Looking Back at Last Season's Finale

by Freneau on Sep 28, 2011 11:34 AM EDT in Kansas City Royals News

The dying days of a baseball season have their own character. Nobody quite cares, the lineups are frequently strange, and the games have an odd quality born out of a mix of meaninglessness and just a touch of drama. I've always been a sucker for the last game, because, after making baseball a daily part of our lives for so long, when the last out is recorded tonight we won't have any more coming for a long time.

Here was last year's final game lineup, a 3-2 loss to the Rays. Five of these guys are no longer in the organization, and only Gordon and Butler look to be part of the team's future.

Lineup after the jump:

Batting	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OPS
Jarrod Dyson CF	4	0	0	0	0	2	.211	.689	SB,SH
Gregor Blanco PH	1	0	1	0	0	0	.283	.727	2B
Mike Aviles 2B	5	0	1	0	1	1	.304	.748	SB
Billy Butler DH	5	0	0	0	0	3	.318	.857
Kila Ka'aihue 1B	3	1	0	0	2	2	.217	.702
Wilson Betemit 3B	5	0	0	0	0	3	.297	.889
Alex Gordon LF	5	1	1	2	0	2	.215	.671	HR
Yuniesky Betancourt SS	5	0	1	0	0	0	.259	.692	CS
Brayan Pena C	5	0	0	0	0	1	.253	.642
Mitch Maier RF	4	0	2	0	1	1	.263	.709	SB

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 9/28/2011.

The pitchers from that game were:

Pitching	IP	H	R	BB	SO	ERA	BF
Sean O'Sullivan	6	2	0	3	3	5.49	22
Rob Tejeda, H (12)	1	1	0	0	1	3.54	4
Gil Meche, H (6)	1	0	0	0	1	5.69	3
Joakim Soria, BS (3)	1	3	2	0	2	1.78	6
Blake Wood	1	0	0	0	1	5.07	3
Dusty Hughes, L (1-3)	1.2	1	1	0	4	3.83	6
Greg Holland	0.1	0	0	0	1	6.75	2

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 9/28/2011.

That inning from Gil Meche would be the last of his career. Barring trades, Soria and Holland will be part of the team's bullpen next season, while SOS could have a role. As you can see, it was actually a good (if lucky) start from SOS, although that really augured nothing for 2011.

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Comments

The Soria blown save game,

and his first in months. Portentious of 2011.

Gentlemen, you can't fight in here. This is the war room!

by KeepItCopacetic on Sep 28, 2011 11:40 AM EDT reply actions

Speaking of portentious

Gordon’s batting just .215 but smashes a home run on the final day. Seeds of domination.

by LaFLamme on Sep 28, 2011 11:57 AM EDT reply actions

MITCH! coming through!

"Things could always be worse." - Buddy Bell

by buddyball on Sep 28, 2011 12:43 PM EDT reply actions

Mitch is our ONLY future

Alex Gordon is really good
Blaine Gabbert is really good
MJD is really good
Never forget Matt Treanor

by tiquanunderwear on Sep 28, 2011 1:13 PM EDT reply actions

i loved you gregor blanco

by Freneau on Sep 28, 2011 1:47 PM EDT reply actions

I loved how he choked up

Alex Gordon is really good
Blaine Gabbert is really good
MJD is really good
Never forget Matt Treanor

by tiquanunderwear on Sep 28, 2011 2:07 PM EDT up reply actions

Out Of Nowhere

He hit a real bomb once.

I used to be an A's fan until they left town and got good.

by philofthenorth on Sep 28, 2011 5:19 PM EDT up reply actions

I was genuinely mad that the Royals started Sean O'Sullivan last night

I know it was a meaningless game, but the idea of entertaining Sean O’Sullivan as an MLB starting pitcher offends me. Also, the Royals now have to win their last game in order for me to win a (no-stakes) bet with Scott about the Royals finishing 2 games under .500 post-ASB or better. If you’re reading this, Scott, be warned that I will claim partial victory even if they finish 3 games under (but with a positive run differential) as I mentioned at the time of the bet.

by kcdc1 on Sep 28, 2011 2:08 PM EDT reply actions

I have no recollection of such bet

But I fully believe it happened. What were the terms/stakes of the bet?

You may know me as NYRoyal.

by Scott McKinney on Sep 28, 2011 2:27 PM EDT up reply actions

No stakes

It was just after the ASB. I said that the Royals were ready to be a middle-of-the-pack team, you disagreed, I said I’d be surprised if they were more than a couple games under .500 post-ASB, and you predicted that they would be. I interpreted my use of “couple” to mean 2 games, but I said that if it were 3, I’d grant that I wasn’t technically right, but that I’d still feel more or less correct. Right now, I believe that they’re exactly 2 games under .500 since the ASB.

by kcdc1 on Sep 28, 2011 2:39 PM EDT up reply actions

Cool

Congrats (or partial congrats). Now we need to bet on next year’s win total. Actually, we should wait until February when we have a pretty good idea of who will be on the team. I predict that there will be at least a 5-win difference in our predictions.

