For much of the 2016 season, it’s been difficult to watch Royals starting pitchers. They’ve allowed home runs at a ridiculous rate, and overall, they have a 4.80 ERA, which is good enough for 12th in the league. That ranking would look much better if the league had 45 teams, but because there are 15 […]
Author: Hunter Samuels
How Danny Duffy Turned a Weakness into a Strength
Coming into the 2016 season, Danny Duffy was a man without a changeup. That’s not completely accurate, as Duffy did possess a changeup, but as I wrote several months ago, it’s been terribly inconsistent at best, and downright terrible at worst. In that article, I suggested the lefty’s time in the bullpen could give him […]
The Inconsistency Within Hosmer’s Inconsistency
During last night’s broadcast, Rex Hudler was discussing Eric Hosmer‘s struggles, and he said something that made me stop and contemplate it. Granted, Hudler says something that makes me stop and contemplate on basically a nightly basis, but this one was exclusively baseball-related. He was talking about Hosmer’s two-strike approach, and how he was using […]
The Royals Have a Contact Problem, Relatively Speaking
During the Royals’ run of success as one of the best teams in baseball over the last three seasons, they’ve earned a reputation as a team that avoids strikeouts. Between 2013-2015, Royals’ batters struck out in just 16.5 percent of their plate appearances, easily the lowest rate in baseball. The next best team in that […]
The Two Most Important Royals in the Second Half
If the playoffs started today, the Royals would be sitting at home. Granted, the playoffs don’t start today, and most of the Royals are still sitting at home. Also, if the playoffs started today, several teams would not be able to field a full squad of players, because a bunch of them are hanging out […]
Cheslor Cuthbert’s Predictable Turnaround
Thanks to the Indians recent stretch of baseball, the Royals find themselves eight games back in the Central. They aren’t out of it, of course, but it’s been tough to keep pace with a club that won approximately 24 of its last 17 games. Despite the division standings, the Royals are right in the thick […]
Another Key to Duffy’s Dominance
There are many things Danny Duffy is doing well this season. For instance: pitching. Duffy has been the Royals’ best starter since joining the rotation, and he’s been putting up some numbers alongside ace-caliber pitchers. He’s struck out 30.2 percent of the batters he’s faced as a starter this year. The only pitchers with at […]
Alcides Escobar’s Newest Challenge
Back in April, I wrote about the poor start to Alcides Escobar‘s season, and how Jarrod Dyson’s presence on the basepaths could lead to more fastballs on which Escobar could feast. Things haven’t gone quite as planned, however, with Paulo Orlando receiving more playing time in right field, and a combination of batters in the […]
RECAP: Royals 16, Tigers 5; Lots of Runs, Lots of Fun
The Royals won their seventh game in their last eight tries, punishing their division foe for the second consecutive night. Offensively, it was an impressive display all around. Whit Merrifield continued his ascent to baseball immortality. Kendrys Morales continued to crawl his way out of a subterranean slump. And the rest of the offense did their […]
Digging Deeper into the Royals’ Road Woes
Earlier this week, our own Darin Watson pointed out how well the Royals rotation has pitched within the confines of Kauffman Stadium, along with how dreadfully they’ve pitched when leaving Kansas City. If you haven’t already read it, you should definitely click the above link and check out the numbers. If you have read it, […]