*** Official Royals Repository, Part 4 ***

[duncan_idaho]

In this thread: All things related to the AL Champions.

Duncan's Official Team Record prediction: 90 wins
One month in: Looking strong
All Star Break: Looking strong, probably should adjust up to 93-94 wins.
Duncan's Official Team MVP prediction: Eric Hosmer
One month in: Upstaged by his best friend MIKE MOOTACOS, MAN. Tell us bout your hittin, bro!
All Star Break: Lorenzo Cain starting to run away with this one.

Division Preview
Clearly, overlooking the Twins was a mistake at this point. I still don't believe in that team long-term, but they're starting to get that Magic Season twinkle about them.

Detroit is toast. Garbage rotation beyond Price and Sanchez, Miggy out.

And Cleveland... Cleveland still is dangerous if it ever clicks offensively, because the starting pitching is good enough for them to real off a 15-5 stretch and get right back into the playoff picture.

The Royals will be a division winner IF ...
1) Ventura and Duffy combine for 375+ innings of high-quality work
2) Eric Hosmer delivers on his potential with a FULL season of success rather than bursts
3) The deeper bullpen lessens the critical load on Herrera, Davis and Holland
4) Lorenzo Cain stays healthy
5) Either Alex Rios or Kendrys Morales bounces back to 2013 form

The first of these is clearly not going to happen. The second looked good through the end of May but is now eating Cain's dust (Hosmer has still been improved this year, though, lessening his valley. If he has a really hot second half, he can get right back in it). Item three is definitely the case. Item four should probably be first at this point. And Morales has more than bounced back.

Duncan’s Top 20 for mid-season 2015:

Spoiler!

1. Raul Adalberto Mondesi, SS, BOTH: Tools, tools, tools. RA has tools galore. At his best, he’s an All-Star SS who plays elite D, hits 15-20 HR, swipes 40 bags, and is an ideal 1, 2 or 3 hitter. At his worst, I think he looks a lot like Alcides Escobar. Plate discipline is his biggest challenge at this point, but evaluators are confident that will come with time. Clear No. 1
2. Kyle Zimmer, RHP: He’s pitching again and staying healthy, which is nice. He’s pitcing out of the bullpen to build back his arm strength, which is less nice. But still has that high upside, just a lower floor now. Ideally, the team will use him as a bullpen weapon in September (because he has earned it) and then give him a chance to transition back to starting for 2016.
3. Miguel Almonte, RHP: Still love the body, FB/CH combo. Results aren’t eye popping, but he’s still low enough and early enough in the development to prize those things over performance. Still a solid No. 3 starter upside, and just a year and some change away from potentially being ready to contribute at the MLB level.
4. Jorge Bonifacio, RF, RH: Emilio’s little brother got off to a horrible start in 2015 but has heated up as the season went on. He also is translating BP power to game power for the first time, with 15 HR just past the mid-way point of his season. Despite his disappointing 2014, he has a chance to build his way back into legit prospect status – and still is only 22. Next challenge for him should be Omaha, but that may wait for the start of the 2014 season.
5. Scott Blewett, RHP: Blewett has a nice two –pitch mix already and is off to a strong start. With his size (6-6) and a good fastball/curveball combo, Blewett could eventually turn into a good No. 3 starter, with a MLB-average changeup.
6. Nolan Watson, RHP: The Royals’ 2015 sandwich pick is a polished prep arm who is adding velocity and explosiveness to a good, polished base. Likely to move quickly.
7. Ashe Russell, RHP: The 2015 top pick probably needs more work than Watson, but the upside is really nice. Again, advanced two-pitch mix that will depend on him adding a changeup. Could be a very good NO. 2 if it all adds up.

Spoiler!

8. Bubba Starling, CF, RH: Starling has been up and down this year but put himself back on the map by greatly improving his K rate while also improving across the slash line as a hitter. His defense and baserunning are MLB ready; if Starling can work himself into a league average hitter, he can be a solid MLB regular who plays great D in CF while hitting 15 HR and swiping 20 bags.
9. Balbino Fuenmayor, 1B/DH, RH: The Balbino came out of basically nowhere in 2015 to earn a Futures Game spot. Big power and an improved two-strike approach have turned the late bloomer into a legit prospect. He’s blocked at the MLB level currently by Eric Hosmer and Kendrys Morales, but Fuenmayor’s combination of power hitting and good average/strike zone control makes him intriguing.
10. Cheslor Cuthbert, 3B, RH: Cheslor probably is not going to be the star KC was hoping for when signing him out of Nicaragua, but he does look like he can be a solid reserve for an MLB club. Good defense at 3B paired with a solid plate approach and some gap power plays fine off the bench. He becomes a lot more interesting if they think he can stick as a 2B, which they have experimented with.
11. Chase Vallot, C/DH/1B: I really like Vallot’s power and plate discipline combo. His bat will probably force him from behind the plate, but he’s held his own despite being extremely young for every level he has faced.
12. Alfredo Escalera-Maldonado, OF, RH: Escalera-Maldonado earned a promotion to Wilmington at age 20, which is pretty advanced movement for that age. He’s an athletic outfielder who has shown some plate discipline at an early age, which is encouraging. Doesn’t sound like he can stick in CF long term for KC, but his bat has become one to watch.
13. Pedro Fernandez, RHP: I haven’t seen much of him, but like the reports I’ve heard on his fastball and general makeup. Could become the next Almonte/Mondesi, though he’s more likely to land in the pen than either of them.
14. Elier Hernandez, OF, RH: Elier Hernanez teamed with Escalera-Maldonado in breaking out at Low-A and earning a promotion to Wilmington. It’s still early for this guy – he is just 20 years old – but he doesn’t take walks and hasn’t developed the prodigious power many thought he had the potential for. Still worth watching.
15. Hunter Dozier, 3B, RH: Dozier is reworking his swing mid-season, which generally will cause production to do what his has done: Nose dive. The changes he made entering the season (seemingly geared towards increasing his power production) were a disaster, and now he’s trying to get back to what he used to be. Still looks great and checks most of the scouting boxes, but the performance hasn’t matched, and it almost knocked him out of the list.
16. Christian Binford, RHP: After a breakthrough 2014, Binford struggled mightily at AAA and suffered a demotion. His upside remains similar – a back-end starter who can eat innings – but Binford’s lack of velocity and reliance on command have caught up to him so far.
17. Marten Gasparini, OF, SH: Gasparini is intriguing because of his speed and athleticism. He’s a LOOOOONG ways from the majors and young for his level, but reports on his bat speed, swing, and speed remain positive enough to keep him on the bubble.

