Couple things on Singer. IDK that I buy that some of those 90 mph pitches are changup. Maybe they are, but if that is the case I question why they are SO close in speed when part of the point is to throw off timing.
This isn’t anyone’s fault, because I’m fine with them holding on as well. But you start to have to wonder if maybe the Reds being interested wasn’t the high water mark of value on Singer. Cause it is sure looking like it would be hard to trade him this winter for good value. They have time for him to regain the value, and maybe the next deadline he’s back to normal. But it does make me hope we haven’t missed the best time on a guy yet again. Nobody has a crystal ball and it’s hard. Shoot the Rangers wouldn’t have traded Ragans if they did. But pitchers are a crap shoot. Lol.
I think at most it was three or four and I don't think I buy it, but I'm willing to entertain it. We'll see. I think the point of this particular changeup is that it's not just a changeup, but a split change, which means the velocity difference is theoretically a bit less important.
And for what it's worth regarding the Reds interest, I haven't heard anything more than they had talks. I'm sure half the teams in the league had interest in Singer, but who knows at what level? Maybe they offered Nick Senzel, which is not anything anyone wants for one of their two competent starting pitchers. I'll be curious to see if there's a market this winter.
Melendez has been great since the break, to the point that he's earned a spot in pen next year...if he isn't traded. I also thought the clock started fast and ended up hurting the White Sox. And yeah, Kowar has looked...okay? Weird.
I don't know, I'm just not sold on MJ as a contributor. Sure he's had a good month and a half, but this season is basically the reverse of last year in that he was great to start out and then tailed off as the season ended. That all works out to a slightly below league average bat over about 1000 PA. Add to that the fact that he's the 5th worst defender among qualified hitters over the past two years per Fangraphs' DEF metric, and you get a player that's been slightly worse than replacement level. He's had some hot stretches, but I just don't see him as anything more than a stopgap.
I think the history of the player matters too. I'd have to do some research and maybe I'm wrong, but I'd wager that there aren't many guys who were a top-five minor league bat at the highest levels just two years ago at 21 years old who put together a .298/.351/.526 stretch in 185 plate appearances who are only stopgaps. The defense is fair, but I think it's also fair that he's still never had an offseason as only an outfielder. He was catching to start the year, if you'll remember. I don't know if he'll ever be good, but he's been judged with a massive degree of difficulty due to that.
He does have a good prospect pedigree, but at some point he just needs to do it consistently. If he keeps hitting well through the end of the year maybe I'll change my tune, but he *really* needs to hit well if his defense is going to continue being that poor.
I think that’s fair. I also think a guy who has done it in the minors pretty recently is far more likely to be for real than someone who has never shown this before.
I was actually the one that wanted him in the outfield all the time earlier this year. But do you think he could be moved back to catcher if Salvy gets moved? As much as I hate moving a guy around year after year him and Fermin back there would make a lot of sense in helping this roster fit together better.
Hopefully this doesn't mean that they have to have walk-off balks to win a series now, since the last two series wins have featured them... :)
I'm glad you wrote specifically about two situations I was thinking about as they unfolded: Massey's AB in the sixth and the decision not to intentionally walk Salvy in the ninth with first base open and the winning run at third base.
For Massey, I was thinking that Shaw might walk him and set up a "Sonic Slam" AB for Mikael, but then he went and made that boneheaded throw to second. At that point, I was thinking "bird in the hand, man." Just ground out to second base and make sure that one run scores. I didn't think the Royals would have a problem scoring again (I was almost wrong). And Massey looked like he went out of his way to put a pitch in play to second base.
For Salvy, I was gobsmacked that they didn't walk him. I thought the same thing you did--borderline disrespectful. That disrespect went OVER the borderline in my estimation when they DID intentionally walk MJ with two outs. Of course, we know what happened next.
I'm still honestly shocked that they didn't walk Salvy. I don't get it at all outside of the righty-righty matchup. It worked for them until it didn't, but yeah. I don't get it.
I still am going back and forth on the Massey thing. It makes perfect sense, so I'm fine with it, but I still don't know if I agree with it. It's a good discussion.
Another thought: with Zerpa coming out of the bullpen last night, I guess they're not going with a six-man rotation and there's no thought to sitting Greinke. His starts provide nothing at this point, but maybe it's a courtesy to him as the farewell to a long and successful career. I don't think his miserable year this season really matters; it certainly didn't matter to the 2023 Royals and it shouldn't matter to anyone at BBWA.
I wonder a bit why they're still going with him and why they even started him when he had been sick, but yeah, maybe a courtesy. It won't impact his HOF chances, though.
That's an interesting observation about Massey's plate appearance on the RBI groundout. It illustrates the biggest difference I* have noticed under Zumwalt & co, which is that the guys seem come up to the plate with a specific plan in mind, instead of what seemed to be the "swing if it looks good" mindset before.
100% they have a plan at the plate, which I love even if I don't always agree with it. They need to be better at consistently executing, but the plan is the first step.
Some times you win ugly as the Royals did last night! But, to me winning ugly shows that these guys are beginning to mature and do what it takes to put the ball in play rather than looking at called third strikes like some of them did all last year!
Couple things on Singer. IDK that I buy that some of those 90 mph pitches are changup. Maybe they are, but if that is the case I question why they are SO close in speed when part of the point is to throw off timing.
