BPKC Hitter of the Day: Manny Olloque 4-5 2-2b, HR, 3 RBI

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Austin Cox 5 IP 3 H 1 R 1 ER 0 BB 9 K 2-3 GO-FO 75p/52k

Greensboro Grasshoppers 11 Lexington Legends 10 F/11

The Legends built a big lead and received a quality start from young Yefri Del Rosario but the bullpen was unable to hang on to the lead in an extra-innings loss. The two teams slugged five home runs in the first five innings of this one with Manny Olloque breaking up the scoreless tie in the second with a three-run home run. Following a pair of solo efforts by Greensboro in the third inning, the Legends countered with a pair of home runs by Seuly Matias and Sebastian Rivero during a five-run inning that gave Lexington an 8-2 lead. That lead was built thanks to Del Rosario’s best outing since joining the club as the right-hander tossed six innings with the two solo home runs allowed among his five hits while striking out eight with just one walk. The bullpen of Collin Snider and Tad Ratliff couldn’t match Yefri’s outing with the two pitchers giving up six runs over the final two innings to send the game into extras. In the tenth, the two teams exchanged two runs innings before Greensboro scored a run in the eleventh that Lexington couldn’t counter in the loss.

Seuly Matias: 2-6 HR, 2K
Brewer Hicklen: 1-4 R, 2b, 2 RBI, BB
Yefri Del Rosario: 6 IP 5 H 2 R 2 ER 1 BB 8 K 2-4 GO-FO 84p/59k

Lynchburg Hillcats 4 Wilmington Blue Rocks 0

The Wilmington lineup was dominated by the Indians Eli Morgan as the Indians right-hander spun six innings of three hit ball while striking out 10 hitters. Wilmington starter Ofreidy Gomez kept pace with five shutout innings before a four run sixth handed him and his team a loss. Three consecutive singles started that frame before a bases loaded walk and a throwing error by Emmanuel Rivera opened the door to the multiple run inning. The Rocks failed to threaten the rest of the way in defeat.

Gabe Cancel: 0-4 3K
Emmanuel Rivera: 0-4 2K
Blake Perkins: 1-3 SB, Sac

Corpus Christi Hooks 9 NW Arkansas Naturals 2

The Naturals and Foster Griffin jumped out to a 2-0 lead through four and a half innings with an Alex Liddi solo home run and an RBI groundout in the fifth. Unfortunately, the lefty who fought his control most of the outing walked a pair before a single and a two out bases loaded double put him in a position to lose. The Astros Double-A squad piled on from there scoring six runs over the next three innings off the NW Arkansas pen to put the game away.

Foster Griffin: 4.2 IP 4 H 3 R 3 ER 5 BB 8 K 0-5 GO-FO 105p/58k
Khalil Lee: 0-4 K
Elier Hernandez: 1-4

Memphis Redbirds 4 Omaha Storm Chasers 3

With Glenn Sparkman in Kansas City, the Chasers were forced to use a bullpen start for another game. Each team collected nine hits, each of which had two with runners in scoring position, but Memphis did a tad more with their hits. The Cardinals Triple-A squad doubled in a run in the first inning before getting a run scoring single in the first inning to take a 2-0 lead. After the Lopez’s, Jack and Nicky, drove in runs with singles in the second inning the teams remained tied until the sixth. In that frame, Josh Staumont gave up a solo home run and a one-out double that was converted into a run with a hit later in the inning gave Memphis a 4-2 lead. The Chasers got within a run with a Billy Burns solo home run and twice put runners in scoring position over the final two innings but failed to push them across in the loss.

Billy Burns: 2-4 HR, BB
Frank Schwindel: 1-4
Nicky Lopez: 1-5 2K

Burlington Royals 4 Greeneville Reds 2

The Royals 5th Round pick, Austin Cox continued his stellar start in Rookie ball despite failing to earn a decision. The lefty worked four perfect innings to start before three singles fell in during the fifth inning to break up his 10.2 innings scoreless streak. Despite that one run, Cox ended his day with 14 swinging strikes among his 52 strikes thrown while striking out nine in that time. The Royals loaded the bases in the sixth, getting a hit by a pitch and a walk to score two runs prior to a pair of runs scoring hits in the seventh to build a 4-1 lead that was enough to earn the win.

