The Royals and the Month of May...

[SubGod22]

First inning woes doom Hochevar, Royals Luke definitely hasn't started like he finished last season. At this point, I really hope that Monty has figured it out and will be up this summer.

Mendoza likely to switch to long-man role

DETROIT -- If Felipe Paulino is cleared to start the third game of the Yankees series, he'll take Luis Mendoza's spot in the Royals' rotation.

And if Paulino is activated on Saturday, the Royals will be dropping one of the 13 current pitchers. One influencing factor will be manager Ned Yost's preference to have two relievers who can go long distance in innings.

A big reason is that going into Tuesday night's game, the Royals' starting pitchers had combined for the fewest total innings of any rotation in the Major Leagues with 106. Cleveland had the next fewest with 116 1/3.

Hopefully that means we won't see much of him. Having Paulino back will be nice as he can eat some innings. If Duff continues to improve and Chen stays like Chen has been, that should help the pen. Hoch needs to figure it out and Sanchez is Sanchez. I never expected much out of him. I also hope Odorizzi continues to pitch well in NWA and gets a mid-season promotion to Omaha and can compete for a spot next year in KC.

Paulino on track to face Yanks on Saturday

]DETROIT -- If things continue to progress for right-hander Felipe Paulino, he'll make his first start of the season for the Royals against the Yankees on Saturday night at Kauffman Stadium.

Paulino will throw a side session at Comerica Park on Wednesday, and if that goes well, he'll face the Bronx Bombers, matched against Hiroki Kuroda, according to Royals manager Ned Yost.

Experiencing no effects of the right forearm strain that put him on the disabled list in Spring Training, Paulino pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings on Monday in a rehab start for Double-A Northwest Arkansas.

]Good news for KC.

Anatomy Of A Meltdown

It was over almost before it began. It took Luke Hochevar eight batters to record his first (and second) out of the game on Tuesday. It was the second time in five starts he’s allowed the opposition to put up a crooked number in the first frame. It’s almost becoming habit.

Here, for your reading pleasure, is a batter by batter breakdown of the carnage.

1 – Austin Jackson

Hochevar starts with a slider and falls behind 2-0 and 3-1 to the Tigers leadoff man. Once he fell behind to Jackson, Hochevar went exclusively to his fastball, except for a 3-2 cut fastball. That is pitch number six down the heart of the plate. I’m thinking Jackson fouled it off because he was looking fastball. That pitch was 88 mph, instead of Hochevar’s typical 92 mph heater.
The next pitch was thigh-high fastball that was grounded back up the middle for a single.

This is actually a pretty good analysis of the first inning.

[SubGod22]

What's The F-Ing Point?

I’m gonna write a brief recap of every Royals game that I can. Thanks to the great tweets of 810Am Soren Petro I have decided to title it What’s the F-ing point, it will remain titled that until they give us a point to title it something else.


At this point I’m able to recognize this is a poor team. Keith Law wrote it best “it hasn’t helped that manager Ned Yost can’t seem to fill out a lineup card without suffering a severe brain cramp.” And I wouldn’t give Yost all the blame this turd is what Dayton has given him to work with, he doesn’t get to pick a major league quality starter to pitch and he is hamstrung with three given holes in every lineup he can write on a night.

Get Well Soon, Salvador

Somewhere in the middle of the Royals most recent loss, last night’s drubbing by the Tigers, I got to thinking about why this team is so bad. I came up with a few reasons. They simply aren’t pitching well enough. They aren’t hitting well with runners in scoring position. They aren’t fielding well at times. They run the bases like little leaguers. They make poor decisions in the field and on the bases (yeah, this is kind of a combination of the last two). And all those things are the overriding reasons why the Royals are now 6-16 and staring down the barrel of at least 90 losses and potentially many more than that. Then I got to thinking of some things I heard when I was in Arizona for spring training.

[SubGod22]

Royals cage Tigers

Infield Singles Count, Too

Three feet more towards the middle, or hit a little harder or even not quite as hard, or if the ball had bounced a little more or not as much: any of those things and Chris Getz would not have been a hero on Wednesday afternoon. The game winning single was, after all, an infield hit into the hole at shortstop and let’s not kid ourselves, a left side of Miguel Cabrera and Jhonny Peralta is not exactly hitting into the teeth of an imposing pair of defenders.

Still, as we wake up Thursday morning, a hit is a hit and Chris Getz earned all the luck he got when he drove in Mike Moustakas with two outs in the top of the ninth. That was after Aaron Crow surrendered a two run homer, not to Cabrera or Prince Fielder or even Alex Avila, but instead to Brennan Boesch in the bottom of the eighth, allowing the Tigers to tie the game. It was after the Royals left a runner on third base twice earlier in the game. After they watched Alcides Escobar get thrown out attempting to steal and after they ended three other innings with a runner on second.

If you weren’t feeling impending doom entering the ninth inning yesterday, then you have not been a Royals’ fan very long.

[SubGod22]

Royals place Yuni on DL, promote Falu

KANSAS CITY -- Infielder Yuniesky Betancourt's troublesome right ankle sprain landed him on the Royals' 15-day disabled list on Thursday.

Infielder Irving Falu was called up from Triple-A Omaha to take Betancourt's spot on the roster. The move also established Chris Getz, who had been sharing second-base duties with Betancourt, as the everyday second baseman.

Betancourt injured his ankle while taking a swing during a Spring Training game about a month ago, but had continued to play.

I've wondered for a couple of years now what Falu could bring to the table. I was hoping he'd be the UT guy this season. He's been a pretty solid presence in the minors and I'm glad he's getting a shot.

Royals edge Yanks

KANSAS CITY -- Now that was a home-dinger.

Mike Moustakas knocked in three runs with a homer and a single, and the Royals ended their long winless start at home with a 4-3 victory over the New York Yankees on Thursday night at Kauffman Stadium. The Royals had been 0-10 at home this season.

"It's a load off," said a relieved Royals manager Ned Yost.

"We said the whole time during the 10-game home streak that we wanted to come home and play good baseball for our fans. We didn't do it. We darn sure did it tonight."

Moustakas not only swung a damaging bat, but he capped off a marvelous defensive show in the ninth inning with a superb game-ending play.

The play to end the game was HUGE. Tying run scores without it.

The Moose Show

It’s Mike Moustakas’ world. We’re just lucky to be living in it.

Moose put on a show on Thursday night, making a couple sparkling defensive plays (one to end the game), hitting a long home run to dead center and driving in two more on a bases loaded single.

It’s fun to watch a good ballplayer when he’s locked in and The Moose is all kinds of locked in right now. He’s leading the team in just about every meaningful offensive statistic and his defense is Platinum Glove quality.
– Danny Duffy pitched a solid game.

5.1 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO

He threw 90 pitches, 52 for strikes. Nine of those strikes were swings and misses. It wasn’t exactly easy though, as the Yankees put a runner on second in three of his five full innings. Duffy did a great job battling and got the key outs when needed. (Duffy’s second run scored after he left the game for Nate Adcock.)

[SubGod22]

Paulino Perplexes Yankees in Debut

The Royals right-hander was astounding in his return from the disabled list on Saturday, shutting down the powerful New York Yankees lineup and leading the Royals to a 5-1 victory at Kauffman Stadium.

Paulino threw six shutout innings, allowing just four hits and two walks while striking out six. He retired the first 11 batters he faced before walking Alex Rodriguez with two outs in the fourth inning, and the Yankees didn't pick up their first hit until Raul Ibanez singled in the fifth.

Paulino's only jam came in the fifth inning. Ibanez and Russell Martin hit back-to-back one-out singles, and Eduardo Nunez walked with two outs. Paulino escaped the bases-loaded threat by getting Derek Jeter to ground out to shortstop.

Coleman optioned to AAA to make room for Paulino

[SubGod22]

Hochevar takes step back in loss to Yanks

After years of patience, Falu debuts with triple

KANSAS CITY -- After waiting more than nine seasons and 900 games in the Minor Leagues, Irving Falu finally received the call to play Major League Baseball.

After being activated from Triple-A Omaha on Thursday, Falu played in his first Major League game on Sunday against the Yankees, a 10-4 Royals loss. The 28-year-old native of Puerto Rico started at shortstop and batted eighth.

Before the game, Falu said he would try to get a hit in his first Major League at-bat. He might have a future in prognostication; in the second inning, Falu tripled off Yankees starter Phil Hughes in his first big league plate appearance.

