The Royals trailed for all of about six minutes yesterday in grabbing two wins in one day. Rad Keller handled the first game and a bunch of rookies took care of game two.
Nice to see Witt Jr have himself a day. If Taylor is injured…..this nightmare is coming true!!! Merrifield out a number of weeks…..
However, I love the trade the front office made yesterday. Do I think Waters is the center fielder of the future? No…probably not. But just because of that it doesn’t mean it isn’t worth making. He’s 23, and I don’t mind change of scenery guys. Do I think the Braves front office is better and knows exactly what they are doing? Yes, yes I do after seeing a bit of Harris, Wright, Contreras, Strider, and of course Acuna come through the system here the last few years. To me the fact that they went and traded for an entirely NEW outfield last years speaks to where they were at with Waters. Which is fine, because he young, and its not like he isn’t talented. Maybe they find something, maybe they don’t. It’s a good trade for a thin position in the system. And more of what they should be doing this year.
I actually don't think Whit will be out that long. It sounds like he could be back after the break at least. I don't understand why they didn't just immediately put him on the IL, but that's the Royals for you.
The trade was interesting and while I do think the Braves are obviously smart, it's not like they don't make mistakes. And sometimes it's not even a mistake as much as the fact that some guys will just never flourish in that particular organization. It's a bizarre feeling to know that with the Royals hitting instruction THEY'RE a team that can fix issues, but it feels like this is a great landing spot for Waters. His issues are exactly what this group is good at working with, so I'm hopeful. But like I said, even if it doesn't work out, I appreciate the risk.
Whit's sudden toe injury happened to come just days before the team has to fly to Toronto, and for some reason the Royals aren't putting him on the IL. How far would the front office go to shield him from criticism? That's been on my mind this week.
I was at the game you were referencing with Shields against the Giants. He gave a salute to the bullpen after the final out. I immediately questioned the thought process when I saw Taylor being put into pitch Saturday. Like you said, why would you risk an injury with him when his trade value has most likely never been higher. I also questioned batting him leadoff yesterday. Leave him at the bottom of the lineup where he's had success. As far as a position player pitching, there is only player on current roster who should be doing that. His name is Ryan O'Hearn.
I don't even have an issue with him pitching. And maybe he didn't get hurt pitching and he just has a sore leg or something from sleeping funny, so I don't want to jump to conclusions, but that second inning was silly and even if he was having fun, if he hurt himself throwing 94, that's inexcusable on all fronts.
Part of this issue is its not even on Matheny really. Clearly Matheny said just get it over the plate. I think its entirely on Taylor if he hurt himself. Who knows if he did.
However…..I’d probably try and see how hard I could throw as well on one or two. Lol.
I have always been very high on Kyle Isbel, and it pains me to admit this, but I am starting to see things I don't like about his hitting. Except for that line drive in the first inning yesterday, he has not been hitting much the last two or three weeks. His fielding is still plus, plus. If they can turn around Waters, that will be a great trade they made yesterday. I like that they are being aggressive, instead of just playing it safe.
Isbel has been VERY disappointing. So many of the changes he made last year seem to be gone and I don't know why. That's a bad sign both for now and the future with him. I'm not saying he can't ever become something, but I don't like that he's crept back to his old stance.
We've got one young outfielder that can't field (Olivares) and one that can't hit (Isbel). I had hoped that Isbel might be another David DeJesus, but it now seems like he won't even be David Lough. I like Oli at the plate, but he's had enough time to fix his fielding deficits, and its not any better. Still not sold on Rivera either. Not clear to me that he's much better than Dozier defensively at 3B, and obviously, the Royals quite correctly think he's not good enough there. Rivera seems like a taller version of Cheslor Cuthbert.
Great point on Rivero. From since I was a kid, I was always told to charge balls at 3B. Rivero is always going back on ground balls. That just doesn't work. In today's baseball of scoring he might not have many errors, I don't know how many he has.. one thing for sure, he should have more than he actually has.
Just a reminder that Isbel has all of 224 plate appearances in the major leagues and development isn't a linear process ... or the same from player to player. Let's give him some more time.
I haven't completely given up on him, but things aren't trending in the right direction overall offensively. Right before he went out on Covid, he had gotten hot and was barreling the ball often. Hasn't been the same since. With Taylor likely to be traded, Isbel is likely our new CF. He has a 100 percentile rating on outfielder jumps, and 94th percentile in OAA. The defensive tools are there.
Offensively a couple of significant concerns. One, he hits the ball on the ground too much. Two, he takes an inordinate number of 3rd strikes. His K/BB rates are atrocious.
Couldn't agree with you more about Taylor, David. The minute I saw him pitching my first thought was, "There goes his trade value. The only questions are what injury will it be and how long will it take us to find out.'"
