Per the request of Royals Retro in today's game thread, I am here for my Ross Gload breakdown analysis. It was noted that Jimmy Gobble's unfortunate demise came shortly after I analyzed his season performance in a FanPost. So, here I am again to "coincidentally" analyze The Exploding One.  Just call me your resident hit man. Or voodoo doll. Whichever you prefer.

 

Dropping Shealy was a tough call because he banged four home runs and had 10 RBIs in spring games with a .286 batting average and a .612 slugging percentage. But incumbent first baseman Ross Gload, who has a two-year contract, was out of options, and Shealy had an option left.

Also, if Olivo had not been suspended, Shealy might have made the roster as the 25th man.

"You never know in this game. It's a long summer," Shealy said. "I had fun, and I was healthy -- that was the big thing."

Shealy, who began last season as the regular first baseman, fought injuries most of the year.                        ---Dick Kaegel, March 29th

I realize this is not a new topic, nor will my commentary likely include any information that we don't already know.  I also realize that most competent Royals fans know that Ross Gload should not be an everyday option. Surely the front office is aware of this as well.  Is Ross Gload the biggest area of concern when Teahen, Butler, and Gordon have all been disappointing? Definitely not. 

But he's Ross Gload. He represents everything that the Royals are trying to escape---the moniker of being that "loser organization." (Yes, I realize Gload won a WS ring with CHW, so he could be defined as the only 'winner' we have. But that's not the point.) Face it...with this whole "New. Blue. Tradition" PR campaign, the Royals are trying to escape from a stigma. It's the stigma of being viewed as a crappy team that's trotting players out in Major League roles/positions that they have no business being in if they were part of a competent organization.  That's Ross Gload. That is the Ross Gload Stigma, my friends.

FSN flashed a stat during a game this week showing Ross Gload has played the 5th-most games among Royals players this season. That fact alone should send some of you dashing towards the closest toilet and/or trash can. What other organization would allow that to take place? Seriously....which ones? Baltimore? Nope. Kevin Millar is better (95 OPS+). Maybe Cleveland...but Garko did hit 21 HR with an OPS+ of 117 last season. Texas and /or Seattle? They both trotted out equally-Gload-esque Richie Sexson and Ben Broussard before they realized it was time to cut their losses and find a new everyday first bagger. Sadly though, this organization has not come to that conclusion.

OFFENSE
Do you want to know some of the first basemen with a better VORP that our Exploading One?  Wait, wait. That list is too long. Let's try this another way......

Do you want to know THE ONLY first baseman with a WORSE VORP than Gload?
The aforementioned, and now jobless Ben Broussard.  It only took 89 PA's for Texas to realize their mistake. Guys like Miguel Cairo, Aaron Boone, Jason Botts & Chris Shelton (other Texas cast-offs) are all above Mr. Gload.

What about EqA? Will that paint a brighter picture? After all, some Gload supporters will point to his rather pedestrian batting average as reason that he is qualified for a full-time MLB gig.  Here is the bottom few for EqA at 1B so far in 2008 (min. 50 PA):

Ben "I got DFA'ed" Broussard:   .161
Shelley "I got optioned to AAA" Duncan  .189
Miguel Cairo  .218
Ross "20+ consecutive starts at 1B" Gload .222
Wilson Betemit  .229
Ryan Garko  .231

---Seriously, how much worse can it get? That's not exactly good company. Cairo's not the best comparison because he only has half of the PA's that Gload does. Garko, Daric Barton, and Paul Konerko are the only regular players (200+ PA's) who are in Gload's zip code of ineptitude.

I don't even want to think about looking up OPS+, so I won't bother. Ok, just for fun. 
Gload: 70
Garko: 75
Barton: 79
Konerko: 81
Light-Hitting 2B Luis Castillo:  89 !!!!!!!!

Ok, enough of this. I'm feeling sicker by the moment. Let's move to Gload's "bright spot"---defense.

DEFENSE
I can't claim to know much about defensive stats, so I'll just present the information that NHZ posted during a game thread not too long ago.  Supposedly Gload's glove at 1B is saving us 19879138410984 runs per game.  In fact, I've heard other fans claim that "Gload's glove allows us to keep Aviles' glove on the field."  BARF.  How do the numbers for defense treat Gload? Surely they can't be worse than offense.

RZR (Revised Zone Rating--the # of balls hit into a fielder's zone that are successfully converted into an out):  Gload is 20th out of the 26th first basemen who qualify.  Link here.   Side note...Billy Butler has a better RZR (.706) than Gload (.699).

OOZ: (Out of Zone--the number of balls hit outside of a fielder's zone that are converted into outs):  Gload is 26th....behind the defensive wizards Miguel Cabrera and Jason Giambi. Among players with at least 500 innings at first base, only Matt Jacobs is worse.  But let's compare him to his main competition, Billy Butler.

Gload  615 innings, 13 out-of-zone plays =  47.3 innings per ooz play
Butler 163 innings, 4 out-of-zone plays =  40.75 innings per ooz play

Range Factor:  This is the only place where Gload scores significantly better than Butler, but at the same time, Gload's numbers are STILL slightly below-average at first base.  And Gload's numbers are not anything than Shealy hasn't produced at the major league level.

FINAL ANALYSIS/THOUGHTS
Let's do a quick recap.  So far we've found that Gload is among the 2-3 worst offensive first basemen in the majors.  We've seen that Gload's defensive numbers are also among the bottom third of the league.   Why does he continue to man first base EVERY FREAKING DAY?

Yes, he was a decent hitter for about four weeks. But he did most of that damage against the National League teams. Coincidence? Perhaps. But it's still something to consider.
Gload at the beginning of the main interleague schedule: .241/.279/.278
Gload at the end of the main interleague schedule:  .263/.303/.328

So yeah, he got hot. But guess what:  he's 1 for his last 20, and 2 for his last 27.  Trey is yanking Teahen and Gordon seemingly every day. What happens to Gload? Not a thing.

Final points. Let's see if we can wrap up this season with a quick recap.

1. Gload "wins" job out of spring training because he doesn't have options left and Shealy does.

2. Gload starts the season as our everyday first baseman, but eventually loses that job to Butler as Olivo heats up to become everyday DH.

3. Guillen goes crazy and Butler sent down. Gload now has an everyday gig.

4. Butler comes back, Gload is "playing well,"  and Gload keeps his job while Butler and/or Olivo ride the pine.

5. Gload is currently 1 for his last 20. Butler is back and has displayed some power in the last week.  Shealy is hitting .298/.381/.513 in Omaha.  A fanbase is restless!!!

Most fans realize Gload is not our answer at first. Is Butler really going to hurt us that much at first? The numbers don't point to that happening.  Is Olivo's regression mainly to blame?

And what about Shealy? No I didn't forget his horrible start last year. I remember he had the bat speed problem. But I also am currently being victimized to the Ross Gload Stigma problem. The numbers say it can't get any worse!

He seems to be a victim of the "options vs. no options" crunch.  Apparently the Royals brass thinks it would be too horrific for our organization to let Tony Pena Jr, Ross Gload, or Joey Gathright test the waiver wire.  Are those players THAT vital in our organizational plan that we would suffer a major setback if they were claimed? Most fans I know would applaud if  any of the players from that triumvirate found a new MLB home.

The only guys who appear to have options left are Gordon,Aviles,Butler, and a few pitchers (Peralta,Hochevar,Davies?, Bannister?, Nunez?).  Maybe having TPJ as the mop-up man in order to save a roster spot isn't so bad of an idea after all. And as far as I know, this craptastic three-headed monster of 1B "logjam" will still be around next year too. I don't know how it will end, but I know who I don't want trotting around first base every day in that "I'm trotting with my knees locked so I kick up a little bit of dust"  way that makes me soooooooooooo anger-fied........THIS GUY!

via kansascity.royals.mlb.com.

I know how you feel big fella......and there's a whole fan base that feels the same way.