I was really happy for Falu. He's been successful at each level and I was hoping he'd be the UT guy this year. I didn't see much of the game, but I saw his at bat. Nice looking swing.

Hochevared

When Luke Hochevar stepped to the mound yesterday afternoon to start the third inning, it was the beginning of his 614th career major league inning. Six runs and just two outs later, Hochevar’s day was done and it marked the end of this writer holding out hope that Hochevar will ever be something more than what he basically is.

Through 613.2 innings, Hochevar has a career 5.46 earned run average. He has allowed 662 hits and 70 home runs, while striking out 5.9 batters per nine innings and walking 3.1 per nine. Through 706 innings (which is everything but his truly horrible 2011 campaign), Kyle Davies allowed 792 hits, 92 home runs, struck out 6.3 per nine and walked 4.3 per nine; pitching to a 5.49 earned run average. Davies was a very poor major league starting pitcher and Luke Hochevar is better than him…but not by a wide margin.

[SubGod22]

Sanchez struggles with fastball comand

Sanchez lasted just one batter into the fourth inning, and it marked the second straight early exit by a Royals starter, following Luke Hochevar's loss to the Yankees on Sunday. Sanchez made a whopping 73 pitches and just 35 were strikes.

I'm not the least bit surprised by his struggles. It was well documented before the trade that he had issues and I was never sold on why he was guaranteed a starting spot. Right now it appears that KC has 3 solid starters in Chen, Duffy and Paulino. Duffy has the chance to be something special, but he's still learning. Hochevar has it in him, but I'm not sure he'll ever realize it in a significant way at this poing. Sanchez plain sucks. I can't wait for Odorizzi to work his way up to KC. I'm losing confidence in Monty. I'm hoping Will Smith could become a consistent guy that would make a nice number 4 or 5.

At least the Fans are doing their part

After a terrible losing streak, the Royals have settled into what they are likely to be this season: a team that shows flashes of greatness surrounded by some mediocrity, wrapped up in some odd ineptitude. Insert witty remark about a marketing slogan here. On the bright side, or possibly delusional side, the fans are doing their part and showing up to games in some really solid numbers.

There are certainly some unique circumstances to which some bump in attendance can be attributed to. A pair of series vs the Red Sox and Yankees, some really nice weather and a plethora of weekend series certainly help. However it’s not the entirety of the situation. Let’s look at some numbers. Below is a graph showing the game by game home attendance for the first 15 games in 2011 vs 2012.

[SubGod22]

Butler's mammoth homer lifts Royals

Billy Butler smashed a go-ahead three-run home run in the eighth inning on Tuesday night to propel the Royals to a 6-4 win over the Red Sox at Kauffman Stadium, the first time this season Kansas City had come from behind in the seventh inning or later to win.
The Royals headed into the bottom of the eighth trailing, 4-3. After Red Sox starter Daniel Bard walked the inning's first two batters, Butler smashed a three-run home run off reliever Matt Albers 402 feet into the left-field water fountain, giving the Royals a 6-4 lead.

Sanchez to DL, Gio called up

KANSAS CITY -- The Royals called up second baseman Johnny Giavotella on Wednesday and placed starting pitcher Jonathan Sanchez on the 15-day disabled list.

Giavotella, sent to Triple-A Omaha during Spring Training, finished last season as the Royals' regular second baseman. He was in the starting lineup as the designated hitter on Wednesday night against the Red Sox.

Sanchez was placed on the disabled list with left biceps tendinitis. In his last outing on Monday night, he lasted just three-plus innings before being taken out of an 11-5 loss to the Red Sox. He has a 1-2 record and a 6.75 ERA in six starts.

Giavotella, after a slow start for Omaha, was batting .331 (14-for-133) in 31 games. He had five homers, eight doubles, 25 RBIs and 28 runs with a .408 on-base percentage.

Bunts and Three Run Bombs

Tons of interesting stuff in Tuesday’s game. Let’s dive in…

Where Duffy’s Pitch Count Explodes

Seriously, what’s the deal here? If felt like Duffy was getting squeezed, but really it was just the borderline calls that weren’t going his way. Whatever was happening, he piled up over 100 pitches in less than five innings. Given the way the rotation has gotten hammered in the last week, that’s just an unacceptable outing. I will put some of the blame at the mask of the home plate umpire. Duffy wasn’t getting the high strike called and there was one pitch in particular that was just an awful call. That can mess with a pitcher’s psyche. If he’s not getting calls, he starts to get too fine. He doesn’t want to serve it down the heart of the plate, but that’s basically what the ump is challenging him to do. It’s a helluva situation.

