Mr. L, can you please explain to me how Ryan O'Hearn keeps getting on the Major League roster year after year? Does he have dirt on somebody high up or is it just because he bats lefty and runs into one every now and then? Thanks.
I wouldn't worry too much about O'Hearn. By Piccollo's own words, they expect Pratto and Pasquantino to be on the field at the same time. Both for AAA now and in the future on the big league club. That doesn't leave much room for Santana or O'Hearn.
Terrific way to put this into perspective, David...it's the roster on one day out of 162. I think we do get too hung up on who makes Opening Day, and who doesn't. A couple of rocky outings by a pitcher, a weeks' worth of bad at bats, or (God forbid) a couple of injuries, and there could be 3-4 roster changes by mid-month. I have mentioned before, but much of this is a nice problem to have. Yes, we are hoping for some bounce-backs and guys reaching their potential, but overall it is great to have 6-7 rotation possibilities, and 3-4 top prospects sent to Omaha to get the chance to not just knock on the door, but hopefully bust it down!
It's definitely a good problem to have. I mean think about just a couple years ago when guys like Glenn Sparkman and Eric Skoglund were getting starts. Nothing against those guys, but I think we know that they're not quality big leaguers. Maybe we look back on this group in a few years and scoff, but at least these are legitimate prospects who are getting a shot.
I think the rotation is where it's the most interesting to see who's getting the starts, though. The Royals have a plethora of options for the rotation and it's not super clear how they all stack up against one another. Obviously the best way for that to happen is to let them play and see who performs. Is it not a definite sign of how the FO stacks these young guys up that Bubic and Hernandez are being given starts to open the season over Singer, Lynch, Kowar, Heasley, Zerpa?
The Singer/Lynch battle is really interesting to me for a few reasons: 1 - Why is MM now saying he prefers a 5 man rotation? Is it b/c he promised Grienke he'd pitch every 5 days? and 2 - Lynch gives us two Lefties in the rotation which gives us much more flexibility matchup-wise. I'd be interested to see an analysis of the % of LH hitters in our division.
Personally, with Brady's struggles through the second and third time in the order, I've always thought he was better suited for the pen. And Lynch has generally been considered to have the higher upside of the two, has outperformed Singer this Spring and has done so over a much bigger sample size thus far. So I'm pulling for Lynch in the rotation and Singer and his two pitches in the pen.
I am going to disagree with you on one spot: Kowar goes down and Snyder makes the cut. 4 hits and a run in 6 innings is a solid Spring and historically the kid doesn't walk many at all - we need pitchers like that in our Middle relief crew. I know he has been caught giving up the long ball, but many long balls are outs at the K.
I think every manager prefers a five man rotation because it's what they're used to and what so many pitchers are used to. That obviously doesn't mean it has to be that way forever. They used to be used to a four man rotation. But I don't think it has to do with Greinke because you could just keep him on schedule if need be.
As for flexibility, I don't personally really care all that much about the lefties, especially when you look at the division. The White Sox are righty heavy. The Twins best hitters are generally right-handed. The Tigers are super righty heavy. The Guardians can't really hit, but their best hitters are all right-handed. So if anything, you might want to move away from lefties there.
And while I do think Singer could do well in the pen, I don't think he has the mentality for it. Danny Duffy got a lot of crap for folding under pressure, but it seems like Singer truly does and doesn't get called out much for it. The numbers against him jump pretty dramatically between nobody on and runners on. So while the pitch mix and the fact that he seems to struggle later point to a bullpen guy, I'm just not so sure he can handle it. But I also think Lynch is better, so I don't know the best answer.
And you might be right on Snider. I did struggle a bit with that. I think it depends a bit on how much the Royals think they might need bullpen innings. Again, the first roster is just a snapshot in time. Kowar could be up for 10 days while they want length in the bullpen and then Snider comes up. Or maybe Snider makes the club. There's just a lot of room for movement.
I do think Singer will figure it out eventually. In some of the interviews I was able to see, he appeared to show a level of maturity that at times was lacking in the past.
No Chris Owings?
It really hurt me to not include him. Can you please give me some space?
Mr. L, can you please explain to me how Ryan O'Hearn keeps getting on the Major League roster year after year? Does he have dirt on somebody high up or is it just because he bats lefty and runs into one every now and then? Thanks.
I’m going to make this answer short. I cannot explain it and I hate it.
