An amateur scouting report
by Scott McKinney on Apr 9, 2009 5:37 PM EDT
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PrintMy amateur scouting opinion isn't worth more than anyone else's, but I thought I'd share a few thoughts from the first few games and see if others were seeing what I think I saw. All of this is with the caveat that what we see from three games doesn't necessarily mean this is what we should expect for the next 159 (and the playoffs, of course).
- I love what I'm seeing from Coco Crisp. He's had a patient approach and made solid contact when he's gotten a pitch to hit. And while his range hasn't been tested much, I like what I've seen in the field too.
- Jose Guillen has looked horrendous at the plate. While he's surprisingly drawn two walks, he has been as horrifically hacktastic as he was in his worst 2008 slumps. He's swinging at almost everything, and when he makes contact it is usually weak. I never root for injuries, but I wouldn't be too sad if his late game injury turned into a DL stint. Teahen in RF and Callaspo at 2B would make this team significantly better.
- Speaking of Mark Teahen, he's looked decent at second base. He's certainly not smooth, but he is competent. His range is good to his left and unimpressive but acceptable to his right. He's got a good arm, but the accuracy of his throws is inconsistent. He's a work in progress, but even at this stage he's not embarrassing himself.
- I was really impressed with Kyle Davies. He's always had good stuff, but he really looked dominant against the Chisox, especially in the middle innings. In the past, his problems have been control and consistency with his secondary pitches on Thursday, all four of his pitches were working and he was throwing them all for strikes. This really looked like the September 2008 Kyle Davies all over again. If he's 80% as good as this for the rest of the season, the Royals have a very good #3 SP on their hands.
- Gil Meche, Zack Greinke and Joakim Soria are, to put it simply, the balls. STSAM.
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I wasn't impressed with Teahens range thus far
but he hasn’t had many opportunities either. Butler appears to try to be pulling everything.
I don't know how to put this but I'm kind of a big deal.
I was only able to watch last nights game
so I’m curious to see what others say about Butler…he looked horrible last night, I know its wayyyy too early to start thinking AAAA, but….
We always did feel the same, We just saw it from a different point of view, Tangled up in blue.
-Bob Dylan
I think he's looked really awful at the plate in each game
I hope it is just an aberrational bad streak.
The immoderate moderator
by Scott McKinney on Apr 9, 2009 5:56 PM EDT up reply actions
I am a tad scared myself
about Billy because he usually squares up lefties.
Not logical but maybe it is a good sign for him. Last year he came out of the gate swinging a hot streak and fell off maybe it will be the total opposite. IT’S NOT LOGICAL BUT IT’s SOMETHING
I don't know how to put this but I'm kind of a big deal.
Billy's lack of speed
will hurt him…that grounder last night where the SS dove to his right and still had time to get up and throw him out, SLOW.
We always did feel the same, We just saw it from a different point of view, Tangled up in blue.
-Bob Dylan
by Royal Kingdom on Apr 9, 2009 6:23 PM EDT up reply actions
Agree
He looks god awful, but hopefully its just a bad slump. I hope management/Trey doesn’t panic and bench him or send him to Omaha or some nonsense after just a few weeks.
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
I was really impressed with Juan Cruz in game 2
He has an unorthodox delivery and arm slot, and overall it’s not pretty, but boy do those pitches sneak up on a hitter quickly. And the movement is unbelievable. If he’s throwing his slider for strikes against RH it’s game over.
Waiting for April.
+1
And the fact that very few of these AL batters have ever faced him will continue to help him, especially early in the season.
The immoderate moderator
by Scott McKinney on Apr 9, 2009 6:03 PM EDT up reply actions
another +1
he’s not only ridin dirty…. he’s cruzin dirty
Mike Jacobs.... I hope your bat has as much lift as your hair does.....
by iNaLeXwEtRuSt on Apr 9, 2009 6:12 PM EDT up reply actions
oh...I get it now...
I couldn’t figure out “in a lex wet rust”
speaking of SLOW
We always did feel the same, We just saw it from a different point of view, Tangled up in blue.
-Bob Dylan
by Royal Kingdom on Apr 9, 2009 6:25 PM EDT up reply actions
My first thought was
“In Latex We Trust”
If you were thinking, you wouldn't have thought that.
by Warden11 on Apr 9, 2009 10:09 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
VERY impressed
I like Cruz a lot. One of Dayton’s best pickups. I can’t believe there wasn’t more interest for him.
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
I noticed a couple of things...
The only game of the series I got to watch in its entirety was game 2, so I didn’t get to see a whole lot…
Guillen has looked like shit, but he has changed his stance pretty dramatically. He is crouched I’d say a good 6-10" more than he was last year. Not sure if he came into Spring Training like that, or if Seitzer & him found something that was worth trying, but it, coupled with his history of slow starts = Me not surprised he didn’t tear up the ball in CHI.
