The Royals and the Month of May...

[SubGod22]

Royals can't overcome Adcock's rough outing

The Cleveland Indians spoiled Monday's game for the Royals, 8-5, with a Memorial Day crowd of 25,377 at 90-degree Progressive Field. A loss would've knocked the Indians out of first place in the American League Central after 34 days on top.

Over the weekend at Baltimore, two wins by the Royals dropped the Orioles into a first-place tie in the AL East after they'd been in first alone for 10 days.

"That was the goal, but it didn't happen today," said the Royals' Eric Hosmer, who banged a two-run homer. "But we've been doing a good job of bouncing back and winning some series, so we've got to keep at it."

Adcock demoted to Triple-A after loss

CLEVELAND -- Pitcher Nate Adcock absorbed his third loss on Monday for Kansas City and then was on his way back to Triple-A Omaha.

After Monday's 8-5 loss to the Indians, Adcock was optioned to the Storm Chasers for the third time this month. Right-hander Vin Mazzaro was recalled for the second time to take his Royals roster spot.

"Back to Omaha, it's a carousel," Adcock said. "They need an arm and the bullpen is important, they've got to save the bullpen. You can't wear these guys out and I didn't do my job, so that's why we're going."

[SubGod22]

Luke Hochevar is not Kyle Davies

As the heat begins to descend upon the Paris of the Plains, so does baseball begin to trickle from the lips. Conversations around grills and between sips of Boulevard beer drift towards the Boys in Blue.

“How about that Moustakas?”

“Hosmer will come around. I’m not worried”

“We really need some starting pitching”

“Luke Hochevar is just terrible”

Some variation of that last comment is typically thrown around while heads nod in agreement. Depending on my willingness to disagree with the person, which is directly proportional to the amount of alcohol imbibed, I’ll retort. Because while on occasion, Luke Hochevar has an epically disastrous outing, he is not in fact That Bad.

Just last week, I crowned Felipe Paulino the Ace of the staff. However, if you look at his numbers they aren’t a far cry from those of Luke Hochevar. Paulino strikes out 9.9 batters every 9 innings while Hochevar whiffs 7.4. Paulino clearly has his number here, but he also is superior to every other American League starter not named Max Scherzer.* Hochevar’s rate is just below Jared Weaver’s and just above Josh Beckett’s. It’s a very respectable strikeout rate.

[SubGod22]

Strep throat delays Duffy's elbow surgery

CLEVELAND -- Left-hander Danny Duffy's elbow surgery scheduled for Thursday has been postponed because the pitcher has developed a case of strep throat.

Dr. Lewis Yocum, who was to perform the Tommy John procedure in Los Angeles, wants the ailment to clear up before Duffy undergoes the surgery.

Earlier this year, Royals pitchers Joakim Soria and Blake Wood had Tommy John surgery performed by Yocum.

Yost ready to use Broxton more frequently

CLEVELAND -- Jonathan Broxton, thrust into the closer's role when Joakim Soria underwent elbow surgery, was coming back from more minor elbow surgery of his own and the Royals were taking it slow with him.

But now manager Ned Yost believes that Broxton is ready to pitch in three consecutive games, if necessary. He was being restricted to back-to-back games.

"Our plan was to take him into June and let him go. We're not quite into June, but we're close enough that we were going to let him go [Monday] night," Yost said

Royals' five-run second helps Smith win first

CLEVELAND -- Will Smith knew what was coming as he entered the clubhouse. Showers of beer from his Kansas City teammates to celebrate his first Major League pitching victory.

What caught him a little by surprise was the feeling he had while reflecting on the Royals' -- and his -- 8-2 victory over the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night at Progressive Field.

"As a little kid, you always dream of just being in the big leagues, and now that you're here, it's an amazing feeling," Smith said. "And you can't describe what you feel, especially to win your first game. It's amazing, it's a dream come true."

Smith is just 22, and his 23-year-old teammate, Mike Moustakas, also accomplished a career first with four RBIs -- all of them coming in the first two innings. He whacked a two-run homer and a two-run single, the latter of which came after he missed a second homer by inches.

