How would Aaron Nola and Mike Clevinger look in the rotation in 2023? Nola, Singer, Clevinger, Bubic and Lynch make a quality 5, and relegates Keller to the trade market and would help bring us down to AL top 7 in ERA.
They'd look great, but I doubt the Phillies trade Nola. Clevinger is definitely on my list of potential starters (might have something on that tomorrow).
Missed Keller pitching well. O’Hearn will be gone when Oliveras returns. It would be great to see what a good manager abandoned pitching coach could do with rot his team. It’s still apparent that pitchers aren’t ready at the start of games or out of the bullpen, Cartervneeds to go, Wilson also, most runners thrown out at the plate, la la land at 3rd.
The roster construction is part of the reason it baffles me they didn’t trade MAT. All he is doing at this point is taking up playing time and making the roster construction more difficult. If you wanted to keep Keller, fine…I get that. Can always use more arms. I can even see it with Barlow and Stautmont. Not smart….but fine. Tayler I don’t quite get. Oh well.
I've backed off a bit on the disdain for not trading Barlow. Jeff Passan said on The Program last week that the offers weren't great for him and then I also heard that from someone else (though it could have been based on Passan's comments, that I don't know) so I'm thinking maybe they honestly didn't get offered enough. Like I said last week, if they had traded Barlow for what the Orioles traded Jorge Lopez, I'd have been mad. But yeah, I think there are worse things than having Taylor playing a very good center field, though I wish they'd have moved him.
My first thought or question is I don't know how hard they tried to trade Dozier and I get they have to play him some. What I don't get is why they play him every day. He gets a few hits along the way, but to me it's hardly ever when there are runners on with rbi opportunities. I am thrilled to see Isbel have a productive weekend. I was getting a little concerned with his bat. Thanks as always David.
My thought is Dozier should always play against lefties. He's hitting .273/.373/.409 against them, so it makes sense there and he can play in place of any of the lefties who might struggle against a tough one. But what will probably surprise you is he's hitting .284/.363/.431 from the seventh through ninth, so important innings and .280/.373/.440 in "late and close" situations, according to Baseball Reference. And if he's playing third with Witt at short, he's theoretically taking at bats from Nicky Lopez (though it likely ends up as taking them from Massey some too). I'd like to see him play less, but I don't think it's that big of a deal that he's out there as long as the guys who need to get time do.
But if you're looking at Massey, Pratto, Pasquantino and even Isbel needing to play, say, 43 of the final 53 games, it's still very doable, even with Dozier in there a lot as well.
David - It's been a LONG time since we've had reason to say that a Royals hitter is "too patient" or "too picky." But I'm seeing more and more of what you said about Pratto: he takes a lot of good hittable 1st/2nd pitches, which sets him up for the K on something far less hittable. That's contributing to his sub-.200 BA. I've seen some check-swing foul balls on those pitches as well.
You'd think they could coach that out of him. Some guys are coachable when it comes to some things but not when it comes to others. I'm sure that efforts have been made to get him to be more aggressive on those good early-count pitches. It doesn't seem that's done much for him, at least not so far.
I haven't lost any confidence in the Royals' new hitting brain trust. But they need to find a way to fix this and Pratto needs to be willing to implement the fix.
I know they're working with Pratto on that, but he's just a patient hitter and he's always going to take pitches. He'll continue to adjust, I have confidence in that. But it's 71 plate appearances. He has a walk rate of 14.1 percent and a wRC+ of 95 through those first 71 plate appearances. Witt was at 47 through his first 73.
I wouldn't spend too much time worrying about it. He needs at bats in the big leagues. Think about it. The jump from AAA to the majors is the biggest these guys have likely ever seen. They've never seen some of the pitches as good as the ones they're seeing on a daily basis. We saw Pratto make a huge adjustment from at bat to at bat in the Yankees series. You can drive yourself crazy trying to analyze tiny samples.
….and speaking of rookies: BWJ continues to make errors at SS. I haven't checked on this but my impression is that early in the season they were mostly throwing errors but now many of them are on fairly routine fielding plays.
He seems to get in too much of a hurry, as if he thinks that every baserunner and batter/runner is faster than Jarrod Dyson. He needs to dial that motor back just a bit. He also takes plays for granted now and then, and we all know how the baseball gods respond to that. I don't know much about Vance Wilson's infield coaching but BWJ needs a little help right now.
