In the first Monday staple of the season, I'll look at the starting pitching from the first series, break down the games, give a player of the short week and a look ahead.
It’s funny that you mention they needed that win. After Saturday I was ready to blast them if they lost on Sunday and started 0-3. Lol. I just don’t have the patience for hearing about how dominate the opponents starting pitching is all the time. You don’t get the benefit of the doubt at this point if you start 0-3 right out of the gate. Lol. But, they came out and calmed a lot of nerves.
I’m not going to sit here and say I buy into Singer yet. They can say he threw “other” pitches that didn’t register. But I didn’t see any different movements on pitches on the eye test. But I didn’t see every pitch either. We already know when his fastball and slider are on he is hard to hit. They were on yesterday. It was a good performance. It’s been 3 games, they’ve been in all three late. It’s exactly what I expected to see this year. If the pitching stays healthy they have no business going on a 10 game losing streak that just kills them. No business. In fact, I’d say we actually see multiple 5 game winning streaks this year with a healthy rotation. They gotta stay healthy, but they are legit big leaguers.
I honestly think they needed the win from a perception standpoint and from a win needed standpoint in general because wins are important. I do think anyone saying same team would have been off base, but I also understand the reasoning behind it.
There were a fair number of two-seamers in going back and watching that I could see getting shifted to four-seamers, maybe 8-10, which isn't nothing. Statcast can be slow to catch up to new pitches, so I'm willing to see. But also, like I wrote, the point of having the other pitches is to have other options when the money makers aren't working, so I don't have an issue with him sticking with pitches that he's mastered and are getting it done. I do think you're right. There won't be nearly the number of totally uncompetitive games we saw last season and this first series featured two competitive games and one laugher that they were on the right side of. If you're in games late, you're going to win games.
It’s not the same team. The only part that I do think looks a lot the same is the offensive approach which I don’t love. But it’s only 3 games. Way too early to tell. I gotta let it play out a lot longer here.
This isn't to say that it will actually change, but there is just so much noise in three games. I mean, they've still got Salvador Perez, so they're going to swing at a lot of pitches, but Houston, Atlanta, Texas and Tampa are all in the bottom half of the league of O-swing% too, so we'll see how it goes there. I assume the Royals will stay there, but we'll see.
I watched all 3 games and it was great to see the Royals starting pitchers challenge the Twins hitters. No nibbling at the corners anymore. I loved seeing the offensive explosion with the five homers because hitting homers at the K is difficult. V’s homer looked really good because I am not sure on the replay he got all of the ball? He is so strong that he hit it out anyway! Looking forward to the Orioles series! Go Royals!
391 WRC+?? Love small sample sizes, but let’s hear it for the MVP! I hope they keep it up and the weather cooperates, because I’ll be at the game tonight in Baltimore.
A few of national baseball outlets had writers with preseason Cy Young predictions for Lopez and Ryan. So, struggling against them isn't usually. The deep exhale yesterday is evidence of the Royals fan anxiety over early season woes sinking the season. KC has shown you can lose the division in April and May. You can't win it then but you can lose it. This team is different - we'll see that emerge. Memorial Day is the early marker of season. Since teams play everyday, unlike NFL, one Chiefs game is like 10 Royals games. I think most baseball fans are so starved for content after winter, we care a lot more in the first couple of weeks.
The first few games are always seen as huge for a lot of reasons, including those you mentioned. I think it also doesn't help when it's the only sample you have. Scoring two over two games and losing them both when you're 41-45 or whatever doesn't register as more than a frustrating couple of days.
Brady Singer is the best starting pitcher the Royals have developed since Ventura and Duffy which is damning praise but true nonetheless. I follow all the Royals content creators and they all seem to reserve varying levels of contempt for Brady while at the same time being really positive about guys like Bubic who haven’t come close to matching Brady’s production. Alex Duvall and the Royals Weekly guys come to mind. The narrative seems to be that he’s stubborn and has a bad attitude. You mention something from 2021. What happened then? I’m honestly trying to understand all the Brady hate.
It seems to be mostly about him not throwing his changeup more. Alec from the Athletic had a good piece a few years ago on how his changeup essentially sucked because it didn’t have good velo and shape differentiation from his sinker. It has mostly been a slightly slower sinker that he can’t control well. Sweeney has said basically that his style of pronation/supination doesn’t lend itself to throwing a good changeup. Also, I’ve heard them mention in interviews that he’s tried all sorts of grips and has never found one that works well (the latest is the split finger but I don’t think he can command that either). There seems to be this consensus among the Royals bloggers that an MLB pitcher can easily add any an effective pitch, when I think the reality is that having even a 40 grade pitch at the MLB level is extremely difficult. If anyone could add an effective third pitch, there’d be hundreds of relievers who were starters cashing much bigger checks. It almost seems that folks care more about his perceived refusal to throw a changeup more than his actual production.