Offensive Outfield

Last Friday, I went around the infield and looked at how the Royals offensive production at each position compared to league average. Today, it’s time for the outfield (and DH) to get the similar treatment

[SubGod22]

Royals' rubber-game win caps winning May

CLEVELAND -- How's this for a triple play? The Royals had a winning series, a winning road trip and a winning month.

A 6-3 victory over the Cleveland Indians on a sunny Wednesday at Progressive Field ensured that pleasant mix at the end of Kansas City's nine-game eastern journey. The Royals took two of three in this series, went 5-4 on the trip and finished May at 15-13.

And a rare May it was for the Royals, who are off on Thursday. They had not won 15 games in the merry month since 1996, when they were 15-12. And this was the team's first winning May since going 14-12 in 2000.

[SubGod22]

Royals Expectations

This post is both to take a look back and a look forward. You may recall my post on Tuesday looking at the contenders and the pretenders of the first roughly third of the season. You may also recall that the Royals were nowhere to be found on that list. The Royals, of course, sit at 21-28 and seven games behind the first place White Sox (that’s one of the real shockers of the early part of 2012). Looking at this Royals team and taking into account injuries, regression and other factors, I think they’re probably right in the range of where they belong. Their current record projects out to a 69-93 season, which I think is possible. Interestingly enough, though, if you take their 18-14 stretch since the 12-game losing streak and keep them on that pace the rest of the year, it puts their record at 84-78. They’re probably somewhere in the middle.

Before the season, I predicted the Royals would win 79 games. As a member of the very first Royals Roundtable on The Danny Parkins Show on 610 Sports, I (along with the other roundtable members) was asked if I would sign up right then and there for an 81-81 season. All three of us said yes. Danny Parkins thought we were crazy. My thinking at the time was that the Royals were going to struggle to get outs early in games. The early prognostications about the starting rotation struggling have been largely right in the first 49 games of the season. They’ve averaged a touch over five innings per start with a 5.18 ERA. There have been glimpses from pretty much everybody in the rotation right now, but for the most part, this unit is probably the weakest point on the roster.

Some very valid points and ones I can't argue with. Could we really see Wil Myers in July? If he keeps playing like he has he may beat Cain to CF. Is it possible that both Odorizzi and Monty could be in the rotation before the year is out? I kind of hope so. At least that would get them some valid experience going into next season. Paulino, Hochevar, Odorizzi and Monty could be part of a nice rotation. Could Lamb be in the mix next season? I believe he's close to getting back in the mix. Maybe a month or so away.

[RoyalShock]

I still just can't get on the Montgomery train. I'm recalling traumatic memories of Kyle Davies. From the sounds of it, Odirizzi is going to leapfrog Monty, if he hasn't already.


Myers is really hitting the ball well. But he's still striking out a ton and not walking much. I wouldn't be surprised to see him struggle in KC for awhile if they call him up this year. Doesn't mean he won't be a star here, but I foresee a Gordon-like progression, albeit a little faster than Alex.

[SubGod22]

I still just can't get on the Montgomery train. I'm recalling traumatic memories of Kyle Davies. From the sounds of it, Odirizzi is going to leapfrog Monty, if he hasn't already.


Myers is really hitting the ball well. But he's still striking out a ton and not walking much. I wouldn't be surprised to see him struggle in KC for awhile if they call him up this year. Doesn't mean he won't be a star here, but I foresee a Gordon-like progression, albeit a little faster than Alex.

At this point I think they're hoping the light will just come on for Monty. My brother heard an interview with someone and that's basically what they said. Sometimes a guy will struggle but when he gets a shot at the bigs it may increase his focus or something and they'll just get it. At some point, they're going to move him up and hope for the best.

If Odorizzi gets through the All-Star break pitching as well as he has, I won't be surprised to see him up before July is out.

Myers may struggle some, but they were expecting him to struggle more moving up to AAA. Another month or so of consistent hitting out of him and he may be on about the same time frame as Odorizzi. He may pull a Moose and struggle out of the gate, but he's doing a pretty good job of adapting in Omaha. I'd rather he come up and struggle some this season and be ready to go next season than waiting for next year.

