Game Date: April 11, 2009
New York @ Kansas City
Yankees 6, Royals 1 / Box Score
WP: Sabathia (1-1), LP: Ramirez (0-1)
KC Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 2-3 / Record in April: 2-3
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Game #5
Friday, April 10, 2009
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Bruce Chen Profile
Remember Bruce Chen—the guy who was 13-10 with a 3.83 ERA in 2003 with Baltimore? The Royals signed him to a Minor League deal back in March. The Omaha World Herald is running a nice profile about him called Comeback Starts in Omaha that you might find interesting.
Coming off elbow surgery, he hasn’t pitched in a couple of years until the WBC last month. He says that his fastball is in the mid-80s (yikes), but he never threw hard.
Here’s what Omaha pitching coach Tom Burgmeier says about him: “I liked what I saw in spring training. Left-handed, has a way above-average curveball. Big-league experience helps. He obviously knows what he's doing out there.”
Sounds like he’ll be in the starting rotation in Omaha.
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Personnel Moves
The Royals claimed Travis Metcalf off waivers from the Rangers and placed him on 40-man roster. They assigned him to Omaha.
Esteban German signed with the Rangers. I hope he’s able to stick with them.
Mike Sweeney made the Mariners’ roster. How cool is that?
365 Days Late, But Late is Better Than Never
Cox Communications finally got a clue and reached an agreement today with FSN to broadcast all 140 scheduled games in Omaha, Wichita, and Topeka.
I don’t see anything in the article about Cox complaining about the extra cost to broadcast the extra 40 games or the ridiculousness of there only being 25% of their customer base who watches sports (as was the case in their Omaha market). So, let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they actually heard enough complaints that they finally decided to do something about it.
Too bad they lost me as a customer in the process.
Splittorff Returns to KC
Paul Splittorff had to go back to Kansas City after struggling through the television broadcast yesterday. Frank White will take his spot in the booth. Here’s to hoping that Splitt is able to overcome his health concerns soon so he can return to the booth.
Cox Cable Still Not Showing 140 Games in Omaha
Last year at this time, I wrote about how irritated I was with Cox Communications in the Omaha area because they opted not to show 40 of the 140 Royals games that FSN-Kansas City scheduled to broadcast. Cox is the only cable or satellite provider in the area that doesn’t show the full schedule.
According to an article in the Omaha World Herald a couple of days ago, FSN-Kansas City and Cox are in negotiations regarding the other 40 games, but that was the case all of last season as well and it never happened. According to the article in the OWH, here is what’s Kristin Peck, Cox vice president for public and government affairs in Omaha, is saying this year:
“We know that there are some pretty passionate Royals fans. The issue that we have is that the sports programming is very expensive. Our research tells us that 25 percent of our viewers are sports fans and the others don't watch any. As we make decisions on programming, we have to consider all of our customers.”
Fair enough. Cox had decisions to make; so did I as a customer. So I switched to DirecTV and now I’ll see all 140 games. If you want to see all 140 games in the Omaha market, you might want to stop waiting for Cox. Just make the switch and enjoy the games.
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Situational Lefty
Jim Thome hits fifty-six points lower (.240 vs. .296) against lefties than he does righties in his career, but yet neither Moore nor Hillman believe we need a situational lefty. I don’t get it.
Monday, April 06, 2009
Favorite Royals Hall of Famer
The following poll is now closed. Here are the results:
Who is your favorite player in the Royals Hall of Fame (other than George Brett)?
| Player | Percentage | Votes |
| Frank White | 23% | 11 |
| Dan Quisenberry | 19% | 9 |
| Mark Gubicza | 10% | 5 |
| Amos Otis | 10% | 5 |
| Brett Saberhagen | 8% | 4 |
| John Mayberry | 6% | 3 |
| Willie Wilson | 6% | 3 |
| Steve Busby | 2% | 1 |
| Dennis Leonard | 2% | 1 |
| Hal McRae | 2% | 1 |
| Jeff Montgomery | 2% | 1 |
| Fred Patek | 2% | 1 |
| Cookie Rojas | 2% | 1 |
| Larry Gura | 0% | 0 |
| Paul Splittorff | 0% | 0 |
It’s cool to see that Amos Otis got a few votes. I was kind of bummed that Gura and Splittorff didn’t receive any votes though, but I also understand that a person can only have one favorite. Thanks for participating. Another poll will be up soon.
Sunday, April 05, 2009
Why Not the Royals?
Rany from Rany on the Royals was quoted extensively in an Omaha World Herald story this morning entitled “Why Not the Royals?” Check it out if you get a chance.
Saturday, April 04, 2009
It’s a Wrap
We’re down to the final couple of roster spots after Ryan Shealy was sent to Omaha on assignment after clearing waivers. Tony Pena is in. He probably shouldn’t be, but he is. Mitch Maier was sent to Omaha. That was expected. So, it comes down to Brayan Pena or Shane Costa. The theory behind Pena makes sense—he could be a third catcher and give Hillman the ability to DH John Buck or Miguel Olivo. He can also play a little first, third, and outfield. Costa hit .455 this spring though and that’s hard to ignore.
Mark Teahen will start at second base on Opening Day. I like that move. He’ll probably struggle defensively for a while, assuming he keeps the position, but I expect him to adapt over time, and I think he’ll put up decent numbers for a second baseman.
So, on to my 2009 predictions.
As a team, I think the Royals will go 81-81. Their rotation is coming together. Their bullpen is solid. They’ve added some power in Mike Jacobs and a legitimate lead off hitter in Coco Crisp (.489 OBP this spring). The Royals finished at 18-14 this spring and most analysts believe they have a shot to contend for the AL Central. Not many people think they have a shot at winning it, but just being in contention has a nice ring to it.
Now for the rotation. I expect Gil Meche to put up similar numbers to last season—maybe going 15-13 with a 3.86 ERA. Zack Greinke struggled this spring, ending up with a 9.21 ERA in eight starts. But he’s 21-17 since the Royals fed him to the lions in 2005 and he’s too good not to win 14 games. I predict he’ll go 14-10 with a 3.66 ERA. But I think he has the talent to be the best starter on this team. Kyle Davies had a good spring. He also had a solid 2008 campaign. Assuming he doesn’t get off to a disastrous start (I know, I’m hedging my bet and making myself sound like a weather man), I can see him being around .500 with an ERA in the mid 4.00s. I’m not even going to venture a guess about how Sidney Ponson and Horacio Ramirez are going to do. I simply have no idea.
On offense, I have a feeling that Coco Crisp is going to have a career year in stolen bases. David DeJesus should fit nicely in the two hole. Will he drive in 73 runs again? I don’t know. I’d be happy if he repeated his numbers from last season (12 HR, 73 RBI, .366 OBP). This is Mark Teahen’s chance to finally prove that he’s everything we’d hoped for when we obtained him. He hit 7 HR this spring in 19 games and I’m going to drink the Mark Teahen Kool-aid and say he’s going to hit 20 HR for the first time in his career. Jose Guillen will be Jose Guillen. He’ll hit 20 HR and drive in 90 runs and offend nearly everybody he comes into contact with. Mike Jacobs will have another big year. I’m not sure he’ll hit 32 home runs again, especially playing in Kauffman Stadium, but I expect 25 out of him. I don’t have a prediction for Billy Butler or Alex Gordon. I just hope they find their way and establish themselves this season. Miguel Olivo is supposed to start the majority of the games. I can see him hitting 17 HR. Mike Aviles? Who knows, but I’m convinced he’s the real deal.
I can’t really predict bullpen numbers. Although I could venture a guess as to how many saves Joakim Soria might get. His 5.87 ERA this spring doesn’t scare me. And if he saved 42 games on a losing team last season, I don’t see why he wouldn’t do the same thing this season. When you look at Ron Mahay, Kyle Farnsworth, Juan Cruz, and Robinson Tejeda, you have to like the Royals’ chances if they get the ball to the pen with a lead. I’m not high on Jamey Wright or Doug Waechter, but maybe they’ll surprise me.
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves though. Our fourth and fifth spots in the rotation are total question marks. Kyle Davies might even be question mark. Our offense is improved, but still doesn’t have enough power. I still say we are playing a few guys out of position defensively and that’s a concern. And it’s always hard to scare away the dark cloud that seems to hang over a losing organization.
A lot has to happen for the Royals to make a run at the Central. But for the first time in a long time, I think they have a legitimate shot. First they need to play .500 ball for the better part of the season. If they do, they might just be doing a little scoreboard watching come August or September.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Roster Coming Together
As we head into the home stretch of Spring Training, Dayton Moore is getting close to setting the roster for Opening Day. There have been some surprises along the way and some givens.
One of the surprises was Jimmy Gobble being released (he’s since signed with the Rangers and then was released by them).
Another one of the surprises was Luke Hochevar being sent to Omaha recently. After going 1-0 with a 3.86 ERA in 16.1 IP this spring, it looked like he had a lock on the fifth spot in the starting rotation. Not so, though. Hillman pointed out a couple of things Hochevar needs to work on:
“There are things he needs to finish off to be more successful as a Major League starter. Primarily, pitching to both sides of the plate with consistency to allow his great stuff to open up the zone to secondary stuff. And be more consistent in monitoring damage when he gets in a bind—keep it a single-run inning instead of two or three or four on the board.”
We learned today that Sidney Ponson and Horacio Ramirez are the fourth and fifth starters to open the season. Brian Bannister was optioned to Omaha. Who would have thought that Omaha would have both Hochevar and Bannister in the rotation to start the season? I just received my media credentials yesterday for the 2009 Omaha Royals season, so I should be able to bring you a first hand report about how both are doing as the season gets underway.
So, for the record, here is the starting rotation to open the season: (1) Gil Meche (2) Zack Greinke (3) Kyle Davies (4) Sidney Ponson (5) Horacio Ramirez. But technically, Ramirez will start the season in the bullpen since there are three open dates in the schedule in April. He’ll move to the rotation in mid-April.
If you’ve been wondering what the Royals were going to do with Ross Gload this season—the answer is, trade him to the Florida Marlins for a player to be named later and cash.
They Royals also released Joel Peralta and placed John Bale on the 15-day DL. Neither of which was a big surprise. So, the team is down to 32 players in camp. Seven more to go.
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