Great win last night. They earned the 6-1 record that road trip which was exactly what they needed. They blew one, but then they stole one, it evens out. They will blow more games yet….but they seem to be stealing plenty as well. They’ve built up the cushion a little. We’ll see if can hold.
Great series. Annoyed with the Royals right now- wanted to get a fountain pass to go the next two nights and they are sold out. Why does SRO sell out and why would the Royals do anything to limit attendance?
Great road trip. It's now time to manage the bullpen. Erceg is the closer. It's so obvious. Win or lose with Erceg stand behind him and support him like we did with our Great closers in the past. I also think we need more out of Garcia. Someone please tell me he's not complaining all the time. Every call at home plate can't be wrong. Time for him to move on and step up. Maybe smile sometimes.
I'll maintain what I wrote. Erceg can pitch the ninth, but I'd much rather have him in the biggest moments of the same. Sometimes that's the ninth. Sometimes it's the seventh. Harvey blew the save on Saturday, sure, but Erceg went through the toughest part of the Tigers order. Had they saved him for the ninth, maybe it never even gets to him and then he's just sitting in the bullpen waiting to pitch.
Also, forgive me if I'm blunt here, but I couldn't care less if a guy smiles on the field. Garcia has been fine since he broke out of the crazy long slump. And there are only six hitters in baseball with more pitches outside the zone called strikes against them than Garcia, so he's pretty justified.
Yeah, they addressed it at the break. The tentative plan is to test it in spring training and "hopefully" implement it in 2026. They keep saying it's not ready, though I'll continue to argue that not ready is better than most of this garbage.
I’m not even against having “challenges” on pitches to batters. And the manager/team can choose when to challenge. They have the technology, it’s such an obvious answer to a solution that I really can’t believe it takes years….we are on years now…to implement.
It's absurd that they've been testing it this long and are still at least a full big league season away from implementation. And the likelihood is that it will be a challenge system.
I agree with you that Harvey's splitter to Báez wasn't a bad one, but he sure hung it multiple times Saturday and Sunday.
I also understand wanting to use your best pitcher in the highest leverage situations but I also hate that going that way means your best pitcher can already be done and there's still baseball - and potentially even higher leverage situations - to play. When my team's best reliever leaves the game I want the game to be over. Maybe that's wrongheaded of me, but it's how I feel.
I get it, but let's say Harvey pitched the eighth, the meat of the Tigers order, with Erceg getting stretched out for the ninth and Harvey does the same thing (or worse against better hitters). Then you've got Erceg just hanging out in the bullpen doing nothing. I'd rather you get through the toughest spots. You can put your best in the ninth when you've got guys you can trust in the seventh and eighth.
Also, Harvey made two iffy pitches yesterday. The hit he allowed to Perez was a fastball up, though Perez did anything but square it up. And he left a slider in the middle to Baez, but to be fair, Baez had already used up his hit for the weekend.
David, I believe for the most part Q has done a good job of managing the team. I would send McArthur to Omaha to get straightened out because he is just awful right now. I am not down on Melendez because I really think he is getting it and he has turned himself into a credible outfielder. I would suggest using Blanco as a defensive replacement for Renfroe in the late innings! Melendez has had two big homers for Royals, the grand slam against the Dodgers and yesterday. Come on Royals fans we are in the midst of a pennant race in August and that has NOT happened since 2015! Go Royals!!!
I'd send McArthur down too, obviously, but I appreciate that he's clearly not high in the pecking order anymore. People point to him pitching the 11th, but he was their *fifth* leverage choice in that game.
I will argue a bit. They were in a playoff spot at the deadline in 2017, so at least we've seen meaningful baseball a little more recently.
The Royals were on a “mission” in the 2015 season after coming so close in the miracle 2014 season. Things went downhill quickly after the 2015 season keyed by the death of their young pitcher who I thought was developing into an excellent starting pitcher. The string of poor drafts caught up with them in the 2018-2023 seasons but it did lead to a new general manager and the ownership group loosening up the purse strings. I believe JJ has done a great job rebuilding the team and picking up some much needed help at the trade deadline! I really believe if they get into the playoffs they can go on a roll because I really really liked those NINE consecutive hits in the 9-2 win against the Tigers. It reminded me of the playoff game against Houston in the 2015 playoffs when they got six hits in a row and Pete Rose stated that the Royals would win because “this is the big leagues and you just should not get six hits in a row”! GO ROYALS!!!
