Poll: Will Brayan Pena get to actually start at Catcher?

by benfunke on Jun 18, 2009 12:49 PM EDT Comment 34 comments

Seems like several factors just may create the perfect storm for Pena to actually get a start:

-- He's put in the grunt work of sitting on the bench for 2+ weeks with only one start (in which the Royals won and he went 2 for 4, by the way)

-- Olivo has caught 9 games in a row without a rest

-- Olivo has shown that as bad as Pena's defense may be, it can't be that much worse.

Poll

Will Baryan Pena get to start at Catcher during this homestand?

Yes

29 votes

No

21 votes

I already have secret inside information that he's starting Thursday's game

10 votes

60 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs | Comment 34 comments

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Comments

Yes

and I predict it will be today.

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

by Warden11 on Jun 18, 2009 12:54 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

pats self on back

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

by Warden11 on Jun 18, 2009 10:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

But if he does not go 4-4 with 4 HR’s and call a no-hitter while also saving a child from choking to death on a hot dog and doing some advanced planning work for Trey and Dayton’s 2009 income taxes between innings, then he will promptly be shipped back to Omaha as soon as Buck gets back.

"Now…put that in your [BLEEP]ing pipe and smoke it." -Hal McRae

"I was doing this when BJ was in his father's nutsack." -Renzo Gracie

by Sweep_the_Leg on Jun 18, 2009 1:05 PM EDT reply actions 2 recs

Trade Olivo now!!!

His value is the highest it will ever be.

by AxDxMx on Jun 18, 2009 1:13 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

yes.

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

by 306008 on Jun 18, 2009 1:33 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

i bet it was higher yesterday morning.

Don't Stop Believing!

by KC Chris on Jun 18, 2009 2:01 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

He will never start.

He is a AAA catcher in Trey’s mind.

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

by 306008 on Jun 18, 2009 1:32 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

just like how Trey wouldn't start Aviles over TPJ

until it was obvious that Aviles was better

by BHWick on Jun 18, 2009 1:50 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

exactly.

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

by 306008 on Jun 18, 2009 2:16 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

My bold prediction

Pena will get a start either Friday or Saturday so that Olivo doesn’t have to go day game after night game. But Olivo will start the other three games remaining in the home stand.

I am Billy Butler's Gold Glove.

by cbrett42 on Jun 18, 2009 2:23 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

On the other hand, Friday’s a 7:10 game, Saturday is 3:10, and Sunday is 1:10, so none of those would be on as short of rest as the typical 1:10 following 7:10. Maybe Olivo starts all four.

I am Billy Butler's Gold Glove.

by cbrett42 on Jun 18, 2009 2:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

i guess i could have looked at the pitching matchups

not that Hillman says he lives and dies by (or even pays attention to) the splits, but it sure would make sense to bat Pena against a righty starter

by benfunke on Jun 18, 2009 2:27 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

good call

unfortunately. in case it wasn’t clear already, i’d sure like to see a more normal rotation, such as 2 or 3 days on, 1 day off for Olivo

by benfunke on Jun 18, 2009 2:26 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Fuck Miguel Olivo.

I’m an old skinny white guy who never got past juco baseball and old-man fastpitch softball and if you stuck me in the MLB right now my K:BB couldn’t be much worse than Miggy’s. Even if I had a worse BA/OBP/SLG OPS+ and WAR than TPJ, if I was K:BB of 50:4 it would be better than his. Of course I’d be a seive defensively but my point is not candy coated. Fuck Miguel Olivo he sucks.

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

by BillyMojo on Jun 18, 2009 2:38 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Back me up Gobble.

d< ‘_’ >b

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

by BillyMojo on Jun 18, 2009 2:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I'm not Gobble

but just like you I’d be smart enough to realize that the pitchers always throw me sliders low and away maybe a half inch off the ground and I swing at it everytime and miss. Yet I continue to do it. Don’t underestimate yourself. You could have a K:BB of 45:9. Just remember to lay off the high heat around your eyeballs (sorry I thought you were Guillen for a minute). I’ll even give you your choice of uniform number.

by stram#1 on Jun 18, 2009 2:48 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Miguel is a catcher, he should know what is coming on 0-2

Seriously, slider, low and away, means don’t swing Miggy! How can you fall for it once a game bare minimum?

by AxDxMx on Jun 18, 2009 3:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

It would not take MLB scouting a microsecond

to discover that I can’t lay off the high ones. But they would scream by so fast that I’d not have time to swing anyway.