Your optimism about Waters may force me to revise my (more negative) opinion upwards a bit. But I have to say I'm having a hard time getting past that "1 HR for every 53 PA's against minor league pitching" stat. Please help me understand why I shouldn't be overly concerned about that!
He hasn't been a good hitter in the upper minors. As I wrote, if you're optimistic it can work out, it's because you believe in the Royals hitting development which has been quite good since they made changes. If you don't believe there's any chance they can help him, then that's that.
I guess I'm just having trouble holding on to the fact that a player, other than a pitcher, can come here from another org and actually improve. It just feels like a million years since that's been the case. Your point is well-taken, though.
I understand the logic there, but you also inadvertently sort of underscored my point, the key phrase being "improving when they leave the Royals." I don't think it's hard for any of us to believe that happens. But "improving when they join the Royals" is a different matter. It's going to take a while, at least for some of us, to establish that as a habit of thought. It's just so contrary to what we've seen lately, before Zumwalt and company came on board.
It seems like the Royals' starting pitchers -- whether at the big-league or minor-league level -- are No. 3 starters at best. Can a team seriously compete with a rotation of No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 starters? Where's the ace and the No. 2 starter? Do they have them anywhere in the system? Can they be acquired in a trade?
I think you can compete, especially with the extra playoff spot. I don't think you can win in the playoffs without a truly dominant 2014/2015-esque bullpen. Do they have it in the system? It's hard to say. Probably not in the upper levels, but I'll say that the reports I hear on Ben Kudrna are outstanding. The reality is it likely has to come in a trade. They've made that trade before, though, to get James Shields, so with their offensive depth, they could make a move.
2015 Royals until they acquired Cueto were a bunch of #3 starters. When you have no ace, it requires all of the rotation to be decent in order to be competitive, and a shutdown bullpen helps a lot.
Yesterday was a good day for the Royals. I didn't have time to watch as much of the games as I wanted, but I was so happy to see the scores. And what do you think it is with quiet bats and Keller? lol maybe he says, "Leave it all up to me guys! Just relax!" Thanks again for your posts about the games.
There's always a guy who gets the shaft with run support. And when you have an up and down offense like the Royals generally do, it's easy to see how it falls on Keller's days semi-randomly.
Tosar is generally given credit for helping Jorge Soler have that one monstrous HR year. But my memory is failing me a bit... Was Tosar actually working for the Royals back then? Or was he more of an independent consultant at the time?
He was independent at the time, but after he worked with Soler, Salvy and Maikel Franco, he was brought in along with Drew Saylor to help revamp the minor league hitting.
Vinnie is intriguing.... results haven't been great so far, but still, what makes him special is already showing despite the mediocre overall stats. He has more walks than Ks (9 vs 8). He shows extremely good pitch recognition skills, at least as far as balls and strikes, and extremely good bat to ball skills. He's gotten himself out mostly with weak contact. It remains to be seen how well he can start hunting pitches that he can drive. As I've said before, the only thing that makes this team watchable are the kids, and the hope that they can lead us back to competitiveness. Yesterday, that was on FULL display.
I think it's pretty much on full display every day, especially with Whit and Salvy out. The oldest player on the field is generally Taylor. They have a rookie at catcher, shortstop and first base/DH pretty much every day and then have a rookie in the outfield and one at third on many days and on the days they aren't playing, it's a 27-year old and a guy with just over a year of service time. The pitching staff, outside of Greinke and Amir Garrett, is all sub-30. This is a young team.
As for Vinnie, his xBA is .290 and his xSLG is .556. The hits were due and they're starting to come now.
His average exit velocity is 93.6 MPH. He has a 51.3% hard hit rate and 12.8% barrel rate. All are very good. You can find it all on baseballsavant.mlb.com.
He’s way lower on the defensive spectrum, older than Myers was and not putting up numbers as good, so it’s less. If they moved him, he’ll bring a good return, but Myers was a top-10 prospect.
Fair enough, thank you for that. One more question and I'll leave you alone for a while: out of the next 100 "potential trade" phone calls at the K, how many will be incoming and how many will be outgoing?
Or will there even be 100 such calls before the deadline?
I have no idea. There's no way for me to know that. They're making calls and they're taking calls. They'll make some trades and they'll keep some players that people will be pissed they didn't trade.
Nice to see Witt Jr have himself a day. If Taylor is injured…..this nightmare is coming true!!! Merrifield out a number of weeks…..