There was some speculation he was pitching hurt. It’s possible. His curve wasn’t effective again – he threw only 10 of them, and completely abandoned the pitch in the middle of his outing. He also generated only four swings and misses. Although his fastball had plenty of life, averaging a hot 95.5 mph on the Kauffman Stadium gun.

I think the likely scenario was that Duffy was unnerved by the home plate umpire. He reverted to his 2011 form where he was trying to be too fine – and failing. Hopefully, Duffy can shake this start off and move forward. Not much positive from this one.

[RoyalShock]

I was also glad to see Falu get a shot. But he, along with Quintero, had a serious defensive brain fart, unfortunately, at the same time. After Q blocked a ball in the dirt and scrambled to get it, Falu sauntered (ie, wasn't making a "move") toward 2nd base behind Jeter. Q threw it to Falu, who wasn't even looking Q's direction and the ball bounced off Falu, letting Jeter take 3rd easily.

Quintero probably shouldn't have thrown it (he got credited for the error), but you don't take the play off as long as timeout hasn't been called. These are things the boxscore or stat lines don't show us and why I've learned to take minor league stats with a grain of salt.

But it's nice to see Moose playing so well and Gordon coming around. I think Hosmer's numbers will rise sooner than later (his BABIP is way below league average) and he won't be such a hole in the lineup.

Hochevar, in my mind, gets one more shot. And if he's hurt it should come after a stint on the DL. We don't need a Kyle Davies clone. Excited to see Paulino back.

[SubGod22]

I was talking to my brother yesterday after Dayton was on 610. I think DM is losing patience with Hoch and Sanchez. This mysterious DL stint for Sanchez will be interesting. Hoch will get a little more time but he HAS to turn things around.

Monty just needs to be more consistent and throw strikes. They sound fairly positive about him right now and like the way things are going. I've lost hope with him being the ace of the staff, but I still think he and Duffy could potentially be nice at the top of the lineup.

Verdugo has been pitching pretty well. Not sure what they feel about him though. But there's just not a lot of attractive options in Omaha. Adcock and Teaford could fill in decently at the end of the rotation. You'd like to be stronger than that, but I think both would be stronger than Sanchez.

DM did say they weren't going to rush anyone. I think Odorizzi and Myers will spend half a season in NWA before being called up to Omaha. They've both been pretty dominant for the most part and could be on the '13 team out of Spring Training.

Home cooking: Royals cap homestand with win

Bruce Chen pitched into the seventh inning for his first victory. Jonathan Broxton escaped a two-on, no-out jam in the ninth for his seventh save. The Royals got some big breaks in a three-run first inning and a couple of controversial calls by umpires went their way. And they beat Jon Lester, a left-hander who previously was 5-1 against them with a 1.30 ERA and a no-hitter.

I don't think either of the controversial calls were wrong though. Definitely not the one in the 9th that Valentine is still pissed about.

Go Figure

Last night, Ned Yost wrote down a lineup whose number four through eight hitters combined had ZERO home runs. Jarrod Dyson, batting lead-off, also has not hit a dinger and Alcides Escobar batting ninth has only one. Basically, it was Billy Butler, Alex Gordon and no hope…right? Well, dummy, of course the Royals win with that lineup against Jon Lester. We all should have known.

Sure, the Red Sox outfielders certainly helped the Royals along and, to be honest, this is hardly the starting nine that Boston fans expected to be on the field when the year started. Of course, this was hardly the nine that Royals’ fans expected, either. Let’s call it even and let’s call it what it was: a good win and a good homestand.

The Royals finished 4-3 on this homestand: finally winning at home, finally beating a left-handed starter and hopefully giving themselves a good dose of relaxation. This team started the year anxious, hyped up and fell flat on their faces. Now, one would hope they should be in something of a groove.

