Patience is a good thing. Royals fans could use some.

For guys struggling with splits turning it around? Do most good players do that?

I think there is just a frustration with Royals fans seeing Gordon and Butler struggle, while many rookies and second year players around baseball succeed. These guys were sold to us as “can’t miss” and while I still think they will both be solid players, even All-Stars, I have to admit, I’ve been pretty disappointed thus far.

But no one has seriously said “this guy is a bust, get rid of him,” have they? I mean, most of the criticisms are…well because he hasn’t been better than mediocre. We’ll be patient, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t expect more out of him now.

Is that he had very high strikeout numbers in the minors. Not even Adam Dunn had high strikeout numbers in the minors.

was Sold as the “Next George Brett” a midwest born and bred sequel to the original King of Kansas City. So to not be disappointed by his 1.5 year line in the bigs would be crazy. Everyone read the headlines, listened to the expectations and were sold the goods it is just a reaction to what they were sold.

I myself watched Alex at Nebraska heard all the hype in Lincoln/Omaha watched him at the CWS and regionals and was never expecting more than a average to good player. He is almost Too Intense Too Mechanical Too Drago (“Rocky IV”) to ever develop into a superstar superstud. He puts too much pressure on himself until he loosens up a bit he is gonna be average in my opinion. That and he is too young to be hitting 3rd in our lineup I really think he just puts too much pressure on himself to make that big hit drive in the run because he looks at himself as the Leader.

Have you see him in the dugout, in the line after a win? Is this a job or a game?

We should have had him pinch-run more often last year. The Justin Huber Development Track gets results!

I had no idea his splits were that dramatic…

Eric Chavez has had a similar issue throughout his career (.239/.308/.397 career v LHP)

he seems to have been able to improve some versus lefties, especially during his 03-05 peak period, but the issue never really went away

L/R splits can be very weird though, both for pitchers and hitters. There are numerous cases of guys being used as LOOGYs, and the numbers showing them actually having a reverse split. Moreover, from year to year it can be fickle. Its something of a mysterious topic…

Gordon attempting to pull everything is a common young hitter problem and as his power develops even more he’ll trust himself to go the other way. I’ve seen he also has a propensity to swing at the high fastball above the zone. The more he can lay off that pitch the better he will be.

When is it too late to learn to switch hit? Isn’t he a natural righty?

I guess I shouldn’t have needed to ask.

I saw an interview once where they asked Joba why he throws with his off hand, and he was like “I don’t know, that’s just how my dad taught me to throw.” He can hit 100 as it is. I wonder how hard he’d be throwing if Harlan had known what he was doing and taught his son how to pitch with the correct hand.

But NOOOOoooo, you obviously wanted me to make an ass out of myself by posting about something other than Jenna Fischer’s scouting profile, Lionel’s Hutz’s greatness, or what tags need to be added (nice analgoe to accompany anal goe, by the way). So, off we go to the dumbass fan races, starring me.

I don’t know what to expect of Alex Gordon. Maybe a guy who averages .275/.360/.510 with 25-30 jacks (and, if he keeps running, 10-20 steals) in his prime isn’t exactly A-Rod, and maybe some people got so worked up by the hype that they expected .300/.400/.580, 35-40 HRs, but, heck, isn’t the first option not so bad? Eric Chavez without injuries indeed!

That kind of performance and improvement (.275/.360/.510) from Gordon would make him the best hitter on the Royals this year (unless you think Guillen can keep up the current hot streak… which would make him one of the best hitters ever. Maybe I’m just an bastard pessimist, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say that’s unlikely), and probably next. If Butler has a similar developmental curve, then KC, with a smart free agents addition on offense or two (what that is a whole ‘nother debate) and the pitching keeping on, can definitely contend, I would think.

I guess the question for me still other there as to whether and when Gordon can reach something like the .275/.360/.510 level. I’m not saying I doubt it, I’m asking if that’s a realistic expectation for next year. Cause that would be cool, seriously.

More more mild irony: for all the “next George Brett” talk, I think it’s sort of funny that as a hitter, Gordon’s “style” (lots of walks, Ks, and power) much more closely resembles Mike Schmidt’s (in style, not quality) than Brett’s.

I really hope they don’t move him off of third, although I’ve only read fan speculation about that.

are that they both play 3B and they both struggle (relatively speaking) against lefties. George’s avg was .318 v R and .280 v L. And believe it or not, George had a BB/K ratio of 1.50 v R and .77 v L (more Ks than BBs v L for the KC great one?). (Strangely, in George’s first two complete seasons (‘74&’75), he hit .288 v R and .299 v L, better from the L and higher than his career average from the L. But his BB/K v R was 1.16 and v L was .38.)
Alex doesn’t quite have two full seasons yet, but so far his avg is .269 v R and .209 v L. On the other hand, his BB/K ratio is .37 v R and .31 v L. Very weak, but equally weak. The real culprit (other than K-ing to much) is his BAbip: .328 v R and .251 v L. Maybe he should strike out more v L (like George) and hit fewer weak grounders to second (smiley face that is winking and sticking out it’s tongue, possibly with a mohawk). (Again, somewhat strangely, George’s BAbip in his first two years was higher from the L side: .300 v R and .329 v L.)