It is probably important to remember that Mike Matheny has nothing in the way of real power for the Kansas City Royals right now. As I have it from the Royals press release, Matheny will be a special advisor for player development, which I know has many who observed his Cardinals tenure in stitches. He […]
Author: Colby Wilson
Building a Non-Contender
The Royals are actually, from a practical standpoint, in good position heading into the offseason. For a team that blew past 100 losses, they have actual big-league caliber ballplayers in many spots. I know that probably sounds pretty snarky and mean-spirited, but it’s true: if the Royals took the team that finished the season, lock […]
RECAP: Fin.
Ned Yost wanted to get Eric Skoglund another start to end the season, and he wanted him to do it against a quality opponent. Not a bad little idea Ned had. That’s actually the kind of Nedism that probably earned him at least one more year at the helm, as his extension was announced prior […]
RECAP: Salvy walks off as Royals take opener against Cleveland
I know the Cleveland Indians played Francisco Lindor, Jose Ramirez and a bunch of dudes they found hanging around the team hotel prior to the game, but still—the Royals played them to a draw for nine innings, with what’s likely to be a great many of the guys who will be counted on to populate […]
RECAP: There will be no loss record
Playing in the bandbox at Cincinnati, Good Heath Fillmyer showed up and stifled the Cincinnati Reds. There will be no franchise record for losses. There are a lot of dichotomies in this statement. Fillmyer has been all over the board at times this season, and he struck out a career-high nine batters—one short of the […]
RECAP: Keller Krushes Tigers in finale
I don’t think Brad Keller is or should win Rookie of the Year, but when you look at his body of work it’s not hard to see where the well-spring of support comes from. Shohei Ohtani gets the headlines, and if his arm had cooperated this wouldn’t even be a discussion. Gleyber Torres and Miguel […]
RECAP: The Royals are bad. But they are not Detroit bad
I know we spend a lot of time in this space waxing poetic about the foibles of the 2018 Kansas City Royals, and that’s partly because the Royals have been pretty bad all year and partly because I’ve always been encouraged to write what I know and I’ve now done [quick math] holy crap, 77 […]
RECAP: Who Is Heath Fillmyer?
Is Heath Fillmyer good? Well, that’s a complicated question. He was really good against the Pirates on Wednesday night. He was pretty good against Baltimore back on Sept. 1, but put a huge asterisk there—my one-year old could pitch short relief against Baltimore if we could figure out which hand is his dominant hand yet. […]
RECAP: Yeah, the bullpen again
Ryan O’Hearn is just a big ol’ American tater-mashing galoot and I love him. I don’t know what Ryan O’Hearn’s big-league career is going to look like, and neither does anyone else. He could blossom into a fringe All-Star or spend most of his 30s in South Korea. I try not to get carried away […]
RECAP: Jakob Junis is not a happy birthday boy
Typically, surrendering five runs and 11 hits are not a winning recipe for a starting pitcher. Usually, those same starters also don’t get to ply their wares deep into the seventh inning as well. But those starters are not usually facing the Kansas City Royals who, recent successes aside, have made a habit of gifting […]