Perez did what Odalis Perez typically does. He pitched five innings and allowed four runs. His numbers are rarely impressive, but he somehow finds a way to adapt to game situations and as a result, he keeps us in games.

The combination of Joel Peralta, Jimmy Gobble, David Riske, and Zack Greinke (who is looking more like closer material every day) shut the door on the Devil Rays. They allowed just one hit and one walk over the final four innings.

David DeJesus looked good at the plate after a day off, going 2-for-4 with 2 RBI. Emil Brown was 3-for-5 with 3 RBI and a home run. John Buck had two hits. And Tony Pena extended his hitting streak to 11 games, raising his average to .270 in the process.

The pitching match up this afternoon is quite interesting. Scott Elarton (1-1, 7.65) will go up against former Royal J.P. Howell who was just called up from Triple-A. Elarton has never pitched well against the Rays. He's 0-5 in his career against them with a 9.13 ERA.

On paper, the game looks more like a college "baseball" game. We could wind up with a 21-17 score. But whenever you expect something like that to happen, the opposite often occurs.

Bannister Stops Losing Streak

Game Date: June 1, 2007
Royals 4, Devil Rays 1 / Box Score
WP: Bannister (1-3), LP: Kazmir (3-3) SV: Dotel (1)
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 20-35

If you looked at this pitching match up ahead of time, you probably weren't all that confident that things would go our way, but Brian Bannister out-pitched Scott Kazmir and he put the Royals in a position to win. Relying mostly on a fastball that had good movement, he gave up just one earned runs in eight innings. Octavio Dotel came in and finally picked up his first save of the season.

The Royals jumped out to an early lead by scoring three runs in the second inning. Mike Sweeney tripled and scored on a wild pitch by Kazmir. Tony Pena drove in Emil Brown with an infield single. And Esteban German singled to left to drive in Tony Pena. Emil Brown added an insurance run in the eighth inning when he drove in Mark Teahen with a double to center.

Finally, the losing streak is over. Let's hope that the Royals can pick up where they left off on the last road trip.

Tomorrow night Odalis Perez (2-5, 5.61) goes against Edwin Jackson (0-6, 7.12). Perez is 1-1 against the Devil Rays in his career with a 7.84 ERA. Jackson has never faced the Royals.

The 2007 Draft

With the draft coming up next week on June 7, talk is turning from the Royals dismal 2007 season to the possibilities of adding new talent to the farm system. This particular draft doesn't seem to be rich in talent at the college level, but many teams have their sights set on high school players. That of course, makes this draft even more challenging than it normally is.

David Price, a left-handed starter from Vanderbilt, seems to be one of the few college starters worth taking early in the first round. Tampa Bay has the first pick and they'll probably take Price. The Royals are up second and the Kansas City Star has listed several players that the Royals may be interested in. Over the next week or so leading up to the draft, I'll find out as much as I can about these guys and fill you in on my research.

According to Bob Dutton, here are two of the players (both in high school) that the Royals are considering:

Rick Porcello / RHP / High School (West Orange, NJ)

• 6' 5" 195 pounds
• Fastball tops out at 96 mph--both his two-seamer and four-seamer have good movement
• Throws a curve in the low 70's
• Throws a slider approximately 80 mph
• He's developing his change up (80 mph)
• Control has been an issue
• Has a smooth, easy delivery
• Read more about him here and here

Josh Vitters / 3B / High School (Cypress, CA)

• 6' 3" 195 pounds
• Considered one of the "most polished high school hitters in the draft class"
• A simple approach at the plate with outstanding bat speed
• Hit for power and average at the high school level
• A below average runner
• Below average defensively with limited range but has a great arm
• Read more about him here and here

Royals Lose Seventh Straight

Game Date: May 30, 2007
Orioles 3, Royals 0 / Box Score
WP: Bedard (4-3), LP: Meche (3-4), SV: Ray (12)
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 19-35

We needed our stopper. He showed up and only allowed one earned run in 7.1 innings. Unfortunately, the Royals couldn't even find a way to score once. No matter how good your stopper is, you still need to score to have a chance to win.

Erik Bedard is a good pitcher. But after losing seven straight games, during which the Royals have been outscored 55-13, I really didn't want to hear Buddy Bell tell us how good Bedard is. I didn't want to hear that we just couldn't do anything against him. But he did it anyway.

“We can’t keep giving credit to the other pitcher,” Bell said right before giving credit to the other pitcher. “But tonight was a little different. Bedard was outstanding.”

How about pointing out that we had runners at the corners in the third inning with one out and we failed to score a run? How about mentioning the fact that Mark Grudzielanek got doubled up at first in the fourth inning on a Mike Sweeney line drive that was caught in center field?

When Doug Mientkiewicz was here last year he said something that applies to our current situation. He said that whenever the Royals won a series, especially at home, the clubhouse was downright giddy afterward. He said that shouldn't be the case. We should expect to win series--especially at home.

We had an 8-2 road trip that nobody expected. Our guys were brimming with confidence, maybe to the point of giddiness. Now they've lost seven games in a row and everybody is searching for answers. The highs are too high and the lows are too low and somehow both extremes seem to have negative effects on the field.

Thankfully, the Royals are off today, and thankfully the homestand is over. On Friday, the Royals begin a new series at Tampa Bay. Brian Bannister (0-3, 4.54) goes against Scott Kazmir (3-2, 3.95). Bannister has never faced the Devil Rays. Kazmir is 1-0 against the Royals in his career with a 6.35 ERA.

