FanPost

Recent developments in the rotation, where are we headed?

Coming into this season, back in March 2010, Royals fans had at least some reasons (however silly they seem now) to be optimistic about the rotation. Greinke just won the Cy Young!!! Meche has had time to rehab and fix his shoulder; maybe he can pitch well again. Hochevar flashed some promise in 2009, maybe he's turned the corner! Bannister was bad in 2009, but he CAN'T be THAT bad again, can he? And really, Kyle Davies deserves one more good shot. These were all common themes coming into the season.

Our rotation is now Greinke, Bruce Chen, Kyle Davies, Sean O'Sullivan, and Bryan Bullington.

In March, how f***ed would we have thought a rotation consisting of Chen, Davies, and Bullington would be? The team keeps losing, but is isn't largely the rotation's fault. Well, our rotation isn't good, but it's mostly not due to the guys we would have guessed.


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via royalsblog.kansascity.com

C'Mon CHEN!!!!

Bruce Chen

Bruce Chen was a journeyman coming off arm surgery when the Royals acquired him in 2009. He has mediocre stuff at best, rarely getting close to 90 mph, but his breaking balls have displayed depth at times. Moreover, he has developed (maybe he did this back when he was briefly effective in Atlanta and Baltimore) the ability to throw from several arm slots, and for strikes. This has done just enough to make him not a liability in our rotation. While his 4.50 ERA is below average in the American League this year, how much does this exceed your expectations for Chen coming into the year? He has been all we really could have hoped for, someone to eat innings while the others are injured/away/sucking. His future with the team is really nonexistent or most likely in some vague long reliever/situational lefty role. But he has been a revelation as certainly more reliable than Bannister and Davies, while potentially more reliable than even Hochevar and Meche (these days). We will gladly welcome Hochevar back to the rotation because of the promise he has displayed at times (and the financial/time investment), but is Chen potentially an option for the back end of the rotation in 2011? While we would probably hope not, due to his performances prior to 2010, maybe it's not the worst we could do, or even close to it. Banny has proved that. I'm not advocating a full on acceptance of Chen as a member of our rotation, but it is something to think about.

Bryan Bullington

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via media.kansascity.com

Anyone else think he resembles Orel Hershiser in the face?

Bryan Bullington is another interesting story. We signed him as a minor league free agent prior to this season. His biography is an interesting one, and he certainly has come a long way. Former multisport star at Ball State, he was drafted Number 1 overall, similar to Hochevar, by the Pirates in 2002, several spots ahead of Zack Greinke. He had major arm surgery and has drifted around the minors since then, unsuccessfully attempting to regain some of his velocity and stuff that made him a legitimate number one pick. He had brief cups of coffee in the majors for the Pirates, Indians, and Blue Jays prior to this season. Those call-ups were largely unsuccessful. But in the minors, he had moderate success as a starter prior to 2008, but still he had been converted to a reliever in the Toronto system in 2009. The Royals came into the picture, offering him a chance to start at AAA Omaha, and he excelled. He posted a 2.82 ERA, which was easily better than any season he had pitched since his days in single-A. Perhaps the 29 year old has learned to pitch. After his call-up to KC and insertion into the rotation to replace the floundering Brian Bannister (more on him in a moment), he has done nothing to dispell the notion that he may finally be ready to be an effective Major League starter. (SAMPLE SIZE ALERT) 3 Earned Runs in 14 innings as a starter is good, but it is tiny as a sample size. But 2-hitting the Yankees in 8 innings is nothing to sneeze at. Again, who would have thought we could count on this guy? He is worth watching more because he has a wide variety of pitches, pretty good command, and seems to have figured out how to pitch. The Number One overall status means there once was something about this guy, and maybe an effective back-end starter is what he was meant to be. It is important to watch this guy closely in the coming weeks. We certainly would take a reliable back-end starter, due to the failures of those listed below.

Gil Meche, Kyle Davies, and Brian Bannister: Are their days numbered?

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via joeposnanski.com

Looking back, it was fairly obvious that it would always be an uphill battle for Brian Bannister, lacking an average fastball and often unable to command his secondary pitches.

Gil Meche, Kyle Davies, and Brian Bannister are all at turning points in their careers for different reasons.

Meche may be nearing a point where he cannot throw the innings he once did, and may not be able to command his pitches or regain the fastball that made scouts (and our GM) rave about him. He has made his money and has one year left on his massive deal (at $12 million). He has elected not to have season-ending surgery in hopes of helping the bullpen down the stretch and potentially building up arm strength to start in 2011. However, do not be shocked if his shoulder blows up again. Meche may be done as a pitcher very soon.

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via upload.wikimedia.org

Whether you blame Hillman or not, Meche is simply not effective anymore, and the reasons are largely irrelevant to the team's success going forward.

Kyle Davies was Dayton Moore's prize for unloading Octavio Dotel in 2008. Davies had a memorable September in that season, prompting hopes that he could become an effective pitcher in 2009. But as before, Davies had multiple lapses in command, and walks have plagued him in his entire Major League career. He is no longer a prospect, and with a now fairly consistent 5.25ish ERA, his job is certainly up for grabs. He has to turn it around, and do so in the remainder of this season to be considered a legitimate candidate for the rotation in 2011 (or at least you would think). Despite some brief flashes of command and great stuff (change-up seems to have developed quite nicely, while fastball command still lags), his time may be up as well.

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via cache.daylife.com

Which one of these will be Kyle's last as a Royal?

Brian Bannister is famous for many things, such as his love for photography, statistics, and the no-seam fastball. But he is quickly becoming infamous for his inability to get people out, to keep the ball in the park, or any number of other things pitchers must do to keep their jobs. People forget that he once finished 3rd in Rookie of the Year voting in 2007, and there was/is a notable contingent of Royals fans who think a pitcher like Bannister can be an asset. In 2008 and 2009, Banny displayed great command and an ability to baffle hitters at times. But in both years, he petered out by July or August, delivering disgusting start after start. In 2010, he has been just about dreadful from day 1. He claims he has lost his arm slot (therefore, command), and he has been demoted to the bullpen after an awful 5.95 ERA to this point in the season. He is a cheap option for the future, but the reality is he is almost unpitchable the way he has performed the last 3 seasons. He needs to find his groove and do it quickly to keep his job for 2011. There are too many guys seeming to seize upon their opportunities right now.

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via royalsblog.kansascity.com

O'Sullivan's short time with the Royals, and suspect statistics, should be coupled with the fact that he's now made TWO of his five Royals starts against the Yankees, which tends to hurt your statistics.

The point of this post is to just think about the rotation. What will it look like in 2011? The plethora of lefties in the system Process will not likely arrive in 2011 (at least the starters, watch out for soon-to-be fan favorite Tim Collins). The experiment that appeared to finally solidify the rotation in 2008 and 2009 with Davies, Banny, and Meche has failed, and those men now are fighting for jobs. Chen, Bullington, O'Sullivan, Lerew, and soon to be others will do their best to make us forget about those three. Several of those pitchers have made what appear to be great adjustments/developments. Competition is good and the Royals are cultivating it, even among non-prospects, but 2011 WILL be just another experiment for the rotation. Who fits and who doesn't? Just remember 2010 when making up your expectations for this Royals rotation. After Greinke (and likely Hochevar), who ya got?

This FanPost was written by a member of the Royals Review community. It does not necessarily reflect the views of the editors and writers of this site.