Well, I’m not going to complain. It was a solid day. Ragans did what he was supposed to. The bullpen, for the most part, was fine. I can’t say one game means too much. But it did feel a little like a microcosm of what I kinda expect this year. I expect the pitching to be better and the Royals to be in games longer. Some of which they will pull out in the end. Its baseball.
I am however, going to say my concern coming into the year was the offense and they didn’t really do anything calm those. Garcia looked good…if he takes a step that certainly helps. But they just don’t get on base. It’s the same conversation every time. We have some pop…but nobody grinds at bats and takes a walk. Just one game. But yes, offensively it looked pretty similar. I’m still positive overall though.
I don’t think they get on base enough as a whole, but you can argue they should expect a .330 or better OBP from four of the top five hitters. That’s at least something. I didn’t get into it that much because I didn’t want to just rewrite last year’s Opening Day article but Pablo Lopez is really, really good. He only made 21 pitches that the Royals didn’t really have to even think on to take. And that’s just from a chart. Some of those were tougher than the location indicates. I’m not saying they’re sure to hit, but I’m not going to judge anything on a day where hitters are generally a little more amped up and the pitcher throws that many competitive pitches.
Yeah, I don’t want to make too much out of one game either. It doesn’t mean it’s the same as you said. I do think from watching the game though it brings you back to reality a little bit. Only meaning, I had a small hope of competing for the division. But watching the game yesterday with them against Ragans. The Twins are a better lineup and veteran at bats. Couple that with the pitching they have and they will probably win the division. Only way that blows up is they have a lineup full of people that get hurt every other day. Lol. It’s only one day, and hopefully the offense settled in. Just need to remind myself I picked mid 70’s win total. Damn the off day after opening day!
OH, what else struck me yesterday is that Salvy if AWFUL at pitch framing. Just awful. You don’t have to pull the glove all the way back to the middle of the plate Salvy. Just move an inch from where the ball hits the glove.
That is something I couldn’t see from the stands but based on the pitch plots, the Royals actually had more balls called strikes than the Twins did. So at least there’s that.
I probably only noticed it because I was more focused on Ragans than Lopez pitching. Mainly because Ragans is cy young winner, best friend, first round fantasy pick, mvp, basically my early Zack Greinke.
When you watch on t.v. If you notice it. I just felt like, man, get Fermin in there to help out Ragans. But it probably wasn’t that bad. Get to the auto zone already people.
Ragans is all those things and more and I’m offended you didn’t mention them all. But yeah, the auto zone however it happens needs to happen next year.
Thanks for stating what I thought all last year (& shouted to the TV). I love Salvy--but I don't understand HE doesn't that his overly obvious motion is probably insulting to the umpire.... Can't the catching coach provide a friendly suggestion to him?!
The path to the Royals winning the division is that the Twins rotation could conceivably fall off a fair amount after Lopez (and maybe Ryan) and that their offense has a bunch of guys who have had a lot of trouble staying healthy. A 4-1 loss to their one sure thing pitcher when they had their offense in place for a day (okay, three innings) probably doesn’t change the path to the Royals surprising.
It also requires young bats to step up which they didn’t for a day against the Twins best pitcher. I mean I predicted 75 wins and the Twins to win 87, so I obviously believe the Twins are the better team, but if any kind of expectations were changed after yesterday, you were lying to yourself in the first place.
I realized yesterday that I’m giving the Royals a way shorter mental leash this year than I ever have before. I’ve spent 3 months getting excited for how things could finally be different this year, and I couldn’t even finish watching the game yesterday because my jaded-fan mentality had already kicked in by the 8th inning, which usually doesn’t happen until they are 15 games behind and out of contention in May. So yes, it felt exactly like any normal random game from the last few years where you knew that even if their pitching didn’t implode at some point, the offense had already decided to take the day off and there was no reason to keep watching.
I think I just realized during the game the approach was exactly the same. It’s opening day, you know Lopez is on a shorter leash. And they didn’t work him at all. I think he came out after 7 only throwing 80 pitches. He easily could have gone longer. The only disappointment I had was the approach on offense. And look, the Twins are a deeper, better team. They just are, but that’s also why they are the favorite to win the division.
It struck me as so interesting how the vibes on social media were the same as last year after months of optimism, albeit tepid optimism. Ultimately I’m confident things will be different. They just weren’t yesterday.
I'm still optimistic. When I saw that it was Lopez on opening day again, I had a silent dread in the back of my mind that it was going to go a lot like last year. And the results were ultimately the same, but it didn't REALLY go like it did last year. Last year we had nothing but question marks. And Greinke. Even Bobby was a question mark. I mean, I guess years of pessimism have left a sort of lower-case question mark in the back of my head about EVERYONE on the field this year (will Bobby regress? will Ragans' arm explode? will Vinnie never recover from his surgery? will Frazier end up being the best player on this team? there's no end to possible nightmare scenarios!), but that's just me.
