I can see the talent with Marsh. And like you said, anyone that can throw 5 pitches…..I can get behind them figuring thing out more. I don’t know how they get the walks and home runs down a little bit. Still too high but there is definitely something to work with. If it’s a bulk guy so be it. Just give us average innings…which I think he can.
Man, the White Sox are terrible though. It’s end of year September playing it out I get….but I think besides Roberts….(maybe you say the same thing with the Royals in…besides Witt Jr) they are just awful. Lol.
The walks are actually getting a bit better. 37.1 innings since the start of August with 19 walks isn't great, but in seven of the eight bulk games/starts, he's walked only one or two. And amazingly only six homers in that time, which is also still a touch high but manageable high.
The difference between the White Sox and Royals right now, that I can see (and Tuesday night notwithstanding) is that they seem to generally not really have a lot of fight while the Royals do. It doesn't make the Royals better, but it makes them slightly more watchable. I watch a decent amount of White Sox because I love Jason Benetti and they're a tough watch.
Yeah you are spot on that White Sox aren’t showing any fight anymore. They seem to have the carbon copy look of a team that is literally just playing out the rest of the season and know they have to be out there.
I think some of that is the difference between veterans and young guys. Even their younger players by age have been around for awhile. Robert is 25 and in his fourth year. Jimenez is 26 and in his fifth. At some point, it's just the end of another season while I don't get the sense many Royals players feel that way yet.
Swings and misses, especially in the zone, is such a super power. Royals need as many of these guys as they can get and they shouldn't give up on them. Great write up!
I think it's worth noting that they got chases on pitches that weren't in the zone. It's not just about throwing pitches that would be called strikes because that'll get your brains beat in if you exclusively live there. They looked good though.
I’m going to divert from pitching, but I did enjoy your take on using an opener. Hey we’re always going to have to be unconventional in our pitching to be solid 1-5.
I’ve seen the offense trending where they need to, to score enough 1-9 to win. I wouldn’t say this is a bad offense, I’d say this is how the majority of games are going to go over a season. As you pointed out about the Astros. Earlier they were either all slumping or all on fire. Lately I think they’ve figured out how to score enough to keep us in games. And each night may be a different player(s) that comes through. Perhaps fans have overlooked that bc of our pitching & it’s not translated to W’s.
I do think we all feel better about the offense more than the pitching. No question….but I do look at it sometimes and think, they are 25th out of 30 teams on runs scored. This offense isn’t exactly good….or even average. So, long way to go on both, but yeah the pitching is the biggest concern.
I think one thing that's tough with a team like this is to look at the whole season and realize it might not be as informative as it seems. For example, in April, Hunter Dozier, Nicky Lopez, Franmil Reyes and Jackie Bradley Jr. combined for 247 plate appearances out of 1,058 for the team. If you want to add in the 45 from Matt Duffy, that's more than a quarter of the plate appearances for this team from players they've already moved on from or are completely irrelevant to the future. By May, that was already down to 12.6%. The percentage of plate appearances by people totally irrelevant to the future is 7.9% since the break. I think if you're evaluating for the future, that's why the recent performance is more important.
Yeah for sure. My only not push back….but maybe caution with that is what happens the rest of this year doesn’t exactly mean that’s how it is going to play out next year. It’s almost the back of the baseball card argument I guess. Just meaning, if Massey goes out and tanks the first part of the year again…we can say he’s a slow starter but at some point your total numbers are what they are kind of thing. Not trying to be argumentative here…and the trend is much better and I’m certainly glad they have moved on from those guys. I know a lot of people thought they could have been an above average offensive team going into this year. I think the pieces are still there to be average….but if they got one more solid bat I wouldn’t complain. Lol.
Oh absolutely. Nothing is guaranteed. I just think I'd rather watch them have an average to above average offense with guys who can be a part of the future than with a bunch of has-beens. I've got something started already for what I'd do this offseason and, spoiler alert, it includes reconfiguring the position players in a big way and bringing in a legitimate bat to join Vinnie and Bobby.
Yes. But since the break they jumped from 25th to 13th in runs scored, and 26th to 8th in AVG. And there was a lot of mess in the first half of the season as Dave pointed out. I think we’re Looking at the future team of position players and those numbers will play
The trend for the offense is good, and I think it's a lot easier to be encouraged by the youngest offense in baseball than it is to be encouraged by the 15th youngest pitching staff (or whatever it is today, they're close with a couple of teams). Plus, when you see 4.7 runs per game since the break, a roughly average wRC+ and an offensive identity actually forming, it helps a lot too.
Yeah, part of it too is I can squint and see a path for the offense. You’re telling me Vinny is coming back healthy? Sure, I’ll buy that…that’s a big help. I can multiple ways for that to get better yet. The pitching….I’m squinting David…..I’m still squinting. Lol.
I don’t see the concern. Just pitch Ragans one day, then opener/Marsh the next and then Ragans the next and opener/Marsh the next and keep going. It’ll be fine.
The Royals could have a lot of guys capable of hitting over 20 homers next year. Witt, Salvy, Vinnie, Massey, Fermin,the outfielder from the Cubs, and Melendez. 7 guys playing 50% of their games in the huge K stadium! I also like the speed that will be on the team next year because speed is always on when the bats go silent!!!
I can see the talent with Marsh. And like you said, anyone that can throw 5 pitches…..I can get behind them figuring thing out more. I don’t know how they get the walks and home runs down a little bit. Still too high but there is definitely something to work with. If it’s a bulk guy so be it. Just give us average innings…which I think he can.
