Hudson Wins Again

Game Date: August 8, 2006
Game Score: Royals 6, Red Sox 4 / Box Score
WP: Hudson (5-3), LP: Lester (5-2), SV: Burgos (17)
Royal Home Runs: Brown (9)
Royals Record: 39-73

So that’s what the Royals’ line up is supposed to look like? For just the eighth time this season, David DeJesus and Mike Sweeney played in the same game. Throw in a healthy Reggie Sanders, an Emil Brown who has finally found his power stroke again, and a maturing Mark Teahen and this line up doesn’t look half bad. In fact, we actually have a “heart of the order” with Sweeney-Sanders-Teahen. We still don’t have any starting pitching, but we’ll score some runs with these guys.

Luke Hudson is the one exception. He won his third consecutive start last night to improve to 5-3 on the season. And much like his other starts, he only gave up three earned runs. In fact, in his six starts, he hasn’t given up more than three runs in any game. And his ERA has dropped from 7.24 to 4.65 since he’s become a starter. Yeah, he gave up one of the longest home runs (451 feet) in Kauffman Stadium history to Wily Mo Pena last night in the fourth inning, but he found his groove again after that and the Red Sox didn’t score off of him again. Hudson’s performance was much needed and at this point, he’s the only semblance of a stopper that we have.

At the plate last night, the Royals look much more like the patient team they were turning into a month or so ago before they starting losing again. They drew five walks and worked the count better. Mike Sweeney walked twice and went 1-for-3. Mark Grudzielanek was 3-for-4 with an RBI. Emil Brown was 2-for-4 with 3 RBI—including a towering home run to left field. And John Buck was 2-for-4.

Ambiorix Burgos almost blew the game again by walking two guys in the ninth. He added this insight after the game: “One more walk and I think it would have been, ‘Burgos, get out of here,’ “I think Buddy Bell was getting mad.” You think?

Tonight, Mark Redman (7-6 5.38) goes against Josh Beckett (13-6, 5.00). Redman is a pitiful 1-8 in his career against the Red Sox with a 7.97 ERA. He’s given up 11 home runs against them in 49.2 innings. Beckett is 1-0 against the Royals with a 0.00 ERA (in 8 innings).

Sweeney Set to Return

After being on the shelf for the last 88 games, Mike Sweeney is scheduled to be our designated hitter on Tuesday when we begin a new series against the Red Sox. In 11 rehab games with Wichita and Omaha, Sweeney is hitting .314 with 4 HR.

Twins Sweep the Royals

Game Date: August 6, 2006
Game Score: Twins 11, Royals 5 / Box Score
WP: Reyes (4-0), LP: Wellemeyer (0-2)
Royal Home Runs: Shealy (1)
Royals Record: 38-73

What would Royals’ fans do without a well-scheduled off day once in a while after a playing as poorly as we did in the four-game series against the Twins? An article in the Star summarized the series totals: the Royals gave up 41 runs, 56 hits, and 36 walks. That’s 10.25 runs, 14 hits, and 9 walks per game—some of the worst pitching you’ll ever see.

This is a day to forget about baseball—especially since we don’t have another off day for two weeks and before we get there, we’ll play a three-game series against the Red Sox, a four-game series against the White Sox, and a three-game series against the A’s. The only sub-.500 team we’ll see in that stretch is Cleveland.

Any positives?

Ryan Shealy hit a 422-foot home run. Grudzielanek, Sanders, Brown, Shealy, and Bako each had two hits, but none of that really matters when your pitching staff gives up 11 runs on 22 hits.

Odalis Perez was quite unimpressive: 5 ER, 9 H, 2 BB, and 1 K in 5.0 IP. He threw 93 pitches in the process. I’m amazed at how many of our starters are near the 100-pitch mark after five innings. And it has nothing to do with them being strikeout pitchers, and everything to do with them either being wild or afraid. Both or unacceptable.

Anyway, enjoy the off day.

Hernandez Awful Again

Game Date: August 5, 2006
Game Score: Twins 14, Royals 3 / Box Score
WP: Silva (8-9), LP: Hernandez (2-7)
Royal Home Runs: DeJesus (6), Brown (8)
Royals Record: 38-72

Nine walks—six of which came around to score. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around that. Runelvys Hernandez walked nine guys in 4.2 innings, and he gave up eight earned runs. His ERA now sits at 8.54. And I’m dumbfounded by Bell’s comments after that game regarding Hernandez: “Actually, Runelvys’ stuff is probably as good as I’ve seen it since I’ve been here, in terms of his velocity. He can’t get to his changeup or his breaking ball, because he can’t throw his fastball for strikes.”

