Well, anything to maintain the 50-games below .500 mark. On a bittersweet afternoon in Ontario, the Royals wrapped up a miserable season before 37,000 fans.
Finally bowing to media and fan pressure to play some younger players, Buddisimo Bell gave Joe McEwing a start at third base, allowing the scrubbily scrub to play in his 83rd f--ing game. Thank God we found a way to get his .540 OPS into the lineup so often.
At second base, Donnie Murphy capped a season of ineptitude, going 0-3 in his 32nd game. Still just 22, Murphy now has a career .167/.234/.276 line in 102 at bats. The problem is that Gotay wasn't much better.
Finally, Andres Blanco got the start in place of... in place of...well, you know Angel Berroa. Good thing this move was made now. Berroa, posting a .680 OPS, was granted 652 plate appearances this season, the 51st most in all of major league baseball. You do realize most of the 50 players ahead of him are, like, All-Stars or something.
Ohh well, we've had this rant before.
Finally, Runelvys Hernandez. One final listless performance by Run, who's both semi-injured and out of shape. The good news is that Run made 29 starts this season, posting a complete season (more or less) in his career.
OK. Vague innings eating ability: check. Everything else: wait and see.
More to come from Royals Review as the playoffs and hot-stove league begin, for now, the daily dose of failure is over.