What we got was Garcia hitting 1/4 of the total number of homers he hit last year in the first day and Ragans striking out 9 in what I'd call a pretty pedestrian performance compared to his usual stuff. That's great! If Vinnie and Bobby get back to business, all of a sudden yesterday would have been a game again. And I also keep reminding myself that this month is gonna kinda suck. Their schedule, aside from the Royals Reunion games with the Sox, is tuuuuuufff. Judgment must be reserved until the end of May! Then, though, all bets are off (and my fantasy team will be lost, too, because I bet the farm going in on Vinnie, Garcia, and Ragans).
Totally agree that it was the same but different. I think people don’t realize just how good Lopez is.
Definitely a tough schedule to start but I think they’ll compete every game, and win a lot more of them than they did last year when it’s all said and done.
The last thing I noticed yesterday. And IDK why it felt different yesterday as opposed to the last half of the year last year. Although, even then I was paying attention more. And maybe this is just me, but when you have a legit ace on your team, your fans pay attention more. I pay attention more. I may not catch every Wacha, or Singer start. But man, it reminded me of the old Zack Greinke days. We could lose 90 games again this year. But when you have a cy young candidate on your team. Work? Pshhh, I’ll watch my ride or die Ragans pitch. I’d venture to say that for at least one out of every 5 days the Royals are guaranteed to have my eyeballs.
Oh absolutely. Baseball is such a daily grind that only the most elite of elite position players grab your attention daily. It’s a game of failure. You love Bobby Witt Jr. but you could watch him every day for a week, see him go 4 for 23 with four singles and he’d still hit .290/.330/.510 for the year. But an ace pitcher isn’t out there 150+ times. And the bad days are way fewer than what you see from the every day guys.
People have to get out of football mode. It's a 162 game season, not 17. I just chalk this up to one of the 60 games everybody knows they're going to lose before the season starts and move on.
If troubling patterns start to form then we can get worried but for now, it's one game against a good pitcher in front of one of the biggest home crowds much of the roster has ever played in front of.
Absolutely. Logically that makes total sense, but I also understand the thought that many of the same issues that plagued them last year plagued them yesterday. It’s certainly no reason to alter any expectations though.
Gut punch. No logic to it, but that one hurt. If you had told me yesterday morning that they would get 1 win in this series I would have been happy with it. I guess I can blame Ragans and Garcia for making me believe they would win that one. Ragans had incredible composure after a 1st inning homer and a dicey 3rd. Wow - he might truly be an ace. And how much fun was that Garcia homer? (I really like him, I will be sad when they trade him) Oh well, I turned the royals hat I was wearing inside out and threw it on the top shelf (again, completely unreasonable superstitions after 1 game), so I am betting they get a win this weekend ;)
There is something special about opening day that causes fans to be overly euphoric over a win and overly crushed over a loss. Plus, in the Royals case, it's easy to extrapolate last years disaster into this year until they prove they really are better. If they are 15 games under .500 by late may, the fans will run out of the turnstiles and start counting down the days till the Chiefs begin training camp. Let's hope the Royals can keep it interesting deep into Summer.
That’s certainly a factor. It’s also that while this is game one of 162, it was also game one of one. Nothing else exists for comparison. If they lose this game when they’re 41-49, it’s just a game. But it’s all anyone has to go by this year so far.
It's one of 162, but man, it would've been nice to give a somewhat skeptical (and maybe spoiled by the Chiefs) sellout crowd a game that felt a little more compelling. Or maybe that's just what the guy says that flew in from Dallas for one game and talked his wife into joining him...hard to say. Great write-up as usual, David.
I just liked being at the ballpark again. And delighted by Maikel Garcia! And happy to see Bobby steal and try. I think the wind was a factor, as was the slight chill in the air. Will be missing that chill come July.
Was at the game by 1 pm, nice event for season ticket holders at the little k. Great band playing, fun atmosphere but didn’t feel the buzz. I would say “polite excitement” would be a good description of pre game, loudest applause was definitely when Andy came on to throw out the first ball. Ragans thru well (although he gives up 3 if the twins runner doesn’t pull up lame rounding 3rd) would love to have seen Loftin at 2nd and Pratto in rf, batting 6-7, could have been a different outcome,
I was out there at that little party. Then I walked around and it was like being at two different places. Chatted with some random people just to gauge their thoughts and there was legit buzz outside of that.
Well, I’m not going to complain. It was a solid day. Ragans did what he was supposed to. The bullpen, for the most part, was fine. I can’t say one game means too much. But it did feel a little like a microcosm of what I kinda expect this year. I expect the pitching to be better and the Royals to be in games longer. Some of which they will pull out in the end. Its baseball.
