Guillen, Grud and Pena

by juano on May 18, 2008 10:14 PM EDT

The biggest problem with the Royals offense early in the season was Guillen's lack of production and it was clear that once he started mashing the wins would come and everyone would forget about TP's utter worthlessness at the plate. Well, we all know what Guillen has been doing and the results for the Royals, but I cannot seem let go of the Pena situation after looking at these numbers:

Grud is now leading the AL in batting average, (whatever THAT is worth, but congrats to him anyhow) and he has 43 hits but ONLY 4 RBI's!! that is not a typo, THAT is the number FOUR. there are about 46 others in the AL with at least 40 hits and all of them have at least 10 RBI, but there's Grud with only 4. Given their usual spots in the line up, that might be the biggest indictment of TP's "skills"

(Grud is hitting a respectable .286 with RISP, but obviously, that is with a small sample size!!!)

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Why Grudz has only 4 RBI when he's been hitting well this season

1. He’s usually hitting second. That means he’s had TPJ and Gathright hitting in front of him a lot.

2. The Royals have been pretty bad offensively overall. Throughout the lineup, guys haven’t been getting on base (with a couple of exceptions). RBI is a stat that is more about other guys on the team than the player in question.

I probably disagree with you.

by Scott McKinney on May 18, 2008 10:21 PM EDT reply actions

Dejesus and Gathright....

Have split time pretty evenly at the top of the order so far this year.

I completely agree that RBI’s spell out more about the 5 people in front of you, in the lineup, than anything else.

I really don't know what to say... Did the post above this signature make sense? Probably not.

by RoyalsFanInMarinerTown on May 19, 2008 12:32 AM EDT up reply actions

Neither of whom

end their at-bats standing on second base very often, and Grudz is a singles/bloop-doubles hitter.

Sarcasm™. It's the new gravy.

by jonfmorse on May 19, 2008 1:07 AM EDT up reply actions

Isn't a singles/bloop-doubles hitter pretty appropriate for the #2 spot in the batting order?

Particularly when he’s doing a really good job blooping singles and doubles?

I probably disagree with you.

by Scott McKinney on May 19, 2008 1:46 AM EDT up reply actions

Yes... in my opinion.

I really don't know what to say... Did the post above this signature make sense? Probably not.

by RoyalsFanInMarinerTown on May 19, 2008 1:49 AM EDT up reply actions

Couple that with plus-plus defense and you've got a hell of a secone baseman

A 117 OPS+ and great defense? Wow. Can’t we wait until he starts actually declining before we dump him?

I probably disagree with you.

by Scott McKinney on May 19, 2008 1:55 AM EDT up reply actions

well

grudz isnt plus-plus defense anymore. he was 2 or 3 years ago probably. he is still above average but he does’t have the range he used to and is required for plus plus grading.

by ZeppelinDZ on May 19, 2008 11:38 AM EDT up reply actions

So lazy...

Is there a page where I can read up on how “plus” and “plus-plus” are graded for different aspects and stuff? Not that I’d be able to judge for myself anyway, just curious.

OMG Banny. FWIW I am only crdtng u w/3 runs allwd bc of DDJ OMFG

by Matt Klaassen on May 19, 2008 11:50 AM EDT up reply actions

tool grading

its not so much ability, as it is abilty on a bell curve

20-80 scouting scale, 50 is average, 60 is above-average or “plus”, 70 is elite or “plus-plus”

80 is god-like, although the royals might have 2 actual 80s on the team, which is quite rare. gathright has 80 speed, although he doesn’t use it to its full effect, and guillen is reported to have an 80 arm, but i haven’t seen it.

by ZeppelinDZ on May 19, 2008 12:08 PM EDT up reply actions

"guillen is reported to have an 80 arm"

Did you watch the game yesterday?

Rowdy Hardy Fan Club member.

by doublestix on May 19, 2008 4:27 PM EDT up reply actions

Guillen has a cannon

he’s shown it off in more than a few games.

by I need more Esteban on May 19, 2008 4:37 PM EDT up reply actions

i'll believe you

my statement may read a bit wrong, i wasn’t saying i disagree as much as I just haven’t actually see him make those plays yet that an 80 makes.

by ZeppelinDZ on May 19, 2008 4:42 PM EDT up reply actions

He's made at least two this year that I can think of off the top of my head

One was in the first series in Detroit (maybe even in the first game) gunning a guy out at the plate from RF. Another was yesterday.

I probably disagree with you.

by Scott McKinney on May 19, 2008 4:44 PM EDT up reply actions

Yes?

I’m not sure what point you’re trying to make. I was supporting the argument that Grudz doesn’t have RBIs because Grudz doesn’t have opportunities.

Sarcasm™. It's the new gravy.

by jonfmorse on May 19, 2008 11:11 PM EDT up reply actions

I misinterpreted it as a criticism of Grudz

So consider my comment not so much disagreeing as echoing and extending your comment.

I probably disagree with you.

by Scott McKinney on May 19, 2008 11:34 PM EDT up reply actions

Oh, no, not at all

Really, I love Grudz, and because we all know exactly what he is and is not, you’ll never hear me criticize him; there’s no point. I really do consider him to be the Cookie Rojas for the next dynasty. He won’t be around for the hardware, but the Kids need him now in order to get there.

Sarcasm™. It's the new gravy.

by jonfmorse on May 20, 2008 12:26 AM EDT up reply actions

You have basically echoed my point, but

I’m not being as hard on the lead off hitters, because is DDJ is the starter and is getting on fairly regulary, he is just going 1st to 3rd a lot on Grud singles. Gathright is a backup, and we know that ,and can somewhat forgive his lack of production. The majority of the problem is TPJ, as i stated, who should be a RISP once in a while when Grud comes up.

Part of the reason Jose has 30 RBI is because Grud hits two spots ahead of him and IS in scoring position regularly (of course scoring position is first base for him lately)

Addendum: when you watch some of these other SSs kick and chuck the ball all over the infield leading to runs for the Royals, you can be a little more appreciative, BUT to hit like this, he needs to make ALL the plays.

I have many leather bound books...

by juano on May 19, 2008 9:18 AM EDT up reply actions

We know Pena isn't going to get on base

So yeah, Grudz isn’t going to have many RBI’s. On the bright side, Gordon isn’t getting enough credit for what he did in that marlins series – he was on base a lot, and as long as Guillen is murdering the ball we have to get guys on base for him as often as possible.

winning records follow good bullpens

by slayor on May 19, 2008 1:25 AM EDT reply actions

+1

for a post that actually gives Gordon credit for playing well even though he isn’t hitting HRs!

OMG Banny. FWIW I am only crdtng u w/3 runs allwd bc of DDJ OMFG

by Matt Klaassen on May 19, 2008 10:53 AM EDT up reply actions

The Power Will

Come. He needs to make better contact and, as should Teahen, learn to go with the pitch away if he’s going to swing at it. Both of them have tha power to hit it out to LF, and it will at least cut out a lot of the weak grounders to 2B.

I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.

by philofthenorth on May 19, 2008 2:11 PM EDT up reply actions

Pena made SportsCenter "Top Plays" last night

So that will earn him another two weeks of play in all likelihood. Lefebvre was raving about Pena’s defense all weekend. Please ignore that error on a routine play!

Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com

by RoyalsRetro on May 19, 2008 9:30 AM EDT reply actions