Royals Starting Pitcher Target: Jair Jurrjens

The Royals could afford to swallow a high salary on a guy like Lowe for one season to facillitate getting someone like Beachy or Minor. But it would still require giving up Myers+.

That having been said… glad to see he’s getting in some good swings. Maybe we’ll see him in 2-3 years. What’s the over/under on when he suits up in a Royals uni?

That roundup was posted five years ago, so don’t bother going there… unless you just want to see Clayton Kershaw and Jeremy Jeffress mentioned in the same sentence.

etc.

lol….he was one of the best pitchers in baseball in the first half. The only issue with him is staying healthy, if he’s healthy he’s at worst a #2 pitcher on a staff. KC doesn’t have anyone as good as him.

That’s cool though, we’ll just keep him or trade him to a team that understands his true value.

This, if you want to argue that the Royals have high ceiling guys who can be better maybe you’re right, but considering their 2012 rotation is likely to include Chen, Hochevar, and Felipe Paulino. Jurrjens would actually be a great addition for the Royals as far as type cause you can slot him between Montgomery and Duffy who’re they’re versions of Julio and Minor. and break up their young lefties.

I love how their GM is saying they’d trade top prospects for MLB pitching, but a blogger says that JJ isn’t better than their pitchers. A guy who was in the Cy Young discussion for half of this year and in 2009.

This guys comments are a joke. That being said, with his injury history I doubt J.J. has much trade value. Would be best to keep him and see if he can pitch an entire year.

In the comment section of this link alot of Royals fans seemed open to the idea of taking on Lowe’s salary in order to get one of Beachy or Minor. They even seemed like they would throw in a pretty strong prospect. How about Minor, Lowe, and 7 mil$ for Wil Meyers??

I like Minor, but we could afford to lose him if it meant getting rid of half of Lowe’s salary and getting a solid prospect who could take over for Prado in LF after next year…

His value is down but he should net solid prospects. Not that this is a perfect example, but the D-Backs traded Haren with 2.3-3.3 seasons on his contract and owed abotu 31.5 to 43.5 million (depending on option) they got Skaggs, Saunders, a meh reliever and an ok pitchign prospect. JJ isn’t as good as Haren, and he won’t be under contract as long, but he’s also much cheaper.

For JJ we should be able to get a top 50 prospect and a solid prospect. Brett Jackson is actually pretty good idea.

Might be a bit premature on Myers. No doubt he is an elite prospect but didnt he just finish low A in the SAL????

One of our young starters while new to the game is still more proven than Myers at this time.

Jurrjens finds success with Venters’ grip

8:08 pm May 13, 2011, by Carroll Rogers

In his second game back from an oblique injury, Jair Jurrjens added a new twist to his sinker – a Jonny Venters-style grip.

Venters has earned the admiration of the rest of the Braves pitching staff over the past year for his 94-95 mph sinker from the left-hand side, which baffles hitters.

So Jurrjens, who felt like his fastball was flattening out, asked Venters about his grip in batting practice one day. Venters holds the two-seam fastball with his index and middle finger between the two seams. Jurrjens held his two fingers split in a more traditional position on the seams.

Jurrjens said he tried the new grip in a couple of bullpens, then debuted it against the Dodgers in LA. He gave up one run in six innings in that game and has been using it since.

"It’s sinking more, going down," Jurrjens said. "The other one was running."

Jurrjens is 4-0 with a 1.50 ERA in five starts since returning from the disabled list. He’s looking for his second win in a row against the Phillies Saturday.

Not that Venters thinks he has much to do with it.

"I’m going to take all the credit for his success," Venters said with a smile.

Before plotting where Jurrjens’ velocity has stood at certain points this season, it should be reiterated that his velocity has been down all season. But while he posted a 1.87 ERA through his first 16 starts, scouts and talent evaluators saw him create greater movement with his pitches.

That’s from a Bowman blog, although he tends to think the velocity drop was caused by something other than Jurrjens’ intention to pitch rather than throw. But he was using hindsight as much as anything, before it had become apparent the knee was an issue.

Another interesting article breaks down the tendency to pitch to contact: http://chop-n-change.com/2011-articles/may/looking-at-jurrjens-early-season-success.html .

And a fangraphs article to round it out: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/jair-jurrjens-slower-fastball-better-results/

-C