I am however, going to say my concern coming into the year was the offense and they didn’t really do anything calm those. Garcia looked good…if he takes a step that certainly helps. But they just don’t get on base. It’s the same conversation every time. We have some pop…but nobody grinds at bats and takes a walk. Just one game. But yes, offensively it looked pretty similar. I’m still positive overall though.
I don’t think they get on base enough as a whole, but you can argue they should expect a .330 or better OBP from four of the top five hitters. That’s at least something. I didn’t get into it that much because I didn’t want to just rewrite last year’s Opening Day article but Pablo Lopez is really, really good. He only made 21 pitches that the Royals didn’t really have to even think on to take. And that’s just from a chart. Some of those were tougher than the location indicates. I’m not saying they’re sure to hit, but I’m not going to judge anything on a day where hitters are generally a little more amped up and the pitcher throws that many competitive pitches.
Yeah, I don’t want to make too much out of one game either. It doesn’t mean it’s the same as you said. I do think from watching the game though it brings you back to reality a little bit. Only meaning, I had a small hope of competing for the division. But watching the game yesterday with them against Ragans. The Twins are a better lineup and veteran at bats. Couple that with the pitching they have and they will probably win the division. Only way that blows up is they have a lineup full of people that get hurt every other day. Lol. It’s only one day, and hopefully the offense settled in. Just need to remind myself I picked mid 70’s win total. Damn the off day after opening day!
OH, what else struck me yesterday is that Salvy if AWFUL at pitch framing. Just awful. You don’t have to pull the glove all the way back to the middle of the plate Salvy. Just move an inch from where the ball hits the glove.
That is something I couldn’t see from the stands but based on the pitch plots, the Royals actually had more balls called strikes than the Twins did. So at least there’s that.
I probably only noticed it because I was more focused on Ragans than Lopez pitching. Mainly because Ragans is cy young winner, best friend, first round fantasy pick, mvp, basically my early Zack Greinke.
When you watch on t.v. If you notice it. I just felt like, man, get Fermin in there to help out Ragans. But it probably wasn’t that bad. Get to the auto zone already people.
Ragans is all those things and more and I’m offended you didn’t mention them all. But yeah, the auto zone however it happens needs to happen next year.
Thanks for stating what I thought all last year (& shouted to the TV). I love Salvy--but I don't understand HE doesn't that his overly obvious motion is probably insulting to the umpire.... Can't the catching coach provide a friendly suggestion to him?!
The path to the Royals winning the division is that the Twins rotation could conceivably fall off a fair amount after Lopez (and maybe Ryan) and that their offense has a bunch of guys who have had a lot of trouble staying healthy. A 4-1 loss to their one sure thing pitcher when they had their offense in place for a day (okay, three innings) probably doesn’t change the path to the Royals surprising.
It also requires young bats to step up which they didn’t for a day against the Twins best pitcher. I mean I predicted 75 wins and the Twins to win 87, so I obviously believe the Twins are the better team, but if any kind of expectations were changed after yesterday, you were lying to yourself in the first place.
I realized yesterday that I’m giving the Royals a way shorter mental leash this year than I ever have before. I’ve spent 3 months getting excited for how things could finally be different this year, and I couldn’t even finish watching the game yesterday because my jaded-fan mentality had already kicked in by the 8th inning, which usually doesn’t happen until they are 15 games behind and out of contention in May. So yes, it felt exactly like any normal random game from the last few years where you knew that even if their pitching didn’t implode at some point, the offense had already decided to take the day off and there was no reason to keep watching.
I don’t know that it was that bad. Lol.
I think I just realized during the game the approach was exactly the same. It’s opening day, you know Lopez is on a shorter leash. And they didn’t work him at all. I think he came out after 7 only throwing 80 pitches. He easily could have gone longer. The only disappointment I had was the approach on offense. And look, the Twins are a deeper, better team. They just are, but that’s also why they are the favorite to win the division.
It struck me as so interesting how the vibes on social media were the same as last year after months of optimism, albeit tepid optimism. Ultimately I’m confident things will be different. They just weren’t yesterday.
Great article, David! Ragans looked really good but I'm just chalking this one up to Pablo Lopez just being dominate.
Thank you! Yep, he’s really good.
I'm still optimistic. When I saw that it was Lopez on opening day again, I had a silent dread in the back of my mind that it was going to go a lot like last year. And the results were ultimately the same, but it didn't REALLY go like it did last year. Last year we had nothing but question marks. And Greinke. Even Bobby was a question mark. I mean, I guess years of pessimism have left a sort of lower-case question mark in the back of my head about EVERYONE on the field this year (will Bobby regress? will Ragans' arm explode? will Vinnie never recover from his surgery? will Frazier end up being the best player on this team? there's no end to possible nightmare scenarios!), but that's just me.
