That's what speed do baby! Great win and fun too watch. Whoever doesn't love speed simply isn't American.
Seriously though, without Buxton, Kepler and Garver that is a whopping 4.4 WAR for just this year. For comparisons sake, if we stick with just position players, it's a smidge HIGHER than the equivalent of us being without Salvy (2.0 WAR), Benintendi (.8) and take your pick of either Santana (1.4) or Whit (1.3).
I'll take 3 of 4 in this series, but I feel we should have our sights set higher.
And on another note - can we get 20 minutes of pitchers throwing to the bases every day until we clean that up. Talk about sloppy and unforced errors - those are the worst.
The thing that really stinks about that is it becomes a mental thing and it's not like you can force those situations in a game to power through it. I mean it might be a month between ground balls back to a pitcher.
Scott Barlow may very well be the team MVP to this point. He's pitched in nearly half of their games and the higher the leverage situation, the better he's pitched. What would the Royals record be if you replaced him with Tyler Zuber level production? The bullpen is thin already. Without Barlow, its a mess.
From his age 21-26 seasons, Salvy hit a HR every 29.4 AB. In his 27-28 age seasons, it improved to one in 18.2 AB. Since returning from the missed 19 season, he's hitting a HR every 14.4 AB. Not only is he hitting them more often, but he's also hitting them with career high exit velocities and distances. Its clear that he took that year and applied his legendary energy levels and work ethic and got functionally stronger as a hitter. Whether that is weight room work as he alluded to the other day or Mike Tosar found a way to unlock more bat speed, I dont know, but the exit velos don't lie. Sal is a way way more dangerous hitter now than he was earlier in his career- and thats a darn good thing since the Royals just gave him 80 million dollars. Most people thought this was not a particularly smart business decision and viewed it as payback to Sal for taking a team friendly contract early on and being a huge part of bringing a championship to KC. And it will turn out that way if Sal returns to being a league average hitter and ages out of being able to catch regularly. It appears however, that we might have a Nellie Cruz type of player. One who hits better in his 30s than his 20s. It does happen occasionally.....
I wrote about Salvy in April, and one of the biggest changes is his ability to punish pitches inside the zone. Obviously he can punish pitches outside the zone too, but he does such a good job of making a pitcher pay for throwing him a strike, and it's sort of anywhere in the strike zone. I still can't figure out why anyone ever comes in the zone to him, but I'm not complaining about it.
Haha. Right? It is basically impossible for a feared slugger to walk less than Salvy. His ability to hit pitches outside the zone to right field right now is unmatched. Yeah if I'm a pitcher, I'm trying to get him to swing st low and away sliders. Thats still a weakness, but don't hang one, and don't think a fastball an inch or two outside is an effective way to pitch him.
I do NOT want to even think about the team, let alone the bull pen, without Barlow. I mentioned the other day that if I'm MM he's the new closer. The kid just doesn't seem to get rattled. And the numbers don't lie - he's tied with Santana in WAR for third on the team - and he's played in essentially 1/2 the games.
Salvy: You're right and I hope you're right. He is more dangerous than ever and who cares why. If he keeps it up for over 1/2 of his extension then we really got what we usually get from Salvy - more than we paid for.
I hope that the Royals track record of treating players well is starting to pay off. Last night, Tucker Bradley went 3 for 3 with a walk for QC. He's now hitting over .400 with a .1069 OPS, and that's without even hitting a single HR. His OBP is well over .500. He signed with the Royals because of the loyalty the organization showed to their minor leaguers during Covid.
Where do you find the time Kerry? But great point.
I think it has paid off in some instances, but I feel like players have more often chased the cash rather than honor that loyalty.
Santana will be gone at the end of his contract either way, he's 35 and Pratto and others in the shadows.
But there are two situations I'm interested to see how they will play out:
- the Benintendi situation plays out if he continues to perform. He'll just be 28 at the end of his contract. Will he appreciate the team that send a handful of players for him and Coached him to getting his groove back, or is it 'see ya, the bucks are somewhere else'?
- I'm also interested to see how the Duffy situation goes if he's not moved at the deadline. I don't think anyone could doubt we've overpaid based on results, but here we are in a contract year and, 'as if by magic', he's pitching the best of his career. Of course, he's on record wanting to be a Royal for life, but he's also from CA.
I dont know what you do with Duffy. I have no doubt that he would take somewhat less than market value to stay in KC.... but what is his market value? He has expressed not only a willingness but almost a preference to go to the pen. He's never pitched more than 180 innings or 28 starts so thats probably where he should be at this point.
That's what speed do baby! Great win and fun too watch. Whoever doesn't love speed simply isn't American.