However, I love the trade the front office made yesterday. Do I think Waters is the center fielder of the future? No…probably not. But just because of that it doesn’t mean it isn’t worth making. He’s 23, and I don’t mind change of scenery guys. Do I think the Braves front office is better and knows exactly what they are doing? Yes, yes I do after seeing a bit of Harris, Wright, Contreras, Strider, and of course Acuna come through the system here the last few years. To me the fact that they went and traded for an entirely NEW outfield last years speaks to where they were at with Waters. Which is fine, because he young, and its not like he isn’t talented. Maybe they find something, maybe they don’t. It’s a good trade for a thin position in the system. And more of what they should be doing this year.
I actually don't think Whit will be out that long. It sounds like he could be back after the break at least. I don't understand why they didn't just immediately put him on the IL, but that's the Royals for you.
The trade was interesting and while I do think the Braves are obviously smart, it's not like they don't make mistakes. And sometimes it's not even a mistake as much as the fact that some guys will just never flourish in that particular organization. It's a bizarre feeling to know that with the Royals hitting instruction THEY'RE a team that can fix issues, but it feels like this is a great landing spot for Waters. His issues are exactly what this group is good at working with, so I'm hopeful. But like I said, even if it doesn't work out, I appreciate the risk.
Whit's sudden toe injury happened to come just days before the team has to fly to Toronto, and for some reason the Royals aren't putting him on the IL. How far would the front office go to shield him from criticism? That's been on my mind this week.
I was at the game you were referencing with Shields against the Giants. He gave a salute to the bullpen after the final out. I immediately questioned the thought process when I saw Taylor being put into pitch Saturday. Like you said, why would you risk an injury with him when his trade value has most likely never been higher. I also questioned batting him leadoff yesterday. Leave him at the bottom of the lineup where he's had success. As far as a position player pitching, there is only player on current roster who should be doing that. His name is Ryan O'Hearn.
I don't even have an issue with him pitching. And maybe he didn't get hurt pitching and he just has a sore leg or something from sleeping funny, so I don't want to jump to conclusions, but that second inning was silly and even if he was having fun, if he hurt himself throwing 94, that's inexcusable on all fronts.
Part of this issue is its not even on Matheny really. Clearly Matheny said just get it over the plate. I think its entirely on Taylor if he hurt himself. Who knows if he did.
However…..I’d probably try and see how hard I could throw as well on one or two. Lol.
Yeah, I mean it's hard to say where the blame would lie. And again, this is totally hypothetical at this point. Still, it's frustrating.
I agree partly with you on the Ohearn statement. The truth is that he shouldn't even be on this roster!!!
I have always been very high on Kyle Isbel, and it pains me to admit this, but I am starting to see things I don't like about his hitting. Except for that line drive in the first inning yesterday, he has not been hitting much the last two or three weeks. His fielding is still plus, plus. If they can turn around Waters, that will be a great trade they made yesterday. I like that they are being aggressive, instead of just playing it safe.
Isbel has been VERY disappointing. So many of the changes he made last year seem to be gone and I don't know why. That's a bad sign both for now and the future with him. I'm not saying he can't ever become something, but I don't like that he's crept back to his old stance.
We've got one young outfielder that can't field (Olivares) and one that can't hit (Isbel). I had hoped that Isbel might be another David DeJesus, but it now seems like he won't even be David Lough. I like Oli at the plate, but he's had enough time to fix his fielding deficits, and its not any better. Still not sold on Rivera either. Not clear to me that he's much better than Dozier defensively at 3B, and obviously, the Royals quite correctly think he's not good enough there. Rivera seems like a taller version of Cheslor Cuthbert.
Great point on Rivero. From since I was a kid, I was always told to charge balls at 3B. Rivero is always going back on ground balls. That just doesn't work. In today's baseball of scoring he might not have many errors, I don't know how many he has.. one thing for sure, he should have more than he actually has.
Just a reminder that Isbel has all of 224 plate appearances in the major leagues and development isn't a linear process ... or the same from player to player. Let's give him some more time.
I haven't completely given up on him, but things aren't trending in the right direction overall offensively. Right before he went out on Covid, he had gotten hot and was barreling the ball often. Hasn't been the same since. With Taylor likely to be traded, Isbel is likely our new CF. He has a 100 percentile rating on outfielder jumps, and 94th percentile in OAA. The defensive tools are there.
Offensively a couple of significant concerns. One, he hits the ball on the ground too much. Two, he takes an inordinate number of 3rd strikes. His K/BB rates are atrocious.
No, I am not, but it doesn't seem like he squaring near as many balls as he was. I really like him and I really hope he succeeds.
Couldn't agree with you more about Taylor, David. The minute I saw him pitching my first thought was, "There goes his trade value. The only questions are what injury will it be and how long will it take us to find out.'"