Oh, for a Stopper

Game Date: May 29, 2007
Orioles 6, Royals 2 / Box Score
WP: Guthrie (3-1), LP: De La Rosa (4-5)
Royal Home Runs: Teahen (5)
Royals Record: 19-34

Well, at least we weren't blown out early.

Yeah, that doesn't bring me any consolation either.

Royals hitters held a team meeting before the game last night, presumably to talk about working the count, moving runners, going with the pitch, and all of the other things that major league hitters should inherently know, but sometimes forget.

Buddy Bell "shook up" the line up hoping it would generate a little more offense. He moved David DeJesus to the five hole and Shane Costa hit lead off. He finally moved up John Buck to the six hole, but he waited until he cooled down to do so (he's 4-for-his-last-20). And Bell gave Pena the day off, allowing Angel Berroa to start at short. Why can't we just give up on this guy?

Neither the team meeting nor the shake up in the line up did any good. Royals hitters ended up with just three hits for the entire evening with one walk.

At least we didn't have to hear Bell telling us how great Jeremy Guthrie is. He's having a good year, but let's be honest, if we can't hit Guthrie right now, who are we going to hit?

And what has happened to our starting pitching staff? Jorge De La Rosa was awful, giving up eight hits, five earned runs, three walks, and a home run in just five innings. He was seen slamming things into a trash can afterward.

Gil Meche (3-3, 3.18) gets to play the role of stopper tonight. He'll go up against Erik Bedard (3-3, 4.10). Meche is 4-2 against the Orioles in his career with a 3.07 ERA. Bedard is 2-1 against the Royals with a 3.09 ERA.

Losing Streak Reaches Five

Game Date: May 28, 2007
Orioles 9, Royals 1 / Box Score
WP: Trachsel (4-3), LP: Elarton (1-1)
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 19-33

Buddy Bell hinted after the game last night that the Royals poor play over the past five games has been a team effort, and I think he's right. The Royals are struggling in nearly every aspect of the game--with defense probably being the exception.

To have Steve Trachsel pitch a five-hit complete game against you says everything you need to know about our hitting. And just a quick glance at Scott Elarton's numbers yesterday (7 ER, 6 H, 4 BB, 5 K, in 5.0 IP) will tell you what you need to know about our pitching.

We did get a bit of good news. Gil Meche is expected to make his next start on Wednesday against Baltimore. Let's hope that he's able to give it 100%.

And Jason LaRue is back from the DL. Bell is planning to use a rotation of catchers. LaRue will be the catcher when Scott Elarton and Brian Bannister are on the mound. John Buck will catch for Gil Meche, Jorge De La Rosa, and Odalis Perez.

Tonight, Jorge De La Rosa (4-4, 4.65) goes against Jeremy Guthrie (2-1, 3.09). De La Rosa has never faced the Orioles. Guthrie is 0-0 in his career against the Royals with a 6.10 ERA (in 10.1 innings of work).

Royals Lose Four Straight

Game Date: May 27, 2007
Mariners 7, Royals 4 / Box Score
WP: Washburn (5-4), LP: Perez (2-5)
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 19-32

I'm not sure what anybody can say to analyze the stretch the Royals are in right now. They aren't pitching or hitting well.

From the pitching standpoint, our starters are being jumped all over in the early innings (they've given up 25 runs in the first five innings over the past four games). So the first couple of times through the line up, either one of two things is at work. Either our scouts are doing a poor job of detecting the hitting tendencies of the guys we're facing or our pitchers are doing a poor job of executing the game plan that has been developed around our scouting reports.

I'm inclined to believe it's the latter because our starting pitching was so good until this recent homestand. If the problem really is poor execution, I'm hoping that Bob McClure is putting in a little overtime right now during the pitcher's meetings to get the guys back on track.

It was nice to see the Royals make a small run at the Mariners in the late innings yesterday. At least we're not seeing signs that they've given up. Hopefully the recent winning streak boosted their confidence enough to help them see that this is a baseball team that can compete. But competing is no longer good enough. We need to be seeing gradual increases each season in the W column.

The Royals are on pace to win just 60 games this year, which would be two games worse than their record last season. I'm still convinced that this team is better than the 2006 version, but the only true test will be in wins and losses, and the jury is still out on whether the 2007 Royals will have a better record than the 2006 Royals.

The Royals begin a new series at home tonight against the Orioles. Scott Elarton (1-0, 6.00) goes against Steve Trachsel (3-3, 3.77). Elarton is 0-0 in his career against the Orioles with a 1.29 ERA (in seven innings of work). Trachsel is 0-3 against the Royals with a 5.51 ERA.

Another Drubbing

Game Date: May 26, 2007
Mariners 9, Royals 1 / Box Score
WP: Baek (2-2), LP: Bannister (0-3)
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 19-31

If you needed a reminder about how difficult it is to win with poor pitching, these last three games ought to do the trick. Throw in poor hitting and you have a combined 29-6 rout.

Brian Bannister did last seven innings, which has been a rarity for a Royals starter in recent days. In fact, he's the first guy to do it in the past ten games. But the Royals just couldn't get the bats going. 

Only two Royals hitters had hits last night. Mark Grudzielanek had two and Tony Pena had three. We only had one walk. And we struck out ten times. And at this stage of his career, Cha Seung Baek is hardly an ace.

Let's hope that things change this afternoon in Kauffman Stadium. Odalis Perez (2-4, 5.20) goes up against Jarrod Washburn (4-4, 3.15). Perez is 1-0 in his career against the Mariners with a 9.00 ERA. Washburn is 6-4 against the Royals with a 3.68 ERA.