Rhett Aplin: 1-3 2R, 2BB
Brhet Bewley: 1-1 3BB, 2 SB
Marlin Willis: 2.2 IP 1 H 1 R 1 ER 2 BB 1 K 5-0 GO-FO 37p/18k

Orem Owls 7 Idaho Falls Chukars 5

Idaho Falls pitchers Jon Heasley and Domingo Pena couldn’t hang on to a 4-1 lead that the offense had handed them, giving up three in the fifth to tie the game before allowing three more in the loss. The Idaho Falls offense had plenty of opportunities with seven hits and six walks but went scoreless from the fourth through eighth innings to fall behind.

Kyle Isbel: 2-3 2 RBI, BB
Reed Rohlman: 2-4 R, 3b, RBI
Jon Heasley: 4.1 IP 5 H 3 R 2 ER 1 BB 5 K

Sunday Boxscores

Monday Probables
NW Arkansas – TBD
Wilmington – Gerson Garabito 3-6 4.05 ERA 1.45 WHIP
Lexington – Carlos Hernandez 5-3 3.76 ERA 1.20 WHIP
Burlington – Elvis Luciano 0-3 8.25 ERA 1.75 WHIP
Suprise – Angel Zerpa 1-2 3.77 ERA 1.05 WHIP

BPKC Hitter of the Day Frank Schwindel 3-4 R, 2b, 2 RBI, BB

BPKC Pitcher of the Day Glenn Sparkman 7 IP 4 H 1 R 0 ER 1 BB 2 K 11-4 GO-FO 105p/74k

Transactions LHP Dan Tillo promoted to Wilmington, LHP Cristian Castillo put on DL.

Salem Red Sox 6 Wilmington Blue Rocks 5

Starter Gerson Garabito’s control issues have been a problem this season with the right-hander regularly giving free baserunners and some hard contact as he struggles with his command in the zone. It was more of the same in this one for the Rocks with the right-hander walking five hitters on the day and allowing plenty of hard contact. The Wilmington offense staked Garabito to a 2-0 lead in the first inning before Garabito allowed a run on a triple and a sacrifice fly. It appeared like Garabito got an inning-ending double play ball but Gabe Cancel dropped the flip from the shortstop leaving both runners safe. With a reprieve in the inning Salem prospect, C. J. Chatham unloaded on a pitch deep over the leftfield wall to give Salem a 4-2 lead. A walk allowed by Garabito in the fifth led to another run before his day ended after six innings. Slumping first baseman Chris DeVito had a big day at the plate for the Rocks with a rbi double in the seventh as part of a three double two run inning and hit a solo home run in the ninth but an insurance home run off Carter Hope had given Salem the insurance they needed an inning prior.

Chris DeVito 2-4 2R, HR, 2b, 2 RBI
Khalil Lee 1-4 RBI
Emmanuel Rivera 1-4 RBI

Springfield Cardinals 1 NW Arkansas Naturals 0

The Naturals ran into a rehabbing buzzsaw as the Cardinals stud pitching prospect Alex Reyes dominated them for seven and two-thirds innings. The Baseball Prospectus #8 overall prospect struckout thirteen Naturals hitters while allowing just a single by Luis Villegas and three walks. The Naturals starter Andres Machado gave up the games only run on a solo home run in the second before finishing five and two-thirds ball with four strikeouts. NW Arkansas was unable to get anything going when Reyes left in the eighth as the Springfield pen finished off the shutout.

Nicky Lopez 0-3 BB, K
Anderson Miller 0-2 BB, SB
Andres Machado 5.2 IP 4 H 1 R 1 ER 3 BB 4 K 7-5 GO-FO 98p/64k

Omaha Storm Chasers 4 Iowa Cubs 2

The Chasers received another solid start from newcomer Glenn Sparkman in the third game of their four-game series with Iowa. The right-hander changed speeds from 90-94 mph with his fastball, controlling it and commanding it as usual while mixing in his low 80s change and curveball to keep hitters off balance. That control and command yielded just two three ball counts against him, walking one hitter on the night while allowing just four hits and one run. The lone run was via a double in the sixth inning followed two-base error after Billy Burns dropped a ball as he tried to avoid colliding with second baseman Jack Lopez. Despite the error, Burns contributed plenty, scoring a pair of runs with a leadoff double in the third inning and another leadoff hit in the fifth. That fifth inning featured a two run double by Frank Schwindel who later scored in the inning as part of a four-hit night. Reliever Josh Staumont struggled in the ninth to finish the game off and was relieved by Brandon Maurer, earning his second save in the process.