IMO Matheny (or somebody with authority over him) needs to lock BWJ in at 3B along with Nicky at SS and quit messing with those two! Just because guys can play multiple positions doesn't automatically mean that's the best thing for them or for the team. We already know what Dozier is at 3B. There's no need to keep learning it over and over again.
Alcides Escobar had the same problem more than 10 years ago. (How crazy is THAT?) I think Bobby's too talented to not figure it out defensively, but even if he doesn't, the backup plan is becoming the Royals version of Alex Bregman.
With their 2014-15 bullpen the Royals exploited a "cheat code" that allowed them to have far greater success than could reasonably have been expected. Now they have an opportunity to exploit another one, if John Sherman can see it for what it is…
Doubtless Zumwalt, Tosar and DiRenne & company are going to experience very nice paycheck increases in the near future. The question is, who will be signing those paychecks? I'm already quite worried that some large-revenue team is going to buy them away from us.
My hope is that Sherman will see that he can give them unprecedentedly huge salaries, compared with others in similar jobs, and still have his total outlay be less than it would for one decent MLB veteran FA. That's a "cheat code" that could potentially keep working for years.
Are they worth the money? Well, I'll put it this way: have you seen the Baby Royals play lately?
The Twins lost their pitching coach to college because coaches make so little money in baseball. Sherman is all about a development system like the one the Royals have in place. In fact, he's a big reason why the changes they made were made. I don't think paying for this group is going to be something to worry about.
Thank you, David! That's definitely reassuring. It's just that it would be so "Royals" for those guys to be in LA or NY or Chicago or Houston a year from now. It's hard to get past that pessimism that being a Royals fan has bred into all of us!
Well, some of them came from LA, so the Royals already stole them away. Some might get away because they're offered a better title and one team can't offer everyone the top title. But they'll keep this group together as best as possible.
I believe that the Royals are going to overhaul the pitching development from the minors to the majors to salvage Asa Lacy and other prospects that have not met expectations. At the majors to get Singer, Lynch, Bubic, and others to reach their full potential. If they can do for the pitching what they did for the hitting then this team is going back to the days when they were regarded as the standard when it comes to expansion teams rather than a cautionary tale of how fast things can change from a threat to win the division every year to vying for a top ten draft pick.
First, really nice job on the podcast with Soren last night. And I don't say that just because you said out loud what I've been thinking for a couple of weeks: Dansby Swanson sure would be a nice addition on a team that could use another right-handed bat at shortstop.
Oh thank you! For awhile I was adamantly against it, but then started thinking about it and I like the idea. I doubt he leaves the Braves though. Of course we thought the same about Freeman so you never know.
Along those lines, I'd give Bobby 10/200 right now without even thinking about it. In a few years, that's a drop in the bucket even if he doesn't become the superstar we expect.
I absolutely would give him the Riley deal. That may not be that far off. The first two years would be about $1.5 million without the extension and then, even if he’s a star, he probably makes $45 million in his three arbitration years (based on Trea Turner’s $41.5 million in his last three). So then it becomes five years and $153 million for free agency and that’s if he’s a full blown star.
Open question as to whether he will hit enough but now I understand why the Royals are high on Eaton. 30.1 mph sprint speed and a cannon for an arm. Those are some loud loud tools.
Good to see Isbel have some success at the plate. Hope it is the beginning of a trend.
And we haven't even seen him at what's probably his best defensive spot - third base. Not sure we will, but he's kind of a more toolsy version of Merrifield.
That's really impressive about Eaton at 3B. He looks like such a natural in the outfield that it's hard to imagine him being better elsewhere! Given the roster we have right now I wouldn't think he'd get many starts at 3B, though.
How would Aaron Nola and Mike Clevinger look in the rotation in 2023? Nola, Singer, Clevinger, Bubic and Lynch make a quality 5, and relegates Keller to the trade market and would help bring us down to AL top 7 in ERA.
They'd look great, but I doubt the Phillies trade Nola. Clevinger is definitely on my list of potential starters (might have something on that tomorrow).
