1st hand account of Today's (03/14) Game vs. Rockies

by jmcclain19 on Mar 14, 2007 11:05 PM EDT Comment 17 comments

Hey everyone - So here's my rundown of today's game.

I'm new the site - and I won't pretend I'm a die hard Royals fan - I'm actually a lifelong Reds fanatic and a frequent poster over at Royals Review's SBNation Sister site Red Reporter.

But I am an AZ resident, and over the last several years have become more and more a fan of quite a few KC players (Particularly Teahen, Greinke & DeJesus)

I've been poking around here for a while, and after today's game I thought I'd break my cherry.

Anyway - I was able to skip out of work this afternoon and head over to Surprise to catch the Royals/Rockies. Here's what I saw.

Zack Grienke - Excellent excellent day from him. Was pretty filthy - albiet against the Rox B Squad. Was up at 92 with his fastball and was spotting it pretty well. He was running the full speed ladder - with his big looping curve coming in at 69 (he only threw it 3 times that I remember) with his changeup in the mid 70s and his slurvy/slider along with a two seamer in the mid 80s. Had two K's looking from his breaking stuff.

Dotel - was dialing it up today. Hit 96 at one point and 95 on a few others. Doubt he broke a sweat.

Kenny Ray - Was just awful. Baker hit an absolute bomb off him to LF - into the Parking Lot as a no doubter. Hit it like he knew it was coming. The next two hits were rockets as well.

Teahen - One of the Rockies lefites (Mabry?) got good wood on a shot to the gap, and he noticably went towards the line with his first step, but recovered nicely to make the grab. Other than that the few hit his way he looked more comfortable than when I saw him last week. Big fly to CF that left the yard. German right before him hit nearly an identical shot that was about five feet lower and bounced off the top of the wall. Teahen's was nearly a mirror just with more umph behind it. Also had a really nice swipe off Lopez - Ianetta didn't really have a chance to get him.

Gordon - made two solid plays in the field - but nothing really at the plate that was noteworthy.

Other than that - it was an enjoyable afternoon, gorgeous day at about 88 degrees out here in AZ.

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welcome...

Red Reporter is good people, i talked some pretty silly smack over there during Royals-Reds last season and people were cool about it...

good to hear Teahen is adjusting well to the OF... i think i've heard about 10 similar comments so far... i dont think we realize what a good athlete dude is

as for Ken Ray... well, he was a Brave once

by royalsreview on Mar 15, 2007 12:16 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

thanks for the welcome

Appreciate it. I remember last season when you came on over to the dark side. It was good times.

by jmcclain19 on Mar 15, 2007 12:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

if Greinke hit 92

we might need to start printing playoff tickets

by LeoBloom on Mar 15, 2007 12:33 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Greinke velocity is down

I remember when he was hitting 95 his rookie year. Granted he probably has better control at 92 than he does at 95 but in todays game 92 is nothing special. 92 pretty much makes you a borderline major leaguer unless you have some compliment pitches like Greinke does.

by EricConley on Mar 15, 2007 8:34 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

F the 92...

Gred Maddux? Tim Hudson? every pitcher for the A's? 92 is fine in my book...I had a buddy that threw a knuckle curve, but could only throw 85, so he didn't try college or minors...he should have...would you rather have Burgos at 98 or Greinke at 92...I understand you said Greinke has some compliment pitches...so I back off...but his compliment pitches are wicked nasty major league breaking pitches a la the smartest player of all time...Greg Maddux

Buy the ticket, take the ride.

by PhattStairs on Mar 15, 2007 11:49 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

totally agree

I'll take someone throwing 90-92 who can mix in some mix in some changes ups & some offspeed stuff at 20mph less than a guy who throws pure gas.

Matt Anderson probably threw the hardest fastball I've ever seen in my life, could seemingly hit 100mph without breaking a sweat. And he was just flat out an awful baseball pitcher because he had nothing else.

by jmcclain19 on Mar 15, 2007 12:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

If I remember correctly

Greinke was sitting between 88-92 two years ago, but could dial it up to 95 if he needed. Honestly, I don't see the need to do that in Spring Training.

by Stook on Mar 15, 2007 1:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Right, and Greinke

...was apparently very good (not sarcasm, I just never saw him pitch) two years ago at mixing locations and speed on all of his pitches. His excellent control that year indicates he's probably at his best, control-wise, when he throws 92, but he can dial it up further on an 0-2 high fastball.

That last bit sounds a lot like Curt Schilling...

"Your best? Losers always whine about 'giving it their best.' Winners go home and fuck the prom queen."

