SOLER POWER!

Soler just hit one halfway up the batter's eye in center field in Houston. That's a shot.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Is there an emoji for King Big-Time power? ☀️��<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AlwaysRoyal?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AlwaysRoyal</a> <a href="https://t.co/KGDm4hPWpO">pic.twitter.com/KGDm4hPWpO</a></p>&mdash; Kansas City Royals (@Royals) <a href="https://twitter.com/Royals/status/1125920739692044288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 8, 2019</a></blockquote>
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The Brewers basically threw it out the window the last two years by putting Shaw and now Moustakas there.

O'Hearn slam!!!

Salami!

O'Hearn knocked the shit out of that one.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">TURN AND BURN O&#39;HEARN.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AlwaysRoyal?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AlwaysRoyal</a> <a href="https://t.co/mI3z38wZWy">pic.twitter.com/mI3z38wZWy</a></p>&mdash; Kansas City Royals (@Royals) <a href="https://twitter.com/Royals/status/1125929991441719303?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 8, 2019</a></blockquote>
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This Royals team is pretty exciting offensively. I'm kind of excited for the years to come in Dozier, O'Hearn, Gutierrez & Lopez pan out.

We already know Whit and Mondesi are studs.

I know everyone has done this, but this looks pretty fun for next year:

1B - Ryan O'Hearn .255, 23 HR, 2.0 WAR
2B - Nicky Lopez .295, 8 HR, 3.0 WAR
3B - Kelvin Gutierrez .278, 12 HR, 1.7 WAR
SS - Aldaberto Mondesi .284, 29 HR, 6.0 WAR
C - Sal Perez .265, 31 HR, 3.3 WAR
DH - Hunter Dozier .278, 30 HR, 2.0 WAR
RF - Jorge Soler .259, 25 HR, 1.5 WAR
CF - Bubba Starling .244, 10 HR, 2.0 WAR
LF - Whit Merrifield .300, 20 HR, 6.5 WAR

If O'Hearn, Gutierrez & Dozier end up having legit years...we need to sign a guy like 2013 version of James Shields or Ervin Santana. Trade Gordon for some ready made MLB starter. And load up on some proven relievers. See if we can make some noise in 2020.

O'Hearn might be a star. Even on outs he typically crushes the ball. That foul was crushed, too. His exit velocity and % hard hit are near the tops in the league.

Kaboom! Whit Merrifield. I ****ing love this guy. Just a grinder and made himself a baseball player.

Whit slam!

That's 2 KC grand slams in one game!

Wow, two grand slams in one game

That was an absolute meatball and Whit ate it up.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">WHIT. GRAND. WOW.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AlwaysRoyal?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AlwaysRoyal</a> <a href="https://t.co/nx3LOosOPK">pic.twitter.com/nx3LOosOPK</a></p>&mdash; Kansas City Royals (@Royals) <a href="https://twitter.com/Royals/status/1125949005182185472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 8, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Whit and Mondesi are both on pace for 20 homers, 20 doubles, 20 triples and 20 steals. There are four members of the 20-20-20-20 club. Ever.</p>&mdash; David Lesky (@DBLesky) <a href="https://twitter.com/DBLesky/status/1125928092940296192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 8, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Is Bonds one?

Nope.

1911 - Frank Schulte - Chicago Cubs
1957 - Willie Mays - New York Giants
2007 - Curtis Granderson - Detroit Tigers
2007- Jimmy Rollins - Philadelphia Phillies

So that should be the end of Chris Owings right?

This Astros pitcher has not missed a meal!

Owings sucks so bad that he whiffed against Houston’s DH (White) who is pitching the 9th.

LOL

Mondesi to CF would be a backup plan for Starling. If he doesn’t translate his recent success at Omaha into being a solid big leaguer, Lopez is good enough defensively at SS they could move Mondesi to CF if Starling flops. I know some prefer Lopez’s defense to Mondesi’s. He’s not going to make as many highlight reel plays as Mondesi, but Lopez is steadier.


Looking. He struck out looking, taking two pitches from a position player in a 3-1 count.


