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**SubGod22** · September 1, 2011, 11:59 AM

Stats as of 9-1.

Y. Navarro (2) - .429, 2 R, 1 2B, 3 RBI
A1 - .305, 89 R, 41 2B, 4 3B, 19 HR, 72 RBI, 14 SB
Melkman - .302, 81 R, 37 2B, 4 3B, 17 HR, 78 RBI, 17 SB
#countrybreakfast - .297, 62 R, 34 2B, 16 HR, 77 RBI
Sal (18) - .279, 6 R, 5 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 8 RBI
Hoz - .278, 45 R, 20 2B, 3 3B, 14 HR, 59 RBI
Frenchy - .277, 64 R, 41 2B, 3 3B, 15 HR, 69 RBI, 19 SB
Pena (66) - .257, 15 R, 11 2B, 3 HR, 24 RBI
Maier (38) - .256, 15 R, 4 2B, 3 3B, 7 RBI
Getz - .256, 48 R, 6 2B, 2 3B, 25 RBI, 20 SB
Shortstop Jesus - .243, 59 R, 18 2B, 6 3B, 3 HR, 38 RBI, 19 SB
Gio (25) - .237, 12 R, 4 2B, 2 3B, 1 HR, 9 RBI, 4 SB
Moose (67) - .232, 16 R, 12 2B, 1 HR, 18 RBI
Pina (4) - .214, 2 R, 2 2B

Hoch - 9-10, 4.97, 28/28, 177.1, 56/108
Francis - 5-14, 4.64, 28/28, 168.2, 34/86
Chen - 10-5, 3.94, 19/19, 114.1, 40/74
Paulino - 2-6, 3.83, 16/15, 96.1, 35/84
Duffy - 3-8, 5.55, 18/18, 94.0, 45/79
Tiny Tim - 4-4, 3.38, 60/0, 58.2, 43/50
Wood - 5-2, 3.84, 48/0, 1 SV, 58.2, 26/52
Crow - 3-4, 2.51, 51/0, 57.1, 29/59
Soria - 5-5, 4.39, 55/0, 24 SV, 55.1, 16/52
Adcock - 1-1, 4.45, 22/3, 54.2, 24/30
SOS - 2-5, 6.92, 11/9, 53.1, 26/18
Coleman - 1-4, 2.72, 43/0, 1 SV, 53.0, 25/54
Holland - 3-1, 1.94, 37/0, 2 SV, 51.0, 15/60

**SubGod22** · September 1, 2011, 04:10 PM

Perez sustains sprained finger after collision

Francoeur goes yard for his 1,000th hit

**RoyalShock** · September 1, 2011, 04:33 PM

Moose tied a Royals rookie record by extending his hitting streak to 15 games. And Ho[s]mer hits another one, going 3-3 with 2 walks.

**SubGod22** · September 1, 2011, 05:18 PM

The Royals and the No-No!

After Tuesday night’s game against the Tigers where Doug Fister was perfect through six innings, I got to thinking about the Royals and no-hitters and the times they’ve been no-hit historically. What I found was pretty interesting. For some reason, I have the impression that it’s happened about once a decade, but I was way off on that. Of course, perhaps the most famous no-hitter thrown against the Royals was by Nolan Ryan. The Royals, as a franchise, had the opportunity to be the special team who got to be Nolan’s first victim. It’s funny. When Jon Lester no-hit the Royals in 2008, it was somewhat embarrassing as a fan. I’m not sure why, but I felt like my team was made to look like little leaguers (which they were) and were being made fun of. Then I got to thinking about it, and I’m not sure how big of a deal it is to be no-hit as a team.

I mean, sure, there’s the issue of the loss and the issue that not a single player did very much productive throughout the game, but thinking back on history, it’s difficult to recall who the no-hitter was actually thrown against. Even looking back on Jon Lester’s no-hitter, I don’t remember any anaylst talking about the Royals and their inept offense at all. I remember the talk being about Lester overcoming cancer and becoming a fantastic pitcher and all that fluff that you hear on ESPN whenever something like that happens. I don’t want that to be taken that I think overcoming cancer is fluff. What I mean is that they focus on the backstory that might elicit some tears more than they focus on the game in some situations like that. And back to Nolan Ryan, I think it’s pretty cool that the Royals were his first victim out of seven. It shows that the franchise has a flair for the somewhat dramatic…I guess

**SubGod22** · September 2, 2011, 10:15 AM

Gordon helping Little League team fight cancer

DETROIT -- They are 11-year-old boys, so playing baseball in bright pink jerseys might take some courage. But these boys had a good reason -- one that caught the eye of Royals rising star Alex Gordon, who admired their grit and their cause.

