Comments on: Joakim Soria And The Blame Game http://kansascity.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/09/09/joakim-soria-and-the-blame-game/ Just another Baseball Prospectus Local Sites site Mon, 19 Aug 2019 20:28:35 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1 By: Kansas City - Baseball Prospectus http://kansascity.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/09/09/joakim-soria-and-the-blame-game/#comment-3428 Thu, 15 Sep 2016 16:00:31 +0000 http://kansascity.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=10007#comment-3428 […] some of that is Joakim Soria, who, of late, has been bad in key situations. Some of that is a bad July, and some […]

]]> By: Scott McKinney http://kansascity.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/09/09/joakim-soria-and-the-blame-game/#comment-3267 Fri, 09 Sep 2016 16:04:15 +0000 http://kansascity.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=10007#comment-3267 Soria’s 2016 season points to why it’s often a bad idea to sign a reliever to a big, multi-year contract. Their performance is highly variable. And now the Royals are locked into more guaranteed years, and pitchers don’t usually get better with age.

This was a poor signing, not because Soria is bad, but because it made zero sense to devote resources to a strength, leaving fewer resources to deal with weaknesses. This is doubly true when it’s hard to know what you’re going to get from a reliever in any season. Expect more up-and-down from Soria in the remaining years of his contract.

]]> By: Kansas City - Baseball Prospectus http://kansascity.locals.baseballprospectus.com/2016/09/09/joakim-soria-and-the-blame-game/#comment-3266 Fri, 09 Sep 2016 15:58:22 +0000 http://kansascity.locals.baseballprospectus.com/?p=10007#comment-3266 […] After the last loss, it seems that Royals social media was determined to find a scapegoat and determined to make it Joakim Soria. And I get it. When Soria has been bad, he’s not only been bad, but he’s been detrimental to the team. He’s given up leads like it’s going out of style. He’s fifth on the team in losses in spite of throwing just the eighth most innings. I thought Soria would work his way out of it after some early season struggles that seemed to be a little on the unlucky side. Boy, was I wrong. That’s not to say he hasn’t had his moments because he has been very good at times, too. Still, the way he’s pitched is unacceptable. And even so, to say he’s the number one reason the Royals aren’t in line to make the playoffs is simplifying the issues too much for my taste. It’s easy to see the numbers and make that connection, but he is just one of many issues this team has faced this year. They’ve lost their number two and number three hitters for large chunks, if not most, of the season. They lost their closer. They lost their left fielder and when he’s played, he’s mostly been a remarkably bad hitter. Their first baseman is maybe an average hitter this year. They led off Alcides Escobar for months with a sub-.300 OBP. The fifth starter spot in the rotation has been an unmitigated disaster. It all contributes. It’s easy to see Soria turning wins into losses and think he’s the problem, but it’s too long of a season for one person to be the I’ve probably been a Soria apologist at times this year, but that’s not what’s happening here. That’s just saying there’s plenty of blame to go around. Darin Watson has more on this. […]

]]>