They were certainly on a mission. The Gordon/Moose collision is what derailed 2016 and Ventura's tragic passing is what I think was the impetus for the brutal start in 2017.
Those sort of injuries/unexpected events are what have really stayed away this season when you look back at other seasons that went downhill. I’m not going to say it is as simple as that, but it certainly helps.
I guess my argument to that would be that if Harvey did that in the eighth, but then the Royals took the lead in the 10th, I would have been happier with Erceg pitching the bottom of the 10th because that would be when they would have had the lead and the game would have been over once he was finished (Bubic could have pitched a scoreless ninth based on how he actually pitched the 10th)
It's all conjecture and nonsense. And I understand the logic of the higher leverage situation being the eighth, but I think there's a human element to the lessening of pressure when you know that no matter what you do, there is more game to play after your inning of work.
I've argued for a couple of weeks now that any of the Royals' current crop of relievers can succeed when the pressure is off. They rarely give up runs when they have a big lead, for example. Erceg and Long seem able to pitch well when the pressure is high. Harvey's best outing was one of the lower pressure outings he's had, so far, in the eighth with a two-run lead.
I saw the Twins swept the White Sox too. I guess it’s going to be an automatic 3 for everyone they play against now that they are up to 233 losses in a row. That would be funny it that was Cleveland’s downfall this year.
I have no idea how their actual pitches compare but Harvey reminds me too much of the Carlos Hernandez experience. His appearances are almost always a high octane, white knuckle affair. The guy can strike people out but he is way too hittable. I thought yesterday was a perfect encapsulation: he faced three guys, got 1 k and gave up 2 rockets. He just got lucky that the 2nd one was not only an out but turned into a double play. If that ball is two feet either direction it's probably first and third with one out and then probably another blown save. Unlike Carlos, Harvey has actually had success before so it give me some hope he gets it figured out at some point. In the meantime, he should be nowhere near a high leverage situation.
There are only 3 guys with an ERA below 4 in the pen, this shouldn't be that hard to figure out. I think Q has done a lot of good things and I don't hold earlier bullpen adventures against him too much because all the guys kind of stunk earlier in the year but the last couple of weeks have been frustrating, especially Sat. I agree that Erceg and Long were used in the right spots, but Bubic clearly should have pitched the 9th (or let Erceg finish it) and if he had done so, that game is very likely a win. I've seen others say "oh, but he gave up a hit and a walk in his inning too" but he only gave up a run because of the zombie runner and I think it's likely he does even better with a clean start.
Anyways, I agree that the win yesterday made me a whole lot less grumpy. Can't complain much about a 6-1 road trip, even against one the worst teams ever and another team that is pretty bad post-deadline.
Harvey will get right. He’s better than he’s showing lately. I know era isn’t everything. But he has a career 3.3 era. Hernandez has a career 5.11. Harvey is a much better pitcher. Just may not be showing it right now.
I think you are right - as I said, I have hope he figures it out based on his history. He was good even earlier this year, so hopefully he is rolling again later this season. But he's been pitching like this for two months now and if you are managing a playoff team, you can't afford to ignore what he is right now at this moment, which is a pitcher who is really struggling. He has given up 18 ER in 21.1 IP since June 1.
I'm not sure I'd say he gave up two rockets yesterday. The single was hit pretty softly -82.8 MPH. It was well placed, but certainly not a rocket. And the line drive to third was a hard hit ball, but also I wouldn't call that a rocket. It was hit less than 100 MPH.
Look, I like Bubic and agree he should be getting more leverage situations, but he also has pitched two games now in even moderate leverage. The first was his second outing. It went great. The second was Saturday. I agree the stupid runner on second (I still personally hate that rule) is the only reason he gave up a run, but he did get beat with two strikes against Malloy. I'd like to give him the chance, but for anyone to say they know he would have handled it is just silly. We have no idea. I would have loved for him to get some leverage spots in this soft spot of the schedule, but he didn't, so now we're still left wondering.
Fair points. I didn't see the EV on the hits, just watched the feed and they both seemed pretty well struck to me, especially the last one where the camera didn't pan until after the catch had been made.
I guess I don’t fully get the Bubic hype. I mean, I do, in the sense that he was throwing a bit harder in the bullpen. And his slider and strikeout numbers are better than previous years. Career numbers aren’t what we should be going off with him I get. Because those are pedestrian. But we are looking at a tiny sample size of 25 innings the last two years. He’s coming off a major arm injury. They clearly don’t want him throwing back to back days. I think he can be good and a weapon out of the pen. But I don’t fully understand the thinking that he’s the savior out of the pen. I know Rany was high on him so maybe that was pushing some of the narrative. But just let him throw and get healthy for next years rotation.