Two boys on the team lost their mothers to cancer, and their teammates rallied around their friends -- and their families -- to support their cause by "Playing for Pink" in support of the fight against cancer. The effort moved the Kansas City left fielder to lend his help to the cause.

"They're wearing pink jerseys to pay respect to them and, instead of their names on the back of their jerseys, they have inspirational words like hope, conquer and inspire, things like that," Gordon said.

**SubGod22** · September 2, 2011, 10:45 AM

Is Hosmer ROY Worthy?

With another home run, Eric Hosmer continues his power surge and what looks like a late season run at collecting some hardware… Namely, the Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year Award.

In his last 10 games, Hosmer is hitting .350./430/.730 with five home runs and seven RBI. (Is it strange that he last hit a double on August 16? He hit just three doubles over the entire month.)

Anyway, as The Hos heats up, so inevitably does the talk of him being named the top rookie in the American League. But before we can bestow the accolades, we need to see how he measures among his peers.

To narrow down the candidates for the award, I created a table of the top position players with at least 200 plate appearances. I bolded the numbers that are leading the rookie pool in their respective categories.

**SubGod22** · September 2, 2011, 11:47 AM

Mea Culpa

Two years ago, this blog went on hiatus for a time. The Royals were terrible, their beloved Process was opaque, they had become increasingly defensive of anyone who criticized it or them, and rooting for the organization had ceased to be enjoyable. So I took my ball and went home, at least for a while.

Today, as many of you have noticed, I am once again blogging quite infrequently. Some of that has nothing to do with the Royals – I have family, a career, we just completed the month of Ramadan, and along with my weekly podcast I also now write for Grantland. But my lack of production these last few weeks can also be blamed on the team.

Only this time, the reasons are completely different. The Royals’ record may be terrible, but their record is not reflective of the way they are playing*. The Process is no longer opaque – it’s actually pretty clear: patiently build a fantastic farm system, and then wind it up and let it go. I can’t speak to whether the organization is defensive of its critics or not, because it’s increasingly difficult to find critics – certainly there are critics of specific players and specific decisions, but you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who is genuinely critical of the team’s overall direction.

*: The Royals are 57-81, but they’ve been outscored by just 58 runs all season. Only the Astros have lost more games, but seven teams have been outscored by more runs.

And rooting for the Royals is as fun as it’s been since at least 2003. The 2003 season was a different kind of fun – it was the fun that comes from knowing that the law of averages were going to catch up to you, but rooting for them to hold off until the end of the season. This year’s fun comes from watching young players get acclimated to the majors, knowing that whether the Royals win or lose, the important thing is that the best is yet to come.

And precisely because it’s fun to watch the Royals play, day after day…I find I don’t have much to say.

Eleven players have made their major-league debuts for the Royals this season, roughly one every other week. Here, let’s line them up chronologically:

March 31: Aaron Crow
March 31: Nate Adcock
March 31: Tim Collins
April 21: Louis Coleman
May 6: Eric Hosmer
May 17: Everett Teaford
May 18: Danny Duffy
June 10: Mike Moustakas
August 3: Manny Pina
August 5: Johnny Giavotella
August 10: Salvador Perez

It’s not just the quantity of prospects – no other team has had as many players debut this season – but the quality. Pina is a backup catcher, and Teaford is a lefty specialist (although even Teaford has some upside). Adcock is a swingman. Collins, Coleman, and Crow are quality relievers, and Crow at least has some starter possibilities.

But that leaves the Royals with five potential impact players – a starting pitcher in Danny Duffy and four everyday hitters, including a second baseman, a third baseman, and a catcher.

Rany actually gets into some interesting things later in the article. The Farm has produced talent and appears ready to continue that in the next few years. We are sitting in pretty good shape. The starting rotation has to be figured out but there are pieces there. Certainly, we can find at least 4 quality guys to have in the rotation between Duffy, Hochevar, Paulino, Crow, Monty, Holland, Teaford, Mazzaro, SOS and Smith... Not sure Smith really fits but he could be a back of the rotation guy in the near future if he doesn't end up in middle relief. I think Duffy, Hochevar and Paulino are pretty much set. And I wouldn't be opposed to them trying to get Chen back for one year. Teaford will most likely stay in the pen.

**SubGod22** · September 3, 2011, 09:15 AM

Hosmer dialed in at plate

KANSAS CITY -- Apparently, all Eric Hosmer needed to get his power stroke going was some time away from Kauffman Stadium.

The Royals' rookie first baseman hit five home runs during the club's recent 10-game road trip, including a two-homer game on Aug. 31 against the Tigers.

"You play so many games throughout the year -- and it's every day -- so you just hope to go on streaks like that," Hosmer said. "When you're feeling good, you want to get 'em all in. It's just a matter of feeling good a couple days and taking that confidence into the next day."

**SubGod22** · September 6, 2011, 10:49 AM

Duffy's Final Start of 2011

Gordon sparks late-inning rally in win

OAKLAND -- Alex Gordon wasn't having the best of days that included two strikeouts and a pop-up and with Oakland A's closer Andrew Bailey on the mound, he decided something drastic and immediate was in order.

"With Bailey, to be honest with you, I was just trying to swing at the first pitch because I was having a rough day, swinging through a lot of pitches," Gordon said.

Gordon ripped Bailey's first pitch into the right-field corner for a run-scoring double that snapped a tie and ignited a five-run ninth inning for the Royals as they flattened the A's, 11-6, on Monday afternoon.

"He actually threw me a good pitch down-and-in and I somehow just barreled it, put it in play and something happened," Gordon said.

**SubGod22** · September 6, 2011, 11:33 AM

Doublt Trouble.

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I like to throw out cool stats that I come across from time to time. But occasionally I come across a really cool stat, one that I think deserves its own column. This is one of those occasions.

Over the weekend I was looking at the Royals’ stats, and something stuck out at me. Jeff Francoeur, who continues to defy his detractors, has 44 doubles – tying Jermaine Dye’s franchise record for doubles hit by an outfielder.

Behind Francoeur and Dye on the all-time list of doubles hit by a Royals outfielder is Carlos Beltran, with 41 – a place he now shares with Alex Gordon. And not far behind them is Melky Cabrera, who has 39 doubles this season, ranking him among the Royals’ top ten outfielders for doubles in a season.

And it’s still Labor Day.

All three members of the Royals’ outfield have hit 39 or more doubles. In the history of baseball, only two teams have ever had all three of their outfielders hit 39 doubles.

The 1998 Angels did it with Darin Erstad (39), Jim Edmonds (42), and Garret Anderson (41).

The 1932 Philadelphia Phillies did it with Kiddo Davis (39), Chuck Klein (50), and Hal Lee (42).

You might notice that both of those teams had one outfielder who stopped at 39 doubles. So let me put this bluntly: with Melky Cabrera’s next double, the Kansas City Royals will be the first team in major-league history to have all three outfielders hit 40 doubles. We’ve already seen an outfield of .400 hitters – the 1894 Philadelphia Phillies – but never an outfield of 40-double hitters. We’re one two-bagger away.

Rany always finds some interesting numbers. And the fact that we're six doubles from doing something no other team has is interesting.

For Better or Worse

As often mentioned recently, the Royals current roster will, for once, also make up the bulk of next season’s 2012 team as well. I tweeted last month wondering when the last time was that the Royals batting lineup in August was the same as what it would be on Opening Day of the following season. Not sure anyone came up with an answer (1998 maybe?).

Given the current situation, one I consider to be a positive situation for the most part, we can look forward to next season and actually start assessing what this team might be now as opposed to, well, six hours before the first pitch of the season. Who will be better? Or worse? Let’s take a look.

We'll see. But I'm feeling pretty optimistic about the 2012 Royals. The pitching staff (starters) will be the deciding factor on how good. A .500 season is attainable and with a few additions to the rotation it's possible they could make a run at the Central. 2013 probably looks better for that though.