This isn’t anyone’s fault, because I’m fine with them holding on as well. But you start to have to wonder if maybe the Reds being interested wasn’t the high water mark of value on Singer. Cause it is sure looking like it would be hard to trade him this winter for good value. They have time for him to regain the value, and maybe the next deadline he’s back to normal. But it does make me hope we haven’t missed the best time on a guy yet again. Nobody has a crystal ball and it’s hard. Shoot the Rangers wouldn’t have traded Ragans if they did. But pitchers are a crap shoot. Lol.
I think at most it was three or four and I don't think I buy it, but I'm willing to entertain it. We'll see. I think the point of this particular changeup is that it's not just a changeup, but a split change, which means the velocity difference is theoretically a bit less important.
And for what it's worth regarding the Reds interest, I haven't heard anything more than they had talks. I'm sure half the teams in the league had interest in Singer, but who knows at what level? Maybe they offered Nick Senzel, which is not anything anyone wants for one of their two competent starting pitchers. I'll be curious to see if there's a market this winter.
I had 3 thoughts at the end of the game.
1. Melendez has come a long way this season if the thought was to put him on base.
2. The pitch clock seemed to start really quick after the intentional walk.
3. Kowar didn't look half bad. Weird night when bullpen looks better than starters.
Melendez has been great since the break, to the point that he's earned a spot in pen next year...if he isn't traded. I also thought the clock started fast and ended up hurting the White Sox. And yeah, Kowar has looked...okay? Weird.
I don't know, I'm just not sold on MJ as a contributor. Sure he's had a good month and a half, but this season is basically the reverse of last year in that he was great to start out and then tailed off as the season ended. That all works out to a slightly below league average bat over about 1000 PA. Add to that the fact that he's the 5th worst defender among qualified hitters over the past two years per Fangraphs' DEF metric, and you get a player that's been slightly worse than replacement level. He's had some hot stretches, but I just don't see him as anything more than a stopgap.
I think the history of the player matters too. I'd have to do some research and maybe I'm wrong, but I'd wager that there aren't many guys who were a top-five minor league bat at the highest levels just two years ago at 21 years old who put together a .298/.351/.526 stretch in 185 plate appearances who are only stopgaps. The defense is fair, but I think it's also fair that he's still never had an offseason as only an outfielder. He was catching to start the year, if you'll remember. I don't know if he'll ever be good, but he's been judged with a massive degree of difficulty due to that.
He does have a good prospect pedigree, but at some point he just needs to do it consistently. If he keeps hitting well through the end of the year maybe I'll change my tune, but he *really* needs to hit well if his defense is going to continue being that poor.
I think that’s fair. I also think a guy who has done it in the minors pretty recently is far more likely to be for real than someone who has never shown this before.
I was actually the one that wanted him in the outfield all the time earlier this year. But do you think he could be moved back to catcher if Salvy gets moved? As much as I hate moving a guy around year after year him and Fermin back there would make a lot of sense in helping this roster fit together better.
Hopefully this doesn't mean that they have to have walk-off balks to win a series now, since the last two series wins have featured them... :)
I'm glad you wrote specifically about two situations I was thinking about as they unfolded: Massey's AB in the sixth and the decision not to intentionally walk Salvy in the ninth with first base open and the winning run at third base.
For Massey, I was thinking that Shaw might walk him and set up a "Sonic Slam" AB for Mikael, but then he went and made that boneheaded throw to second. At that point, I was thinking "bird in the hand, man." Just ground out to second base and make sure that one run scores. I didn't think the Royals would have a problem scoring again (I was almost wrong). And Massey looked like he went out of his way to put a pitch in play to second base.
For Salvy, I was gobsmacked that they didn't walk him. I thought the same thing you did--borderline disrespectful. That disrespect went OVER the borderline in my estimation when they DID intentionally walk MJ with two outs. Of course, we know what happened next.
I'm still honestly shocked that they didn't walk Salvy. I don't get it at all outside of the righty-righty matchup. It worked for them until it didn't, but yeah. I don't get it.
I still am going back and forth on the Massey thing. It makes perfect sense, so I'm fine with it, but I still don't know if I agree with it. It's a good discussion.
Another thought: with Zerpa coming out of the bullpen last night, I guess they're not going with a six-man rotation and there's no thought to sitting Greinke. His starts provide nothing at this point, but maybe it's a courtesy to him as the farewell to a long and successful career. I don't think his miserable year this season really matters; it certainly didn't matter to the 2023 Royals and it shouldn't matter to anyone at BBWA.
I wonder a bit why they're still going with him and why they even started him when he had been sick, but yeah, maybe a courtesy. It won't impact his HOF chances, though.
That's an interesting observation about Massey's plate appearance on the RBI groundout. It illustrates the biggest difference I* have noticed under Zumwalt & co, which is that the guys seem come up to the plate with a specific plan in mind, instead of what seemed to be the "swing if it looks good" mindset before.
* a decidedly amateur hitting analyst
100% they have a plan at the plate, which I love even if I don't always agree with it. They need to be better at consistently executing, but the plan is the first step.
I have no idea how Zerpa came away unscathed. Thank goodness for the White Sox, I guess
Some times you win ugly as the Royals did last night! But, to me winning ugly shows that these guys are beginning to mature and do what it takes to put the ball in play rather than looking at called third strikes like some of them did all last year!