I get the experience around being a winning team and some of the best in the game is an honor, but definitely agree with you that it's been disappointng with how they have used Singer and even Witt. If the thinking was "hey we're trying to win this thing," I'm not sure why they didn't get someone who specializes in long relief for Singer's role. Someone like a Colin McHugh or with a similar profile.
I 100% agree. The only real saving grace, to me, is that since they started in Phoenix, both of them were able to stay in camp until the last minute. I’m sure you’ll never hear anyone say anything but positives and vague “it would be nice if they were here” comments but I cannot imagine anyone on the coaching staff being happy with how little action they’ve gotten. If Singer does pitch tomorrow, that’ll change some things for him, but he’s still in a weird spot.
Although Witt and Singer’s usage has been low in the WBC, I think it will be a positive for both in the long run. If it costs them a week or two to get back to speed, this is the season to do it. Also, the WBC has been a positive for other Royals, such as possible future closer Carlos Hernandez. Besides, it’s been great to watch!
I wrote on Friday that I love the WBC. It feels like it's been especially great this year (though maybe that's just recency bias) and I do agree too that it's good for them in the long run, but I still can't imagine the Royals love the way they've been used.
Man, didn’t know Zerpa was going to be out a while. Starting go get a little concerned with depth even in the high minors on the starter side. I guess we have to hope Heasley and Kowar get something figured out. Because, even if Greinke and Lyles and Singer throw as many innings as they hope…..Keller I still gotta think will get traded. Lynch…still needs to prove he can handle it…and the options in AAA don’t seem all that great right now. Bullpen can cover the starters for a while….but they are really pretty thin on the starting side aren’t they.
I think there are three or maybe even four tiers of organizational hope.
The short-term is that everyone stays healthy. I also didn't include Ryan Yarbrough, but he can provide some competent depth, but I think he's always a guy you'd rather have pitching in long relief rather than starting games.
The medium-term is guys like Heasley and Kowar figure it out and Bubic can prove to be solid enough or maybe better than that. I still like him, even if there's not a ton of reason for it.
The medium-long-term is that Zerpa gets healthy, Bowlan and Marsh progress and someone like TJ Sikkema or Beck Way or maybe even a Drew Parrish/Austin Cox emerge as depth or better.
And then the long-term, of course, is that new philosophies change the whole development and they can start churning out pitchers.
I think the starting rotation will be a little better and the offense might improve some but as far as Reyes is concerned remember we had Soler when he hit 48 home runs and Perez hit 48 a couple of years ago and it meant nothing. We still.list a lot of games so even if he hits over 30 I don't think it will mean much unless the pitching improves dramatically and relievers can hold a lead. I don't think the bullpen has improved that much. Still basically the same guys with a couple of additions. They haven't been very good for a long time and I just don't see a big improvement. The difference will be the coaches and whether or not they can teach these guys something. I really don't think any improvement will be because of the players. It will come from the coaching staff and their ability to get more out of what they have to work with
You may want to skip reading this comment, No new takes here, just getting out my fears
Yeah this last week has sent my optimism hurtling towards earth. I still can't get the haunting image of Singers bewildered face out of my mind. Keller not giving me any warm fuzzies when I would think he'd be tightening up his game. How many teams would even consider Lynch for the rotation at this point? I would have thought Yarbrough could be a stopgap starter, but with groin I think he has only pitched 2 innings total. I guess I think Greinke will be fine, and I will try to forget about yesterdays outing. I am pinning lots of hope on Bubic now. The two year Lyles deal is looking better to me all the time.
I am waffling day to day on the WBC. Those injuries have to be on a lot of players minds. I can get by the injuries I guess, although I am guessing post season effort at preseason conditioning may contribute. It is fun to watch and cheer for, and when I see BWJ being part of/ celebrating with a championship team I am happy, but it is hard not to wonder how the lack of play will affect two of our best players. Maybe our newer, less influential, coaching staff not intimidating enough to get more playing time for our guys? IDK, the WBC coaches have a ton on constraints and do want to win it for the red white and blue.