**SubGod22** · September 7, 2011, 11:11 AM

Hosmer recording Royals rookie notables

OAKLAND -- A couple of more nuggets uncovered in the Land of Hoz by the Elias Sports Bureau, figure filberts to the Wizard:

Eric Hosmer, the Royals' rookie first baseman, received an intentional walk in the first inning of Sunday's game against Cleveland. That marked the first time a Royals rookie had been intentionally passed in the first inning of game since Sept. 2, 1969, the first season of the franchise.

Escobar offers helping hand to Giavotella

OAKLAND -- If you've seen the video, yes, that throw did hurt shortstop Alcides Escobar's right hand.

Escobar said it was pure instinct that caused him to make a barehanded grab of second baseman Johnny Giavotella's snap throw on the pivot of Monday's spectacular double play against Oakland. Escobar was expecting the throw on his glove side but Giavotella, after his diving stop, wasn't exactly in position to make a pinpoint throw and it went to the opposite side.

"I don't know how I caught that ball, honestly," Escobar said. "He threw it real hard and I was, 'Oh my gosh, I can't believe this.' It was thrown real hard."

Adcock, Teaford in lead for start at Seattle

OAKLAND -- Left-hander Danny Duffy's start on Tuesday night was slated to be his last one this season for the Royals. So who'll be in his rotation spot on Sunday at Seattle?

"I've got two in-house options here, [Nate] Adcock and [Everett] Teaford," manager Ned Yost said. "I could use either one of those, depending on if I've used either one of those in the days prior. And depending on the Triple-A playoffs that begin Wednesday."

It'd be unlikely that Triple-A Omaha would yield up a starter because the Storm Chasers' series is a best-of-five that could last until Sunday. Vin Mazzaro, a likely late-season addition to the Kansas City rotation, will start on Thursday for Omaha.

Adcock has looked ok as a starter and has done so recently. Teaford spent most of his minor league career as a starter, but has seen such little action I'm not sure if that would be a good idea. However, I'd love to see Teaford get a shot.
Collins aiming to follow Holland's example

OAKLAND -- Right-hander Greg Holland came into Spring Training this year with new-found control. The Royals want to see the same metamorphosis from left-hander Tim Collins next year at spring camp.

"Collins will be better. I'm hoping he's like Holland," manager Ned Yost said. "Holland couldn't throw strikes, then went home last year, and over the course of the winter. ... That's when you make your improvements, when you review and think and just come back better."

Holland, to go along with a 4-1 record and 1.83 ERA prior to Tuesday night's game, has 62 strikeouts and just 17 walks in 54 innings. He's established himself as one of the Royals' most dependable relievers by making a slight mechanical adjustment.

Duffy benefits as Royals roll the A's

OAKLAND -- Rookie left-hander Danny Duffy went out with, if not in a blaze of glory, at least the warm glow of victory.

Duffy, one of the big hopes for the Royals' pitching rotation of the future, made his last start of the season a 7-4 success over the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday night at the thinly populated Coliseum.

"It's a good one for him to finish his year on," manager Ned Yost said.

Duffy, supported by a robust 12-hit attack, pitched into the seventh inning to wrap up his first season with a 4-8 record and a 5.64 ERA in 20 starts. That's assuming he isn't pressed into duty in the last 19 games.

The Royals' attack on A's left-hander Gio Gonzalez began with back-to-back home runs by Eric Hosmer and Jeff Francoeur in the second inning.

"Our team battled their butts off today and beat a really good pitcher. It was a huge team win," Duffy said.

**SubGod22** · September 7, 2011, 12:19 PM

Decidedly Duffy

Tuesday night was our last chance to see Danny Duffy throw this year. With the rookie approaching 150 innings on the season between Omaha and Kansas City – Duffy’s career high and most since he threw 126 in High-A ball in 2009 – the Royals rightly decided to shut him down for the rest of September. As a final start, it was a good one, I suppose. Although it was decidedly Duffy…

6.1 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO

Modest strikeout numbers, but one suspects it could (and should) have been higher… Too many walks… Managable hit total… And he pitched into the seventh inning for just the fourth time in 20 starts.

His Game Score was 54, which was tied for his fourth highest score of the year. Overall, not a bad performance for the swan song of ’11.

Since this was to be Duffy’s final start in 2011, I guess Ned Yost figured he’d throw away the pitch count clicker (or whatever they use to track pitches in the dugout.) Entering Tuesday’s game, Duffy had surpassed 100 pitches in a start just seven times with his high-water mark coming in a start against Detroit in early August when he tossed 105 pitches. Frankly, the Royals and Yost did a good job of managing the young pitcher. For some reason, Duffy was back in the game in the seventh even though he had matches his career high for pitches through six full frames.
 It was Hillman-esque.

Sorry, I just don’t see the reasoning behind letting a young starter begin an inning after he’d thrown 105 pitches. Especially somone like Duffy, who has shown an extreme tendency to nibble at times and has had extreme difficulty managing his pitch count. Unless you’re willing to let him throw 130 pitches, why bother in that situation? And more importantly, why do you handle him in a particular manner for 19 starts, but suddenly decide to change the plans for start 20?

If we know anything about Duffy’s 2011 season, one of his goals for next year should be to pace himself during each start. His velocity map from last night’s start is a prime example where he hit his peak velocity in the second inning. From that point on, he had difficulty consistently matching his speeds from his first two frames.

Internal pitching options: Choosing the right door

In the somewhat recent past, Dayton Moore mentioned that he might be ready to be trading some of his prospects for frontline starting pitching. I even wrote about it and who it was he could target with his prospects. I also made a point to warn those of you who are excited about which ace the Royals get because making a trade is way easier said than done, so there’s every chance in the world that it simply doesn’t happen and the Royals are forced to either sign someone like a Jeff Francis or they’re going to have to use what they have in their system. I think we can all agree that the idea of using candidates who are already part of the organization doesn’t seem like the most enticing idea, but you can only play the players you have under contract and it might be difficult to get some help in here so quickly. Today I want to take a look at the players who are already in the organization as possibilities for next year’s rotation

Hosmer’s Odyssey

In Royals history, four men have been awarded the Jackie Robinson Award (rookie of the year). Of those four, two went on to have very good careers while the other two, well, didn’t. Because of this alarmingly low success rate, Royals fans are a little skeptical when one of their players is a candidate for this award because they are afraid of what might happen the following years to what was a promising career. Of course, I think we’ve learned over the last few months that Eric Hosmer isn’t your typical player who is a candidate to be named the American League’s top rookie.

He’s a guy who was so bad in his first full season that he fell off prospect rankings, which is pretty difficult to do for someone who was the third overall pick. He’s a guy who came back the next year and hit so well in A ball that the Royals had to promote him to AA. The problem was that he wasn’t quite hitting for enough power. So what did he do? He went out and hit 13 homers in 50 games. In spring training this year, I read multiple reports that Eric Hosmer the best player on the field at any given time and was probably ready for the big leagues at the start of the season. He was a big part of my favorite quote from spring training that annointed the 2013 Royals as the best team in the 2011 Cactus League. And then, of course, he hit .439 in 26 AAA games. He only had eight extra base hits, though, which concerned fans at least a little bit. He was called to the big leagues and at the end of May he was slugging over .500.

He’s shown that he can be a bit of a streaky hitter, but when he is locked in, I’m not sure there’s anybody I’d rather have at the plate than Hosmer. He had a bit of a rough June where he looked a lot like Mark Teahen. Nobody wanted to say anything because to doubt the great one seemed like something nobody should do, but he looked pretty awful at the plate. In June, he hit just .253/.312/.293 with no home runs. I don’t think anyone was concerned that he wouldn’t come out of it, but that was a time when a demotion should have been discussed, I think. They could have gotten some service time back and given him an opportunity to hit again. Of course, I would have been wrong if I had been the one making decisions because he has bounced back in a big way since then. Since July 1, Hosmer has hit .305/.355/.513 with 11 homers and 40 RBI. And since being moved into the cleanup spot in the batting order, he has hit .316/.359/.523. If those numbers don’t seem too different, it’s because he got hot about when he was moved there.

**SubGod22** · September 8, 2011, 10:01 AM

Yost looking ahead on KC catcher competition

OAKLAND -- Catcher Brayan Pena has been in a backup role since the arrival of rookie Salvador Perez on Aug. 10, and that's probably his role for next year as well.