Billy Burns 2-4 2R, 2b
Cam Gallagher 2-4 RBI
Josh Staumont 1 IP 3 H 1 R 1 ER 1 BB 1 K 1-0 GO-FO 30p/20k

Saturday Boxscores

Sunday Probables
Omaha – Trevor Oaks 2-3 3.15 ERA 1.35 WHIP
NW Arkansas – Foster Griffin (lhp) 2-4 3.98 ERA 1.44 WHIP
Wilmington Gm1 – Arnaldo Hernandez 4-1 2.97 ERA 1.40 WHIP
Game 2 – Dan Tillo (lhp) 1-1 4.35 ERA 1.23 WHIP
Lexington Suspended Game
Game 2 TBD

BPKC Hitter of the Day: Billy Burns 2-3 2R, HR, 5 RBI, BB, CS (2), SAC

BPKC Pitcher of the Day: Arnaldo Hernandez 5 IP 4 H 0 R 0 ER 2 BB 3 K 6-3 GO-FO 82p/50k

Wilmington Blue Rocks 5 Potomac Nationals 0

The Rocks salvaged the final game of the series with the Nationals with some quality pitching and a big fly from Brandon Downes. Starter Arnaldo Hernandez worked around four hits and a pair of walks in his five innings of work to improve to 2-0. The right-hander was rewarded for his work with a two-run blast by Brandon Downes in the fourth inning of his first game of the year. A Chase Vallot double prior to an Angelo Castellano RBI single pushed the advantage to 3-0. The Rocks added a pair of runs in the seventh, and relievers Vance Tatum and Justin Camp worked the last four innings scorelessly to earn the win.

Rudy Martin: 1-3 R, Bb, SB (14)
Emmanuel Rivera: 3-4 R, RBI
Khalil Lee: 0-4 RBI

Springfield Cardinals 4 NW Arkansas Naturals 3

Starter Scott Blewett had a decent start after a rough one last time out, getting into the seventh inning but failing to finish it off before handing the ball to a struggling reliever. A pair of singles sandwiched around a walk gave Springfield the first-inning lead until the fifth when the Naturals took the lead on an RBI groundout from Nicky Lopez and a wild pitch that scored Alfredo Escalera. The Naturals tacked on another run an inning later with Corey Toups double to right-center that scored Samir Duenez. Up 3-1 into the seventh with one out Blewett gave up three consecutive groundball singles, allowing a run and being forced from the game. Struggling reliever Franco Terrero fresh off a four home run game replaced Blewett and continued his struggles, loading the bases before giving up a sac fly to tie the game. After escaping that inning with the game tied, Terrero would allow his sixth home run in just his eighth appearance, ultimately taking the loss after the Naturals failed to cash in on a one-out triple by Anderson Miller in the ninth.

Scott Blewett: 6.1 IP 6 H 3 R 3 ER 2 BB 4 K 6-2 GO-FO 93p/61k
Nicky Lopez: 0-4 RBI
Corey Toups: 2-4 2b, R, RBI

Omaha Storm Chasers 13 Colorado Springs Sky Sox 9

Omaha and Colorado Springs played another high scoring light affair on Thursday night, this time with Omaha jumping out to a big early lead. The “light hitting” part of the offense was carrying the big sticks early in this one with Humberto Arteaga doubling in a pair before Billy Burns hit a three-run home run. A Burns RBI single in the fifth pushed Omaha’s run total to ten before Frank Schwindel’s second home run in as many days tacked on three additional runs. Starter Heath Fillmyer could only make it through four innings in the light air, allowing five runs in that time to snap his scoreless streak at 11.1 innings. Reliever Josh Staumont was excellent in his two innings, striking out five against just two hits allowed to earn the win while Mike Broadway earned the save with a run allowed in the ninth.