Gio needs to keep playing as well. Falu will probably be sent back to Omaha today/tomorrow as I'm guessing Yuni will get recalled from his injury duty. I just hope that doesn't mean that Gio will be put back on the bench. They need to give him a go so they know what they have in him. At least until Colon is ready in a year or two. Assuming Colon continues to hit. Yuni and Getz are not the answers.

[SubGod22]

Imperfectly Effective

With a 6-3 win over Cleveland yesterday, the Kansas City Royals completed a quite successful 5-4 road trip. That is five out of nine against the then leaders of both the AL East and Central divisions, plus the New York Yankees. That’s five out of nine after starting out the trip by losing three of the first four games and going through a five game stretch where the Royals scored only 15 total runs.

Frankly, if prior to the start of the trip, I told you the following would happen, what would you have pegged the nine game record to be?

• The Royals would commit 12 errors
• Starting pitchers would go five innings or less in five of the games.
• Opposing baserunners would steal 14 bases in 15 attempts

I don’t know, 2-7 probably?

Instead the Royals, whose 16-11 road record trails only that of the division leading Orioles, White Sox and Rangers, came home a happy 5-4. Oh yeah, five wins on this road trip is equal to the number of home wins the Royals have compiled ALL year. This team is anything but boring.

[RoyalShock]

I agree about wanting Myers ready for next year. I just don't think his jump to the majors will go as well as his move from AA to AAA. And then there's the outfield log jam once Cain is back in the mix. Though he (and for that matter, Gordon if his numbers continue to stay down) could end up being a bust, which solves that problem. If Myers really can handle CF, package Cain with Quintero/Pena and try to get something of value in a trade. Throw Jeffress in for good measure. Or just make Cain the 4th OF and release Maier.


I also agree about Giavotella. The guy needs to be given his shot at regular playing time. Let's find out if his minor-league numbers can translate and if he can become at least serviceable at 2B. They've got enough options (Betancort, Falu, Getz, and eventually, Colon) if he can't handle it.

[SubGod22]

By no means do I expect Myers to show up and start raking in KC, but if he continues tearing up the minors, then he needs a shot in CF for a year or so. Cain is an issue, but he has a long history of injury problems. I wasn't aware of them until his recent injuries. Sounds like they feel Myers can play all three OF positions as well as 3rd. He's a tremendous athlete. As long as Frenchy is around, Myers could capably patrol CF and when Frenchy moves on, he can move over.

Dyson is a nice option as a 4th if he can continue to get on base. We really don't know what we have in Cain right now. D. Robinson has begun to hit this year in Omaha, but he's essentially another Dyson. After those guys, you have to go down to the lower level teams to find potential MLB CF talents.

Gordon seems to be coming around and I still think he'll be fine. The lineup I'd like to see next year would be

LF - A1
3B - Moose
DH - Country Breakfast
1B - Hos
RF - Frenchy
CF - Myers
C - Perez
2B - Gio
SS - Shortstop Jesus

That has the potential to be a pretty potent lineup. I thought about putting Gio in the two spot but felt weird having one of the other guys batting 7th.

SP - Paulino
SP - Odorizzi
SP - Hochevar
SP - Lamb/Smith/Monty/Chen/Sanchez

The top three I think will be solid. For some reason, I still think Hoch can be an effective pitcher. I don't think he's a number one or two at this point but I think he could be a three or four. Paulino isn't a true Ace, but I do think he can be an effective leader of a young rotation. Odorizzi appears to be a solid two or three prospect and knows how to pitch. If Lamb comes back and pitches well in the 2nd half of this season, he could be a nice, and much needed, addition to the rotation in '13. Smith I think could be a solid end of the rotation piece with some more experience. I believe he'll give a team a chance to win on most nights. Chen is consistent and they may need him for yet another season. Monty is the wildcard as we've discussed. I'm not sold on Sanchez. I suppose Mendoza and Mazzaro as well as SOS could get shots. Aaron Crow?

[RoyalShock]

I put the odds that Yost would vary from his L-R-L-R-L-R batting order philosophy, except when facing a pitcher with extreme splits, at 50:1. Swap Moose and Myers and I think you've probably got what Yost would put together most days. And I think I would rather have Myers higher than Moose in the order due to speed.


At any rate, there are lots of good options, and no matter how it's put together, that lineup should produce.