When I hear him interviews, he seems like a perfectly nice and humble guy. I know there was one case when he said something after a bad start about how if he can’t locate his sinker and slider, it’s not gonna matter if he throws the changeup. I remember Royals bloggers being apoplectic after that one comment. Seemed like an overreaction to a guy saying something in response to a question after a really bad start that fit a preconceived narrative that he was stubborn.
Singer has definitely been the best pitcher they've developed since those two, but, as you say, it's not necessarily a postive, though he has had his moments. I've personally always said that I don't care if he throws a changeup, he just need *something* different. He's definitely tried a bunch of changeups and, yeah, they haven't worked at all. My issues with him stem from some things I can't really get into publicly but have heard from a lot of people regarding his stubbornness that I believe to be true. It seems that he's gotten past that, which is great.
On Singer. I don’t fully blame Singer though either. I blame the organization. Yes, Singer didn’t adapt and it bit him. It’s adapt or die in mlb. But I fully believe a better development system wouldn’t have had him in the majors without the “something” different to begin with.
The exciting thing to me is that all the starting pitchers now have a different calling card. None are the same look. Sometimes you just need arms and space them out if they are the same type of pitcher. But you’ve got….all plus stuff so ace (Ragans), curveball (Lugo), Slider (Singer), Changeup (Wacha) as the top four. To be determined yet if Marsh can develop a calling card. In a three same series no lineup is facing the same type pitcher. It’s very Rays like….and I love it. Doesn’t mean it will work with each individual player, but there is a small edge there…they never had before.
I'm not sure, but would it surprise anyone if they didn't have them with the smaller lettering yet? The Mariners hadn't been delivered their cream uniforms. What a disaster this uniform stuff has been!
I've repeatedly expressed my skepticism this offseason that MJ will consistently be an above-average hitter; he seems pretty intent on proving me wrong through the first 3 games.
Was very pessimistic going into Sundays game, but Singer impressed. Forget Sweeney or Driveline, Baby Singer deserves the accolades (babies encourage 4-seamers). Hopefully that bat explosion provides them with enough confidence to go from thinking they can hit, to knowing they can hit. In the back of my mind i worry a bit about Vinnie, not because of this years performance, but a lot of people are banking on him being the guy, and it just seems a little early for that conviction
I don’t know if it’s early when he was one of the 25 or so best hitters in baseball after his callup in 2022 and was even better last year before he played through the injury for a couple of weeks. The track record exists at every level for Vinnie. I’d be pretty surprised if he wasn’t one of the three best hitters on this team all season.
The starting pitching looked great and they took the lock off the bat rack! To see them implode in the ninth the first two games was certainly disheartening. As yogi said, Dejavu all over again. I tuned in late yesterday but just in time to see Salvy go yard. Great timing. But being a long time royals fan I sure wasn’t warm and cozy. When they were up 10-0 I definitely relaxed a little. I remember Jeremy Guthrie joking about just giving him 10 runs and shut down defense and he’ll handle the rest. Whata guy! Maybe tonight is Vinny’s break out night? It can’t hurt to hope. How about Lyles? Maybe that’s the right role for him. Either way, yesterday felt great!
Solid opening series that I really enjoyed. Couldn't agree more that we desperately needed that win. Loved the starting pitching and gives a lot of hope that we'll be in a lot of games. Still think the offense will be a work in progress, but was pumped to see MJ, Isbel and Garcia show what they can be. Not too concerned about the results from this series, but I am a little concerned about the bullpen. I think the floor of the bullpen is better, but not good. Smith, Stratton, Schreiber, Zerpa, Lyles, Sauer. There is very little..juice? Power? Strikeouts. I really think we're going to need McArthur, McMillon to step up and one of Klein/Cruz to emerge.
Also. Definitely thought I saw some 4-Seamers from Brady watching live. Would not have guessed 14, but I remember picking out at least a handful that I was pretty confident were not sinkers. Like you've said, his sinker/slider was dominant, so to me, if he really threw 14 4-seamers in a game where is slider was dominant, that's something. Small step, but something. I'll definitely be watching closely to see if it continues.
I think I'm going to re-watch it as well. He's saying he used his sweeper too, which I did not see. But it did seem like the vertical break on his slider varied a bit, so maybe that was it? If so, it will be hard to track and to me is really just another, different shaped, slider?
It’s funny that you mention they needed that win. After Saturday I was ready to blast them if they lost on Sunday and started 0-3. Lol. I just don’t have the patience for hearing about how dominate the opponents starting pitching is all the time. You don’t get the benefit of the doubt at this point if you start 0-3 right out of the gate. Lol. But, they came out and calmed a lot of nerves.