Josh Staumont: 2 IP 2 H 0 R 0 ER 0 BB 5 K 1-0 43p/27k
Hunter Dozier: 2-5 2R, 2b, 3K
Ryan O’Hearn: 3-4 2R, 2b, BB

Thursday Boxscores

Friday Probables
Omaha – Clay Buchholz 1-0 0.82 ERA 0.82 WHIP
NW Arkansas Gm1 – Emilio Ogando 2-1 5.14 ERA 1.71 WHI{
Gm 2 – Glenn Sparkman 1-1 3.95 ERA 1.24 WHIP
Wilmington – Cristian Castillo 1-1 7.00 ERA 1.89 WHIP
Lexington – Dan Tillo 0-0 1.96 ERA 0.98 WHIP

Still, it’s not difficult to notice a trend on Ned Yost’s lineup cards through just four games into the Cactus League season. This is the card from the opener.

Today’s lineup pic.twitter.com/03xlex3i94

— Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) February 24, 2018

This is the lineup the Royals rolled out on Tuesday.

Royals lineup. pic.twitter.com/8xIfUr4Q46

— Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) February 27, 2018

It’s not about who is in the lineup or where someone is batting. This is about what’s missing. Namely, the presence of more than one left-handed bat.

With the departures of Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Brandon Moss this is a lineup that leans heavily to the right.

Last summer the Royals sent a left-handed hitter to the plate 2,515 times. (That’s a tally that includes switch hitters batting from the left side.) Eliminating pitchers from the total because who really wants to see those guys swing the bat, the number drops to 2,506 plate appearances by left-handed hitters.

It’s a simple table, but one that underscores the issue Yost and the Royals will have constructing a balanced lineup for the upcoming season. The franchise has lost four of the top five players when it comes to plate appearances from the left side. To put it in starker terms, the Royals have lost 74.2 percent of their left-handed plate appearances from one year ago.

Roster churn happens, so this isn’t necessarily a big deal. Except the Royals haven’t moved to replace any of those plate appearances.

Sure, there have been moves. They added left-handed bats in minor league free agents Cody Asche, Tyler Collins and Ryan Goins. All three are in camp as non-roster invitees. The Royals have spoken highly of Collins in recent days as an option in the outfield. No matter how much the club loves his toughness, his career .235/.299/.380 with a .236 TAv make him a difficult option to envision. Asche is in camp after being cut loose by the White Sox. He’s moved between third base and left field and has played some in right and at first. His versatility could make him palatable, but his career high TAv of .260 was posted four years ago. Goins has the worst career TAv of the three at an abysmal .217, but seemed for a moment he could land a backup spot. Then the Royals inexplicably spent money to bring back Alcides Escobar.

The most promising of the new left-handed bats is their most recent addition, Michael Saunders. Saunders hasn’t logged an inning of his big league career on the infield and last played center in 2014. If the Royals are serious about seeing what the kids can do, it would reason they are looking at handing maximum playing time to Jorge Bonifacio and Jorge Soler between the non-Alex Gordon corner outfield spot and designated hitter. It’s difficult to see where the 31 year old Saunders fits into this roster jigsaw puzzle.

The last three names from the table above are all switch hitters. Adalberto Mondesi figured to get a long look at shortstop before the return of Escobar. Now, he’s fighting for limited at bats up the middle. He’s off to a torrid start to the spring, but you know, Arizona. Torres picked up a couple of starts last season when Whit Merrifield was moved to the outfield and remains an underwhelming option with the bat. Billy Burns didn’t start a game for the Royals last year and hit .285/.369/.328 in 414 plate appearances in Omaha. The on base percentage looks promising until you realize in 899 big league PAs he owns a .308 OBP and .241 TAv.

You can see from the Flanagan tweets above there are other names listed in red. Donnie Dewees, Samir Duenez, Nicky Lopez, Ryan O’Hearn are, for one reason or another, long shots to log major league time this summer. In his prospect guide (buy it here for only $5!) Clint Scoles has Dewees listed as the Royals 15th best prospect. Duenez is 20 and O’Hearn is 27. The inventory is there, but their impact would be on par with the non-roster invitees listed above. Lopez is ranked seventh, and is the most promising of the bunch, but is still at least a year away. Besides, he’s a middle infielder. Escobar, you know.