I was hoping for a few extra early unexpected wins to come off the ST streak and get the guys in the right frame of mind, ah well- it was fun while it lasted. Hopefully this next week will provide some glints of optimism.
My opinion is that a week of spring training should never change your opinion. It is always better to be good than bad, but my jump in thinking they may be a little bit better has been about the approach from the start. Starting 14-2 was never sustainable, particularly with so many players missing and multiple split squad games on top of it. Yes, the pitching has struggled this week. It's also a pretty common week of spring for pitchers to struggle as they work toward being built up.
It's hard to both pay attention to individual games in spring training given that they're the only thing we have to go on and remember how many things can impact a spring outing. The point is that if you were worried about the pitching before spring, you should still be worried. If you weren't, you still shouldn't be, though you probably should have been from the start.
Wow I am going to have to up my contribution if you are replying to that diatribe. The numbers made me super doubtful for the pitching prior to spring, but then when the (hopeful) stabilizers of Lyles-Yarbrough-Greinke got signed, I thought I could see the rotation being decent IF Singer stayed on track and one or two of the young guys stepped up. (and the defense and bullpen could keep them afloat). And It looked a week or two ago as if the IFS might be happening. I hope to heck Singer stays on point. I think Keller or Kowar or Lynch could step up, but they probably need a little more coddling in AAA after being thrust into majors a little too soon maybe. You have wisely tempered expectations. thanks for all the good info!
Obviously a very amateur scout here, but I thought Keller looked good when I saw him against the White Sox in Surprise. Just carving them up. So I am also intrigued. As for Zack, didn't he have a terrible spring one year and then we found out he was just throwing changeups all the time to work on them? I want to say it was 2008 or even 2009.
I’ve been impressed with Keller when I’ve seen him. At the least I’m interested in what he can do this year. And that does sound familiar on Greinke. He’s the last person I’d worry about in spring training for sure.
You're not getting rid of my "calibrated eyeball" takes that easily Lesky. Paid in full. 😉
Well blow the whole thing up then!
Glad you're on board!
I get the experience around being a winning team and some of the best in the game is an honor, but definitely agree with you that it's been disappointng with how they have used Singer and even Witt. If the thinking was "hey we're trying to win this thing," I'm not sure why they didn't get someone who specializes in long relief for Singer's role. Someone like a Colin McHugh or with a similar profile.
I 100% agree. The only real saving grace, to me, is that since they started in Phoenix, both of them were able to stay in camp until the last minute. I’m sure you’ll never hear anyone say anything but positives and vague “it would be nice if they were here” comments but I cannot imagine anyone on the coaching staff being happy with how little action they’ve gotten. If Singer does pitch tomorrow, that’ll change some things for him, but he’s still in a weird spot.
Although Witt and Singer’s usage has been low in the WBC, I think it will be a positive for both in the long run. If it costs them a week or two to get back to speed, this is the season to do it. Also, the WBC has been a positive for other Royals, such as possible future closer Carlos Hernandez. Besides, it’s been great to watch!
I wrote on Friday that I love the WBC. It feels like it's been especially great this year (though maybe that's just recency bias) and I do agree too that it's good for them in the long run, but I still can't imagine the Royals love the way they've been used.
Man, didn’t know Zerpa was going to be out a while. Starting go get a little concerned with depth even in the high minors on the starter side. I guess we have to hope Heasley and Kowar get something figured out. Because, even if Greinke and Lyles and Singer throw as many innings as they hope…..Keller I still gotta think will get traded. Lynch…still needs to prove he can handle it…and the options in AAA don’t seem all that great right now. Bullpen can cover the starters for a while….but they are really pretty thin on the starting side aren’t they.
I think there are three or maybe even four tiers of organizational hope.
The short-term is that everyone stays healthy. I also didn't include Ryan Yarbrough, but he can provide some competent depth, but I think he's always a guy you'd rather have pitching in long relief rather than starting games.
The medium-term is guys like Heasley and Kowar figure it out and Bubic can prove to be solid enough or maybe better than that. I still like him, even if there's not a ton of reason for it.
The medium-long-term is that Zerpa gets healthy, Bowlan and Marsh progress and someone like TJ Sikkema or Beck Way or maybe even a Drew Parrish/Austin Cox emerge as depth or better.
