Why?

Farnsworth comes into another close game in a tight situation...and...you guessed it. Another home run, another loss.

Farnsworth (or as he's become affectionately known in KC - "Farnsworthless") should not be pitching in these situations. I know it. My neighbor knows it. My dad knows it. Everyone I overhear talking about the Royals know it. Trey Hillman...well...he doesn't know it.

I like Hillman well enough, and it's only 12 games into the season, but come on! Are you kidding me? Farnsworth again? The Royals have five losses this year, and three of those hang on Farnsworth. Ridiculous.

Most disheartening for me as a fan in the Sunday game was Hillman's horrible handling of the bullpen. The Royals got behind early after Kyle Davies struggled to throw a strike in the first inning. Davies got his act together and pitched well for the rest of his outing, pretty much sitting Texas batters down with no effort. Kansas City came from behind and led the game 5-3, and then Hillman apparently started drawing the names of relief pitchers out of a hat.

Davies pitched through six innings, and our best reliever at this point, Juan Cruz, was brought in for the seventh. Great. No problems yet. In fact, since Greinke went for a complete game the night before, Cruz is rested and can probably pitch both the seventh and eighth. Perfect. Oops...wait a second...Cruz gets two outs and then gets yanked in favor of Ron Mahay. Mahay is a lefty and was brought in to face a lefty batter. Although Hillman has already stated Mahay is NOT a lefty specialist. Oh, and Cruz is great against lefties. Oh well...maybe Mahay gets an out and then pitches the eighth. Not a bad idea, except you just wasted your best setup man for two outs.

Mahay proceeds to allow two runs (only one earned - the defensive play of the infield is partly to blame for this loss as well), and then gives way Jamey Wright who gets us to the ninth with a tied ballgame. Then....you guessed it...Farnsworth. Our high dollar late inning strikeout machine faces one batter and gives up a home run, losing the game in the bottom of the ninth.

Okay Trey...pay attention here...you bring in Mahay in the seventh, hopefully he gets us through the inning with no problems. If he gets into trouble, you still have Cruz to bail the team out in that innning and probably whizz through the eighth as well, setting up Soria for the save. But it's not just the handling of Cruz that I take issue with here...it's the bullpen as a whole. There are five guys who should come into the game before Farnsworth (although Hillman had already burned through three of them). I still would have rather seen Tejeda or Waechter before inserting Farnsworth into a close game.

Trey - use Farnsworth in games that are out of hand. If KC is up by five runs - or down by five runs - put in Farnsworth and see what happens. If he starts pitching more like what you're expecting from him, then maybe you get a little more flexible with him...using him in the seventh inning at times. But please, for the love of GOD, do not put Farnsworth in a close game again. You're asking for a disaster every time out.

Yes, the Royals are 7-5 and tied for first in the division. Yes there are 150 games left to play. But this is an alarming trend that just keeps repeating itself, and someone needs to break the cycle now. Get it right Hillman, you've got fans that care again, and half of them are calling for your job....

Pitching is the name of the game

Opening day has come and gone.  I was at work, following the game online.  I went into a meeting and the Royals were up 2-1.  I came out of the meeting, and the game was over.  4-2 Sox.  What the hell went wrong?  

As the name of this post says - Pitching is the name of the game - for better and for worse.  Gil Meche was locked in yesterday, plowing through the White Sox lineup, having only been in one jam that I can remember (bases loaded) and working his way out of that with only one run scoring.  I thought the game was ours.  Meche got us through seven innings, now it would be Juan Cruz for an inning before turning the ball over to Mr. Automatic for the save.  But that's not what happened at all.  Kyle Farnsworth came in to bridge the gap to Soria, and all hell broke loose.

My question:  What the hell was Hillman thinking?  I mean, I can understand going with Farnsworth to a degree (although I think Cruz should clearly be our "A" option in late innings), but in a jam against Jim Thome.  No thanks.  Get me Ron Mahay, Cruz...anyone else.  Anyone other than Farnsworth, who gave up home runs at a horrible rate in 2008.  And against Jim Thome, who absolutely torches righties.

This has been quite the topic of debate in Kansas City today.  Is Trey Hillman a horrible manager for making this decision?  Didn't he learn anything last season?  Is this a sign of things to come?  And the flipside of the argument - the Hillman apologists:  It's only one game.  Right?

I think both sides have points.  Hillman should clearly have statistics at his disposal that tell him Farnsworth is not the guy to face Thome.  Hindsight is 20/20 and all that jazz...but come on.  Even I knew that was a matchup made in heaven - for the White Sox.  On the other hand...if we were 50 games into the season, would this situation have been as magnified?  I have to think not.  Opening day is the one time of year where EVERYONE is paying attention.

All things aside, my opinion is this:  Cruz has proven himself to be a more consistently good setup man than Farnsworth, although Farnsworth does have value coming out of the pen as a gritty hurler who isn't afraid to come inside and take ownership of the plate.  My opinion - Farnsworth is a solid guy for innings six and/or seven, while Cruz should be the guy who shuts opponents down in inning eight (and maybe seven as well).  And don't forget - we also have another solid guy out of the pen for these late innings named Ron Mahay.  

In summary, yes, Hillman screwed up.  But, it's only one game.  And we won game two behind six great innings from Greinke, two great innings from Cruz, and the usual from Soria.  Looks like Hillman learned his lesson (or so I hope).

Opening Day is here - get optimistic

After a snow out on Monday, the Royals are set to kick off the 2009 season today in Chicago, versus the White Sox. While I’m looking forward to the season, I do have a couple of complaints regarding the final 25 man roster.

First and foremost, I just don’t understand the decision to option Luke Hochevar to Omaha. Dayton Moore seems set on having a lefty starter – even if that starter is Horacio Ramirez, who hasn’t looked good in that role for a few years now. Also breaking camp on the roster is Sidney Ponson. I just don’t see where either of these guys outpitched Luke this spring. He posted an ERA around 3.8, and without looking up the exact numbers, I’d say Ramirez and Ponson both had ERAs that came close to doubling that number. I heard Moore on the radio the other day, and he said the other guys outpitched Hochevar, and he didn’t grab the open rotation slot. I wish I had been conducting that interview. I would have loved to ask Moore how he was judging these three pitchers. I love what Moore has done to change the culture here in KC, and respect him a great deal, but come on….

Gripe number two: I think Mitch Maier deserved a shot. Brayan Pena was given the last spot on the roster, and I guess I’m okay with that. My initial thought was, “Why do we need three catchers?” But he’s fairly versatile and can play corner infield and outfield positions as well, plus hits from both sides of the plate, making him a decent pinch hitting option (if he can hit). But Maier is a guy we drafted, a homegrown product who has been patiently waiting for his chance. He played very well this spring, and I thought this might be the year. Unfortunately, he’s back in Omaha – but I’m assuming he’s only an injury or a little roster shuffle away from suiting up with the big leauge club.

As for opening day, I’m not sure what to expect. I think Meche gives us a chance to win every time he’s on the mound, so I expect a decent game. I’m hopeful that we get off to a good start this year (I’m getting tired of starting off every season with a horrible April). This division really does seem to be wide open, and anyone – yes…even the Royals – has a shot. Sure, the Royals need more things to go their way than a couple of other teams, but it COULD happen. We’ve got three strong starting pitchers, a solid bullpen, and a very good batting order which has the chance to be exceptional if a couple of guys break out this season. I’m looking at you Alex Gordon and Billy Butler.

It’s the time of year for fans to be optimistic again – so count me in. I say we play .500 ball this season with a chance to contend. Maybe we’ll actually get some meaningful baseball in August and September this year in Kansas City.