Of course, we’re just four games into the exhibition schedule. These kinds of problems have ways of solving themselves. Maybe Collins is the answer. Perhaps Gordon could be deemed the best option in center, opening a spot in left for Saunders. Burns is out of options and could get the majority of starts in center. Or Merrifield could move to center, opening a spot for the switch-hitting Mondesi.

Yeah, going back and rereading the previous paragraph it all seems rather far-fetched. It’s difficult to find clarity at the moment, but that’s what Yost will be attempting to do this spring. No matter how the roster dominoes fall, this is a lineup that figures to feature mostly right-handed bats when they break camp at the end of March.

• Because of the slow offseason, the dismantling of the championship club hadn’t really happened yet, even though so many of the guys are no longer on the roster. Now, Lorenzo Cain is officially gone, having agreed to a five year deal for $80 million with his original club, the Milwaukee Brewers. I think it’s a great deal for all parties. Cain gets his money, though he was probably even worth more, but he definitely got his money. The Brewers picked up an elite defensive center fielder the same day they picked up another fantastic outfielder. And the Royals get a first round comp pick. If I’m to understand the collective bargaining agreement (and that’s no guarantee), I believe the Royals are now guaranteed to have the 32nd pick in the draft at worst. If Alex Cobb signs for more than $50 million with not the Rays, they’ll get the 31st pick, but then the Royals pick is next. It’ll be very difficult to see Cain in another uniform, but he accomplished everything he needed to in Royals blue, and he deserves all the praise and thank yous he’s been receiving. It was a lot of fun to watch him patrol center field since 2012, and I’m a little jealous of Brewers fans who now get to watch him every day.
• I still think the current market means the Royals should re-think their plan and maybe spend a little money, but as I’ve been saying all offseason, I really would be interested in seeing the Royals bring home Logan Morrison at the very least. Adding him and a center field option like Carlos Gomez or Jarrod Dyson wouldn’t put the Royals over the top, but it would certainly make them more watchable. Some of the reasons the Royals are interested in Hosmer should actually apply to Morrison in that he would take some pressure off young players as they make their way through the system and to the big leagues. With the market as it is and Morrison’s public desire to play for the Royals, I don’t think it’s crazy to think they can get the player who hit .246/.353/.516 in 2017 for a pretty affordable two or three year deal. And if the Royals really do believe in Samir Duenez or Nick Pratto in the not too distant future, Morrison could be the perfect stopgap. I get the idea that if you’re not going to make the playoffs, you might as well be horrible, but it’s also nice to see some competent baseball, so I’d be all for some incremental improvements that don’t impact the future beyond potential 2019 draft position.
• The Royals unveiled their 2018 promotional items and one that stuck out to me was a Whit Merrifield bobblehead on June 2. Aside from the sad reality that he’s primed to be one of the most marketable players on the team, I have to wonder if that says something about the possibility of him getting moved before the season. There have been a lot of rumors about his availability, but I feel like a bobblehead kind of tells us he isn’t going anywhere. Teams should never worry about things like this, but I have to wonder if they did field offers for him and found that the market wasn’t what they were looking for, so they know they’re going to keep him until at least mid-season. And that would make sense. I think a lot of people believed he was worth more in a trade than I thought was likely given what he is as a player. Maybe the Royals did too, so when they put him out there, the responses weren’t what they wanted. I don’t think the bobblehead is what is going to stop them from trading him, but them not trading him is why there’s a bobblehead. Of course, I’ve been wrong before, but I think there will be at least three more months of Whit as a Royal.
• I mentioned a couple center field options above, but that’s one area where I really hope the Royals do something to bring in a player who can at least be decent out there. The main options of Billy Burns, Paulo Orlando and Bubba Starling are just so bad that it’ll be truly painful to watch. But since 2018 isn’t likely to amount to much, the only option of those three who I think would be truly bad would be Billy Burns. My issue is that, while he’s fast, he’s not good defensively. If the Royals are going to rely on some young pitching this year, I’d much rather they don’t have guys losing outs because their center fielder in a huge park is subpar. At least with Orlando and Starling, you’ll get some good defense to help the pitching staff out. For my money, I’d go get a guy like Gomez or Dyson above or even a Cameron Maybin just to give some competence out there. Heck, even Peter Bourjos wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. The guy did have a .160 ISO last year and is at .141 in his career, so he has at least a bit of pop. Maybe he could be flipped if he has a career year. Basically what I’m saying is that the Royals need to just say no to Billy Burns.