Seriously though, without Buxton, Kepler and Garver that is a whopping 4.4 WAR for just this year. For comparisons sake, if we stick with just position players, it's a smidge HIGHER than the equivalent of us being without Salvy (2.0 WAR), Benintendi (.8) and take your pick of either Santana (1.4) or Whit (1.3).
I'll take 3 of 4 in this series, but I feel we should have our sights set higher.
And on another note - can we get 20 minutes of pitchers throwing to the bases every day until we clean that up. Talk about sloppy and unforced errors - those are the worst.
The thing that really stinks about that is it becomes a mental thing and it's not like you can force those situations in a game to power through it. I mean it might be a month between ground balls back to a pitcher.
Scott Barlow may very well be the team MVP to this point. He's pitched in nearly half of their games and the higher the leverage situation, the better he's pitched. What would the Royals record be if you replaced him with Tyler Zuber level production? The bullpen is thin already. Without Barlow, its a mess.
From his age 21-26 seasons, Salvy hit a HR every 29.4 AB. In his 27-28 age seasons, it improved to one in 18.2 AB. Since returning from the missed 19 season, he's hitting a HR every 14.4 AB. Not only is he hitting them more often, but he's also hitting them with career high exit velocities and distances. Its clear that he took that year and applied his legendary energy levels and work ethic and got functionally stronger as a hitter. Whether that is weight room work as he alluded to the other day or Mike Tosar found a way to unlock more bat speed, I dont know, but the exit velos don't lie. Sal is a way way more dangerous hitter now than he was earlier in his career- and thats a darn good thing since the Royals just gave him 80 million dollars. Most people thought this was not a particularly smart business decision and viewed it as payback to Sal for taking a team friendly contract early on and being a huge part of bringing a championship to KC. And it will turn out that way if Sal returns to being a league average hitter and ages out of being able to catch regularly. It appears however, that we might have a Nellie Cruz type of player. One who hits better in his 30s than his 20s. It does happen occasionally.....
I wrote about Salvy in April, and one of the biggest changes is his ability to punish pitches inside the zone. Obviously he can punish pitches outside the zone too, but he does such a good job of making a pitcher pay for throwing him a strike, and it's sort of anywhere in the strike zone. I still can't figure out why anyone ever comes in the zone to him, but I'm not complaining about it.
Haha. Right? It is basically impossible for a feared slugger to walk less than Salvy. His ability to hit pitches outside the zone to right field right now is unmatched. Yeah if I'm a pitcher, I'm trying to get him to swing st low and away sliders. Thats still a weakness, but don't hang one, and don't think a fastball an inch or two outside is an effective way to pitch him.
I do NOT want to even think about the team, let alone the bull pen, without Barlow. I mentioned the other day that if I'm MM he's the new closer. The kid just doesn't seem to get rattled. And the numbers don't lie - he's tied with Santana in WAR for third on the team - and he's played in essentially 1/2 the games.
Salvy: You're right and I hope you're right. He is more dangerous than ever and who cares why. If he keeps it up for over 1/2 of his extension then we really got what we usually get from Salvy - more than we paid for.
Agreed on Barlow as the closer. I dont think Staumont can physically hold up to 70+ appearances per year.
I hope that the Royals track record of treating players well is starting to pay off. Last night, Tucker Bradley went 3 for 3 with a walk for QC. He's now hitting over .400 with a .1069 OPS, and that's without even hitting a single HR. His OBP is well over .500. He signed with the Royals because of the loyalty the organization showed to their minor leaguers during Covid.
Where do you find the time Kerry? But great point.
I think it has paid off in some instances, but I feel like players have more often chased the cash rather than honor that loyalty.
Santana will be gone at the end of his contract either way, he's 35 and Pratto and others in the shadows.
But there are two situations I'm interested to see how they will play out:
- the Benintendi situation plays out if he continues to perform. He'll just be 28 at the end of his contract. Will he appreciate the team that send a handful of players for him and Coached him to getting his groove back, or is it 'see ya, the bucks are somewhere else'?
- I'm also interested to see how the Duffy situation goes if he's not moved at the deadline. I don't think anyone could doubt we've overpaid based on results, but here we are in a contract year and, 'as if by magic', he's pitching the best of his career. Of course, he's on record wanting to be a Royal for life, but he's also from CA.
Hmmmm...
I dont know what you do with Duffy. I have no doubt that he would take somewhat less than market value to stay in KC.... but what is his market value? He has expressed not only a willingness but almost a preference to go to the pen. He's never pitched more than 180 innings or 28 starts so thats probably where he should be at this point.