*** Official 2014 AL Champion Royals Off-season Repository ***

[Anyong Bluth]

So, I didn't see a thread started, and all the others are pretty maxed out to the point where a fresh thread would be needed soon either way.

Time to share the run up to ST & and another memorable year in the making!

[Saul Good]

Pitchers shouldn't be allowed to vary the speeds of their pitches by more than 5 MPH, either...and don't get me started on putting spin on the ball.

[alnorth]

If the powers that be want to increase the offense, I would much rather we lower the mound or move it slightly further from the plate.

The biggest problem the game has right now is too many strikeouts, and eliminating large defensive shifts is not going to help with that.

[TomBarndtsTwin]

The game of baseball has never been better. (Minus long TV delays and instant replay)


Any rule tweaking to attempt to affect the strategy that's inherent to the game is just plain stupid.

[Saul Good]

I agree. Baseball is in a really good place right now.

[ChiefsCountry]

To me it doesn't seem to be pitchers taking forever on the pitch count, its the batters stepping out and taking time after every pitch it seems. Eliminate some of that bullshit and the game will speed up.

[WhawhaWhat]

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

To me it doesn't seem to be pitchers taking forever on the pitch count, its the batters stepping out and taking time after every pitch it seems. Eliminate some of that bullshit and the game will speed up.

That ****ing David Ortiz dog and pony show after every pitch is infuriating.

[Unsmooth-Moment]

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

To me it doesn't seem to be pitchers taking forever on the pitch count, its the batters stepping out and taking time after every pitch it seems. Eliminate some of that bullshit and the game will speed up.

This. It's pretty annoying when they drag this out.

[TomBarndtsTwin]

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

To me it doesn't seem to be pitchers taking forever on the pitch count, its the batters stepping out and taking time after every pitch it seems. Eliminate some of that bullshit and the game will speed up.

This.

But pitchers do spend way too much time getting signs sometimes. Just make up your damn mind and throw the pitch already.

[ChiefsCountry]

Guess Denny Matthews and me are on the same page about the batters.
http://www.foxsports.com/kansas-city...-strike-012615

[Valiant]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

I'm sure the projections are right about a few things. I don't expect a huge improvement from the Royals offense next year, and I think it's pretty damn likely that one of Escobar or Cain (or both) regress offensively. Which is fine as long as they don't both go 2013 Escobar and continue to provide outstanding defense at premium positions.

But baseball, unlike gambling, can't be broken completely down into a math equation. You can gain a tremendous amount of insight using statistical analysis, but it just isn't perfect when it comes to this game.

The Royals' Danny Duffy is a great example of this split, if you examine his 2014 season. Someone who didn't watch him pitch and looks only at the data from the numbers would say he was an incredibly lucky pitcher in 2014 who is due for a regression.

But someone who looks at his numbers AND watched him pitch (And I think I saw every pitch Danny threw this season... his starts were can't-miss watching for me), you see some things the numbers have a hard time showing you. By watching Duffy, you can see how much weak contact he induces, and how many infield pop-ups and lazy fly balls he was getting. You CAN look at IFFB%, which tracks the percentage of fly balls allowed that are infield flys, and use statistics to see he gets a lot of guys to pop up. But there isn't a great statistical measure to find the number of lazy fly balls batters were hitting.

You also see a guy who is chasing strikeouts less than in the past and relying more on throwing quality strikes with his fastball and getting outs that way.

Normalizing statistical rates like HR rate, HR/FB, etc. for Duffy is what is making the projections for his 2015 numbers fall so much from last season. The math may be sound, but that doesn't mean it perfectly reflects reality.

Normalizing HR rates and HR/FB rates is also what is jamming basically the Royals entire pitching staff, which is where the big gap in projected performance comes from. Again, with 81 games at the K and many more division road games in parks that also suppress home runs (Target Field, Comerica Park), that's a case of math making sense on its own but having a good chance of not matching reality.

I can see some step back from the Royals pitching staff and wouldn't be surprised at all if that happens. There are a few key fracture points that are very important (Chief among them Ventura and Duffy continuing to build upon their promise, and the three vets continuing to be dependable innings eaters who let the Royals defense do its thing and keep the Royals in games).

I just think it isn't as severe as the pure statistical analysis would show.

I am also of the belief most of the players should do better batting this year. We had some horrible stretches. Luckily pitching saved us.

[lewdog]

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

To me it doesn't seem to be pitchers taking forever on the pitch count, its the batters stepping out and taking time after every pitch it seems. Eliminate some of that bullshit and the game will speed up.

LO CAIN SAYS "BUT MY BATTING GLOVES GET LOOSE JUST FROM HOLDING THE BAT EVERY PITCH!!!"

[OmahaChief]

Originally Posted by lewdog

LO CAIN SAYS "BUT MY BATTING GLOVES GET LOOSE JUST FROM HOLDING THE BAT EVERY PITCH!!!"

In my opinion I think all of this batter stepping out, adjusting the gloves, spitting on the gloves or whatever is is Hey Look at me time for these guys. I hate it.

[58-4ever]

Originally Posted by OmahaChief

In my opinion I think all of this batter stepping out, adjusting the gloves, spitting on the gloves or whatever is is Hey Look at me time for these guys. I hate it.

Remember Nomar's routine? That had to be the worst in MLB history.

[KChiefs1]

Originally Posted by OmahaChief

In my opinion I think all of this batter stepping out, adjusting the gloves, spitting on the gloves or whatever is is Hey Look at me time for these guys. I hate it.

That slows the game down more than anything else.

Watch an old game & you can see the difference.

[58kcfan89]

Originally Posted by 58-4ever

Remember Nomar's routine? That had to be the worst in MLB history.

Pedrioa's is pretty ****ing awful, too. Goddamn Red Sox.