Butler & Gordon both look like they hit the weight room/stayed away from the ginormous bags of cheeetos this off season. Hopefully it translates
Greinke looked great, and it looked like he didn’t tinker with mechanics at all (not that he should have or anything). He also looked thicker than in years past – in a good way, not a Ponson way.
Teahen at second still puzzles me. He has NO BUSINESS playing 2B, but he seems to be able to make up for that with raw athleticism. His technique is VERY raw on the skillset things of 2B – He was REALLY slow on the double play turn he made in game 2, and I still can’t believe AJ Douchinski didn’t kill him with a good takeout slide, he could have really easily, he’ll get lit up a couple times before he figures it out, hopefully he doesn’t get hurt in the process.
Seitzer; If you would have told anyone on this board that Jacobs & Aviles would have one and Guillen would have two walks in the 1st series, you would have thought Pre-glasses Rick Vaughn was pitching. The more patient Royals didn’t pay off w/ runs, but it will…
BOOM! ROASTED!
Butler does look slimmer
I hope he remembers how to hit, though.
Guillen to bat was crouched down so low when I turned the game on I thought it was Callaspo.
Yea, he is MUCH lower
this year than last. His leg’s look thicker too, hopefully it is muscle.
Another guy that looks bigger is Teahen. He just thickened up from the trunk up it looks like
BOOM! ROASTED!
Just a quick note
I like how the SP’s are throwing inside, some will argue but I will always think that it is a necessity. You don’t have to throw at a guy to pitch inside, it is not dirty baseball….IT IS BASEBALL!
FKA "MileHighKCfan"
Greinke didn't seem so willing to pitch inside on TCQ
after he started to walk towards the mound after hitting him.
I don't know how to put this but I'm kind of a big deal.
I bet Greinke will be pitching him again inside the next time he faces him
Greinke doesn’t mind some brushbacks and plunks. Nor is he intimidated by sloping foreheads and prominent brow ridges.
The immoderate moderator
by Scott McKinney on Apr 9, 2009 7:25 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Especially with a good bouncer like Miguel Olivo behind the plate
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
He just knew
that if he did hit him or really brush him back for the THIRD time, there would have been an incident. Not really worth the risk of that is it? He was just being overly careful.
Although, I do want to realize some benefit from Farns – and that’s basically the only way.
The General Theory of Royaltivity
I've always thought that both Meche and Greinke pitch effectively inside
And Meche isn’t so much brushing guys back as he’s using the whole strike zone. He pitches in, out, up, down. And he’s quite effective without hitting batters or even giving them any chin music.
The immoderate moderator
by Scott McKinney on Apr 9, 2009 7:26 PM EDT up reply actions
Spring
Training
Stats
Are
Meaningless
The immoderate moderator
by Scott McKinney on Apr 9, 2009 8:49 PM EDT up reply actions
My early impressions:
1. Our pitching staff kicks butt—-even with Tightpants.
2. Hillman is not an idiot. I knew this, but hopefully others will climb on board.
3. The pollyanna police noticed that this NYRoyal post is very positive.
4. 3 games and no TPJr appearances in the box score. Priceless.
5. The White Sox are either very very average, or they’re getting off to one of their patented slow starts.
6. Are 50% of Gordon’s hits going to be home runs for the rest of the season?
6. Is Gordon also on pace for 50 errors this year?
- TL
by timlacy on Apr 9, 2009 9:09 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
If Hillman trots the Professor out as his 8th inning man all year
he better hope it works the rest of the year, or he’s gonna be the equivalent of Herm Edwards minus the fun interview quotes. He’s probably not an idiot, but he’s coming off as one, and the only reason he has gotten a break from this treatement is because we have won the 2 following games. There were a couple of bizarre decisions in game 2 that ended up not costing us, and game 3 nothing was glaring, but I trust he’ll be back to his old ways soon enough.
by AxDxMx on Apr 10, 2009 1:34 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
A few quick thoughts
-I can tell I am going to be a huge Coco Crisp fan
-Aviles pitch recognition looks pretty awful thus far
-John Buck is going to get a steady diet of sliders all season and if he never learns to recognize what to do with a slider, he is going to get less and less playing time
-I have never seen Gil have better command at keeping the ball low than I have on opening day. That was tremendous
-Joakim didn’t seem to be spotting his pitches as well in his first two appearances as last year, but its early and today’s ump I thought was squeezing the zone
-Kyle Farnsworth blows
-Three games and no appearances from Tony Pena Jr, Ross Gload or Joey Gathright. This pleases me.
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
-Three games and no appearances from Tony Pena Jr, Ross Gload or Joey Gathright. This pleases me.
And then there’s Willie Bloomquist
The bad news: he started one out of the first three games.
The good news: It was at the expense of Mike Jacobs, who can’t hit lefties.