[martymoose]

They have been some fun games to watch over the last week. Too bad they couldn't of played the Yankees and Red Sox in their first 10 home games... The Red Sox fans have almost taken the title of most annoying fans from Cardinal and Yankees fans of fans who visit Kauffman Stadium....but it's always fun to watch so many dissappointed bandwagon fans file out.

[SubGod22]

I haven't been able to watch much due to school. But the pieces are there to build on. Most were expecting '13 to be the year but with the accelerated movement of youth last season I think expectations were that maybe it'd be sooner. I still believe they can finish .500 or so. But they have to get starters being more effective.

As I've said before, I'm good with Chen, Paulino and Duffy. Never had any faith in Sanchez. Hoch is concerning. Is Verdugo close to being ready? Monty needs more time I think. Smith is what he is and could be a decent end of the rotation guy or fill in starter. I'd be fine giving Adcock/Teaford a shot at this point. You have to find 5 guys that can give you a chance to win games.

[SubGod22]

Some Royals Positivity

The Royals are 10-19. Their starters average less than five innings per game. The bullpen is currently filled with three guys who are classified as long relievers. The offense hits into double plays at what seem like the worst possible times they could ever hit into them. The defense makes bone headed plays at times. Oh wait, positivity. The fact is that we all know how terrible the Royals have been this season, and I’m sick of talking about it. I’m angry. I’m frustrated. I’m disappointed. I’m pretty much everything that you hear out of the mouths of parents when their child does something wrong only toward a baseball team. But in spite of that, some good things have happened for the Royals this season and I thought it might be nice to take a look at some of them instead of rehashing the issues every single day.

More Curious Decisions By The Royals

You may have heard the news that the Royals recalled Johnny Giavotella from AAA Omaha yesterday. If you didn’t hear, you probably figured it out when you saw the game and he was hitting fifth in the Royals lineup. On Tuesday night, Giavotella was in his customary third spot in the Omaha lineup, but left the game in the middle innings spawning rampant speculation in the Twitter-verse and elsewhere regarding what had happened and why he had left. Thoughts ranged from Giavotella being traded to him being called up to him eating some bad clams and having to leave the game for, well, personal reasons. The play-by-play man for the Omaha Storm Chasers, Mark Nasser put an end to the third thought by tweeting that it was going to be something good for Gio.

Dayton Moore was already scheduled to go on Fescoe in the Morning on 610 Sports before this situation popped up, so we were pretty excited that we’d get the opportunity to possibly hear an explanation. What Dayton Moore told Fescoe was pretty interesting. He said that Giavotella was en route to Kansas City and that he hadn’t been added to the roster yet because they needed to “cross some t’s and dot some i’s.” He also mentioned doing their due diligence before they announce any move. I’m assuming you all had the same thoughts I did, and I can say that with some certainty because I had the good fortune of interacting with a lot of you on Twitter regarding this. The obvious answer is that someone was getting traded, probably a middle infielder and the hope was that it would be Chris Getz.

Is there still hope that Getz gets traded?

[ShockerFever]

They have been some fun games to watch over the last week. Too bad they couldn't of played the Yankees and Red Sox in their first 10 home games... The Red Sox fans have almost taken the title of most annoying fans from Cardinal and Yankees fans of fans who visit Kauffman Stadium....but it's always fun to watch so many dissappointed bandwagon fans file out.

It was fun for me on Sunday to personally witness all of the Royal fans who found the exits in the 6th inning. Damn bandies.

If the Royals would bring in the Yankees, Red Sox, and Cardinals for every game, they would have enough butts in seats to support the club and perhaps squelch all of those reoccurring "the Royals are leaving" rumors.

[martymoose]

It was fun for me on Sunday to personally witness all of the Royal fans who found the exits in the 6th inning. Damn bandies.

If the Royals would bring in the Yankees, Red Sox, and Cardinals for every game, they would have enough butts in seats to support the club and perhaps squelch all of those reoccurring "the Royals are leaving" rumors.

I don't think there's any worry of them leaving anytime soon. Pretty sure they had to sign a pretty lengthy contract for the renovation.

Glad you had fun, and thanks for supporting the Royals with your money. I for one have been to 5 or 6 Yankees games in KC over the last 4 years or so and have yet to witness a loss in person, so you can thank me for not spoiling it for you by coming to Sunday's game....I have however seen them lose plenty to the White Sox and St. Louis. :(