"Carla was the prom queen."

by NHZ on Mar 15, 2007 5:24 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Guy Hansen nearly ruined Greinke

It was he who told Greinke to abandon everything that had made him successful and focus solely on throwing heat.

Greinke then dialed it up to 95, but the problem was that he couldn't spot his fastball anymore. Without the control, his ERA skyrocketed.

So, quite frankly, I'm happy to see him holding back a bit. It he starts breaking out the eephus and the quickpitch again, I'll be even happier.

by marbotty on Mar 16, 2007 10:19 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

92 is good not great

Like I said, in the big leagues a pitcher can only survive at 92 if he can spot it and throw at least one offspeed pitch for strikes. I'd much rather see Greinke throwin consistantly 92 for strikes and locating his changeup and curve than trying to throw harder and blow people away. Maddox and Glavine do only throw in the low 90s but they also can hit the glove consistantly and go out there with a good gameplan that they stick to. The problem that Greinke runs into a lot (probably because of the team that has historically been behind him) is that he is afraid to pitch to contact and is constantly fiddling with other pitches on the mound to try and strike guys out. That lead to his loss of control his second year and could eventually lead to arm problems. So again, 92 is an OK number but throwing 92 you'll never be able to survive on good stuff alone you have to be able to pitch. If Burgos/MacDougal/Sisco/Nunez could only throw 92 would he even bein the bigs? I think not.

by EricConley on Mar 16, 2007 10:37 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

89-91 is average major league fastball velocity

I don't know where you're getting this idea that a 92 mph fastball makes one a marginal major league pitcher. 92 is above average velocity. If you mix in above average control (and Greinke's control is better than that), then you've got a very good fastball.

by NYRoyal on Mar 16, 2007 3:09 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

92 is pretty good

I would tend to agree. I think if you were to do a survey of MLB pitchers - you'd find that 88-89 is probably the mean of fastball speeds.

But there is a whole list of guys who've had fine careers never topping 90. I'm not even talking HOF guys, I mean solid innings eaters who go 200IP every year for a decade. Those types of guys are more rare than you would think. Greinke could definitely be one of those guys. Actually watching him throw - (not his motion but his approach) for some reason I think Mike Mussina. That may be Greinke's 90% percentile, but I would think Royals fans would take that every day of the week and twice on Sunday from him.

by jmcclain19 on Mar 17, 2007 6:20 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think pitching to contact

Is the reason a lot of the Royals pitchers stink.

Of the top 50 leaders in ERA last year, nearly half (21) had K/9 of greater than 9.00. Less than 20% (8 of the 50) had below 5.00.

I know it's not necessarily as simple as that (walks and hr rate are obviously a big part of being successful), but there's something to it.

by marbotty on Mar 16, 2007 3:56 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Great comments...jmcclain19

I too was at that game and although I was busy catching up with an old college buddy it was a great game.

Greinke looked good but I still am worried about his consistency. Dotel is the deal. That was a good pickup by Moore. I see him saving over 35 games this season.

I agree about Ray. There was a reason Atlanta didn't resign him and it is because he is past his time for pitching in the bigs. He didn't fool anybody.

Teahen's homer got a standing O. from me. Yup, it was a good game.

Thanks for the report and welcome aboard... I hope we hear more from you as ST goes along.

by grudz69 on Mar 15, 2007 11:25 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Have to meet up

I plan on going two at least two more Royals games before they head north - we'll have to meet up at one before ST is over.

by jmcclain19 on Mar 17, 2007 6:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Four rotation candidates have looked great

Meche, Soria, Greinke, and Bannister. If Peter Gammons was talking about Mechey, then you know he has to be throwing well. Anytime ESPN guys have to talk about the Royals, they must be exerting superhuman talents. This is a far cry from years past. I just keep getting more and more excited as the good news flows in from Arizona.

royaldaddy-Bob Hamelin's #1 fan

by royaldaddy on Mar 15, 2007 12:51 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I know it's silly

But I'm actually getting optimistic about the team.

Our offense should be better, with the addition of Gordon, a healthy Teahen, and a full season of Shealy. (I understand there will be some exploding occuring out of our bench, as well). The bullpen will unquestionably be better.

Will the rotation be better? Maybe marginally. If Greinke and Bannister end up in it, I will be much more optimistic. If it's DLR and, um, Wellemeyer, we're going to be in trouble.

Still, I wouldn't be surprised if we make a run at .500 for a little while, only to win about 75 games.

by marbotty on Mar 16, 2007 10:31 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs