Meaningless stats yield positive trend

by Billex Gordler on Mar 27, 2008 11:07 PM EDT

What I am about to say here is not worthy of a diary, but it's interesting to me so I'll post it anyway:

The Royals pitchers' K/BB ratio in 2006 was 1.42, last in the majors. Last year it was 1.91, good for 20th in the majors. This spring, the Royals K/BB ratio has been 2.13, which would put them around 10th.

Spring training caveats apply, of course, as do sample size caveats, but the trend is encouraging. And in this case, the stats match my observations that the Royals pitching staff is much better at both striking guys out and preventing free bases.

The emergence of high K/BB guys like Greinke, Bale, Hochevar and Soria portends very good things for the Rs. Does McClure get most of the credit for this improvement or is it simply a matter of good pitchers maturing? Probably some combination, but it sure is encouraging.

Right now I take the Royals rotation over any AL Central team not in Cleveland. Am I crazy? FYI, I'm a believer in Bale (as a potential league average innings muncher) and think that Tomko is a very servicable fifth starter. If the Royals are on the fringes of contention in July/August, the headlines will be about Royals pitching. That's my prediction...

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Strikeout leader for the spring...

...Nomo, with 17 in 15 innings. Yabuta was the only other guy with more Ks than IP. (12 in 11). Not that I'm campaigning for Hideo to make the majors, but those spring numbers definitely attract attention on a strikeout-starved team. Bale had some big K outings out of the pen last year -- I believe that was a factor in how his stock started rising.

by andrewmiller on Mar 27, 2008 11:24 PM EDT reply actions

yeah...

there's a lot of noise in the data--De la Rosa's 8:10 ratio didn't help the spring calculation--but there's some critical mass developing on the staff. I guess I'm just happy that guys who don't have strong K/BB ratios are now outliers (Bannister, for one) rather than the opposite.

by Billex Gordler on Mar 27, 2008 11:31 PM EDT reply actions

In other pitching news....

...Anyone have a Luke Hudson update? I just noticed he's still on the roster, and that I hadn't heard anything about him since mid-January, when he said his shoulder was "90 percent." I assume he's hurt again, though the Royals Web site says "no injuries yet this season" under the Injuries heading.

by andrewmiller on Mar 27, 2008 11:37 PM EDT reply actions

I believe he'll be going on the DL

As he continues to rehab and get back to 100%.

I probably disagree with you.

by Scott McKinney on Mar 27, 2008 11:41 PM EDT up reply actions

He isnt

Hurt again he is still rehabbing from the first injury

I love life. Life = Royals

by focs on Mar 28, 2008 1:26 AM EDT up reply actions

The nice thing about ...

...the K/BB ratio improvement for ST is that it might actually ~hide~ more improvement. It is well-known that curve balls flatten out, meaning that guys like Meche and Greinke are losing pitches, and likely strikes, due to AZ air.

I suppose, however, that one could reverse this on me and say ALL teams throw more strikes via fastballs in ST, hence every team probably has a higher K/BB ratio.

So, again, perhaps AZ stats on K/BB are nothing to get excited about. - TL

Trust Trey and Dayton.

by timlacy on Mar 28, 2008 7:56 AM EDT reply actions