Trying to keep it positive after a win. Honestly, it doesn’t matter anymore anyway….but still engaged with the team as much as can be without watching. Here’s my question for you on this Thursday -
What is the reason for the pitchers having low strikeout numbers? I ask because as much as we dog Eldred (deservedly so)….its usually the catchers calling the game. And we have/had Salvy, whose been doing this a long time. So are we to blame the catchers for some of the low strikeouts, high walks? It’s got to be either STUFF (get better pitchers), COMMAND (for sure….but get better pitchers/coaching), SEQUENCING (I put this more on catchers), GAME PLAN (coaching). I mean, I’m sure its all the above….but where do you put the most blame on the pitchers not being able to strike guys out….past Eldred…we already know about that one.
Dozier had a good game. He gets a well deserved rap for his defense, but I actually think he's an above average first baseman. The two most important characteristics for a first baseman by far are wingspan and the ability to dig balls out of the dirt. Both of these characteristics/abilities lead directly to outs which otherwise would be baserunners, often advancing multiple bases. Dozier has the height and arm length, and seemingly a pretty good ability to dig low throws. If I'm a contender and my first baseman gets injured, he's a pretty good candidate.
The last three nights I have missed the early part of the game, tuning in to see nice Royals leads. So I settle in thinking this should be fun to watch, only to see it slowly given away the first two night. I tune in last night thinking the same thing when I see 5-1, and just like ancient water torture it is soon 5-4. Gritting my teeth, I reach for the remote as I vow not to watch another stomach-turning loss. Just as I do, the words that make up your headline cross my mind, and I decide to tough it out. I'm glad I did, and I appreciate your summary today. I guess a win and two near-wins vs. a really good team is a bit of a moral victory, and it is certainly good to see some early offense. BTW, not sure what the stats say, but Dozier is passing the eye test at first, IMHO. I've gone from thinking he should be traded to seeing he could be the bridge to Pratto.
Regarding Barlow's increased velocity and spin rate Wednesday night: do you think that was primarily just because he had Tuesday off? Or is there some other cause that contributed to that?
I noticed in the comments Nick Pratto's name came up a couple of times. I wish he was already up here, but I realize they're going to have to move a few players to make room for him. Who do you think are the main targets to be traded. I also noticed talk of trading Beni and one of target players coming back was the Groshens kid from Toronto. What do you think about him at 3rd base?
Bubic's first 5 innings Thursday showed us everything that is so damnably frustrating about the class of '18. In the first four innings he gave up just one hit and no runs to the mighty Astros, an admirable performance against that bunch. OTOH he gave them five walks. It's almost incomprehensible how he kept them from scoring with all of those walks, but he did.
In the 5th inning, apparently in an effort to get the walks under control he threw three horrifyingly hittable "middle-middle" pitches. Unsurprisingly the Astros, being the Astros, knew exactly what to do with them: double, HR, HR. After that experience Bubic reverted to form and walked his 6th.
In total he required 91 pitches to get through five innings, and fewer than 58% of them were strikes. While 18+ pitches per inning is slightly less inefficient than some other performances we've seen lately, it's not significantly so. When he made his exit after one batter in the 6th, he had thrown 98 pitches, 41 of which were balls. Thus the six walks. I've heard of "formulas for success" before, and that ain't it.
As I've said before, it's a shame that the Royals don't have an employee whose job it is to coach the pitchers and help them fix these kinds of problems.
On May 11, Gabe Speier was the Royals starter and pitched two innings. That was the one and only time ALL YEAR LONG, after the first time through the rotation, that a Royals starting pitcher had an ERA under 4.
But "Cal Eldred is doing an excellent job."
Thanks for letting us know that, Dayton. We could never have figured it out on our own. We all feel so incredibly reassured now.
Before the Royals can become a consistent winner they must be a team that no one wants to play. A team that throughout the batting order every of them is at the very least pesky. The pitchers must become stingy with walks, and develop an iron-will resolve on the mound that they'll win many more battles against the opposition in the batter's box than lose.
In short, the Royals are tough to defeat because they won't beat themselves. I look forward to those days again and last nights come from behind victory against Cleveland renewed my hope in my boyhood love.
This team has talent and I don't believe that they are as far off from contending for division titles and more as some think. The right choice for pitching coach could do for the young pitchers what the change of hitting coach did for the hitters on the Royals. Once the young pitchers get over the hump and the promising rookies get better along with adding Massey and others this could become a respectable batting lineup and a team that nobody in baseball wants to play.
We need a full and comprehensive scouting report on Michael A Taylor's pitching arsenal. 20,000 words minimum. Can we safely assume you're already working on it? 😆
Great work, David! I didn’t get a chance to watch the whole game. I understand a lot better and wow, Dozier!
Trying to keep it positive after a win. Honestly, it doesn’t matter anymore anyway….but still engaged with the team as much as can be without watching. Here’s my question for you on this Thursday -
What is the reason for the pitchers having low strikeout numbers? I ask because as much as we dog Eldred (deservedly so)….its usually the catchers calling the game. And we have/had Salvy, whose been doing this a long time. So are we to blame the catchers for some of the low strikeouts, high walks? It’s got to be either STUFF (get better pitchers), COMMAND (for sure….but get better pitchers/coaching), SEQUENCING (I put this more on catchers), GAME PLAN (coaching). I mean, I’m sure its all the above….but where do you put the most blame on the pitchers not being able to strike guys out….past Eldred…we already know about that one.
Dozier had a good game. He gets a well deserved rap for his defense, but I actually think he's an above average first baseman. The two most important characteristics for a first baseman by far are wingspan and the ability to dig balls out of the dirt. Both of these characteristics/abilities lead directly to outs which otherwise would be baserunners, often advancing multiple bases. Dozier has the height and arm length, and seemingly a pretty good ability to dig low throws. If I'm a contender and my first baseman gets injured, he's a pretty good candidate.
The last three nights I have missed the early part of the game, tuning in to see nice Royals leads. So I settle in thinking this should be fun to watch, only to see it slowly given away the first two night. I tune in last night thinking the same thing when I see 5-1, and just like ancient water torture it is soon 5-4. Gritting my teeth, I reach for the remote as I vow not to watch another stomach-turning loss. Just as I do, the words that make up your headline cross my mind, and I decide to tough it out. I'm glad I did, and I appreciate your summary today. I guess a win and two near-wins vs. a really good team is a bit of a moral victory, and it is certainly good to see some early offense. BTW, not sure what the stats say, but Dozier is passing the eye test at first, IMHO. I've gone from thinking he should be traded to seeing he could be the bridge to Pratto.
Something I continue to track: The Royals are now 7th in the AL in walks (248), 8th in OBP (.307) and 11th in home runs (70). We're making progress.
Regarding Barlow's increased velocity and spin rate Wednesday night: do you think that was primarily just because he had Tuesday off? Or is there some other cause that contributed to that?
I noticed in the comments Nick Pratto's name came up a couple of times. I wish he was already up here, but I realize they're going to have to move a few players to make room for him. Who do you think are the main targets to be traded. I also noticed talk of trading Beni and one of target players coming back was the Groshens kid from Toronto. What do you think about him at 3rd base?
Bubic's first 5 innings Thursday showed us everything that is so damnably frustrating about the class of '18. In the first four innings he gave up just one hit and no runs to the mighty Astros, an admirable performance against that bunch. OTOH he gave them five walks. It's almost incomprehensible how he kept them from scoring with all of those walks, but he did.
In the 5th inning, apparently in an effort to get the walks under control he threw three horrifyingly hittable "middle-middle" pitches. Unsurprisingly the Astros, being the Astros, knew exactly what to do with them: double, HR, HR. After that experience Bubic reverted to form and walked his 6th.
In total he required 91 pitches to get through five innings, and fewer than 58% of them were strikes. While 18+ pitches per inning is slightly less inefficient than some other performances we've seen lately, it's not significantly so. When he made his exit after one batter in the 6th, he had thrown 98 pitches, 41 of which were balls. Thus the six walks. I've heard of "formulas for success" before, and that ain't it.
As I've said before, it's a shame that the Royals don't have an employee whose job it is to coach the pitchers and help them fix these kinds of problems.
On May 11, Gabe Speier was the Royals starter and pitched two innings. That was the one and only time ALL YEAR LONG, after the first time through the rotation, that a Royals starting pitcher had an ERA under 4.
But "Cal Eldred is doing an excellent job."
Thanks for letting us know that, Dayton. We could never have figured it out on our own. We all feel so incredibly reassured now.
Before the Royals can become a consistent winner they must be a team that no one wants to play. A team that throughout the batting order every of them is at the very least pesky. The pitchers must become stingy with walks, and develop an iron-will resolve on the mound that they'll win many more battles against the opposition in the batter's box than lose.
In short, the Royals are tough to defeat because they won't beat themselves. I look forward to those days again and last nights come from behind victory against Cleveland renewed my hope in my boyhood love.
This team has talent and I don't believe that they are as far off from contending for division titles and more as some think. The right choice for pitching coach could do for the young pitchers what the change of hitting coach did for the hitters on the Royals. Once the young pitchers get over the hump and the promising rookies get better along with adding Massey and others this could become a respectable batting lineup and a team that nobody in baseball wants to play.
We need a full and comprehensive scouting report on Michael A Taylor's pitching arsenal. 20,000 words minimum. Can we safely assume you're already working on it? 😆