Gordon’s trade value this season wouldn’t be THAT high. If you’re hunting MLB ready, it’s going to be a borderline back-end starter. If you’re hunting more upside than that, it would be someone farther away, with more risk/lower floor.

I still have some questions about the sustainability of what Gutierrez is doing. He’s a solid bench guy, I think, but not 100 percent sold he’s an everyday guy.

Side note:

That position player topped out at 78. I’m pretty sure I can still run it up in at least the low 70s.

Sorry - yes, looking at strike 3

We have 2 idiots here on the board apparently.


In the last week I’ve (1) called Dozier a Matt Holliday clone, (2) agreed with Duncan that ROH will be fine, nice slam last night by the way, and (3) said I liked Homer Bailey a lot. Quit being dumbasses.

If Starling and Lopez succeed at the major league level, there aren't enough positions to go around. You mention Gutierrez as a utility guy. I picture Erick Mejia (AAA) as the future utility guy. Mejia is a switch hitter and currently batting .299/.409/.402/.811. It's good to have a surplus of guys you'd like to have in the lineup.

Dude, I was giving you a hard time and trying to be funny. But, I will point out that while you were complimenting Bailey, you also said other than Keller, the other starters suck. So, you don't think much of Duffy, Junis, nor Lopez.

I didn't realize you were so sensitive to a little ribbing. You kind of remind me of my ex-wife.

Not really. Could have had a decent prospect instead stuck with a catcher who has injury issues and this team wont be competing in 2 years. Stupid to hold onto him just to have 10k fans come out and cheer for the boys in blue.

im here to eat my crow, i said a few weeks ago that this team sucked anyways so i didnt care if they lose when in reality they should have done more because this team is actually pretty good except for the bullpen so im an idiot

it's interesting to see Prison Bitch compare Junis to Mike Mussina though

I'm sure I missed it somewhere, but I haven't seen Isbel in the lineup for about a week (or there about). Did he have an injury I missed? Same question regarding Lara - except I haven't seen him pitch at all this year, unless I missed it.

It’s easy to say “they should have traded” Player X, but dumping established players for prospects is easier said than done. They listened on Perez after 2017 but needed a blow-away offer to do it.

Just landing a random back-half-top-100 player or two really doesn’t help that much long-term.

Perez’s return in 2020 and 2021 could make the Royals lineup pretty deep and fun - and drive a competitor for the division crown.

Merrifield RF/2B
Lopez 2B/SS
Mondesi SS/CF
Dozier 3B/1B/DH
O’Hearn 1B
Perez C
Soler DH/RF

Is a pretty intriguing group and decently deep. If Gordon continues to be a good offensive player and wants to come back, that will be an option, and then there’s also CF, where Starling may provide an upgrade on O without a loss on D.

Ultimately, the key point is that there’s a lot of difference between a prospect in the top 20-25 and the guys after that. Landing one-two back half of the 100 prospects is a risky roll of the dice with established, above-average MLB players.

Gordon's going to win one more World Series, retire a Royal, and take his place on the KC Sports Mt. Rushmore.

Mark it down - 5/8/19. suzzer has spoken.

Only question is who does he replace - Brett, Dawson, Watson or Thomas? Brett is safe obviously. Dawson's safe until Mahomes wins two SBs.

I still remember Gordon’s home run against Familia in the ninth down 1. Gives me chills everytime

As a non-golf follower, Watson seems obvious and easy.

Also would suggest Mahomes might replace DT rather than Dawson. Lenny won a SB.

Listen to that roar...

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There are a lot of idiots on this board. And many who have seen your idiotic takes in DC and on here.

Don’t sell yourself short . . . . .

Yeah, I'd be awfully surprised if the Royals were truly good in the near future given the state of their pitching but Kowar and Singer are big guys with plus stuff and a college background and those kinds of prospects can advance faster than you expect.

And man, the AL Central is just hot ****ing garbage. The ChiSox are on their own re-building model but they have pitching issues of their own. Their high end guys keep blowing up so when all is said and done it may be someone like Cease leading their staff instead of slotting behind that three headed monster they'd envisioned of Giolito, Kopech and Rodon.

And this doesn't appear to be a real pitching rich draft so it doesn't help either of you there.

I dunno - they may not be a little more feisty a little sooner than I thought they would given the hellpit that is the ALC, but they still have a lot of pitching work to do to be a real solid squad.

Speaking of the MLB draft - A few years back I briefly mentioned a kid playing at Mizzou who the Royals used a 33rd rounder on out of HS named Kameron Misner.

Misner can !@#$ing hit. His raw power is pretty incredible and he's a lefty who's swing has quickened up over the last year or two. He will sometimes struggle against higher level competition but when he's on, he's capable of carrying the team.

I have no idea what the Royals offered him then as a 33rd rounder but he's worked himself into 1st round consideration in the upcoming draft with the most recent MLB Pipeline article having him going to the Cardinals at 19. Personally I would find that cool as hell because I've literally been watching him play since his first game in a Tigers uni.

But the MLB draft is a strange animal and sometimes guys slide a bit. He may well be there for the Royals pick at 44. I wouldn't say it's likely, but it's not completely nutty either. Fun dude to watch if you get him.

Was at the game, one of the best sports moments in KC history

I just knew we were winning the whole thing right then.

Which won't be that big of a deal any more when Mahomes wins multiple.

One of the 3 hardest balls he'd ever hit (at the time). Imagine the feeling of just drilling one dead solid perfect - in that situation.

That set the tone for the rest of the World Series. Gordon will forever be a idol in KC and will have a statue of him once he’s done playing.

The Royals don’t have much starting pitching inbound before Singer, Kowar, Lynch, and Kris Bubic. Yohanse Morel is also far away. That’s the question. The bullpen should get a shot in the arm from some younger guys (Lovelady, Staumont, Zimmer) and I think Lopez is headed there, too.

Duffy, Keller, and Junis can be the 2-3-5 starters on a playoff contender. They need to add a few pieces to that group, though. In this weak Central, the offense might be able to carry KC if they can settle the bullpen again.


Misner is one of the most variable prospects in the draft.

I would be giddy if he managed to tumble to KC’s second choice. They’ve been connected to him again.

Best-case for KC would probably be if the Orioles really do shy away from Rutschman and Misner falls down the draft due to his swing and miss questions.

Both should move quickly and would fit nicely in with KC’s next group of potentially impactful arrivals.

I figured it was over after Escobar hit an inside the park home run first pitch of the series due to incompetence.

I jizzed in my pant everytime.

Where does Gordon rank among the Royals greats?

@MLBPipeline: The #Royals are considered the favorites to sign Dominican OF Erick Pena, who reminds scouts of Carlos Beltran and is No. 5 on our Top 30 International Prospects list: https://atmlb.com/2LFliEq https://twitter.com/MLBPipeline/stat...382144/photo/1

Watch. They’ll fall, oh, Chris Owings’ contract short of signing him.

It’s been widely reported in prospect circles the Royals are spending 3-4 million on Pena. With the way the system is now, you can not get jumped for the best guys now, really. The deals for the top5-10 July 2 guys usually get sealed early.

:facepalm:

Yea let’s move the best LF in the game to DH. ****ing reerun

Among the top 10 all-time Royals batters in WAR, he's 4th, and he's the best among all 10 of them, including George Brett, in "win probability added" in Royals postseason games.

Gordon 1.43 in 31 games
Brett 1.40 in 43 games

Among the top 10 Royals WAR players, only Carlos Beltran has a higher postseason WPA, but none of those games was as a Royal. Beltran, who was famously clutch for his postseason play, peaked at 2.88 WPA after 51 games, but now he's down to 2.26 after 65 games, having not fared too well lately.

Among Royals who are not among the top 10 in WAR, at least two players have notable postseason WPA as a Royal. Eric Hosmer has 2.22 in 31 games and Willie Mays Aikens has 1.49 in 12 games.

I just found out these numbers poking around on baseball-reference.com. There might be some other Royal batter with a notable amount of postseason WPA, so if someone else has a player in mind, they should look them up.

I will always have high regard for Gordon and Hosmer for how they conducted themselves at the plate in clutch situations, plus in other parts of the game. WPA doesn't capture mad dashes home in Game 5, like Hosmer's, and it gives credit to Hosmer for the great baserunning that Cain did while Hosmer was the batter of record. (In 31 Royals games, Cain and Moose have WPA totals of 0.31 and 0.18, respectively.) Still, it gives some idea of clutch postseason performers.

With Gordon's overall longevity and productivity and his great postseason play, he's definitely one of our top-5 most important position players, all-time.

Turns out both Hosmer and Beltran are in the top-10 all-time for postseason WPA as a batter, and Wade Davis is in the top-10 all-time for postseason WPA as a pitcher. Of course, Hosmer has only played postseason games for the Royals, Beltran never played one as a Royal, and Davis is in-between. Davis played 20 of his 30 postseason games as a Royal, where he accumulated 2.03 WPA out of his overall total of 2.90.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/p...pitching.shtml

My bad for going to the game again.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Nicky Lopez draws his 2nd walk of the game, his 3-3 2-BB night pumps his OBP to .452. Chris Owings currently has a .457 OPS for the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Royals?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Royals</a>.</p>&mdash; Clint Scoles (@ClintScoles) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClintScoles/status/1126316988777803776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 9, 2019</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Four-hit night for Bubba Starling. The average is up to .371 now.</p>&mdash; Tony Boone (@BooneOWH) <a href="https://twitter.com/BooneOWH/status/1126321116589559809?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 9, 2019</a></blockquote>
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Another 8 combined K's between Pratto, Melendez, and Matias. Those three need to be demoted until they can pull their heads out of their collective asses.

Theyll get called up in September. Just too much talent in front of them. Cant replace Hamilton's or Owings' productivity. They're just too good

Lopez has very little left to show at Omaha. If it isn’t time to see him, the time is soon (June at the latest).

Starling is having the first sustained success at the plate he has experienced since 2015. I’m in no rush to get him to the majors. Giving him more time to make extra sure he can succeed at the MLB level with the bat is a prudent approach.

Worst thing that could happen is promoting Starling too soon and having it destroy the confidence he’s building up.

I don't think they have much to lose with Starling at this point. It's either going to happen for him or it isn't and they need to move on.

We can all have hope. Duda will be coming off the 10 day DL soon. His .174 batting average could turn this team around.

The tools are still present and his defensive value is good enough that if he can be within 10-15 percent of league average at the plate, he’s a viable MLB starter in CF.

If he’s finding an offensive approach that works, I’ve got no trouble letting him really dial it in before he gets called up to the majors.

If letting him stay in Omaha through June helps with that, I have no issue with it. If Starling can be your starting CF and provide above-average defense and baserunning while hitting .260/.300/.400, thats one less piece to find over the next six years.

I understand what you're saying with Starling. However, this actually began last year prior to his injury, so I see his "sustained success" as going back to last year. Plus, aren't we playing with house money on Starling at this point? He's not even in our top 30 prospects, yet he's playing like it at this point.

The only thing that makes sense for me on waiting is that he's out of options (or am I wrong about that?). Once on the 25, he has to stay...so that does make me at least cautious about when I would promote him. Ultimately, if the organization guys see that something has "clicked" for him going back to last year, then you trust your people and promote him. Do we have data on his BABIP at Omaha?

I'm wondering...how do they justify re-activating him? He's useless to this team at this stage. He's a significant part of what was a poorly constructed roster.

He’s not on the 40-man, so they’d have to add him to that. He passed through waivers last year and we re-signed, so I believe they have full options on him and complete control, just have re-set the clock on it. I’ll dig into that later today if I have time.

You can consider him house money, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t still have a development curve that should be observed. If they think he’s close to ready and needs to progress in a few areas, it makes sense to me to wait a little longer.

He’s not hitting for much power at present and last year’s sample was really small. We’re talking about 200 ABs, basically.

So, if they brought up Starling, do they send Gore back down? Do we still have options left with Gore? I don't see them cutting Hamilton. He's insurance if Starling whiffs with his tryout. Your thoughts?

Would essentially have to dfa or waive someone to bring bubba up.

The easier approach (if they're sticking to their guns on being a speed team) would be to keep Gore and Hamilton and deep six Owings, send Gutierrez back down and then release Duda once he's re-activated. That frees up two spots on both the 25/40 man. Lopez and Starling are free to be promoted at that point.

Question is, who? Gore?

Interesting, but you think they are going to keep 5+ OF's on the 25-Man, especially when you consider the fact that Whit will most likely be moving to RF?

I'm not necessarily confident this is what they will do...but rather what they could do. They've kept 5 OF's before. Again...if they're keeping their philosophy of speed, it's less about a guy like Gore being a 5th outfielder and more about him being a specialty player that pinch runs. Hamilton would be the 4th OF and Soler is mainly a DH at that point. As it is, Soler is a RF/DH and Gore is the 4th outfielder. I like my approach better because it makes a more flexible roster. w/ less "suck" at the bottom of the lineup. Plus, Duda, Gore and Gallagher is spectacularly inflexible as a bench.

Starling's not on your 40 man, is he?

You can't bring him up unless you're extra, super sure that he's ready. Because to do so you'd have to put him back on the 40. And if you do that, he's out of options so if he's not ready to go, you've got to outright him off the roster again to try to sneak him back down.

The Royals are working without a net on Starling at this point.

And while the reduced K rate is nice - what is it you're actually seeing with Bubba right now? His power appears to have just evaporated so he's clearly made an approach change where he's traded power for contact. That's not a bad idea in his case but then again, his walk rate is merely adequate and he's always been a solid but unspectacular threat on the bases.

So you're seeing a low power, BABIP dependent offensive approach with nominal contributions on the basepaths by a guy who's taking his fourth shot at AAA and is overaged. And that BABIP is an absurd .460ish right now. Let's give him a 'good speed' BABIP of .330 and suddenly he's sporting a .270 BA with an OBP around .315 and a SLG% of .370. That's good for an OPS of .685 for a player with a career AAA OPS of .655. It's also exactly the OPS he put up in his last extended run in AAA.

I mean, I was a huge fan of Bubba and wanted to see him do well for you guys because his story is a great one going all the way back to when he was drafted. But this is EXCLUSIVELY a BABIP binge. Most everything else looks damn near identical to his 2017 season in Omaha.

I think you need to see quite a bit more before you add him to the 40. There are too many alarm bells here, IMO.

Ah, it appears you answered my question.

I don't think you can 're-set' option years. My recollection is that once they're gone, they're gone. But if you DO have options on him, that makes the decision quite a bit easier.

There's always a spot or two on a 40 man; they're never as packed as GM's trying to manipulate service time would have you believe. So getting him a 40 man spot (after Lopez, who's far more deserving) should be easy. If he fails and you can option him back down, so be it.

I am also scared shitless that this organization will send Gutierrez back down once Duda comes back. Duda needs to be sent his walking papers. Owings needs to be DFA in June or whenever Nicky Lopez service time is accrued so he can come up. And Hamilton needs to be traded for whatever the **** you can get by middle summer.

There is also no reason Gore should being paid to play baseball except on a contending team, with expanded rosters to steal bases ONLY.

That AAA juiced ball is fun!

It's right up there with Brett's smash off Gossage in 1980

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According to roster resource, Starling has no options, which means he would have to pass through waivers again to be retained if they call him up and it doesn’t work.

All the more reason to keep him down longer.

Re: what he brings to the table, you’re talking about a 60-65 glove (have repeatedly been told he is a better version of Lorenzo Cain defensively) and someone who has the speed and baserunning ability to nab 20+ bags. He adds some value with his legs.

I haven’t seen him enough to break down swing/approach changes, and I don’t think any scouts have been published on that. His problem has always been with breaking balls, and it wasn’t just trying to do too much with them. It was inability to recognize, lay-off, or handle them.

If he’s changed swing plane or setup or something to better handle them, some of the XB pop could return as he becomes more comfortable there.

Or, as DJ points out, it could just be a BABIP-driven mirage that will stabilize and regress to norm.

All reasons to give it more time.

For me Watson first, then George. Being baseball he can have George's spot if he gets 2 championships.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Bryce Harper spotting at Q39</p>&mdash; Awful AnnouncingKC (@awfulannouncKC) <a href="https://twitter.com/awfulannouncKC/status/1126653624640081921?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 10, 2019</a></blockquote>
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