I’m not going to sit here and say I buy into Singer yet. They can say he threw “other” pitches that didn’t register. But I didn’t see any different movements on pitches on the eye test. But I didn’t see every pitch either. We already know when his fastball and slider are on he is hard to hit. They were on yesterday. It was a good performance. It’s been 3 games, they’ve been in all three late. It’s exactly what I expected to see this year. If the pitching stays healthy they have no business going on a 10 game losing streak that just kills them. No business. In fact, I’d say we actually see multiple 5 game winning streaks this year with a healthy rotation. They gotta stay healthy, but they are legit big leaguers.
I honestly think they needed the win from a perception standpoint and from a win needed standpoint in general because wins are important. I do think anyone saying same team would have been off base, but I also understand the reasoning behind it.
There were a fair number of two-seamers in going back and watching that I could see getting shifted to four-seamers, maybe 8-10, which isn't nothing. Statcast can be slow to catch up to new pitches, so I'm willing to see. But also, like I wrote, the point of having the other pitches is to have other options when the money makers aren't working, so I don't have an issue with him sticking with pitches that he's mastered and are getting it done. I do think you're right. There won't be nearly the number of totally uncompetitive games we saw last season and this first series featured two competitive games and one laugher that they were on the right side of. If you're in games late, you're going to win games.
It’s not the same team. The only part that I do think looks a lot the same is the offensive approach which I don’t love. But it’s only 3 games. Way too early to tell. I gotta let it play out a lot longer here.
This isn't to say that it will actually change, but there is just so much noise in three games. I mean, they've still got Salvador Perez, so they're going to swing at a lot of pitches, but Houston, Atlanta, Texas and Tampa are all in the bottom half of the league of O-swing% too, so we'll see how it goes there. I assume the Royals will stay there, but we'll see.
Savant update and it's 14 four-seamers, so I was off by a bit.
I watched all 3 games and it was great to see the Royals starting pitchers challenge the Twins hitters. No nibbling at the corners anymore. I loved seeing the offensive explosion with the five homers because hitting homers at the K is difficult. V’s homer looked really good because I am not sure on the replay he got all of the ball? He is so strong that he hit it out anyway! Looking forward to the Orioles series! Go Royals!
391 WRC+?? Love small sample sizes, but let’s hear it for the MVP! I hope they keep it up and the weather cooperates, because I’ll be at the game tonight in Baltimore.
Oh nice! That's a great park. I've toured it but never seen a game there, so I need to do that sometime soon.
A few of national baseball outlets had writers with preseason Cy Young predictions for Lopez and Ryan. So, struggling against them isn't usually. The deep exhale yesterday is evidence of the Royals fan anxiety over early season woes sinking the season. KC has shown you can lose the division in April and May. You can't win it then but you can lose it. This team is different - we'll see that emerge. Memorial Day is the early marker of season. Since teams play everyday, unlike NFL, one Chiefs game is like 10 Royals games. I think most baseball fans are so starved for content after winter, we care a lot more in the first couple of weeks.
The first few games are always seen as huge for a lot of reasons, including those you mentioned. I think it also doesn't help when it's the only sample you have. Scoring two over two games and losing them both when you're 41-45 or whatever doesn't register as more than a frustrating couple of days.
Brady Singer is the best starting pitcher the Royals have developed since Ventura and Duffy which is damning praise but true nonetheless. I follow all the Royals content creators and they all seem to reserve varying levels of contempt for Brady while at the same time being really positive about guys like Bubic who haven’t come close to matching Brady’s production. Alex Duvall and the Royals Weekly guys come to mind. The narrative seems to be that he’s stubborn and has a bad attitude. You mention something from 2021. What happened then? I’m honestly trying to understand all the Brady hate.
It seems to be mostly about him not throwing his changeup more. Alec from the Athletic had a good piece a few years ago on how his changeup essentially sucked because it didn’t have good velo and shape differentiation from his sinker. It has mostly been a slightly slower sinker that he can’t control well. Sweeney has said basically that his style of pronation/supination doesn’t lend itself to throwing a good changeup. Also, I’ve heard them mention in interviews that he’s tried all sorts of grips and has never found one that works well (the latest is the split finger but I don’t think he can command that either). There seems to be this consensus among the Royals bloggers that an MLB pitcher can easily add any an effective pitch, when I think the reality is that having even a 40 grade pitch at the MLB level is extremely difficult. If anyone could add an effective third pitch, there’d be hundreds of relievers who were starters cashing much bigger checks. It almost seems that folks care more about his perceived refusal to throw a changeup more than his actual production.
When I hear him interviews, he seems like a perfectly nice and humble guy. I know there was one case when he said something after a bad start about how if he can’t locate his sinker and slider, it’s not gonna matter if he throws the changeup. I remember Royals bloggers being apoplectic after that one comment. Seemed like an overreaction to a guy saying something in response to a question after a really bad start that fit a preconceived narrative that he was stubborn.
Singer has definitely been the best pitcher they've developed since those two, but, as you say, it's not necessarily a postive, though he has had his moments. I've personally always said that I don't care if he throws a changeup, he just need *something* different. He's definitely tried a bunch of changeups and, yeah, they haven't worked at all. My issues with him stem from some things I can't really get into publicly but have heard from a lot of people regarding his stubbornness that I believe to be true. It seems that he's gotten past that, which is great.
On Singer. I don’t fully blame Singer though either. I blame the organization. Yes, Singer didn’t adapt and it bit him. It’s adapt or die in mlb. But I fully believe a better development system wouldn’t have had him in the majors without the “something” different to begin with.
The exciting thing to me is that all the starting pitchers now have a different calling card. None are the same look. Sometimes you just need arms and space them out if they are the same type of pitcher. But you’ve got….all plus stuff so ace (Ragans), curveball (Lugo), Slider (Singer), Changeup (Wacha) as the top four. To be determined yet if Marsh can develop a calling card. In a three same series no lineup is facing the same type pitcher. It’s very Rays like….and I love it. Doesn’t mean it will work with each individual player, but there is a small edge there…they never had before.
That's a really good point on the different styles for each starter. I hadn't really thought of that angle, but it's so true.
How great is it to look at the scheduled starters for the next 3 games and not see Jordan Lyles?
Incredible! And he looked fine enough in his one inning yesterday in the perfect situation for him.
Any idea where the powder blue uniforms were this weekend?
I'm not sure, but would it surprise anyone if they didn't have them with the smaller lettering yet? The Mariners hadn't been delivered their cream uniforms. What a disaster this uniform stuff has been!
I've repeatedly expressed my skepticism this offseason that MJ will consistently be an above-average hitter; he seems pretty intent on proving me wrong through the first 3 games.
He's looked good since the break last year. Hopefully he can put a full season together and quiet the questions about him.
Was very pessimistic going into Sundays game, but Singer impressed. Forget Sweeney or Driveline, Baby Singer deserves the accolades (babies encourage 4-seamers). Hopefully that bat explosion provides them with enough confidence to go from thinking they can hit, to knowing they can hit. In the back of my mind i worry a bit about Vinnie, not because of this years performance, but a lot of people are banking on him being the guy, and it just seems a little early for that conviction
I don’t know if it’s early when he was one of the 25 or so best hitters in baseball after his callup in 2022 and was even better last year before he played through the injury for a couple of weeks. The track record exists at every level for Vinnie. I’d be pretty surprised if he wasn’t one of the three best hitters on this team all season.
Interesting opening series for sure. We can see how important it is to get a lead early for the pitchers. Should be a fun year.
The starting pitching looked great and they took the lock off the bat rack! To see them implode in the ninth the first two games was certainly disheartening. As yogi said, Dejavu all over again. I tuned in late yesterday but just in time to see Salvy go yard. Great timing. But being a long time royals fan I sure wasn’t warm and cozy. When they were up 10-0 I definitely relaxed a little. I remember Jeremy Guthrie joking about just giving him 10 runs and shut down defense and he’ll handle the rest. Whata guy! Maybe tonight is Vinny’s break out night? It can’t hurt to hope. How about Lyles? Maybe that’s the right role for him. Either way, yesterday felt great!
Solid opening series that I really enjoyed. Couldn't agree more that we desperately needed that win. Loved the starting pitching and gives a lot of hope that we'll be in a lot of games. Still think the offense will be a work in progress, but was pumped to see MJ, Isbel and Garcia show what they can be. Not too concerned about the results from this series, but I am a little concerned about the bullpen. I think the floor of the bullpen is better, but not good. Smith, Stratton, Schreiber, Zerpa, Lyles, Sauer. There is very little..juice? Power? Strikeouts. I really think we're going to need McArthur, McMillon to step up and one of Klein/Cruz to emerge.
Also. Definitely thought I saw some 4-Seamers from Brady watching live. Would not have guessed 14, but I remember picking out at least a handful that I was pretty confident were not sinkers. Like you've said, his sinker/slider was dominant, so to me, if he really threw 14 4-seamers in a game where is slider was dominant, that's something. Small step, but something. I'll definitely be watching closely to see if it continues.
I'm a little surprised it was that high. Figured it would end up at 8-10, but that's interesting. I may need to go back and look again.
I think I'm going to re-watch it as well. He's saying he used his sweeper too, which I did not see. But it did seem like the vertical break on his slider varied a bit, so maybe that was it? If so, it will be hard to track and to me is really just another, different shaped, slider?