Yeah, in agreement. It’s just been from the first pitch this year in the minors Bubic has been the answer to all problems. :) I’m like people, Long has been doing everything we want Bubic to do. We already have it in front of us. Lol.
All I can say is Wow! What a road trip. Keep it going Royals. I would like to see the attendance increase this last part of the season. The team certainly deserves it.
"It’s so funny because I made a conscious effort before last season to not let baseball impact my mood".
I told myself the same thing...and the fact it doesn't work confirms you're a real fan! Seriously, it's great to see competitive baseball again. So what does the fact that the Saturday/Sunday games were a "swap" do to the 54-54-54 list?
Big fan of Pasquatch this year. Anytime you get a big leaguer who is ok with trading Sac flies for RBIs, that’s big. I recall on the post game when Goldie asked him about the HR, Vinnie said he was just trying to get the deep fly ball to score the run.
He gave up a soft single and then, yes, had some fortunate placement. I'm not saying Harvey has been good, but he has a track record and every pitcher will have some good fortune on batted balls.
Hunter still hasn’t shown anything, yes he has gotten out of trouble a few times, terrible pick up, gave up Wallace barring injuries is a good 3B and a draft pick, can’t build a farm system without picks. He will be used less and less unless his pitching improves. Starters don’t appear to be to happy when getting pulled in the 5th or 6th inning and I can’t blame them. Royals weakness, managing the pitching staff especially getting pitchers ready to come in to relieve.
Great win last night. They earned the 6-1 record that road trip which was exactly what they needed. They blew one, but then they stole one, it evens out. They will blow more games yet….but they seem to be stealing plenty as well. They’ve built up the cushion a little. We’ll see if can hold.
Great series. Annoyed with the Royals right now- wanted to get a fountain pass to go the next two nights and they are sold out. Why does SRO sell out and why would the Royals do anything to limit attendance?
I don't know if this is the case, but I imagine they're trying to ensure that there is actually space for people to stand and be able to see the game.
Great road trip. It's now time to manage the bullpen. Erceg is the closer. It's so obvious. Win or lose with Erceg stand behind him and support him like we did with our Great closers in the past. I also think we need more out of Garcia. Someone please tell me he's not complaining all the time. Every call at home plate can't be wrong. Time for him to move on and step up. Maybe smile sometimes.
I'll maintain what I wrote. Erceg can pitch the ninth, but I'd much rather have him in the biggest moments of the same. Sometimes that's the ninth. Sometimes it's the seventh. Harvey blew the save on Saturday, sure, but Erceg went through the toughest part of the Tigers order. Had they saved him for the ninth, maybe it never even gets to him and then he's just sitting in the bullpen waiting to pitch.
Also, forgive me if I'm blunt here, but I couldn't care less if a guy smiles on the field. Garcia has been fine since he broke out of the crazy long slump. And there are only six hitters in baseball with more pitches outside the zone called strikes against them than Garcia, so he's pretty justified.
I’ll use this opportunity to go on my auto ump rant now. Lol. Have you heard anything more on it maybe being used next year?
Yeah, they addressed it at the break. The tentative plan is to test it in spring training and "hopefully" implement it in 2026. They keep saying it's not ready, though I'll continue to argue that not ready is better than most of this garbage.
I’m not even against having “challenges” on pitches to batters. And the manager/team can choose when to challenge. They have the technology, it’s such an obvious answer to a solution that I really can’t believe it takes years….we are on years now…to implement.
It's absurd that they've been testing it this long and are still at least a full big league season away from implementation. And the likelihood is that it will be a challenge system.
I agree with you that Harvey's splitter to Báez wasn't a bad one, but he sure hung it multiple times Saturday and Sunday.
I also understand wanting to use your best pitcher in the highest leverage situations but I also hate that going that way means your best pitcher can already be done and there's still baseball - and potentially even higher leverage situations - to play. When my team's best reliever leaves the game I want the game to be over. Maybe that's wrongheaded of me, but it's how I feel.
I get it, but let's say Harvey pitched the eighth, the meat of the Tigers order, with Erceg getting stretched out for the ninth and Harvey does the same thing (or worse against better hitters). Then you've got Erceg just hanging out in the bullpen doing nothing. I'd rather you get through the toughest spots. You can put your best in the ninth when you've got guys you can trust in the seventh and eighth.
Also, Harvey made two iffy pitches yesterday. The hit he allowed to Perez was a fastball up, though Perez did anything but square it up. And he left a slider in the middle to Baez, but to be fair, Baez had already used up his hit for the weekend.
David, I believe for the most part Q has done a good job of managing the team. I would send McArthur to Omaha to get straightened out because he is just awful right now. I am not down on Melendez because I really think he is getting it and he has turned himself into a credible outfielder. I would suggest using Blanco as a defensive replacement for Renfroe in the late innings! Melendez has had two big homers for Royals, the grand slam against the Dodgers and yesterday. Come on Royals fans we are in the midst of a pennant race in August and that has NOT happened since 2015! Go Royals!!!
I'd send McArthur down too, obviously, but I appreciate that he's clearly not high in the pecking order anymore. People point to him pitching the 11th, but he was their *fifth* leverage choice in that game.
I will argue a bit. They were in a playoff spot at the deadline in 2017, so at least we've seen meaningful baseball a little more recently.
The Royals were on a “mission” in the 2015 season after coming so close in the miracle 2014 season. Things went downhill quickly after the 2015 season keyed by the death of their young pitcher who I thought was developing into an excellent starting pitcher. The string of poor drafts caught up with them in the 2018-2023 seasons but it did lead to a new general manager and the ownership group loosening up the purse strings. I believe JJ has done a great job rebuilding the team and picking up some much needed help at the trade deadline! I really believe if they get into the playoffs they can go on a roll because I really really liked those NINE consecutive hits in the 9-2 win against the Tigers. It reminded me of the playoff game against Houston in the 2015 playoffs when they got six hits in a row and Pete Rose stated that the Royals would win because “this is the big leagues and you just should not get six hits in a row”! GO ROYALS!!!
They were certainly on a mission. The Gordon/Moose collision is what derailed 2016 and Ventura's tragic passing is what I think was the impetus for the brutal start in 2017.
Those sort of injuries/unexpected events are what have really stayed away this season when you look back at other seasons that went downhill. I’m not going to say it is as simple as that, but it certainly helps.
The “glue” has been Fermin hitting over 0.300 and saving Salvy’s legs to either DH or play first base!
I guess my argument to that would be that if Harvey did that in the eighth, but then the Royals took the lead in the 10th, I would have been happier with Erceg pitching the bottom of the 10th because that would be when they would have had the lead and the game would have been over once he was finished (Bubic could have pitched a scoreless ninth based on how he actually pitched the 10th)
It's all conjecture and nonsense. And I understand the logic of the higher leverage situation being the eighth, but I think there's a human element to the lessening of pressure when you know that no matter what you do, there is more game to play after your inning of work.
I've argued for a couple of weeks now that any of the Royals' current crop of relievers can succeed when the pressure is off. They rarely give up runs when they have a big lead, for example. Erceg and Long seem able to pitch well when the pressure is high. Harvey's best outing was one of the lower pressure outings he's had, so far, in the eighth with a two-run lead.
I think that's probably true of most relievers, but a good observation nonetheless.
I saw the Twins swept the White Sox too. I guess it’s going to be an automatic 3 for everyone they play against now that they are up to 233 losses in a row. That would be funny it that was Cleveland’s downfall this year.
I have no idea how their actual pitches compare but Harvey reminds me too much of the Carlos Hernandez experience. His appearances are almost always a high octane, white knuckle affair. The guy can strike people out but he is way too hittable. I thought yesterday was a perfect encapsulation: he faced three guys, got 1 k and gave up 2 rockets. He just got lucky that the 2nd one was not only an out but turned into a double play. If that ball is two feet either direction it's probably first and third with one out and then probably another blown save. Unlike Carlos, Harvey has actually had success before so it give me some hope he gets it figured out at some point. In the meantime, he should be nowhere near a high leverage situation.
There are only 3 guys with an ERA below 4 in the pen, this shouldn't be that hard to figure out. I think Q has done a lot of good things and I don't hold earlier bullpen adventures against him too much because all the guys kind of stunk earlier in the year but the last couple of weeks have been frustrating, especially Sat. I agree that Erceg and Long were used in the right spots, but Bubic clearly should have pitched the 9th (or let Erceg finish it) and if he had done so, that game is very likely a win. I've seen others say "oh, but he gave up a hit and a walk in his inning too" but he only gave up a run because of the zombie runner and I think it's likely he does even better with a clean start.
Anyways, I agree that the win yesterday made me a whole lot less grumpy. Can't complain much about a 6-1 road trip, even against one the worst teams ever and another team that is pretty bad post-deadline.
Harvey will get right. He’s better than he’s showing lately. I know era isn’t everything. But he has a career 3.3 era. Hernandez has a career 5.11. Harvey is a much better pitcher. Just may not be showing it right now.
I think you are right - as I said, I have hope he figures it out based on his history. He was good even earlier this year, so hopefully he is rolling again later this season. But he's been pitching like this for two months now and if you are managing a playoff team, you can't afford to ignore what he is right now at this moment, which is a pitcher who is really struggling. He has given up 18 ER in 21.1 IP since June 1.
I'm not sure I'd say he gave up two rockets yesterday. The single was hit pretty softly -82.8 MPH. It was well placed, but certainly not a rocket. And the line drive to third was a hard hit ball, but also I wouldn't call that a rocket. It was hit less than 100 MPH.
Look, I like Bubic and agree he should be getting more leverage situations, but he also has pitched two games now in even moderate leverage. The first was his second outing. It went great. The second was Saturday. I agree the stupid runner on second (I still personally hate that rule) is the only reason he gave up a run, but he did get beat with two strikes against Malloy. I'd like to give him the chance, but for anyone to say they know he would have handled it is just silly. We have no idea. I would have loved for him to get some leverage spots in this soft spot of the schedule, but he didn't, so now we're still left wondering.
Fair points. I didn't see the EV on the hits, just watched the feed and they both seemed pretty well struck to me, especially the last one where the camera didn't pan until after the catch had been made.
I guess I don’t fully get the Bubic hype. I mean, I do, in the sense that he was throwing a bit harder in the bullpen. And his slider and strikeout numbers are better than previous years. Career numbers aren’t what we should be going off with him I get. Because those are pedestrian. But we are looking at a tiny sample size of 25 innings the last two years. He’s coming off a major arm injury. They clearly don’t want him throwing back to back days. I think he can be good and a weapon out of the pen. But I don’t fully understand the thinking that he’s the savior out of the pen. I know Rany was high on him so maybe that was pushing some of the narrative. But just let him throw and get healthy for next years rotation.
Like I said, I like Bubic and I'd like to see him in bigger spots. I just don't think anyone actually knows if he'll succeed there.
Yeah, in agreement. It’s just been from the first pitch this year in the minors Bubic has been the answer to all problems. :) I’m like people, Long has been doing everything we want Bubic to do. We already have it in front of us. Lol.
I don't think that's really the case. But the good news is that Long is in leverage now pretty clearly.
All I can say is Wow! What a road trip. Keep it going Royals. I would like to see the attendance increase this last part of the season. The team certainly deserves it.
"It’s so funny because I made a conscious effort before last season to not let baseball impact my mood".
I told myself the same thing...and the fact it doesn't work confirms you're a real fan! Seriously, it's great to see competitive baseball again. So what does the fact that the Saturday/Sunday games were a "swap" do to the 54-54-54 list?
It's on my list to update today, but not much. Just a 1-1 in the middle 54 group.
Big fan of Pasquatch this year. Anytime you get a big leaguer who is ok with trading Sac flies for RBIs, that’s big. I recall on the post game when Goldie asked him about the HR, Vinnie said he was just trying to get the deep fly ball to score the run.
When you have that many, it's pretty clear you're making an effort to do it. Runs are good.
I’m not sure yesterday’s was a redemption appearance for Harvey. It looked a lot like the day before except Frazier happened to be in the right place.
Harvey doesnt look great and he’s been trending this way for a while. Any worries here?
Shades of the deadline tradeds we made for meh relievers in ‘16 or ‘17 ?
He gave up a soft single and then, yes, had some fortunate placement. I'm not saying Harvey has been good, but he has a track record and every pitcher will have some good fortune on batted balls.
Hunter still hasn’t shown anything, yes he has gotten out of trouble a few times, terrible pick up, gave up Wallace barring injuries is a good 3B and a draft pick, can’t build a farm system without picks. He will be used less and less unless his pitching improves. Starters don’t appear to be to happy when getting pulled in the 5th or 6th inning and I can’t blame them. Royals weakness, managing the pitching staff especially getting pitchers ready to come in to relieve.
Quite concerned about the 8th and 9th inning relievers.