Say what you want, 95% of this comes from coaching. Quartero and Sweeney are making Eldred and Matheny look like geniuses. You are busting about the defenses, it’s still coaching, out of positions, look at the good SS and 2B, they were always in good position, they used the catchers signals and player knowledge to position themselves by the pitch, Ripken didn’t have to make a ton of diving plays he was always in position, they didn’t have to over exaggerate a shift or play in the grass (no longer), they played and were coached smarter. Too many specialized coaches now and not enough good old baseball smarts. Isbel back, good bye Bradley. Line up is too inconsistent day to day. Isbel and Lopez should be the next to go.
Yikes, there is so much to unpack here! Great article! But I want to focus on just a couple of things. First, you're absolutely right, the defense appeared to be actively sabotaging Daniel Lynch. That was both frustrating and disappointing.
But my main question involves Carlos Hernandez: have you heard any theories from credible sources why his velocity dropped so suddenly last year? General arm fatigue? (Unlikely given his age and previous workload.) One or more injuries? Flawed mechanics? Something else?
And that brings up a related question: how did he get his velocity back so quickly? (Not that I'm complaining!) Does anybody have a good idea or theory about that particular process?
This might be overly simplistic, I don’t know the formulas to OAA and DRS but assuming they measure what they say they measure, could a reasonable theory be that the Royals don’t make the easy plays (see DRS) but make the harder plays (see OAA)?
Thanks David, didn’t get to see Friday or Sunday’s games but saw the majority of Saturday. Made a point to watch some of Lynch. Came away……disgusted really. But that’s not the point….Lynch looked pretty good to me. I don’t see a top of the rotation starter BUT THAT’S OK. A solid middle of the rotation starter would be a god send to this team right now. With the opportunity to continue to grow. As far as your defensive stats…..I don’t watch every game like you…I would certainly try more if they were even average…..but the games I do see….I see more of the bad defense than I do the good defense which makes those defensive stats even more interesting. For instance, Saturday I watched the error at SS and then Melendez misplay a ball….usually my games are involving Olivares….so this was a nice change of pace. They may have made some great plays the other days to even it out…so this is a bit of just a when you watch observation. Inconsistent at best is probably accurate.
2. I had to turn off Hud on Saturday. I can usually do ok with him…but had to mute and put it on in the background. I understand they are trying to talk up the team but if every player was as good as you’d say they are Hud, this team would have more than 18 wins or whatever it is at this point. Just call the game as it is please.
3. Super encouraged by the walk numbers you have thrown out. I see that stat and keep hearing about how the pitching numbers are better. And I believe it, but then wonder how they aren’t winning more games. Not that it matters, but it would just be nice to see some more W’s.
I had looked the other day at the Fangraphs leaderboards so I knew that the offense was 14th in baseball by fWAR in May, but I was quite surprised to see that the pitching was also middle of the pack (17th in baseball), so you would've maybe expected them to have a better record than 10-17 over that span. Something that also might support your point about them being in most games is that their Pythag W/L is 4 games better than their actual record, though that's not necessarily a guarantee that things will level out; regardless a -75 run differential is bad but not what you'd expect for an 18-41 team. No real point there, just some additional things to think about.
oof, thought we might win this one many innings ago
Enjoyed the article, thank you for articulating much of what I have been thinking: "I don’t quite understand anything about them. If you look one way, you think they’ve got some pieces. If you look another way, it feels like there’s no chance they can ever compete."
And were you kinda positive about Lyles?? Ha either way I am happy to see him doing ok, happy to see Singer maybe improving, and happily surprised to see Lynch looking ok
Why few sweeps and so weirdly not looking awful considering record? I have to wonder if that is a coaching thing. Maybe just a youth optimism thing, but have to think they are getting some support from coaching. They don't seem to give-up (but I am starting to get concerned about MJ even though I am a big fan)
Looks like Tuesdays line-up and defensive alignment might be the best all year.
Feel that there should have been a lot more improvement since last year, seeing deja vu. Injuries haven’t helped, and yes there is more motivation than last year, it shows. Not running enough, swinging at too many ball 4’s, Melendez still doesn’t look comfortable in the outfield, Lopez’s bat is waste, won’t miss Bradley when Isbel returns. Everything is just too inconsistent, both offensively and defensively, no consistent line-up. Consistency builds quality, dependability, improvement, passion, reliability and success.