Man, the White Sox are terrible though. It’s end of year September playing it out I get….but I think besides Roberts….(maybe you say the same thing with the Royals in…besides Witt Jr) they are just awful. Lol.
The walks are actually getting a bit better. 37.1 innings since the start of August with 19 walks isn't great, but in seven of the eight bulk games/starts, he's walked only one or two. And amazingly only six homers in that time, which is also still a touch high but manageable high.
The difference between the White Sox and Royals right now, that I can see (and Tuesday night notwithstanding) is that they seem to generally not really have a lot of fight while the Royals do. It doesn't make the Royals better, but it makes them slightly more watchable. I watch a decent amount of White Sox because I love Jason Benetti and they're a tough watch.
Yeah you are spot on that White Sox aren’t showing any fight anymore. They seem to have the carbon copy look of a team that is literally just playing out the rest of the season and know they have to be out there.
I think some of that is the difference between veterans and young guys. Even their younger players by age have been around for awhile. Robert is 25 and in his fourth year. Jimenez is 26 and in his fifth. At some point, it's just the end of another season while I don't get the sense many Royals players feel that way yet.
Benetti's so friggin' good. I also enjoy him as a semi-regular guest on the "Never Not Funny" podcast.
He's great everywhere. Really wasted on the White Sox.
Swings and misses, especially in the zone, is such a super power. Royals need as many of these guys as they can get and they shouldn't give up on them. Great write up!
Thank you! Yeah, I'll take the guy who can get some whiffs and see how he can progress.
McArthur and Davidson threw strikes, each one throwing one ball. It looks like they were filling the zone.
I think it's worth noting that they got chases on pitches that weren't in the zone. It's not just about throwing pitches that would be called strikes because that'll get your brains beat in if you exclusively live there. They looked good though.
I’m going to divert from pitching, but I did enjoy your take on using an opener. Hey we’re always going to have to be unconventional in our pitching to be solid 1-5.
I’ve seen the offense trending where they need to, to score enough 1-9 to win. I wouldn’t say this is a bad offense, I’d say this is how the majority of games are going to go over a season. As you pointed out about the Astros. Earlier they were either all slumping or all on fire. Lately I think they’ve figured out how to score enough to keep us in games. And each night may be a different player(s) that comes through. Perhaps fans have overlooked that bc of our pitching & it’s not translated to W’s.
I do think we all feel better about the offense more than the pitching. No question….but I do look at it sometimes and think, they are 25th out of 30 teams on runs scored. This offense isn’t exactly good….or even average. So, long way to go on both, but yeah the pitching is the biggest concern.
I think one thing that's tough with a team like this is to look at the whole season and realize it might not be as informative as it seems. For example, in April, Hunter Dozier, Nicky Lopez, Franmil Reyes and Jackie Bradley Jr. combined for 247 plate appearances out of 1,058 for the team. If you want to add in the 45 from Matt Duffy, that's more than a quarter of the plate appearances for this team from players they've already moved on from or are completely irrelevant to the future. By May, that was already down to 12.6%. The percentage of plate appearances by people totally irrelevant to the future is 7.9% since the break. I think if you're evaluating for the future, that's why the recent performance is more important.
Yeah for sure. My only not push back….but maybe caution with that is what happens the rest of this year doesn’t exactly mean that’s how it is going to play out next year. It’s almost the back of the baseball card argument I guess. Just meaning, if Massey goes out and tanks the first part of the year again…we can say he’s a slow starter but at some point your total numbers are what they are kind of thing. Not trying to be argumentative here…and the trend is much better and I’m certainly glad they have moved on from those guys. I know a lot of people thought they could have been an above average offensive team going into this year. I think the pieces are still there to be average….but if they got one more solid bat I wouldn’t complain. Lol.
Oh absolutely. Nothing is guaranteed. I just think I'd rather watch them have an average to above average offense with guys who can be a part of the future than with a bunch of has-beens. I've got something started already for what I'd do this offseason and, spoiler alert, it includes reconfiguring the position players in a big way and bringing in a legitimate bat to join Vinnie and Bobby.
Yes. But since the break they jumped from 25th to 13th in runs scored, and 26th to 8th in AVG. And there was a lot of mess in the first half of the season as Dave pointed out. I think we’re Looking at the future team of position players and those numbers will play
The trend for the offense is good, and I think it's a lot easier to be encouraged by the youngest offense in baseball than it is to be encouraged by the 15th youngest pitching staff (or whatever it is today, they're close with a couple of teams). Plus, when you see 4.7 runs per game since the break, a roughly average wRC+ and an offensive identity actually forming, it helps a lot too.
Yeah, part of it too is I can squint and see a path for the offense. You’re telling me Vinny is coming back healthy? Sure, I’ll buy that…that’s a big help. I can multiple ways for that to get better yet. The pitching….I’m squinting David…..I’m still squinting. Lol.
I don’t see the concern. Just pitch Ragans one day, then opener/Marsh the next and then Ragans the next and opener/Marsh the next and keep going. It’ll be fine.
The Royals could have a lot of guys capable of hitting over 20 homers next year. Witt, Salvy, Vinnie, Massey, Fermin,the outfielder from the Cubs, and Melendez. 7 guys playing 50% of their games in the huge K stadium! I also like the speed that will be on the team next year because speed is always on when the bats go silent!!!