Your optimism about Waters may force me to revise my (more negative) opinion upwards a bit. But I have to say I'm having a hard time getting past that "1 HR for every 53 PA's against minor league pitching" stat. Please help me understand why I shouldn't be overly concerned about that!
He hasn't been a good hitter in the upper minors. As I wrote, if you're optimistic it can work out, it's because you believe in the Royals hitting development which has been quite good since they made changes. If you don't believe there's any chance they can help him, then that's that.
I guess I'm just having trouble holding on to the fact that a player, other than a pitcher, can come here from another org and actually improve. It just feels like a million years since that's been the case. Your point is well-taken, though.
With all the talk of pitchers improving when they leave the Royals, it shouldn't be that hard to think it's possible.
I understand the logic there, but you also inadvertently sort of underscored my point, the key phrase being "improving when they leave the Royals." I don't think it's hard for any of us to believe that happens. But "improving when they join the Royals" is a different matter. It's going to take a while, at least for some of us, to establish that as a habit of thought. It's just so contrary to what we've seen lately, before Zumwalt and company came on board.
Michael Taylor is having a pretty good year, with walk rates and OBP way in excess of career averages.
It seems like the Royals' starting pitchers -- whether at the big-league or minor-league level -- are No. 3 starters at best. Can a team seriously compete with a rotation of No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 starters? Where's the ace and the No. 2 starter? Do they have them anywhere in the system? Can they be acquired in a trade?
I think you can compete, especially with the extra playoff spot. I don't think you can win in the playoffs without a truly dominant 2014/2015-esque bullpen. Do they have it in the system? It's hard to say. Probably not in the upper levels, but I'll say that the reports I hear on Ben Kudrna are outstanding. The reality is it likely has to come in a trade. They've made that trade before, though, to get James Shields, so with their offensive depth, they could make a move.
2015 Royals until they acquired Cueto were a bunch of #3 starters. When you have no ace, it requires all of the rotation to be decent in order to be competitive, and a shutdown bullpen helps a lot.
Yesterday was a good day for the Royals. I didn't have time to watch as much of the games as I wanted, but I was so happy to see the scores. And what do you think it is with quiet bats and Keller? lol maybe he says, "Leave it all up to me guys! Just relax!" Thanks again for your posts about the games.
There's always a guy who gets the shaft with run support. And when you have an up and down offense like the Royals generally do, it's easy to see how it falls on Keller's days semi-randomly.
Tosar is generally given credit for helping Jorge Soler have that one monstrous HR year. But my memory is failing me a bit... Was Tosar actually working for the Royals back then? Or was he more of an independent consultant at the time?
Help, anyone?
He was independent at the time, but after he worked with Soler, Salvy and Maikel Franco, he was brought in along with Drew Saylor to help revamp the minor league hitting.
Thank you! It certainly seems as if they got that one right.
Vinnie is intriguing.... results haven't been great so far, but still, what makes him special is already showing despite the mediocre overall stats. He has more walks than Ks (9 vs 8). He shows extremely good pitch recognition skills, at least as far as balls and strikes, and extremely good bat to ball skills. He's gotten himself out mostly with weak contact. It remains to be seen how well he can start hunting pitches that he can drive. As I've said before, the only thing that makes this team watchable are the kids, and the hope that they can lead us back to competitiveness. Yesterday, that was on FULL display.
I think it's pretty much on full display every day, especially with Whit and Salvy out. The oldest player on the field is generally Taylor. They have a rookie at catcher, shortstop and first base/DH pretty much every day and then have a rookie in the outfield and one at third on many days and on the days they aren't playing, it's a 27-year old and a guy with just over a year of service time. The pitching staff, outside of Greinke and Amir Garrett, is all sub-30. This is a young team.
As for Vinnie, his xBA is .290 and his xSLG is .556. The hits were due and they're starting to come now.
What is his average exit velo? And on a broader note, where do you go to find out?
His average exit velocity is 93.6 MPH. He has a 51.3% hard hit rate and 12.8% barrel rate. All are very good. You can find it all on baseballsavant.mlb.com.
David - how would you compare Pratto's trade value right now with what Wil Myers was worth when they traded him to the Rays?
He’s way lower on the defensive spectrum, older than Myers was and not putting up numbers as good, so it’s less. If they moved him, he’ll bring a good return, but Myers was a top-10 prospect.
Fair enough, thank you for that. One more question and I'll leave you alone for a while: out of the next 100 "potential trade" phone calls at the K, how many will be incoming and how many will be outgoing?
Or will there even be 100 such calls before the deadline?
I have no idea. There's no way for me to know that. They're making calls and they're taking calls. They'll make some trades and they'll keep some players that people will be pissed they didn't trade.