Hope Singer is fine. He is looking more and more like a bullpen piece to me. His stuff will certainly play in the bullpen with his two pitch mix. Last year he was all that was talked about. He's been passed up this year as far as the young pitching goes in my eyes. He's certainly has more value in the rotation which is why they will give him every opportunity. Would it surprise you to learn that Kris Bubic (4.47) has a better career ERA than Brady Singer (4.64)?
I wrote awhile ago that I'm not so sure Singer will play in the bullpen any better than in the rotation. His velocity would have to kick up more than most guys do because the problem with Singer is that he's entirely ineffective when he can't command one or both of his pitches. I'm giving him a bit of a pass on last night if he was trying to pitch through something, but I've obviously been very frustrated with him all season long.
It's been such a joy to watch Nicky grow up before our eyes this year. To come into that plate appearance hitless in 3 at-bats, battle his way to a full count after falling behind 0-2, then lining a pitch on the outer half into the left-centerfield gap for a game-winning triple? That's special. He's earned the shortstop job. Just incredible.
The offense is obviously incredible, but the defense is what I keep having a hard time believing. I always figured he would be fine if you needed him at shortstop for a month or six weeks or whatever and would make all the routine plays, but you'd be ready to have Mondesi (or Witt) back when they came back.
I think back to when Mondesi was first activated and made a great play coming in on the ball. I think it was actually the one he hurt his hamstring on against the Pirates. I even tweeted that Nicky doesn't make that play. But I'm pretty sure that he does now. So yeah, the offense is the biggest improvement, but defensively, he's shown that he can play shortstop with the best of them. That's almost more surprising to me.
Everyone has the opinion that Mondesi has to be on the team next year. Do you see any chance they package this offseason with this little showcase? I may be the only one who wouldn't be disappointed if that is the case. Yes, Mondesi CAN change the game in a number of ways but I do think he gets overhyped by us Royals fans a little bit. He's a career .250 hitter with a sub .300 OBP. He has some power, runs, and plays generally good/great defense. Could he break out? absolutely. Could he be hurt again.....probably. But a package of Kowar/Mondesi would be interesting for teams to look at I feel like. It would be very unlike the Royals but makes for some good offseason topics.
Any chance? Sure. But given that he hasn't played especially well this month, they'd be trading at a pretty low point of his value. Same for Kowar. If a deal is out there that they'd like regardless of how they're playing, I don't think they'd hesitate to make it, but trading guys at their low point is generally a bad idea.
Royals sign Taylor to a two year deal. They really are going to throw it back with the same crew as a 73-74 win team. They can certainly improve....but can they improve enough to cover for some regression from potentially Salvy and Lopez to get to a .500 team next year. A little disappointed by that resigning.
Hope Singer is fine. He is looking more and more like a bullpen piece to me. His stuff will certainly play in the bullpen with his two pitch mix. Last year he was all that was talked about. He's been passed up this year as far as the young pitching goes in my eyes. He's certainly has more value in the rotation which is why they will give him every opportunity. Would it surprise you to learn that Kris Bubic (4.47) has a better career ERA than Brady Singer (4.64)?
I wrote awhile ago that I'm not so sure Singer will play in the bullpen any better than in the rotation. His velocity would have to kick up more than most guys do because the problem with Singer is that he's entirely ineffective when he can't command one or both of his pitches. I'm giving him a bit of a pass on last night if he was trying to pitch through something, but I've obviously been very frustrated with him all season long.
It's been such a joy to watch Nicky grow up before our eyes this year. To come into that plate appearance hitless in 3 at-bats, battle his way to a full count after falling behind 0-2, then lining a pitch on the outer half into the left-centerfield gap for a game-winning triple? That's special. He's earned the shortstop job. Just incredible.
The offense is obviously incredible, but the defense is what I keep having a hard time believing. I always figured he would be fine if you needed him at shortstop for a month or six weeks or whatever and would make all the routine plays, but you'd be ready to have Mondesi (or Witt) back when they came back.
I think back to when Mondesi was first activated and made a great play coming in on the ball. I think it was actually the one he hurt his hamstring on against the Pirates. I even tweeted that Nicky doesn't make that play. But I'm pretty sure that he does now. So yeah, the offense is the biggest improvement, but defensively, he's shown that he can play shortstop with the best of them. That's almost more surprising to me.
Everyone has the opinion that Mondesi has to be on the team next year. Do you see any chance they package this offseason with this little showcase? I may be the only one who wouldn't be disappointed if that is the case. Yes, Mondesi CAN change the game in a number of ways but I do think he gets overhyped by us Royals fans a little bit. He's a career .250 hitter with a sub .300 OBP. He has some power, runs, and plays generally good/great defense. Could he break out? absolutely. Could he be hurt again.....probably. But a package of Kowar/Mondesi would be interesting for teams to look at I feel like. It would be very unlike the Royals but makes for some good offseason topics.
Any chance? Sure. But given that he hasn't played especially well this month, they'd be trading at a pretty low point of his value. Same for Kowar. If a deal is out there that they'd like regardless of how they're playing, I don't think they'd hesitate to make it, but trading guys at their low point is generally a bad idea.
Royals sign Taylor to a two year deal. They really are going to throw it back with the same crew as a 73-74 win team. They can certainly improve....but can they improve enough to cover for some regression from potentially Salvy and Lopez to get to a .500 team next year. A little disappointed by that resigning.