Good stuff and definitely accurate. What I've learned is that this team is enigmatic. Sometimes I can't believe they've won as much as they have, then (often times just a few innings later) I can't believe they haven't won more than they have.
Going into the season I thought we could be really good. I loved the makeup and energy of the team. However, what I didn't foresee is how sloppy this team is. They're just sloppy. I can't think of a more accurate adjective to describe them. The walks, the head-scratching, unforced errors (See Brady Singer, Whit, et al); you just can't beat good teams doing those things.
The best indicator of future behavior is past behavior so if we continue as we've been playing then I think we're good enough to beat bad teams, but bad enough to not win much vs. the good teams. If we bow our neck and tighten things up we can be really good. Which way we go from here will tell me a lot about MM.
They've actually surprised me with the way they've played against .500+ teams. They're 11-16, but outside of the disaster week and a half when they lost seven of those, they've held their own well. Like I said, the next few weeks (and then August) will be huge tests for them. I had them at 76-86 to start the season, so it'd be hard to say I'm surprised that they've had their ups and down. I still think that number is probably about right. Always a margin for error of four or five games in a dart thrown prediction haha.
It has definitely been encouraging to see them bounce back. When you consider the production they've gotten from Dozier and Soler.... and Mondi being out 90% of the games, its really quite remarkable they are over .500. The lineup has mostly underperformed, their best starter has been mostly bad, bullpen and rotation shaky and lacking depth....
We really need:
1) Soler and Dozier to heat up with the weather. The impact of two more .850 OPS bats in the lineup would be immense.
2) Mondesi playing in 90% of the remaining games. The most gifted player on the team, tho not always the best.
And long term
3) The Farm system to produce.
Other than Bowlen going down the other day with with TJ, the farm system has gotten off to a great first month with an overall winning pct of .620 You've got Lynch and Kowar at Omaha. Presumably Kowar gets the next crack at the rotation. He's been lights out with an ERA of 0.85. The Royals will be as good as their young pitching is. There are a ton of other young arms all over the system putting up good numbers. They are loaded. We've got to develop these pitchers to rise in the division. Lynch is working from the stretch now. Should help with repeatability and not tipping his pitches.
There aren't a lot of bats capable of impacting the Royals short term after Pratto and Witt. So far so good for the Pratto 1B , Witt 3B, Santana to DH and trade Soler if he ever starts hitting plan.
We've got a lot of high floor low ceiling fairly early round college bats like Loftin, Gentry, Isbell, Bradley, Massey, McConnell, etc. Lots of 23-25 year olds that will need to hit immediately or they won't be prospects for long. Two names most Royals fans haven't heard of are Herard Gonzales and Maikal Garcia, the 20 and 21 year old middle infielders for Columbia. Both, but especially SS Garcia, have been very very good at Low A. He has a .356 average and a .933 OPS.
Overall the farm report is overwhelmingly positive if for no other reasons than the progress of Pratto, Melendez, and Bobby Witt jr., and the continued success of top level pitching prospects.
I think the fact that Dozier and Soler have been so bad is at least encouraging to the future. Dozier is here for the long haul, so he's going to get his chances, but if Soler doesn't pick it up whenever he's back in the lineup, I don't think they'll stick with him forever and it'd be hard to be worse than he has been.
The numbers do look great for a lot of guys on the farm and there's definitely depth well beyond the names we talk about. A lot of that has to do with the new development approaches they're taking, and I'm really happy to see them working out. As I said, that's the biggest thing I missed about the 2020 season because it was a big point of emphasis and we just didn't really get to see how it was working for them.
I'd guess we see Kowar soon, maybe even Monday. The next wave is definitely coming soon.
Good stuff and definitely accurate. What I've learned is that this team is enigmatic. Sometimes I can't believe they've won as much as they have, then (often times just a few innings later) I can't believe they haven't won more than they have.
Going into the season I thought we could be really good. I loved the makeup and energy of the team. However, what I didn't foresee is how sloppy this team is. They're just sloppy. I can't think of a more accurate adjective to describe them. The walks, the head-scratching, unforced errors (See Brady Singer, Whit, et al); you just can't beat good teams doing those things.
The best indicator of future behavior is past behavior so if we continue as we've been playing then I think we're good enough to beat bad teams, but bad enough to not win much vs. the good teams. If we bow our neck and tighten things up we can be really good. Which way we go from here will tell me a lot about MM.
They've actually surprised me with the way they've played against .500+ teams. They're 11-16, but outside of the disaster week and a half when they lost seven of those, they've held their own well. Like I said, the next few weeks (and then August) will be huge tests for them. I had them at 76-86 to start the season, so it'd be hard to say I'm surprised that they've had their ups and down. I still think that number is probably about right. Always a margin for error of four or five games in a dart thrown prediction haha.
It has definitely been encouraging to see them bounce back. When you consider the production they've gotten from Dozier and Soler.... and Mondi being out 90% of the games, its really quite remarkable they are over .500. The lineup has mostly underperformed, their best starter has been mostly bad, bullpen and rotation shaky and lacking depth....
We really need:
1) Soler and Dozier to heat up with the weather. The impact of two more .850 OPS bats in the lineup would be immense.
2) Mondesi playing in 90% of the remaining games. The most gifted player on the team, tho not always the best.
And long term
3) The Farm system to produce.
Other than Bowlen going down the other day with with TJ, the farm system has gotten off to a great first month with an overall winning pct of .620 You've got Lynch and Kowar at Omaha. Presumably Kowar gets the next crack at the rotation. He's been lights out with an ERA of 0.85. The Royals will be as good as their young pitching is. There are a ton of other young arms all over the system putting up good numbers. They are loaded. We've got to develop these pitchers to rise in the division. Lynch is working from the stretch now. Should help with repeatability and not tipping his pitches.
There aren't a lot of bats capable of impacting the Royals short term after Pratto and Witt. So far so good for the Pratto 1B , Witt 3B, Santana to DH and trade Soler if he ever starts hitting plan.
We've got a lot of high floor low ceiling fairly early round college bats like Loftin, Gentry, Isbell, Bradley, Massey, McConnell, etc. Lots of 23-25 year olds that will need to hit immediately or they won't be prospects for long. Two names most Royals fans haven't heard of are Herard Gonzales and Maikal Garcia, the 20 and 21 year old middle infielders for Columbia. Both, but especially SS Garcia, have been very very good at Low A. He has a .356 average and a .933 OPS.
Overall the farm report is overwhelmingly positive if for no other reasons than the progress of Pratto, Melendez, and Bobby Witt jr., and the continued success of top level pitching prospects.
I think the fact that Dozier and Soler have been so bad is at least encouraging to the future. Dozier is here for the long haul, so he's going to get his chances, but if Soler doesn't pick it up whenever he's back in the lineup, I don't think they'll stick with him forever and it'd be hard to be worse than he has been.
The numbers do look great for a lot of guys on the farm and there's definitely depth well beyond the names we talk about. A lot of that has to do with the new development approaches they're taking, and I'm really happy to see them working out. As I said, that's the biggest thing I missed about the 2020 season because it was a big point of emphasis and we just didn't really get to see how it was working for them.
I'd guess we see Kowar soon, maybe even Monday. The next wave is definitely coming soon.