Royals Lunchtime Links: Meche is Now in Greinke's Neighborhood

by royalsreview on Jun 17, 2009 2:00 PM EDT in News Comment 47 comments

Gil Meche's FIP and WAR are still behind Greinke's, but after a strong month, Gil is definitely back in Greinke's neighborhood. Gil's FIP is 2.91, Greinke's is 1.85; Gil's WAR is 2.7, Greinke's is 4.5. OK, a 4.5 WAR in mid-June is still fairly astounding, but Gil has definitely moved himself into the Cliff Lee-Felix Hernandez strata of starters.

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Rany on the Royals: Are The Royals In The Wrong League?

I don’t think the Pacific Coast League is accepting new applicants.

Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com

by RoyalsRetro on Jun 17, 2009 2:13 PM EDT reply actions 4 recs

Also I just read...

that Trey Hillman was named to the All-Star managing team.

Nothing from Nothing leads to... Your 2009 Kansas City Royals

by averagegatsby on Jun 17, 2009 2:25 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

what?

Coffee. The NEW Performance Enhancing drug for Sport's Writers. Just ask Ken Rosenthal.

by 306008 on Jun 17, 2009 2:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

my thoughts exactly...

Apparently Joe Maddon, doesn’t care about stats and facts and such either

Nothing from Nothing leads to... Your 2009 Kansas City Royals

by averagegatsby on Jun 17, 2009 2:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

what link is it?

Coffee. The NEW Performance Enhancing drug for Sport's Writers. Just ask Ken Rosenthal.

by 306008 on Jun 17, 2009 2:28 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Royals just posted it on facebook...

I will add the link but not everyone will get to see it I dont think

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?ref=logo#/note.php?note_id=111102691672&ref=nf

Nothing from Nothing leads to... Your 2009 Kansas City Royals

by averagegatsby on Jun 17, 2009 2:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

just saw that in my RSS

from the Star

If you were thinking, you wouldn't have thought that.

by Warden11 on Jun 17, 2009 2:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

According to a Royals poster

Four of the last five Royals managers named to the All-Star game as a coach were no longer manager by mid-season the next year (although one of those was Dick Howser who stepped down for health reasons).

The others? Tony Muser, Tony Pena and Bob Boone.

Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com

by RoyalsRetro on Jun 17, 2009 2:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

its a meaningless gravy training gesture

I remember when Muser was named. I was really mad about it for awhile, then realized it was pointless

by royalsreview on Jun 17, 2009 4:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

well, then that's not a very nice thing for Joe Maddon to do at all

by benfunke on Jun 17, 2009 6:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Maybe Hillman

will try and persuade Maddon into starting Greinke.

by The #1 Bockel on Jun 17, 2009 2:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I think he has earned it, And I doubt many people would argue with that

Nothing from Nothing leads to... Your 2009 Kansas City Royals

by averagegatsby on Jun 17, 2009 2:51 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree

just saying it won’t hurt to have Hillman, well actually it prolly will…nvm

by The #1 Bockel on Jun 17, 2009 2:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

more likely

Hillman will try to get Maddon to add Olivo to the roster to prevent an Olivo-less Greinke from his inevitable collapse

I'm not a sabermetrician, but I do play one at Driveline Mechanics.

by devil_fingers on Jun 17, 2009 2:53 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

more likely

HIllman will try to persuade Maddon to add Olivo as Greinke’s personal catcher

and really, who could

I'm not a sabermetrician, but I do play one at Driveline Mechanics.

by devil_fingers on Jun 17, 2009 2:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

HOW DARE YOU!!!!!

compare

our beloved Gil to Cliff “I Pitch Against The Royals Every Other Game” Lee?

by benfunke on Jun 17, 2009 2:26 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

OK, so maybe being compared to Cliff Lee isn't such a slight

tRA:
Greinke 1.80
Gil 3.54
Cliff Lee 3.26

Strength of opponent (OPS)
Greinke 0.747
Gil 0.764
Lee 0.754

by benfunke on Jun 17, 2009 2:36 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs

I thought this link was good too.

Mizzou Baseball: Pitcher U?

It’s from yesterday, but interesting.

Coffee. The NEW Performance Enhancing drug for Sport's Writers. Just ask Ken Rosenthal.

by 306008 on Jun 17, 2009 2:26 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Hillman says he's not moving DDJ back to center

because he’s hitting better. Ouch, ouch, ouch.

Pecota, watch over us.

by castille on Jun 17, 2009 2:27 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Impeccable logic.

Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com

by RoyalsRetro on Jun 17, 2009 2:34 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

probably not fearful enoug at the plate when he's playing CF

that’s how I would massage it

I'm not a sabermetrician, but I do play one at Driveline Mechanics.

by devil_fingers on Jun 17, 2009 2:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Playing centerfield causes hives

Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com

by RoyalsRetro on Jun 17, 2009 2:37 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

at least it might

which is reason enough to avoid it

by benfunke on Jun 17, 2009 3:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

wanna see that fearful contact

by stuckinstl12 on Jun 17, 2009 4:14 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Maybe there's really something to it

If a CF needs to cover more range, maybe someone playing CF in the field (especially if not naturally speedy like Coco Crisp) gets more tired out for the batting half of the inning than the same player playing a corner.

Chaim Mattis Keller New York City's # 1 Royals fan!

by cmkeller on Jun 17, 2009 3:09 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

But how often are you running that hard?

Centerfielders probably get, what 4-5 flyballs a game if they’re lucky? And most of those are pretty routine. I can’t see it affecting them too much.

Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com

by RoyalsRetro on Jun 17, 2009 3:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Well in that case...

anytime Guillen moves a foot to the left or right he must be exhausted, probably why he sucks so much at the plate.

Nothing from Nothing leads to... Your 2009 Kansas City Royals

by averagegatsby on Jun 17, 2009 3:22 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Guillen has hit best as a DH

then as a LF, then RF, then as CF (only 37 ABs)

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/split.cgi?n1=guilljo01&year=Career&t=b#defp

fairly small sample sizes for DH and CF, and I don’t believe these are adjusted for ballpark (because, as you know, Jome Run Jose plays for a different team every year. btw, teams he’s played for in consecutive full seasons, not pretty: Pirates, Nationals, Devil Rays, and soon to be….)

by benfunke on Jun 17, 2009 3:42 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Even though they may not have to run often...

CF ‘should’ cover a little more field than the corners and if a long fly ball happens in the other half of an inning prior to the aforementioned CF should take to the plate….? Perhaps leg strength and the such could be affected a bit.

by MarioVanPeebles Republic of China on Jun 17, 2009 4:15 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

it's not just the balls batted to the CF

something that doesn’t get much attention is the backups that the CF is responsible for covering, both hit and thrown. Much heavier workload than COF’s. Of course that could vary depending on the coaching staff’s defensive approach, and I’ve never been privy to a close examination of a Major League defense plan, but I’m sure they don’t just ‘wing it’.

(like us we had a plan back in high school varsity and juco baseball blah blah blah) I don’t want to lay on the cliches like those guys “Oh back when I played” we all know it’s a whole different world in MLB, even in lower A ball it has to be a different world. But in Juco and even HS we had a defensive ‘playbook’ and it was true that the CF had more, a lot more, defensive responsibility than the COF’s.

Yeah? From what I hear, you couldn't hit water if you fell out of a f@#%ing boat.

by BillyMojo on Jun 17, 2009 4:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

oh yeah i forgot to make my point

that yeah it could make a guy more wore out physically playing CF defense than COF defense that it would have him more fatigued and less productive offensively.

Actually though it didn’t appear to bother The Jesus that much over the last two seasons playing CF and hitting leadoff.

Yeah? From what I hear, you couldn't hit water if you fell out of a f@#%ing boat.

by BillyMojo on Jun 17, 2009 4:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Minor league news:

SS Jeff Bianchi was promoted to AA Northwest Arkansas.

Bianchi, 22, was the second round pick in 2005. He was hitting .301/.363/.431 with 4 HR 26 RBI in 59 games for A Wilmington.

And Sir Sid began his rehab assignment in Omaha.

Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com

by RoyalsRetro on Jun 17, 2009 4:04 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

4 years to get to AA?

I totally thought this dude was already there

by royalsreview on Jun 17, 2009 4:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

To be fair he was injuried for 2 1/2 of those 4

Waiting for April.

by DC Royal on Jun 17, 2009 4:49 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

did not know that

by royalsreview on Jun 17, 2009 5:19 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

He had a back injury... just started getting his game back....

Coffee. The NEW Performance Enhancing drug for Sport's Writers. Just ask Ken Rosenthal.

by 306008 on Jun 17, 2009 5:58 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Otherwise known as the headline for the story I should write

Sir Sidney Pontoon the Ballast Getting Time in O-Royals Rotation That Should Go to More Deserving Young Prospects

(Ballast is a Navy term for “dead weight”)

Yeah? From what I hear, you couldn't hit water if you fell out of a f@#%ing boat.

by BillyMojo on Jun 17, 2009 4:55 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Now watch us get to the playoffs based on a key game in September (40-man roster)

on the road when Pontoon comes on in 3rd inning relief and we’re down 3-2 with two out and two on base, and pitches 5 1/3 perfect innings of groudballs and hands over a 4-3 lead to the Mexicutioner who hangs a doughnut in the bottom of the 9th to save a victory that sparks a six game run that puts us in a clinch for the division.

Strange things happen.

Yeah? From what I hear, you couldn't hit water if you fell out of a f@#%ing boat.

by BillyMojo on Jun 17, 2009 5:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs