Canadian Beatdown

I had a bad feeling about this Toronto series.  The Royals Radio pregame show had a discussion about how Toronto was floundering, had a weak lineup, and no real pitching depth in the rotation.  When you're the Royals, that kind of talk gets a Canadian flag thrown over your head while members of the Blue Jays run by and beat you in the stomach with a bar of soap in their socks...Full Metal Jacket style.  And make no mistake about it - after all the years of futility, the Royals are the MLB version of Private Pyle. 

As soon as I heard Scott Podsednik would be out of the lineup, having traveled back to KC to handle a personal matter, I thought we might be in trouble.  He's been the real spark in this lineup, hitting in the two position between DeJesus and Butler.  Then the news came across the airwaves that catcher Jason Kendall would get his first day off - another spark towards the bottom of the order.  The two of them were replaced by Brayan Pena (who had one at bat prior to Monday night's game) and Mitch Maier.  Ouch. 

Not to mention we have another sinkhole in the lineup with Alex Gordon back from his injury.  I have lost all faith in Gordon, and the fact that he's batting .167 (yeah, I know, small sample size so far) and has already struck out twice hasn't changed my tune.

Bannister has his first rough outing to top it all off, and we get an 8-1 loss at the hands of the Blue Jays. 

Looking at various articles this morning, I'm left wondering why Trey Hillman would want to keep Pods out of the lineup again today.  According to an article I found at Yahoo Sports, Hillman says he doesn't like to play guys who are traveling.  Well...okay...but would you rather have Pods in the two hole batting .457, or have to shuffle the lineup and stick Maier back in the bottom of the lineup so he can try to improve on his .100 average?  I say go with the guy hitting .350 points higher...but what do I know?  Yeah...Pods may be a little tired, but I think I'd take my chances.  And if he looks a little sluggish, well, you can always pull him.  Oh wait.  No...your hands are tied there, aren't they Trey?  I almost forgot Dayton Moore has screwed this roster up so badly that you're short handed on the bench because you have to carry 13 pitchers....

Speaking of 13 pitchers - why is Luis Mendoza (22.50 ERA, 3.25 WHIP) still on this roster?  Time to make room for another position player guys.  There is absolutely no point in having this clown continue to to give up three or four hits per outing.  Give your manager the roster flexibility he needs, Dayton.  Recall Aviles, or bring up Kila...do anything but let Mendoza continue taking a roster spot away from a more deserving player.  I think we've all seen enough.

Good, Bad, and Ugly

Another version of Good, Bad, and Ugly.  I didn't want to start posting knee jerk reactions to games last week, or particular events as they unfolded.  Figured the best way to go was to let the first handful of games play out, take a step back, and react.  Decided to go with my second "Good, Bad, and Ugly" of 2010.

The Good

To start, the team seems a lot more athletic than it's been over the past few seasons.  Ankiel is a pretty solid all around guy to this point.  Most notably, he's running down balls in centerfield that I haven't seen a Royals' centerfielder track down for some time now.  We had DeJesus there, and he's as steady as they come, but more suited for a corner outfield spot.  Ankiel can flat out get after it, though.  And he's hitting.  So far. 

Two more sources of added athleticism:  Scott Podsednik and Chris Getz.  Our defensive OF play has been great, and Getz is leaps and bounds ahead of Callaspo as a defender.  The two of them have also shown they can get on base, and I think watching this team on the basepaths could be fun for a change (although I'm still not sold on Pods being a "great" baserunner, at least he CAN steal a base).  I was very excited to get Getz in the Teahen deal, and so far, he's not disappointed.

I also have to mention the starting pitching thus far (minus the debut of Meche).  They've looked fantastic.  All of them (again, minus Meche).  Zack, Luke (WOW), Bannister, and Davies have all done more than their share to get this team in the win column - but the bullpen (see "The Ugly") has been a trainwreck.  I don't know how well this starting rotation will pitch over the course of a 162 game season, but so far, so good.


The Bad

The team is not taking advantage of the starting pitching and jumping out to leads.  We still lack the offensive power we need to compete in the American League, and it shows.  We're seeing starting pitchers allow anywhere from zero to three or four runs...and we need to capitalize.  As an offense, we shouldn't barely be hanging on to a 1-0 nothing lead, or having to rally in the later innings to salvage a quality start.  Hillman has as close as he's ever had to that "scrappy" roster he's wanted...and now we need to see that he can manage this team.  Since we can't throw runs on the board in bunches, we need to see Hillman managing this offense into manufactured runs...and I haven't seen it enough yet.  Even though we're playing small ball, with this bullpen, we're going to HAVE to average at least five runs per game to hang in there.

One more item for "The Bad."  The handling of Mike Aviles.  If Hillman/Dayton Moore weren't sold on his arm being recovered enough to play third base or shortstop, they should have sent him to Omaha from day one.  In Omaha, he could play everyday, and his throws could be very easily monitored.  As it stands, he's wasted a week on the big league roster, being used as a pinch runner, and we have no idea how his throws will look in a game situation.  They've essentially wasted everyone's time by letting him sit the bench.  The kind of move that makes me pull my hair out.

The Ugly

The bullpen.  I don't really need to say any more than that, do I?  I mean...the Royals are carrying 13 pitchers.  Obviously, this won't last (they can't spread themselves so thin on the bench) but they need to figure out who their guys are going to be.  And fast.  Then either recall Aviles, or if his arm is in fact not ready, bring up Wilson Betemit to play as a multi-position sub, or...god forbid, give Kila a shot as a 1B/DH/pinch hitter.

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).