With that outfield, the position player side of the roster looks like it could be good to go. However, if you look at the make-up of the roster, you’ll see a bench that likely includes Drew Butera, Christian Colon, Paulo Orlando and Billy Burns. That’s three right-handed bats with Burns a switch hitter, but he’s a better hitter from the right side. I think the Royals have a big need for a bench player who can hit left-handed. Earlier in the offseason, I was thinking they needed a right-handed bat in the middle of the order, but I think they theoretically accomplished that with Soler.

So there are two places the Royals could look to find that left-handed bat, and they could do both and be just fine. The first is the obvious DH spot where they could use the role to give players half-days off and run with Cheslor Cuthbert, but the more I think about it, the more I wonder if it wouldn’t be a good idea to find out what Pedro Alvarez, Adam Lind or Brandon Moss might want. None of these guys are much more than strong-side platoon bats, but they all provide additional power that the team could use.

The other name, and this is the one that I think makes the most sense to this roster, is Stephen Drew. He hits left-handed, has some pop, and can actually fill in at shortstop, which is something the Royals have lacked over the last few seasons. Last year, he hit .266/.339/.524 with the Nationals. He’s not in any way consistent, but he’d be a nice fit on this team. Yes, they’d have to find something to do with Colon, which likely means they’d get very little for the World Series hero, but what can you do? I think Drew might actually make the most sense of any remaining free agent for the Royals.

To me, the trade for Karns also symbolizes the fact that the rotation appears to be set. I know the Royals have said that Karns would compete for a spot in the rotation and could fit in the bullpen as well (which I agree with), but I have a hard time believing that he won’t be in the rotation when the current competition for the final starter is between Chris Young and Mike Minor. To me, a rotation of Danny Duffy, Ian Kennedy, Yordano Ventura, Jason Vargas and Karns has some decent potential on paper. The odds aren’t in their favor to be the best rotation in the league, but they can certainly do some damage.

I think one of the biggest impacts of the move is it allows Matt Strahm to at least begin the season in the bullpen. He’s definitely not a sure thing, but what we saw from him over the final two months of the season tells me that the Royals have a real weapon there to pair with Kelvin Herrera at the back of the bullpen. I’ve made my thoughts clear on where I think Strahm should be, and this seems like it allows that to happen. Now, the “sure” things in the bullpen are Herrera, Strahm, Joakim Soria and probably Brian Flynn along with the possibility of Young and Minor.

It’s clear the Royals still need something in the bullpen. They’ve made a slew of minor league signings that could impact that. The most promising one to me is Chris Withrow, who had Tommy John surgery a couple years ago and made it back last year with the Braves. Before the injury, he struck out 71 batters in 56 innings and gave up just 30 hits. That’s some legitimately fantastic stuff in order to get those numbers. If he can continue to progress in his return, he could be the third big weapon out of that bullpen. He’s also a minor league signing, so you can’t just expect that, but at least it’s a real possibility. Bobby Parnell, Brandon League, Al Alburquerque and, ugh, Jonathan Sanchez are some of the other guys who could make an impact for the big club.

I’d still be on the market for a reliever. I thought the Royals might be able to trade Dyson for one who could make an impact, and I guess you could argue they did, but they still need more. The names are the names we’ve talked about forever. Greg Holland and Luke Hochevar probably headline the list. If I had to bet, I’d say one of them comes back, but I guess we’ll have to find out. We’ve talked about the other names as well, but Neftali Feliz, J.P. Howell and Sergio Romo are some names that stand out to me as possibilities.

We’re now just over five weeks away from pitchers and catchers reporting and the Royals roster is beginning to look a little clearer. There are still a few more moves left to make to help round this team out to potentially give them the chance to compete for the postseason and the Central division.