You may know me as NYRoyal.

by Scott McKinney on Sep 28, 2011 2:43 PM EDT up reply actions

I predict that you will be correct about that

I’m very bullish on the team. You are less bullish (tho I suspect that September may have rosied your outlook a bit). Looking forward to it.

I’m guessing Moore will add one decent but not thrilling starter, and that you’ll come in at about 78 wins and I’ll come in at about 84 wins.

by kcdc1 on Sep 28, 2011 2:47 PM EDT up reply actions

I'm really looking forward to Matt and Jeff crunching some numbers

While I feel like the true talent level of this team is something like 76 wins, that isn’t the process of any real number crunching. Hopefully they can come up with some reasonable projections (Matt has a good system) for the individual players at least before ZiPS comes out and an interesting number will pop out.

One thing I’ve seen recently that I want to point out is that using estimates of how good this team is and using that for next year has a little flaw in it, in that it includes the contributions of guys like Francis and Chen, who may not be on the team. And they’ve accounted for something like 4.2 fWAR. Even if Chen is brought back and a 3 WAR pitcher is added, that’s a net improvement for the rotation of 0.3 WAR (subtracting Francis’s 2.7 fWAR and adding the new 3 WAR pitcher). Of course this is quick and dirty analysis, as projections for next year should be based on true talent level, not just 2011 numbesr.

You may know me as NYRoyal.

by Scott McKinney on Sep 28, 2011 2:59 PM EDT up reply actions

About Francis

For purposes of fWAR, it’s true that Francis’s 2011 season is not easy to replace. But for purposes of wins and run differential, his 4.82 ERA should be easy to improve on. If the Royals replaced 2011 Jeff Francis with Jeff Francis, it’s likely that his contribution to their record and run differential would improve, even if his fWAR stayed the same or even fell off.

The Royals starting pitching has had crappy luck. That’s one of the reasons that it’s easy to see the team taking a big leap forward next year.

by kcdc1 on Sep 28, 2011 3:10 PM EDT up reply actions

I have a little. The starting pitching needs to improve a ton.

Our season long starters have been fine (except Davies).

It is the SOS, Teafords, Mazzaros we sent out. Pitchers will get hurt and we need decent back ups. Not Mendoza’s.

If O’Sullivan or Mazzaro start a game for the Royals next year, we will not be 0.500 and Dayton more has fail this offseason.

- .-. ..- … – / – …. . / .—. .-. - .. . … …

by Jeff Zimmerman on Sep 28, 2011 3:47 PM EDT up reply actions

I'll admit that I'm a little curious about Mendoza

His peripherals were nothing special, but a 2.18 ERA in the PCL, where I believe the average ERA was over 5? And then he comes up and does more of the same in 15 MLB innings?

I’m nowhere near convinced, but I wouldn’t mind seeing what he does in spring training next year. If he keeps doing this in ST, I’m okay with him being our 7th starter.

by kcdc1 on Sep 28, 2011 4:18 PM EDT up reply actions

I would love to hear from anyone what changed after sucking for 3 to 4 years.

- .-. ..- … – / – …. . / .—. .-. - .. . … …

by Jeff Zimmerman on Sep 28, 2011 5:24 PM EDT up reply actions

http://www.royalsreview.com/2011/7/29/2303539/aaron-crow-sliders-curves-and-platoon-splits#73266912

- We’re getting off topic now, but I think this is a true talent 75+ win team. If Melky isn’t traded, I’ll be surprised if they’re more than a couple games under .500 post All-Star break.

- First, I’ll take that bet. Second, really?

- There are 56 games left. I said I’d be surprised if they’re more than a couple games under .500 post AS break. They’re one game over right now. If they’re 25-31 or worse the rest of the way, I’ll admit I was wrong. If they’re 26-30, they’ll be 3 games under post break, and I’ll be partially wrong because couple implies 2, but I’ll claim victory anyway.

by kcdc1 on Sep 28, 2011 2:44 PM EDT up reply actions

Also, I said in that thread that their run differential was -47 at the time

It’s now -31, so the Royals have outscored their opponents by 16 runs since.

by kcdc1 on Sep 28, 2011 2:52 PM EDT up reply actions

Dusty Hughes!!

I completely forgot about that guy.

He was claimed off of waivers in the offseason and went to Minnesota… there to be forgotten by an entirely different fanbase.

by kcemigre on Sep 28, 2011 3:17 PM EDT reply actions

I remember reading some Twins fans posting in the offseason that they really found a RP diamond in the ruff by picking up Hughes and capitalizing on Moore’s mistake by letting him go. I’m not one pass up the opportunity to criticize Moore on what I think is a mistake, but even I didn’t have a problem with cutting Hughes loose. Hughes ended up pitching horribly for the Twins and getting sent down to the minors.

You may know me as NYRoyal.

by Scott McKinney on Sep 28, 2011 3:26 PM EDT up reply actions