Okay, so his velocity is good, but he can’t throw a strike to save his career, and that constitutes having good stuff? Wow. I think Buddy Bell just redefined “good stuff.” By his definition, we need to go out and resign Chris George, Kris Wilson, and Dan Reichert. Then we’d have four pitchers with good stuff—all of whom would have an ERA over 6.00, or 7.00, or 8.00.

Bell didn’t stop there though. He said that the Royals need to help Hernandez figure out his mechanical problem(s), and they’ll be attempting to do so over the next several starts. If you really believe that this guy has what it takes to pitch at the major league level, don’t you send him to the minor leagues to get things figured out? We’re talking about a 28 year-old pitcher who is 21-30 in his career with a 5.50 ERA and a 1.50 WHIP. He clearly can’t compete at the big level on a consistent basis. Why keep running him out there, only to get shellacked, and to use up our bullpen, and to bring down team moral? Send him back to Omaha (where he wasn’t spectacular either) where he can’t do any damage. Or better yet, just release him and give a younger, more committed guy, a shot.

Hernandez wasn’t the only Royal pitcher to perform poorly last night. Scott Dohmann gave up another run and he now has a 10.38 ERA since joining the Royals. And Leo Nunez gave up three more runs and he’s another guy who just doesn’t look like he belongs in the major leagues. His pitiful career numbers make the case against him. He has a 6.99 ERA with a 1.66 WHIP in 48 appearances.

This afternoon, Odalis Perez (4-4, 6.68) makes his second start for the Royals. For our bullpen’s sake, let’s hope that he gets to throw more than 69 pitches this time. He’ll go against Mike Smith who is making his first start of the year for the Twins.

Doug Mientkiewicz's Online Chat

Doug Mientkiewicz was the latest Royal to participate in an online chat with fans. Here’s a link if you’d like to read the transcript. One fan asked him this question: “How have you enjoyed your time thus far with the Royals, record aside?”

Here is Mientkiewicz’s response: “Friends of mine always ask that. They think because of the record they think I'm miserable and that could not be further from the truth! I've enjoyed every minute of this year and would be extremely open to coming back to help this franchise stay in the positive direction it is going.”

He also spoke about his willingness to mentor Shealy and/or Huber. Check it out if you get a chance.

Burgos Blows Another Game

Game Date: August 4, 2006
Game Score: Twins 8, Royals 5 / Box Score
WP: Reyes (3-0), LP: Dohmann (0-1)
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 38-71

This is not a recording. Ambiorix Burgos should not be a closer in the major leagues. I don’t say that because he’s wild, or because he’s unable to throw more than one pitch for a strike—although both of those statements are true. I say it because he simply can’t get guys out. His ERA is 5.64. You simply cannot give the ball to a guy to close the game out when he allows a run more than once every two innings.

If those words sound familiar, it’s because I wrote them about the game on Tuesday against the White Sox, during which Burgos blew yet another game. And how ironic is it that the last time (July 3) we had Johan Santana on the ropes, Burgos also blew that game? Well, actually it’s not all that ironic. It’s expected. He gets behind good hitters and when he grooves a fastball on 3-1 (as he did with Joe Mauer in the ninth inning), they crush it. Then he fell behind Michael Cuddyer and he hit one out of the park to tie the game 5-5. Scott Dohmann wasn’t much better. He was pounded for three runs in the top of the tenth, and that was the ball game.

This is another one of those games where it’s tough to point to the positives when so many negatives abound. Emil Brown was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Esteban German was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Ryan Shealy was 1-for-2 with an RBI and 2 BB. And John Buck drove in two runs. But it was all for naught once Bell handed the ball to Burgos—who hasn’t even been the closer all season, and yet, he still leads the major leagues in blow saves (10).

And tonight, in the era of astronomically high earned run averages, Runelvys Hernandez (2-6, 7.88) goes against Carlos Silva (7-9, 6.49). Hernandez is 2-4 with a 6.53 ERA in his career against the Twins. Silva is 2-1 with a 3.55 against the Royals.

De La Rosa Hit Hard

Game Date: August 3, 2006
Game Score: Twins 8, Royals 2 / Box Score
WP: Radke (10-8), LP: De La Rosa (1-1)
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 38-70

That was hardly the performance we were looking for from Jorge De La Rosa. He was wild (4 walks in 1.1 innings) as could be and that was all the Twins needed to jump on him early. Bell lifted De La Rosa in the second inning and after the smoke had cleared, he’d given up five earned runs—putting the Royals in a 6-0 hole. Conversely, Radke gave up just four hits in eight innings and only issued one walk, and he left little chance for the Royals to mount a comeback.

Not a lot to be positive about in this one. David DeJesus was 2-for-4 on the night and an RBI and he has his average back up to .300. And Todd Wellemeyer pitched well (except for three walks he issued) in long relief after De La Rosa faltered. Wellemeyer threw 4.1 innings and didn’t give up any earned runs. His ERA is down to 3.65.

The Royals are 7-14 since the break, which is a bit of a disappointment. They’ve played some great teams during that stretch though, including the Tigers, the Red Sox, and the White Sox. They’ve also played a couple of teams that are above .500 (the Angels and the Rangers). We just don’t match up yet with teams at the top of their divisions, but that’s really not much of a consolation for losing. Unfortunately, the Royals have a brutal schedule from here on out, but let’s hope they play a little better ball than their current .333 winning percentage since the break.

Tonight, Mark Redman (7-6, 5.40) goes against Johan Santana (12-5, 3.11). The Royals hit Santana hard (4 ER in 5.2 IP) on July 3—the last time they saw him. You might remember that game—the one where Burgos uncorked two wild pitches and blew the save. Such chances to beat Santana don’t come along often. He’s 9-3 in his career against the Royals with a 3.74 ERA. Redman is 0-3 with a 6.14 ERA against the Twins.

Royals Sign Hochevar

Well, Dayton Moore has gone and done it. He signed Luke Hochevar to a four-year major league contract—making Hochevar the fourth number one selection in the last twenty years to be awarded a spot on the 40-man roster. Other terms of the four-year deal weren’t released, but an article running on he Royals’ website says that Hochevar is “believed to have received a guaranteed $5.2 million over the length of the contract with incentives” which “could boost” the contract “to about $7 million.”

I love the fact that we finally got Hochevar signed. With the minor league baseball season set to shut down in a few weeks, at least Hochevar will get a few innings under his belt in our system. But this business of giving him a guaranteed roster spot really irritates me. The three other number one picks in the last twenty years to get such honors were Alex Rodriguez (1993), Pat Burrell (1998), and Delmon Young (2003). Rodriguez wasn’t playing fulltime for the Mariners until 1996. Burrell didn’t play at the major league level with the Phillies until 2000. And Young has put up impressive numbers in the Devil Rays farm system, but he has yet to get an at bat with Tampa Bay.

Maybe Hochevar didn’t give Moore any options. Maybe it was a guaranteed roster spot, or he’d sit out another season. If that’s true, I guess Moore made the right decision, but I still don’t like it. But now that the deal is done, let’s forget about the details. I want the guy in uniform and I want to see what he’s got. If he’s as good as he’s made out to be, our rotation may be a year or so away from finally having a legitimate ace for the first time in over a decade.

Hudson & Teahen & Shealy, Oh My

Game Date: August 2, 2006
Game Score: Royals 7, White Sox 3 / Box Score
WP: Hudson (4-3), LP: Garcia (10-7)
Royal Home Runs: Teahen (13)
Royals Record: 38-69

Five solid starts in a row from Luke Hudson have me wondering if this guy might be more than just a stopgap measure in a revolving rotation. Since becoming a starter, he’s 3-0 with a 3.52 ERA and all of his starts, except for one, have been quality starts—and in the one exception, he only gave up one run in five innings. Last night he pitched seven strong innings against the White Sox and put the Royals in a position to win just before the rain started to fall.

When the rain did come, it didn’t mess around. The downpour forced a 1 hour and 46 minute rain delay, but when you win, it doesn’t matter.

In addition to Hudson’s performance, Royals’ fans had much to be happy about. Gobble, Peralta, and Nelson didn’t give up any runs in relief. Mark Teahen continued his red hot streak, going 3-for-5 with 3 RBI and a towering home run in the fifth inning that hit the right field foul pole. (Freddy Garcia tried to go inside on Mark and that just isn’t going to work right now.) David DeJesus was 2-for-5 with an RBI. Grudzielanek was 2-for-5. And Ryan Shealy was 3-for-3 with an RBI and a walk.

One player that I’m not real impressed with right now is Joey Gathright. He’s hitting .208 since coming to Kansas City and he doesn’t seem to be getting any better. He’s taken quite a few walks (14 in 31 games), so he does have an OBP of .322 with the Royals. But his speed was his selling point and he’s been thrown out while attempting to steal more often than he’s been successful (3 SB in 7 attempts). And I really haven’t seen him make any plays in centerfield that David DeJesus wouldn’t have made. But if you look at J.P. Howell’s performance the other night with Tampa Bay (3.2 IP, 6 ER, 9 H) and at his numbers over his 16 career starts (3-6 with a 6.60 ERA and a 1.60 WHIP), I guess the trade doesn’t look that bad.

Tonight, the Royals open a new series at home with the Twins. Jorge De La Rosa (3-2, 7.68) will make his second start since joining the Royals. He’ll go against Brad Radke (9-8, 4.91). Radke is 11-10 with a 4.28 ERA in his career against the Royals. De La Rosa has never started against the Twins.

Royals Lose in 10

Game Date: August 1, 2006
Game Score: White Sox 7, Royals 5 / Box Score
WP: Riske (1-2), LP: Burgos (2-4), SV: Jenks (29)
Royal Home Runs: Sanders (10), Berroa (7)
Royals Record: 37-69

This is not a recording. Ambiorix Burgos should not be a closer in the major leagues. I don’t say that because he’s wild, or because he’s unable to throw more than one pitch for a strike—although both of those statements are true. I say it because he simply can’t get guys out. His ERA is 5.40. You simply cannot give the ball to a guy to close the game out when he allows a run more than once every two innings.

After the Royals rallied in the eighth inning to tie the game 4-4, Burgos came in for the ninth and got the job done. Unfortunately, he walked Scott Podsednik to lead off the tenth inning and then balked to move Podsednik to second base. Joe Crede singled him in. Burgos got the next two guys, but Ross Gload doubled and drove in Crede. Brian Anderson followed him with another run scoring hit and this one was over. Well, actually Angel Berroa hit a home run in the bottom of the inning, but we couldn’t get a rally going.

We had our chances early in the game though. We had runners at the corners with one out in the second inning and Angel Berroa hit into a double play. Then, in the eighth inning, we had runners at the corners again with one out and this time Emil Brown hit into a double play.

On the positive side, Mark Teahen continues his tear. He as 3-for-5 with 2 RBI and he’s as locked in as a guy can be. He’s hitting the ball to all fields and pitchers don’t seem to have a clue how to get him out. They used to bust him inside and he’s all over that now. Then, in recent weeks, they started pitching him outside, and he’s driving that ball down the left field line—much like he did last night. Reggie Sanders had two hits in is return, including his tenth home run of the season in his first at bat.

Odalis Perez started out pretty well—striking out two guys in the first inning, but he looked a little rusty (he hasn’t started since June 28) and he was working on a ridiculously low pitch count—so he exited after throwing just 69 pitches in four innings. He gave up two earned runs on three hits and two walks. The one thing I’ll say about him is this—he seems to trust his pitches. He wasn’t afraid to throw his cutter over the plate to Jermaine Dye in the first inning and he ended up striking him out. His four-seamer comes in at around 91-92 mph and his breaking stuff was in the 78-80 range. That’s a big enough difference to keep hitters off balance. So, I’m anxious to see how he does in his next start.

Tonight, Luke Hudson (3-3, 4.82) goes against Freddy Garcia (10-6, 4.85). Garcia is 8-7 in his career against the Royals with a 5.63 ERA. Hudson has never started against the White Sox.

CNNSI: 'Moore Gets It'

CNNSI.com says that the Royals were “winners” at the trading deadline. Here’s what they say: “Dayton Moore has been a GM for all of five minutes, and he already gets it. The Schuerholz protégé showed he already knows how to hold a selloff (a necessity for a Royals exec) and topped it all off by landing Rockies first-base prospect Ryan Shealy, who was coveted by the Yankees and the Red Sox and who, according to one AL scout, is "Kevin Youkilis with big power.''

Honorable Mention

The Royals got “honorable mention” in the “winner” category at FoxSports.com regarding their recent trades. Here’s what they said: “New GM Dayton Moore made five trades in the final eight days before the deadline, acquiring young pitching in almost all of them. Two players he did not move, second baseman Mark Grudzielanek and left-hander Mark Redman, might clear waivers in August.”