And then the long-term, of course, is that new philosophies change the whole development and they can start churning out pitchers.
But in the short-term, it's perilous at best.
I think the starting rotation will be a little better and the offense might improve some but as far as Reyes is concerned remember we had Soler when he hit 48 home runs and Perez hit 48 a couple of years ago and it meant nothing. We still.list a lot of games so even if he hits over 30 I don't think it will mean much unless the pitching improves dramatically and relievers can hold a lead. I don't think the bullpen has improved that much. Still basically the same guys with a couple of additions. They haven't been very good for a long time and I just don't see a big improvement. The difference will be the coaches and whether or not they can teach these guys something. I really don't think any improvement will be because of the players. It will come from the coaching staff and their ability to get more out of what they have to work with
Kowar in the bullpen is gonna be deadly
I would like fridays game agaisnt the angels and yesterdays 2 loss fiasco also scrubbed
If only!
Lynch’s ceiling may be Danny Duffy. I’d be OK with that outcome.
I think I’d be interested to know how many people think 1200 innings with a 110 ERA+ is a negative (I know you aren’t one of them).
You may want to skip reading this comment, No new takes here, just getting out my fears
Yeah this last week has sent my optimism hurtling towards earth. I still can't get the haunting image of Singers bewildered face out of my mind. Keller not giving me any warm fuzzies when I would think he'd be tightening up his game. How many teams would even consider Lynch for the rotation at this point? I would have thought Yarbrough could be a stopgap starter, but with groin I think he has only pitched 2 innings total. I guess I think Greinke will be fine, and I will try to forget about yesterdays outing. I am pinning lots of hope on Bubic now. The two year Lyles deal is looking better to me all the time.
I am waffling day to day on the WBC. Those injuries have to be on a lot of players minds. I can get by the injuries I guess, although I am guessing post season effort at preseason conditioning may contribute. It is fun to watch and cheer for, and when I see BWJ being part of/ celebrating with a championship team I am happy, but it is hard not to wonder how the lack of play will affect two of our best players. Maybe our newer, less influential, coaching staff not intimidating enough to get more playing time for our guys? IDK, the WBC coaches have a ton on constraints and do want to win it for the red white and blue.
I was hoping for a few extra early unexpected wins to come off the ST streak and get the guys in the right frame of mind, ah well- it was fun while it lasted. Hopefully this next week will provide some glints of optimism.
My opinion is that a week of spring training should never change your opinion. It is always better to be good than bad, but my jump in thinking they may be a little bit better has been about the approach from the start. Starting 14-2 was never sustainable, particularly with so many players missing and multiple split squad games on top of it. Yes, the pitching has struggled this week. It's also a pretty common week of spring for pitchers to struggle as they work toward being built up.
It's hard to both pay attention to individual games in spring training given that they're the only thing we have to go on and remember how many things can impact a spring outing. The point is that if you were worried about the pitching before spring, you should still be worried. If you weren't, you still shouldn't be, though you probably should have been from the start.
Wow I am going to have to up my contribution if you are replying to that diatribe. The numbers made me super doubtful for the pitching prior to spring, but then when the (hopeful) stabilizers of Lyles-Yarbrough-Greinke got signed, I thought I could see the rotation being decent IF Singer stayed on track and one or two of the young guys stepped up. (and the defense and bullpen could keep them afloat). And It looked a week or two ago as if the IFS might be happening. I hope to heck Singer stays on point. I think Keller or Kowar or Lynch could step up, but they probably need a little more coddling in AAA after being thrust into majors a little too soon maybe. You have wisely tempered expectations. thanks for all the good info!
Obviously a very amateur scout here, but I thought Keller looked good when I saw him against the White Sox in Surprise. Just carving them up. So I am also intrigued. As for Zack, didn't he have a terrible spring one year and then we found out he was just throwing changeups all the time to work on them? I want to say it was 2008 or even 2009.
I’ve been impressed with Keller when I’ve seen him. At the least I’m interested in what he can do this year. And that does sound familiar on Greinke. He’s the last person I’d worry about in spring training for sure.