The better news: Bloomy was pulled fairly early in favor of a pinch hitting Alberto Callaspo.
It’s too soon to tell, but while I think Hillman kind of likes Bloomquist, he isn’t in love with him. And I really don’t think Trey thinks he’s a hitter or a genuine “OBP guy.”
The immoderate moderator
by Scott McKinney on Apr 9, 2009 9:46 PM EDT up reply actions
Yep
I can’t really quibble with Trey’s lineups thus far surprisingly.
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
I was surprised by Hillman's use today.
Surprised in a very good way.
No Ross Gload still pleases me though.
If you were thinking, you wouldn't have thought that.
I shit you not
The better news: Bloomy was pulled fairly early in favor of a pinch hitting Alberto Callaspo.
In about the 5th inning, I started thinking of how I was going to word my post about how Trey F’d up by NOT Pinch hitting AC for Bloomers & moving Teahen to Right.
I was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t have to write that post
BOOM! ROASTED!
Couldn't agree more.
Nice move by Hillman. Perhaps the electroshock therapy of Farnsworth blowing up in his face and the subsequent media abuse has Trey thinking rather than believing in his gut instincts.
by hunter s. royal on Apr 9, 2009 11:51 PM EDT up reply actions
measuring progress
putting Callaspo in the lineup instead of Bloomquist
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by Matt Klaassen on Apr 10, 2009 2:10 AM EDT up reply actions
What about the weather?
I haven’t heard anyone talking about it much. Thinking back to playing and how much it SUCKED to try and hit in cold weather, and looking back on last April when Bannister and Greinke looked like they were competing for the Cy Young and the bullpen was unhittable, coupled with the fact that the hitters couldn’t hit then and can’t hit now…
considering that the pitchers for the White Sox have also been pretty much lights out and their hitters have been equally awful, and that it’s been like 30 degrees the whole time in Chicago with all that wind, I just don’t think (a) our pitchers are quite as dominant as they’ve shown and (b) our hitters are gonna start hitting as soon as it warms up a tad.
*You think I'm good* "You know, that Farnsworth is pretty good." *You will give me 9 million dollars* "So, Farnsy, how does $9 million sound?"
by jackie ballgame on Apr 9, 2009 11:43 PM EDT reply actions
I mentioned it in the "this time last year" thread
The weather in this series really helped the pitchers of both teams and hurt the batters of both teams. It’s a lot like how the Royals season started last year.
The immoderate moderator
by Scott McKinney on Apr 9, 2009 11:47 PM EDT up reply actions
The strikeout numbers are more impressive than last year
and I don’t know that the temp would affect that. If anything, I’d think you’d get more movement on your pitches when it is warm.
Agreed
I think the affect is on batted balls. The K’s are very much for real. I hope they continue (for our pitchers, but not our hitters)
The immoderate moderator
by Scott McKinney on Apr 10, 2009 1:52 AM EDT up reply actions
Actually, the more dense the air
the better the movement, thus cold, dry air is best for pitchers; warm, humid air is best for hitters. (water vapor is less dense than air)
We always did feel the same, We just saw it from a different point of view, Tangled up in blue.
-Bob Dylan
by Royal Kingdom on Apr 10, 2009 10:57 AM EDT up reply actions
I thought the water vapor thing was shown to be not an issue
I don’t remember where the article was.
Kansas City Royals: your 2006 and 2007 NL Central champions!
For a given temperature and altitude
the higher the humidity, the lower the air density, but it is generally a minor difference, altitude and temperature have a much greater effect. See, look, its all right here:
We always did feel the same, We just saw it from a different point of view, Tangled up in blue.
-Bob Dylan
by Royal Kingdom on Apr 13, 2009 9:03 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
-1
1. Not enough numbers
2. Your graph was too simplistic
Don’t dumb it down for us.
The immoderate moderator
by Scott McKinney on Apr 13, 2009 9:23 AM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Few thoughts
Davies – I thought is delivery was extremely consistent and smooth. I hope we continue to see that more and more. I remember one at-bat where he was struggling with his control, apparently overthrowing a little, and the ball was up in the zone. It got to a 3-2 count. Davies seem to take a minute, regroup, and threw a 93 mph fast ball-low and on the outside corner that was absolutely unhittable and struck the batter out.
Patience – With the exception of Guillen and Olivio, it seems that the Royals hitters that are not hitting that well right now, are taking a lot of pitches and getting a number of 6-7 pitch outs. But, we are still a long way from being a patient team at the plate (a la Red Sox/Yankees)
Tejeda looks like the shizz
Our bully should be pretty good so long as Farnsy only pitches low-leverage situations.
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
well, he didn't pitch tonight
so apparently, he’s worth “saving,”
Tejada, on the other hand, game in with a 6-0 defecit.
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by Matt Klaassen on Apr 11, 2009 10:00 PM EDT up reply actions
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