Say what you want, 95% of this comes from coaching. Quartero and Sweeney are making Eldred and Matheny look like geniuses. You are busting about the defenses, it’s still coaching, out of positions, look at the good SS and 2B, they were always in good position, they used the catchers signals and player knowledge to position themselves by the pitch, Ripken didn’t have to make a ton of diving plays he was always in position, they didn’t have to over exaggerate a shift or play in the grass (no longer), they played and were coached smarter. Too many specialized coaches now and not enough good old baseball smarts. Isbel back, good bye Bradley. Line up is too inconsistent day to day. Isbel and Lopez should be the next to go.
Has Pratto ever been tried at 3B, good glove and reaction time
Yikes, there is so much to unpack here! Great article! But I want to focus on just a couple of things. First, you're absolutely right, the defense appeared to be actively sabotaging Daniel Lynch. That was both frustrating and disappointing.
But my main question involves Carlos Hernandez: have you heard any theories from credible sources why his velocity dropped so suddenly last year? General arm fatigue? (Unlikely given his age and previous workload.) One or more injuries? Flawed mechanics? Something else?
And that brings up a related question: how did he get his velocity back so quickly? (Not that I'm complaining!) Does anybody have a good idea or theory about that particular process?
It's about time we petition the Powers That Be to change the "Lyles Can't Win" law.
This might be overly simplistic, I don’t know the formulas to OAA and DRS but assuming they measure what they say they measure, could a reasonable theory be that the Royals don’t make the easy plays (see DRS) but make the harder plays (see OAA)?
Thanks David, didn’t get to see Friday or Sunday’s games but saw the majority of Saturday. Made a point to watch some of Lynch. Came away……disgusted really. But that’s not the point….Lynch looked pretty good to me. I don’t see a top of the rotation starter BUT THAT’S OK. A solid middle of the rotation starter would be a god send to this team right now. With the opportunity to continue to grow. As far as your defensive stats…..I don’t watch every game like you…I would certainly try more if they were even average…..but the games I do see….I see more of the bad defense than I do the good defense which makes those defensive stats even more interesting. For instance, Saturday I watched the error at SS and then Melendez misplay a ball….usually my games are involving Olivares….so this was a nice change of pace. They may have made some great plays the other days to even it out…so this is a bit of just a when you watch observation. Inconsistent at best is probably accurate.
2. I had to turn off Hud on Saturday. I can usually do ok with him…but had to mute and put it on in the background. I understand they are trying to talk up the team but if every player was as good as you’d say they are Hud, this team would have more than 18 wins or whatever it is at this point. Just call the game as it is please.
3. Super encouraged by the walk numbers you have thrown out. I see that stat and keep hearing about how the pitching numbers are better. And I believe it, but then wonder how they aren’t winning more games. Not that it matters, but it would just be nice to see some more W’s.
I had looked the other day at the Fangraphs leaderboards so I knew that the offense was 14th in baseball by fWAR in May, but I was quite surprised to see that the pitching was also middle of the pack (17th in baseball), so you would've maybe expected them to have a better record than 10-17 over that span. Something that also might support your point about them being in most games is that their Pythag W/L is 4 games better than their actual record, though that's not necessarily a guarantee that things will level out; regardless a -75 run differential is bad but not what you'd expect for an 18-41 team. No real point there, just some additional things to think about.
oof, thought we might win this one many innings ago
Enjoyed the article, thank you for articulating much of what I have been thinking: "I don’t quite understand anything about them. If you look one way, you think they’ve got some pieces. If you look another way, it feels like there’s no chance they can ever compete."
And were you kinda positive about Lyles?? Ha either way I am happy to see him doing ok, happy to see Singer maybe improving, and happily surprised to see Lynch looking ok
Why few sweeps and so weirdly not looking awful considering record? I have to wonder if that is a coaching thing. Maybe just a youth optimism thing, but have to think they are getting some support from coaching. They don't seem to give-up (but I am starting to get concerned about MJ even though I am a big fan)
To end on a positive note, How about that Pratto?
Looks like Tuesdays line-up and defensive alignment might be the best all year.
Feel that there should have been a lot more improvement since last year, seeing deja vu. Injuries haven’t helped, and yes there is more motivation than last year, it shows. Not running enough, swinging at too many ball 4’s, Melendez still doesn’t look comfortable in the outfield, Lopez’s bat is waste, won’t miss Bradley when Isbel returns. Everything is just too inconsistent, both offensively and defensively, no consistent line-up. Consistency builds quality, dependability, improvement, passion, reliability and success.