Missed Keller pitching well. O’Hearn will be gone when Oliveras returns. It would be great to see what a good manager abandoned pitching coach could do with rot his team. It’s still apparent that pitchers aren’t ready at the start of games or out of the bullpen, Cartervneeds to go, Wilson also, most runners thrown out at the plate, la la land at 3rd.
Oliveras is on the 60 day IL. he was placed on the 10 day July 22 and moved to the 60 on August 4th, Would be a surprise if he made it back this year.
The roster construction is part of the reason it baffles me they didn’t trade MAT. All he is doing at this point is taking up playing time and making the roster construction more difficult. If you wanted to keep Keller, fine…I get that. Can always use more arms. I can even see it with Barlow and Stautmont. Not smart….but fine. Tayler I don’t quite get. Oh well.
I've backed off a bit on the disdain for not trading Barlow. Jeff Passan said on The Program last week that the offers weren't great for him and then I also heard that from someone else (though it could have been based on Passan's comments, that I don't know) so I'm thinking maybe they honestly didn't get offered enough. Like I said last week, if they had traded Barlow for what the Orioles traded Jorge Lopez, I'd have been mad. But yeah, I think there are worse things than having Taylor playing a very good center field, though I wish they'd have moved him.
If Drew Waters continues to do what he doing at Omaha, I'd expect the Royals will move Taylor this off-season.
It's certainly a possibility.
My first thought or question is I don't know how hard they tried to trade Dozier and I get they have to play him some. What I don't get is why they play him every day. He gets a few hits along the way, but to me it's hardly ever when there are runners on with rbi opportunities. I am thrilled to see Isbel have a productive weekend. I was getting a little concerned with his bat. Thanks as always David.
My thought is Dozier should always play against lefties. He's hitting .273/.373/.409 against them, so it makes sense there and he can play in place of any of the lefties who might struggle against a tough one. But what will probably surprise you is he's hitting .284/.363/.431 from the seventh through ninth, so important innings and .280/.373/.440 in "late and close" situations, according to Baseball Reference. And if he's playing third with Witt at short, he's theoretically taking at bats from Nicky Lopez (though it likely ends up as taking them from Massey some too). I'd like to see him play less, but I don't think it's that big of a deal that he's out there as long as the guys who need to get time do.
But if you're looking at Massey, Pratto, Pasquantino and even Isbel needing to play, say, 43 of the final 53 games, it's still very doable, even with Dozier in there a lot as well.
That does surprise that he is hitting that good in those innings. I also wonder if they're trying to build some trade value to trade him this winter.
That wouldn’t surprise me.
Terrible batting order, everyone bangs on Dozier, solid at all corners, his average is still one of the highest in this team.
David - It's been a LONG time since we've had reason to say that a Royals hitter is "too patient" or "too picky." But I'm seeing more and more of what you said about Pratto: he takes a lot of good hittable 1st/2nd pitches, which sets him up for the K on something far less hittable. That's contributing to his sub-.200 BA. I've seen some check-swing foul balls on those pitches as well.
You'd think they could coach that out of him. Some guys are coachable when it comes to some things but not when it comes to others. I'm sure that efforts have been made to get him to be more aggressive on those good early-count pitches. It doesn't seem that's done much for him, at least not so far.
I haven't lost any confidence in the Royals' new hitting brain trust. But they need to find a way to fix this and Pratto needs to be willing to implement the fix.
I know they're working with Pratto on that, but he's just a patient hitter and he's always going to take pitches. He'll continue to adjust, I have confidence in that. But it's 71 plate appearances. He has a walk rate of 14.1 percent and a wRC+ of 95 through those first 71 plate appearances. Witt was at 47 through his first 73.
I wouldn't spend too much time worrying about it. He needs at bats in the big leagues. Think about it. The jump from AAA to the majors is the biggest these guys have likely ever seen. They've never seen some of the pitches as good as the ones they're seeing on a daily basis. We saw Pratto make a huge adjustment from at bat to at bat in the Yankees series. You can drive yourself crazy trying to analyze tiny samples.
….and speaking of rookies: BWJ continues to make errors at SS. I haven't checked on this but my impression is that early in the season they were mostly throwing errors but now many of them are on fairly routine fielding plays.
