The starters have been a surprise for sure and your article had me wondering why? The alternate site? Cal Eldred magic? The right mix of Royals legacy players with enough of guys who have been stepping up? Live arms after an abbreviated season? Something else?
Lots of variables but I lean towards the alternate and Coaching personally. Lefebevre said an interesting thing during the third game of the Detroit series when he said he thought one day we'd look back and realize that the alternate site played a major role in this present team and I think he was spot on.
Keller - even after yesterday he seems to just be getting hammered. I remember one of your articles talked about how hard it was for pitchers like Keller (unicorn pitchers)to sustain success and Keller already seems to have ridden that wave for all it's worth. He did what he should do vs. a bat hitting team - throw strikes and let the Defense do the work, but maybe we're seeing the end of his ride?
Crown Jewels - Interesting take on Whit - I've been wondering what is up with him and that may be a good take. So when Mondesi comes back we move a pitcher and keep Lopez up? Speaking of Mondesi - what is the word on him?
Prior Crown Jewels - it sure looks like the bp is setting their own rotation right now; Barlow, usually Holly but sometimes someone else and then, as you and I have both been clamoring for, Staumont to close the door. Let's see if we get another save situation and he uses Josh two days in a row - he did skip him two days ago - clearly MM is reading your intel and adjusting his pitcher usage based upon that.
I'm not so sure the alternate site has had too much to do with the success. Brentz, Newberry, Santana and Zuber are the only four guys who have pitched there in the last two seasons. Brentz has done a lot of work on his own, Newberry has been, well, bad, Santana probably didn't get much from that and Zuber has definitely come back improved, but also this is who he was in the minors before struggling with control. I think there's something to the live arm thing with Duffy, but I think Singer's success is just continuing to grow and Junis is clearly due to the cutter.
As for Keller, I don't think he's ridden the wave and is just done. I've got something coming out soon about that, so I won't spoil it, but I think a lot of it is a confidence issue combined with command.
As for Mondesi, they recently said it's a 6-8 week injury and he's now about four weeks through it, so that means another 2-4 weeks. What I don't know is if that includes rehab time as well, so we're looking at mid-May at the earliest, but probably more like early June at this point. I don't think you can send Lopez down right now, but it's far enough in the future that a lot can happen.
I also have something on the bullpen setup coming, so stay tuned.
Good catch on the alternate site - it's a covid world right now and I've definitely lost track of a few things in my head lol.
Yes, Newberry has been bad and I imagine would've been the odd man out if Mondi was coming back sooner - I did not see that 6-8 prognosis so thank you for that.
And stay tuned I will.
Let's go Royals - no reason we shouldn't take two of two!
The starters have been a surprise for sure and your article had me wondering why? The alternate site? Cal Eldred magic? The right mix of Royals legacy players with enough of guys who have been stepping up? Live arms after an abbreviated season? Something else?
Lots of variables but I lean towards the alternate and Coaching personally. Lefebevre said an interesting thing during the third game of the Detroit series when he said he thought one day we'd look back and realize that the alternate site played a major role in this present team and I think he was spot on.
Keller - even after yesterday he seems to just be getting hammered. I remember one of your articles talked about how hard it was for pitchers like Keller (unicorn pitchers)to sustain success and Keller already seems to have ridden that wave for all it's worth. He did what he should do vs. a bat hitting team - throw strikes and let the Defense do the work, but maybe we're seeing the end of his ride?
Crown Jewels - Interesting take on Whit - I've been wondering what is up with him and that may be a good take. So when Mondesi comes back we move a pitcher and keep Lopez up? Speaking of Mondesi - what is the word on him?
Prior Crown Jewels - it sure looks like the bp is setting their own rotation right now; Barlow, usually Holly but sometimes someone else and then, as you and I have both been clamoring for, Staumont to close the door. Let's see if we get another save situation and he uses Josh two days in a row - he did skip him two days ago - clearly MM is reading your intel and adjusting his pitcher usage based upon that.
Good work Coach Lesk!
I'm not so sure the alternate site has had too much to do with the success. Brentz, Newberry, Santana and Zuber are the only four guys who have pitched there in the last two seasons. Brentz has done a lot of work on his own, Newberry has been, well, bad, Santana probably didn't get much from that and Zuber has definitely come back improved, but also this is who he was in the minors before struggling with control. I think there's something to the live arm thing with Duffy, but I think Singer's success is just continuing to grow and Junis is clearly due to the cutter.
As for Keller, I don't think he's ridden the wave and is just done. I've got something coming out soon about that, so I won't spoil it, but I think a lot of it is a confidence issue combined with command.
As for Mondesi, they recently said it's a 6-8 week injury and he's now about four weeks through it, so that means another 2-4 weeks. What I don't know is if that includes rehab time as well, so we're looking at mid-May at the earliest, but probably more like early June at this point. I don't think you can send Lopez down right now, but it's far enough in the future that a lot can happen.
I also have something on the bullpen setup coming, so stay tuned.
Thanks for reading, as always!
Good catch on the alternate site - it's a covid world right now and I've definitely lost track of a few things in my head lol.
Yes, Newberry has been bad and I imagine would've been the odd man out if Mondi was coming back sooner - I did not see that 6-8 prognosis so thank you for that.
And stay tuned I will.
Let's go Royals - no reason we shouldn't take two of two!