• Sometimes in a bad season, you have to squint to see the silver lining. You see a walk rate up by a point or two and think that’s a good sign for the future. You see a guy maybe taking better reads on fly balls. Whatever it might be, it’s hard to find sometimes. And then other times, it smacks you in the face so hard that you can’t stop smiling about the fact that you got hit. Danny Duffy is the one that just slaps you in the face. He’s the ace of this stuff and looking, at times, like he might be an actual, honest to goodness ace. Personally, I think he’s more of a number two in baseball terms, but what he’s done as a starter has been so impressive. To me, it’s about two things – the innings and the command. Those are both issues he struggled with in the past, and they obviously go hand in hand. His strike throwing gets in the way sometimes as he’s given up a few more homers than you’d like (but still not nearly as many as some of his pals in the rotation), but man is he good. He’s getting deep into games, recording an out in the seventh or later in seven of his last 11 starts. He’s gone at least eight innings three times. He now holds the Royals single game strikeout record. He’s good. This is fun.
• Another bright spot that we could be watching over the next couple months is Matt Strahm. He was called up to take the spot of Wade Davis on the roster, but he’s making a case to stay the rest of the season. He’s been hitting 97 mph with his fastball and looking like a guy who could make an impact in the back of a bullpen. He’s recorded six outs in three appearances with five strikeouts. The Royals clearly love him, given many of the comments about him out of spring training, so I think he’s going to be one of their guys that gets a long look. I still see a starter in Strahm, but I actually kind of like bringing him along in the bullpen for the time being and even to start the year next year. Maybe we can call it the Danny Duffy Plan for him. Or if you prefer, you can see what the Orioles have done with Dylan Bundy this year and call it that. Either way, I think he’s a big leaguer right now and can help this team for the entire season next year.
• I haven’t really talked much about this deal, and even though it’s a week old almost, I’m going to now. I don’t really understand the Brett Eibner for Billy Burns swap. I don’t think it’s a big deal either way because I’m not sure either one of them is a starting outfielder in the big leagues, but I’m also not really sure what the point was. I think an organization so devoid of power really could use a guy like Eibner. That said, there are plenty of corner outfielders in the minors who need playing time, and Eibner has been surpassed on the prospect list by at least Jorge Bonifacio and maybe Hunter Dozier if he get some time in the outfield. Still, I also don’t think Burns is very good. And for those who think he’s a Jarrod Dyson replacement, I could see it, but I also question whether or not the Royals would non-tender or trade Dyson when he’ll be relatively inexpensive next year, is better than Burns and is a key figure in that clubhouse.
• Given the issues with Joakim Soria and the health of the bullpen, I think it’s time to see what youngsters can hack it in the eighth inning and other high leverage situations. I mentioned Strahm above, and I think he’ll get a real shot to fill that role moving forward, but Brian Flynn needs to get an opportunity to show if his solid relief work can extend to the late innings. I’m also interested to see if Andrew Edwards can bring his strikeout stuff to the big leagues and become a bridge guy. There’s simply no reason to carry a guy like Chien-Ming Wang who isn’t even good when the season has become what it’s become. Get the young guys up to pitch. I really think the bullpen can go back to being a dominant strength next year if they’re able to bring back Greg Holland and he’s healthy and put him with Davis, Kelvin Herrera, Strahm, maybe Edwards and use Soria as a middle reliever. Why not find out now?
• I’ve talked about this on Twitter a little bit, but I’m just a little perplexed by what people seem to think of Ian Kennedy. I completely understand being upset with the home runs. He’s given up an awful lot. It’s somewhat to be expected as a fly ball pitcher, but I don’t think anyone expected this much. Even with those, he has a 4.03 ERA with 9.3 strikeouts per nine innings. He’s given up just 7.7 hits per nine and with his decent control, he has a WHIP of 1.19. I think he spends a little too much time in the strike zone with a fastball that isn’t elite, which is what accounts for his homers, but that’s a pretty darn solid line. And for those who don’t think his contract should return “solid” numbers, I invite you to take a look at what solid pitchers are paid. The $14 million AAV he’s set to earn over the life of his contract is very much in line with what solid innings eaters earn. Now, I will say that he hasn’t given the innings I expected, but he’s been much better than many would lead you to believe.