What we got was Garcia hitting 1/4 of the total number of homers he hit last year in the first day and Ragans striking out 9 in what I'd call a pretty pedestrian performance compared to his usual stuff. That's great! If Vinnie and Bobby get back to business, all of a sudden yesterday would have been a game again. And I also keep reminding myself that this month is gonna kinda suck. Their schedule, aside from the Royals Reunion games with the Sox, is tuuuuuufff. Judgment must be reserved until the end of May! Then, though, all bets are off (and my fantasy team will be lost, too, because I bet the farm going in on Vinnie, Garcia, and Ragans).
Totally agree that it was the same but different. I think people don’t realize just how good Lopez is.
Definitely a tough schedule to start but I think they’ll compete every game, and win a lot more of them than they did last year when it’s all said and done.
The last thing I noticed yesterday. And IDK why it felt different yesterday as opposed to the last half of the year last year. Although, even then I was paying attention more. And maybe this is just me, but when you have a legit ace on your team, your fans pay attention more. I pay attention more. I may not catch every Wacha, or Singer start. But man, it reminded me of the old Zack Greinke days. We could lose 90 games again this year. But when you have a cy young candidate on your team. Work? Pshhh, I’ll watch my ride or die Ragans pitch. I’d venture to say that for at least one out of every 5 days the Royals are guaranteed to have my eyeballs.
Oh absolutely. Baseball is such a daily grind that only the most elite of elite position players grab your attention daily. It’s a game of failure. You love Bobby Witt Jr. but you could watch him every day for a week, see him go 4 for 23 with four singles and he’d still hit .290/.330/.510 for the year. But an ace pitcher isn’t out there 150+ times. And the bad days are way fewer than what you see from the every day guys.
People have to get out of football mode. It's a 162 game season, not 17. I just chalk this up to one of the 60 games everybody knows they're going to lose before the season starts and move on.
If troubling patterns start to form then we can get worried but for now, it's one game against a good pitcher in front of one of the biggest home crowds much of the roster has ever played in front of.
Absolutely. Logically that makes total sense, but I also understand the thought that many of the same issues that plagued them last year plagued them yesterday. It’s certainly no reason to alter any expectations though.
Gut punch. No logic to it, but that one hurt. If you had told me yesterday morning that they would get 1 win in this series I would have been happy with it. I guess I can blame Ragans and Garcia for making me believe they would win that one. Ragans had incredible composure after a 1st inning homer and a dicey 3rd. Wow - he might truly be an ace. And how much fun was that Garcia homer? (I really like him, I will be sad when they trade him) Oh well, I turned the royals hat I was wearing inside out and threw it on the top shelf (again, completely unreasonable superstitions after 1 game), so I am betting they get a win this weekend ;)
I guess I just don’t see how a game they never led can be a gut punch, but everyone is different.
exactly, i don't either, but there it is. Thanks for consistently being the voice of reason
There is something special about opening day that causes fans to be overly euphoric over a win and overly crushed over a loss. Plus, in the Royals case, it's easy to extrapolate last years disaster into this year until they prove they really are better. If they are 15 games under .500 by late may, the fans will run out of the turnstiles and start counting down the days till the Chiefs begin training camp. Let's hope the Royals can keep it interesting deep into Summer.
That’s certainly a factor. It’s also that while this is game one of 162, it was also game one of one. Nothing else exists for comparison. If they lose this game when they’re 41-49, it’s just a game. But it’s all anyone has to go by this year so far.
Series wins Dave. Series wins!! That’s how I keeping going
Oh individual games are never the be all, end all. It’s like gambling. It’s how you do overall.
"Wait...IT IS?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?" - Ippei Mizuhara
For some reason I expect the Royals offense to start slow each season. Stats could prove me wrong, but I wasn’t surprised. 🤔
It's one of 162, but man, it would've been nice to give a somewhat skeptical (and maybe spoiled by the Chiefs) sellout crowd a game that felt a little more compelling. Or maybe that's just what the guy says that flew in from Dallas for one game and talked his wife into joining him...hard to say. Great write-up as usual, David.
Ha, yeah, I mean a win is always better than a loss.
I just liked being at the ballpark again. And delighted by Maikel Garcia! And happy to see Bobby steal and try. I think the wind was a factor, as was the slight chill in the air. Will be missing that chill come July.
Was at the game by 1 pm, nice event for season ticket holders at the little k. Great band playing, fun atmosphere but didn’t feel the buzz. I would say “polite excitement” would be a good description of pre game, loudest applause was definitely when Andy came on to throw out the first ball. Ragans thru well (although he gives up 3 if the twins runner doesn’t pull up lame rounding 3rd) would love to have seen Loftin at 2nd and Pratto in rf, batting 6-7, could have been a different outcome,
I was out there at that little party. Then I walked around and it was like being at two different places. Chatted with some random people just to gauge their thoughts and there was legit buzz outside of that.