He seems to get in too much of a hurry, as if he thinks that every baserunner and batter/runner is faster than Jarrod Dyson. He needs to dial that motor back just a bit. He also takes plays for granted now and then, and we all know how the baseball gods respond to that. I don't know much about Vance Wilson's infield coaching but BWJ needs a little help right now.
IMO Matheny (or somebody with authority over him) needs to lock BWJ in at 3B along with Nicky at SS and quit messing with those two! Just because guys can play multiple positions doesn't automatically mean that's the best thing for them or for the team. We already know what Dozier is at 3B. There's no need to keep learning it over and over again.
Alcides Escobar had the same problem more than 10 years ago. (How crazy is THAT?) I think Bobby's too talented to not figure it out defensively, but even if he doesn't, the backup plan is becoming the Royals version of Alex Bregman.
With their 2014-15 bullpen the Royals exploited a "cheat code" that allowed them to have far greater success than could reasonably have been expected. Now they have an opportunity to exploit another one, if John Sherman can see it for what it is…
Doubtless Zumwalt, Tosar and DiRenne & company are going to experience very nice paycheck increases in the near future. The question is, who will be signing those paychecks? I'm already quite worried that some large-revenue team is going to buy them away from us.
My hope is that Sherman will see that he can give them unprecedentedly huge salaries, compared with others in similar jobs, and still have his total outlay be less than it would for one decent MLB veteran FA. That's a "cheat code" that could potentially keep working for years.
Are they worth the money? Well, I'll put it this way: have you seen the Baby Royals play lately?
The Twins lost their pitching coach to college because coaches make so little money in baseball. Sherman is all about a development system like the one the Royals have in place. In fact, he's a big reason why the changes they made were made. I don't think paying for this group is going to be something to worry about.
Thank you, David! That's definitely reassuring. It's just that it would be so "Royals" for those guys to be in LA or NY or Chicago or Houston a year from now. It's hard to get past that pessimism that being a Royals fan has bred into all of us!
But you're helping me get there....
Well, some of them came from LA, so the Royals already stole them away. Some might get away because they're offered a better title and one team can't offer everyone the top title. But they'll keep this group together as best as possible.
😸. Yeah but when the Royals do it it's not "stealing." It's "Asset Enhancement Activities."
I believe that the Royals are going to overhaul the pitching development from the minors to the majors to salvage Asa Lacy and other prospects that have not met expectations. At the majors to get Singer, Lynch, Bubic, and others to reach their full potential. If they can do for the pitching what they did for the hitting then this team is going back to the days when they were regarded as the standard when it comes to expansion teams rather than a cautionary tale of how fast things can change from a threat to win the division every year to vying for a top ten draft pick.
I think they're going to as well. Soren Petro and I talked about it last night on Kauffman Corner.
First, really nice job on the podcast with Soren last night. And I don't say that just because you said out loud what I've been thinking for a couple of weeks: Dansby Swanson sure would be a nice addition on a team that could use another right-handed bat at shortstop.
Oh thank you! For awhile I was adamantly against it, but then started thinking about it and I like the idea. I doubt he leaves the Braves though. Of course we thought the same about Freeman so you never know.
Along those lines, I'd give Bobby 10/200 right now without even thinking about it. In a few years, that's a drop in the bucket even if he doesn't become the superstar we expect.
I'd do the same without hesitation! Unfortunately his agent is probably even more aware of that whole "drop in the bucket" thing than we are.....
I absolutely would give him the Riley deal. That may not be that far off. The first two years would be about $1.5 million without the extension and then, even if he’s a star, he probably makes $45 million in his three arbitration years (based on Trea Turner’s $41.5 million in his last three). So then it becomes five years and $153 million for free agency and that’s if he’s a full blown star.
Open question as to whether he will hit enough but now I understand why the Royals are high on Eaton. 30.1 mph sprint speed and a cannon for an arm. Those are some loud loud tools.
Good to see Isbel have some success at the plate. Hope it is the beginning of a trend.
And we haven't even seen him at what's probably his best defensive spot - third base. Not sure we will, but he's kind of a more toolsy version of Merrifield.
That's really impressive about Eaton at 3B. He looks like such a natural in the outfield that it's hard to imagine him being better elsewhere! Given the roster we have right now I wouldn't think he'd get many starts at 3B, though.