Diaz was 'Expendable'

How about this for a little perspective from the Rangers website regarding the Diaz for Stairs trade:

“Both Chavez and Diaz were considered expendable, and [Rangers GM Jon] Daniels expressed relief and satisfaction that the Rangers were able to add to their Major League team without having to give up some of their best young prospects, including shortstop Joaquin Arias and pitchers John Danks, Thomas Diamond and Edinson Volquez. That was the goal, to improve the team now without hurting the future.”

I’m guessing that the Rangers wouldn’t have given us one of their prized pitching prospects for Matt Stairs, and Daniels is probably just saying what all general managers say after trading for a veteran at the end of his career—in that, they didn’t have to give up much to get him, but it’s still a little irritating to see in print, isn’t it?

The Trades

I don’t have a lot of in depth analysis to give you regarding the recent trades, but I will say that I’m optimistic because Dayton Moore is focused on getting good young arms, and based on his experience in Atlanta, he’s bound to be good at evaluating such things.

My only concern is that by trading away guys like Graffanino, Stairs, and Affeldt, is that we leave a void in the clubhouse. These guys have been around long enough to get the full baseball experience—the losing streaks, the winning streaks, the slumps, the hot streaks, the changing of managers, and the changing of general managers, the continual stream of trade rumors, and the criticisms of fans. All of that experience allows them to mentor younger players who have not had the same range of experience.

With that said, we’ve still got Grudzielanek, Mientkiewicz, Sanders, Sweeney, Elarton and Redman, but think about it. Elarton and Redman are really the only experienced pitchers we have, and both of them have only been with the team for half a season, and Elarton is probably done for the season. (Perez has quite a bit of major league experience, but from all I can tell, he’s got some issues to deal with.) I wouldn’t be surprised if Grudzielanek gets traded, even though the deadline has already passed. Mientkiewicz seems to be a great leader, but his days seem to be numbered with the acquisition of Ryan Shealy and with Justin Huber waiting in Omaha. Sanders and Sweeney are both hurt so often that they can’t be available as much as the young guys probably need them to be.

And that leaves us with a team full of guys who aren’t going to have many experienced veterans to turn to, or to correct them when necessary. I’m all for getting good young talent, but I think teams always need to keep a good mix of veterans around as well.

Hernandez Hit Hard

Game Date: July 31, 2006
Game Score: White Sox 8, Royals 4 / Box Score
WP: Contreras (10-3), LP: Hernandez (2-6)
Royal Home Runs: None
Royals Record: 37-68

I kept waiting for Bell to throw in the towel. Runelvys Hernandez was getting beat down so far that he may never recover. But Bell let the beating continue—maybe to prove a point about Hernandez’s poor conditioning, or maybe, since Bell’s options were limited, he wanted to see if Runelvys had what it takes to fight his way out of trouble. Whatever the case, it didn’t work.

Hernandez gave up three runs in the first inning on three hits, two walks, and two balks. And then the White Sox brought out the whupping stick and hit three home runs over the next two innings off Hernandez. Alex Cintron, Jermaine Dye, and Joe Crede all went yard. Hernandez’s fastball had almost no life to it. His velocity was up in the 92-93 mph range, but it just didn’t move and his control was awful. He paid the price. His ERA now stands at 7.88 and I can’t help but wonder if maybe the Runelvys Hernandez experiment is about to come to an end in Kansas City.

Unfortunately, Hernandez put the Royals so deep in the hole that they couldn’t get back out of it. They got some good swings against Contreras (who had a ton of life on his fastball). Grudzielanek and Brown both had two hits off of him. Mark Teahen walked twice against him. But they never could come up with the big hit when they needed it. In the second inning, with one out and two runs in, Gathright grounded into a double play with the bases loaded. In the second inning, with two outs and the bases loaded, Shane Costa popped up to third. If we could have taken advantage of one of those situations, the outcome might have been different.

Tonight, our line up should look a little more solid. Newly acquired first baseman Ryan Shealy will surely be playing first. And Reggie Sanders is set to return. Scott Dohmann showed up at Kauffman Stadium last night during the game, so he should be available if necessary tonight. And of course, Odalis Perez takes the mound for the first time in Royal blue. Should be a fun game to watch.

Perez is 4-4 with a 6.83 ERA. He’ll face Mark Buehrle who is 9-9 with a 4.81 ERA. Buehrle has made a career out of facing the Royals. He’s 13-6 against us lifetime with 3.24 ERA.