I wouldn't worry too much about O'Hearn. By Piccollo's own words, they expect Pratto and Pasquantino to be on the field at the same time. Both for AAA now and in the future on the big league club. That doesn't leave much room for Santana or O'Hearn.
Terry - A Royals opening day roster without a Ryan? Are you a new Royals fan or do you just not appreciate tradition lol?
Who will be dropped from 40 man to accomodate adding Bobby Witt to 40 man?
There a couple options. Bowlan can go to the 60-day or maybe Gabe Speier gets bumped.
Terrific way to put this into perspective, David...it's the roster on one day out of 162. I think we do get too hung up on who makes Opening Day, and who doesn't. A couple of rocky outings by a pitcher, a weeks' worth of bad at bats, or (God forbid) a couple of injuries, and there could be 3-4 roster changes by mid-month. I have mentioned before, but much of this is a nice problem to have. Yes, we are hoping for some bounce-backs and guys reaching their potential, but overall it is great to have 6-7 rotation possibilities, and 3-4 top prospects sent to Omaha to get the chance to not just knock on the door, but hopefully bust it down!
It's definitely a good problem to have. I mean think about just a couple years ago when guys like Glenn Sparkman and Eric Skoglund were getting starts. Nothing against those guys, but I think we know that they're not quality big leaguers. Maybe we look back on this group in a few years and scoff, but at least these are legitimate prospects who are getting a shot.
I think the rotation is where it's the most interesting to see who's getting the starts, though. The Royals have a plethora of options for the rotation and it's not super clear how they all stack up against one another. Obviously the best way for that to happen is to let them play and see who performs. Is it not a definite sign of how the FO stacks these young guys up that Bubic and Hernandez are being given starts to open the season over Singer, Lynch, Kowar, Heasley, Zerpa?
The Singer/Lynch battle is really interesting to me for a few reasons: 1 - Why is MM now saying he prefers a 5 man rotation? Is it b/c he promised Grienke he'd pitch every 5 days? and 2 - Lynch gives us two Lefties in the rotation which gives us much more flexibility matchup-wise. I'd be interested to see an analysis of the % of LH hitters in our division.
Personally, with Brady's struggles through the second and third time in the order, I've always thought he was better suited for the pen. And Lynch has generally been considered to have the higher upside of the two, has outperformed Singer this Spring and has done so over a much bigger sample size thus far. So I'm pulling for Lynch in the rotation and Singer and his two pitches in the pen.
I am going to disagree with you on one spot: Kowar goes down and Snyder makes the cut. 4 hits and a run in 6 innings is a solid Spring and historically the kid doesn't walk many at all - we need pitchers like that in our Middle relief crew. I know he has been caught giving up the long ball, but many long balls are outs at the K.
I think every manager prefers a five man rotation because it's what they're used to and what so many pitchers are used to. That obviously doesn't mean it has to be that way forever. They used to be used to a four man rotation. But I don't think it has to do with Greinke because you could just keep him on schedule if need be.
As for flexibility, I don't personally really care all that much about the lefties, especially when you look at the division. The White Sox are righty heavy. The Twins best hitters are generally right-handed. The Tigers are super righty heavy. The Guardians can't really hit, but their best hitters are all right-handed. So if anything, you might want to move away from lefties there.
And while I do think Singer could do well in the pen, I don't think he has the mentality for it. Danny Duffy got a lot of crap for folding under pressure, but it seems like Singer truly does and doesn't get called out much for it. The numbers against him jump pretty dramatically between nobody on and runners on. So while the pitch mix and the fact that he seems to struggle later point to a bullpen guy, I'm just not so sure he can handle it. But I also think Lynch is better, so I don't know the best answer.
And you might be right on Snider. I did struggle a bit with that. I think it depends a bit on how much the Royals think they might need bullpen innings. Again, the first roster is just a snapshot in time. Kowar could be up for 10 days while they want length in the bullpen and then Snider comes up. Or maybe Snider makes the club. There's just a lot of room for movement.
Lol - so we both were right. And I was gonna bet you a Arthur Bryant's Sausage sandwich (you got to go no sauce on those)!
Singer was scheduled to start today. Did he get injured?
I have no idea. Sometimes those spring probables aren’t that reliable.
I do think Singer will figure it out eventually. In some of the interviews I was able to see, he appeared to show a level of maturity that at times was lacking in the past.