Manager Ned Yost projects Perez as catching 130 or more games a season, primarily because of his outstanding defensive skills. Pena, though, made an impression this season when he shared time with since-traded Matt Treanor.

"Most No. 2 catchers are catch-and-throw guys," Yost said. "And Brayan can hit -- a switch-hitter that can hit -- and I think he still has a pretty good upside as a catcher. He's a lot better than he was at this time last year, and I think he's going to be a lot better at this time next year - as a catcher, as a game-caller, as a pitch-blocker, as a receiver."

Eye on building strong finish, Hochevar faces Seattle

Luke Hochevar, with a career 5.32 ERA and 1.40 WHIP, hasn't exactly lived up to the expectations placed on a former No. 1 overall pick.

Hochevar, who went first overall in the 2006 First-Year Player Draft, has struggled to consistently fulfill the promise that led many to believe he was a sure-fire top-of-the-rotation starter. But there have been flashes of potential, and the Royals have been particularly happy with what they've seen out of Hochevar since the All-Star break.

The right-hander has gone 5-2 with a 3.51 ERA since the break and was superb on Saturday against Cleveland, working eight excellent innings in a 5-1 win. Hochevar gave up just three hits and one unearned run, which was the result of his own errant pickoff throw in the first inning, while striking out eight and walking one.

Francoeur turns unusual assist against A's

OAKLAND -- Royals right fielder Jeff Francoeur was well-armed and on target on Wednesday afternoon, pulling off a rarity.

Francoeur startled Michael Taylor by throwing him out at first base -- yes, first base -- after the A's rookie seemed to have lined a single into right field in the second inning.

But Francoeur fielded the ball on the first bounce and whipped a throw to first baseman Eric Hosmer. Instead of getting his second Major League hit, Taylor was the third out of the inning. Welcome to the big leagues, kid.

Video in the article. Frenchy does have a hell of an arm.

**SubGod22** · September 9, 2011, 11:08 AM

It Doesn’t Matter, But It Does…Sort Of

Although the Royals official website lists Bruce Chen as the probable starting pitcher on Sunday, I do not believe that is correct. At this point in this season, there is no reason to bring back Chen on short rest. Not to mention, for all that he has done for Kansas City the past two years, this is still Bruce Chen we are talking about: a solid contributor to the rotation, but not a pitcher you want on the hill so bad that you bring him back on three days rest.

The last we heard from Ned Yost, lefty Everett Teaford is the tentative starter for the Sunday game, ‘unless the Royals need him to win a game between now and then.’ First off, Ned, your quest to get win number 63 is decidedly secondary to preparing for next year: just forget Everett is out in the pen (you’ve done that before) and let him start on Sunday.

Assuming Teaford does actually get to start on Sunday, that would put him in line to get two additional starts before the season’s end. Both of those would be on Saturdays and both would be against the White Sox. Now, after the current four game set with Seattle, the Royals are going to be playing the Twins, White Sox and Tigers. Detroit comes in for just a two game set, so 12 of the last 14 are against Minnesota and Chicago.

With the Sox currently nine back of Detroit, nobody the Royals play is likely to be very interested and their lineups might be sprinkled with a fair number of September call-ups. Still, if starts two and three are against the same team, usually a daunting task for any starter, it might tell us more than a little about Everett Teaford’s future as a starter. At least, it might give us an idea, which is more than we have now.

Gun Show

I’ve said this several times in 2011: This is my favorite Royals team in recent memory. Bottom line, it’s just a fun bunch of position players to watch on a nightly basis. Part of the enjoyment comes from the gun show the Royals outfield produces on a consistent basis. Whether it’s Alex Gordon gunning down runners at the plate, Jeff Francoeur delivering perfect strikes to third or Melky Cabrera doing whatever it is he does, the trio of outfielders has been a defensive highlight reel. Amazing fun.

I suspect when we look back at 2011, one of the first things that will jump to mind is the plethora of outfield assists.

With that in mind, here are some cool stats on the Royals outfield:

– Twenty of the Royals outfield assists have come from Gordon in left field. That’s the most assists from that position in the majors. Houston is second with 14.

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KC Royals - September

KC Royals - September

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