[srvy]

When I first read that I thought to myself he is scapegoating a golden glove catcher. But I then remember a book on instinctive archery shooting. Fred Asbell described shooting an arrow to a specific target is like baseball player throwing a ball. You focus and concentrate on the spot you want to hit. The computer in your brain instinctively adjusts for distance and trajectory. Just like a ballplayer throwing to a catchers glove. If your eye moves from the focus point or the target moves at last instant you will miss the spot.

[big nasty kcnut]

I wonder why they dont use drew instead of salvy for cureto

[Blankey]

Because Butera won't (hopefully) see a second of play-off action, and Sal & Cueto need to get on the same page.

[Prison Bitch]

Star cover story today on Royals merch sales.

"For $125 you could own a Johnny Cueto replica royals jersey no. 47. Sales were brisk until the hurler's recent string of poor outings"

[Dartgod]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

Star cover story today on Royals merch sales.

"For $125 you could own a Johnny Cueto replica royals jersey no. 47. Sales were brisk until the hurler's recent string of poor outings"

Why would anyone buy the jersey of a 3 month rental player? I wouldn't pay $25 for one, let alone $125.

[ChiTown]

Originally Posted by big nasty kcnut

I wonder why they dont use drew instead of salvy for cureto

.216/.262/.278 - that's why

[sedated]

Originally Posted by Dartgod

Why would anyone buy the jersey of a 3 month rental player? I wouldn't pay $25 for one, let alone $125.

Depends on if he earns the WS patch to go on it.

[wazu]

Originally Posted by Dartgod

Why would anyone buy the jersey of a 3 month rental player? I wouldn't pay $25 for one, let alone $125.

Some people are rich.

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

Thanks for the Alcides segway. Remember when he + Salvy were moaning about being underpaid and signed to bad contracts? They're both about 1.5fWAR, and entirely based on their elite defense. But hitting? Let's see how awful they are. 942 players took an AB this year.

Runs created, 942 candidates:

942. Omar Outfante -31.2 runs
935. Alcides: -21.1
913. Salvy: -13.3


They are all hot garbage with the stick and some of the very worst offensive players in the game. Outfante lost his job he was so putrid at the plate, and he's good defensively too. The other 2 cry about their pay, but they should shut up and take some more BP.

PB, pretty sure fans complain about Escobar & Salvy's pay, not the players themselves.

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

Oh, if Pedro Grifol is on the case, all is well!

Interesting read. Seems a little fluffish to me, but could make some sense.

Some pitchers are more diva-like than others...

i read this elsewhere the other day, not this article but about this and commented here, i hope they have it figured out

[srvy]

Originally Posted by Blankey

Because Butera won't (hopefully) see a second of play-off action, and Sal & Cueto need to get on the same page.

And if Salvy gets hurt in playoffs who is going to catch? Can Zobrist catch

[Anyong Bluth]

Originally Posted by srvy

And if Salvy gets hurt in playoffs who is going to catch? Can Zobrist catch

Yes, in fact he's able to catch his own pitches, and cut off his own relay throws.

[ReynardMuldrake]

Originally Posted by tk13

Most interesting part of that is that they called the Reds. It's funny because people were mentioning that idea to McCullough and he thought it was silly and would never happen. Why would the Reds help us? I kind of agreed with him, but they actually did it.

Just from a confidence standpoint, if Cueto is more comfortable, that's a start. He's a guy who can definitely go downhill when things aren't going his way.

Most Reds fans I've talked to still like Cueto and want him to do well in the postseason. They think he deserves success and want to see his hard work pay off. Maybe their front office feels the same way.

[Prison Bitch]

Fangraphs WAR, team totals, Royals:

2014: position players 10th, pitchers 11th
2015: 3rd, 15th


Yes, our position players were the 3rd most valuable collection in MLB this year. Dayton Moore: you kicked some ass. Our defensive value declined but our offensive value shot up from 16th in wRC+ to 6th. Now that Outfante has been banished it's likely a legit top-5 offense.


We fell in the pitching rankings but due to our rotation weakening. HDH dropped of course but remember our Pen outside them last year was terrible so our Pen ERA as a whole improved. Had Cueto been here all season our rotation likely matches 2014.


Net: we are significantly better at the plate, still excellent in the field, with a similar rotation and overall (but not backend) Pen. We have a much better team in 2015 no question.

[suzzer99]

The Yankees are such useless turds.