Either way though it’s been 24 years since I’ve stood in the box against a live pitcher 60’ 6" away on a hill and none of them in the KJCCC could bring mid-90’s gas that tailed, followed by low 80’s sliders, mixed in with high 60’s hooks that exploded and high 80’s changes.

For godsakes the only FSCC Greyhounds player to ever make MLB was Adam LaRoche. I don’t know about the whole conference but it wasn’t much more than a bunch of Legion Ball players who just wouldn’t quit.

I did once though have a pitching machine shoot 100+ MPH stuff at me and after I got brave enough to not just jump away I at least fouled a few of em off. Pretty bad ass, it was one of those 2-wheel spinner machines that the ball comes out of with no spin on it and you never know which way it’s gonna move.

There’s no fuckin’ way I could even get a BB against even NL pitching. My K:BB would be terrible, but if I just stood there and took every pitch I think it could be better than Miggy’s.

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

by BillyMojo on Jun 18, 2009 5:12 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

oh yeah and I'm not afraid to include

that I wasn’t even good enough to start in that conference, and barely even good enough to come off the bench. Too slow and a weenie arm defensively. Everyone else grew up and got better and I had already peaked in Babe Ruth League when my growth spurt happened and everyone else was on a normal growth curve.

I didn’t take HGH, my body just made its own when I was 15-16-17-18 years old.

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

by BillyMojo on Jun 18, 2009 5:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

and for uniform number

if it can’t be 3 digits, like “225” or a fraction, like “1/8”

I’d have to choose “16” for Vlad the Impaler

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Konstantinov

but the Butlerbean probably wouldn’t give it up.

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

by BillyMojo on Jun 18, 2009 5:26 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

While we all agree Olivo sucks

what is ALARMING is that he was either 3rd or 4th among our starters in OPS, last time I checked.

Wow.

Mr Glass, this is a pro sports team, not a retail store - run it like one!

by loyal2sdad on Jun 18, 2009 4:22 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

it is alarming, but then when we think about it

doesn’t it just reflect the overall suckage of the team?

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

by BillyMojo on Jun 18, 2009 4:59 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

he is tied for 5th in wOBA (from Statcorner, includes park adjustment)

http://www.statcorner.com/team.php?team=KCA&year=2009&leag=A_L

it’s frankly somewhat amazing that he can have such fundamentally horrible patience at the plate and judgment of pitches, yet still be an above-average hitter.

1. Callaspo .363
2. Teahen .362
3. Guillen .352 (he now prefers walks)
4. Butler .348
5. Olivo .344
5. Jacobs .344
5. Bloomquist .344

by benfunke on Jun 18, 2009 5:07 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

is that above average hitter or

above average Royals hitter?

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

by BillyMojo on Jun 18, 2009 5:43 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

i'm surprised to see that we have 7 guys at or above average

though Olivo/Jacobs/Bloomquist are just above average. the thing really holding the team average down is that our bad players have been REALLY bad: Aviles, DDJ, TPJ, even Coco

by benfunke on Jun 18, 2009 6:18 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

well as it has been debated, Coco

was only bad for a “little” while, and for that “while” he was playing hurt.

and for another “little while” earlier, he was playing better than he ever had before? so it all comes out in the wash?

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

by BillyMojo on Jun 18, 2009 6:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

i would have thought so

and i’m a Coco supporter, but Statcorner’s wOBA has him at .323, which is definitely below average. i was a little surprised because his torrent of walks at the beginning of the season should have propped that up, though i guess his Avg. is pretty low.

by benfunke on Jun 18, 2009 6:52 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Oh, and if Hillman

wouldn’t take a look at a 24 year old 1B prospect in September, when the team was 100% out of the race, and despite having seemingly no one blocking him at the position, then of course he’s not going to take a look at a catcher in June while the team is still theoretically in the race.

Mr Glass, this is a pro sports team, not a retail store - run it like one!

by loyal2sdad on Jun 18, 2009 4:26 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs