*** Official 2016 Royals Repository, Version 1 ***

[duncan_idaho]

And so it begins: The Royals' second straight attempt to repeat as AL Champions, and first attempt to repeat as World Series champions.

In this thread, we'll track all non-gameday action. Roster moves, prospect news, etc.

I'll start the thread as usual, with division rivals thoughts. I still like KC to repeat as AL Central champs. Here's how I see the rest of it shaking out:

2) Indians - they have the pitching (and seem to have at least semi-Kluber-ed Cody Anderson, who added 3 mph to his fastball in the offseason). Will the offense hold up? I think this is a team that ends up looking a lot like the 2014 Royals. Francisco Lindor will solidify their IF defense over the full season, and is a help with the bat. I think this club is still a year away from really breaking through - the offense still has a lot of question marks - but I like them to nab a wildcard spot.

Key Player(s): Michael Brantley. When Brantley returns - and how he hits when he does - will be critical to the Indians' ability to be good enough on offense.

Jason Kipnis. Kipnis has been an enigmatic offensive performer for the past several years. If he finally has a good offensive campaign from start to finish, Cleveland could make real noise.

Something of interest to me: For all the acclaim the Twins' farm system gets, I look at the Indians young players, and would much rather have them. Brad Zimmer is going to be a very good all-around CF. Clint Frazier has huge power potential and should arrive soon (2017). Lindor is a young stud.

3) Tigers - Old and dependent on a few stars. If Verlander and Sanchez are healthy and effective, they will be playoff contenders. I'm sure JD Martinez will continue to hit roid-aided bombs. I'm also pretty sure Victor Martinez's days as a huge power threat are gone.

Key player: Justin Verlander. Detroit people would have you believe he figured out how to succeed without his big fastball in September of last year. If that's true, and he returns to dominant form, Detroit will likely contend again.

Something of interest to me: Will Jose Iglesias stay healthy and not try to kill teammates in the dugout? His defense makes the whole group much better.

4) Twins - They won't lead the division or be in playoff contention for as long this year, but Minnesota will avoid the cellar.

Key Player: Miguel Sano. Huge power, huge K rate. Can he continue to drive the ball and be a plus offensive player? Probably needs to cut that 35 percent K percentage to do so.

Something of interest to me: Will teams challenge Sano inside with hard stuff? Working away, away, just lets his power play up. Also - will Mike Berardino continue to be the biggest beat writer homer in MLB?

5) White Sox - still managed by a shitty manager who can't control his clubhouse (The blame for the LaRoche thing really should fall on him, not the GM). Still have a shitty overall defense and a lot of douchebags on the team. They will once again look better on paper than they actually perform.

Key player: Carlos Rodon. The White Sox need Rodon to take a big step forward to make an actual move this season. He's got the talent...

And, as always, here are the prospects.

Duncan’s Top 20 for 2016:

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. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. 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.
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.

Spoiler!

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.
18. Eric Skoglund, LHP: Skoglund had a nice year at Wilmington. I'm skeptical because his K rate is lower than I like to see for a guy at A+ - just 7/9, and usually guys lose a strikeout or two/9 as they move up the chain from there - but he has excellent control, walking 1.17 batters/9. 6-7 lefties with great control who get lots of ground balls - like Skoglund - have a chance to overcome bad K rates.
19. Ryan O'Hearn, 1B/LF: A lefty stick with power, O'Hearn was a savings signing as an 8th round pick, but a change in his approach increased his power - while increasing his K rate. After Vallot, probably the best pure power prospect in the Royals system.
20. Josh Staumont, RHP: I was terrified of this guy's control problems, and he walked nearly a batter an inning in his pro debut (32 BB in 40 1/3 IP). Staumont's nasty, nasty stuff (plus-plus fastball, plus slider) could make him a very good late-inning reliever who strikes out more than a batter an inning, if he can develop average or slightly below-average control. If he really masters the control, you're talking about a potential Greg Holland type, but that's a TALL task.

[Deberg_1990]

Roof is open tonight!!

Where's the official thread?

[Coach]

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/now-k...st-impossible/

Pretty obviously, it’s too early to learn much from our 2016 regular-season sample sizes. In most cases, we just need to be patient until the sample sizes grow, over the course of weeks or months. We go through this every single year, and it’s just part of re-transitioning into the baseball routine. But what if we could work backwards? Take Kelvin Herrera. What if we could increase his sample size by including last year’s playoffs? It sounds weird, but I’ll tell you why it’s possible: Just in time for the playoffs, Herrera started doing something. He’s continued that something into 2016, and it’s made him unfair.

I’m not even deterred by the fact that I wrote about this last October. I generally don’t like repetition, but it’s a new year, now, and Herrera’s keeping it up. So I won’t stop until more people understand that Kelvin Herrera now possesses a reliable breaking ball, and that goes with his blazing heater and high-80s changeup. The breaker comes in around 81 – 84, and based on what we can see, this is turning Herrera into a monster.



Herrera’s story is similar to that of many relievers. He has a good fastball, and he’s long had a good second pitch. Where, for many relievers, the second pitch is a slider, for Herrera it’s been his changeup. Regardless, the problem was finding a third weapon worth a damn. Herrera used to dabble with a low-80s curveball. Last year, he messed around with a high-80s slider. They weren’t quite what he was looking for. Then the 2015 playoffs began.

I’m not exaggerating when I say this happened almost overnight: The ALDS started, and Herrera revealed this hybrid breaking ball. It’s like he was saving it for the playoffs. And he didn’t just flash it from time to time; he went to it consistently, and he’s continued to do so early in 2016. If you look through Herrera’s history, it’s as if he blended his old curve and his newer slider into a breaking-ball compromise. This one, he seems to like, with a curveball’s speed and horizontal break, and something more like a slider’s drop.

In last year’s regular season, Herrera threw 76% heaters, 18% changeups, and 6% breaking balls. Since the start of the playoffs, he’s thrown 65% heaters, 10% changeups, and 25% breaking balls. Just a third of those breaking balls have been thrown in two-strike counts, so Herrera has used them in all situations. This is a high-octane reliever, now with a starter’s repertoire. Batters have to be aware of three different speeds, and the numbers reflect how difficult that is.

Remember when Herrera really seemed to emerge in 2014? He struck out 22% of his opponents.

Remember how Herrera kept it up through 2015? He struck out 22% of his opponents.

Then came the breaking ball. This is where I’m going to combine the sample sizes. Since the start of last year’s playoffs, Herrera has struck out 39% of his opponents. He’s also, for whatever it’s worth, trimmed his walks. He’s just been better. It was always a little strange that Herrera didn’t punch more batters out. Now he is, and the Royals bullpen is getting additional help it didn’t even need.

It’s not always about executing every single pitch right away. Every pitch doesn’t have to be a strike; every pitch just needs to set up another pitch. The way Herrera’s repertoire now works together, hitters have more to think about, with an extraordinary fastball but also a breaker at about 84% the speed. And it’s not like the changeup has gone away. It’s just used a little less, just like the fastball. Something had to give to make room for this slurve, and it looks like the slurve is going to stick around. I’m not sure why it wouldn’t.

The Royals have loved Kelvin Herrera for a while. His fastball made him hard to hit square, and every so often, he’d work in this unhittable changeup. Herrera first thrived in the postseason spotlight with two pitches. Then he came back and thrived with three, and to this day he’s got the same three going. I don’t know if we can say he’s as good as Wade Davis, but I do know that the Royals don’t have to pick.

[Prison Bitch]

Starting pitching has been as good as I can ever remember, it's early obv and they won't end the season with 1985 numbers but man. If we have any rotation at all this year we are going to the playoffs

[BWillie]

Originally Posted by CoMoChief

Sling to carry the Fox sports midwest channel.

switching to Sling, dropping Communistcast - will get internet w/ my roku2 and do it that way
tiired of paying 130/mo

I don't get why so many are dropping cable & satellite. If you are not a sports fan, I guess I get it but there is so much sports programming to go around now. Its fantastic. Night and day compared to just a couple decades ago. I can watch every single Royals game. Everysingle KU game. Even crappy Ku ootball games and get all the post game & pregame. Plus the addition of the DVR and MLB, NBA, NFL networks etc. Its never been a better time to be a sports fan. $130 a month is a great deal if u ask me

[Mother****erJones]

Originally Posted by Great Expectations

White sox have all they're hitters and there pitchers playing well.

Lol ya sorry typo. sue me!

[Mother****erJones]

Originally Posted by Dartgod

Settle down their. It was just a typing air or.

****ing autocorrect

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

Starting pitching has been as good as I can ever remember, it's early obv and they won't end the season with 1985 numbers but man. If we have any rotation at all this year we are going to the playoffs

This is the best situation a starting pitcher could ever ask for. We play in a pitcher friendly ballpark. We have as good a defense as the game has ever seen at both taking away hits and erasing them on the base paths. Then, we've got a bullpen that allows a pitcher to go max effort because we only need 5 2/3 innings. It's incredible.

[WilliamTheIrish]

Originally Posted by BWillie

I don't get why so many are dropping cable & satellite. If you are not a sports fan, I guess I get it but there is so much sports programming to go around now. Its fantastic. Night and day compared to just a couple decades ago. I can watch every single Royals game. Everysingle KU game. Even crappy Ku ootball games and get all the post game & pregame. Plus the addition of the DVR and MLB, NBA, NFL networks etc. Its never been a better time to be a sports fan. $130 a month is a great deal if u ask me

I get all that programming paying only 52$ per month for Internet. I can find a link to any live sports with my firestick. Last night, the Royals streamed in HD to my TV through a link.

I'll never pay a cable service again.

[WhawhaWhat]

Originally Posted by BWillie

I don't get why so many are dropping cable & satellite. If you are not a sports fan, I guess I get it but there is so much sports programming to go around now. Its fantastic. Night and day compared to just a couple decades ago. I can watch every single Royals game. Every single KU game. Even crappy Ku football games and get all the post game & pregame. Plus the addition of the DVR and MLB, NBA, NFL networks etc. Its never been a better time to be a sports fan. $130 a month is a great deal if u ask me

People have found a way to watch most of that without paying. I have logins for Fox Sports Go, watchESPN and HBO Go without having to pay for cable. With the Kodi app they have sports add-ons that have live game streams plus archived games that you can watch anytime you want.

[Great Expectations]

Why are we underdogs with Eddie pitching against the A's?

[Saul Good]

This is the seventh time in ten games we've been underdogs.

[Bowser]

Originally Posted by Great Expectations

Why are we underdogs with Eddie pitching against the A's?

Because we're only going to win 72 games this year. Haven't you heard?

[sedated]

Originally Posted by WhawhaWhat

People have found a way to watch most of that without paying. I have logins for Fox Sports Go, watchESPN and HBO Go without having to pay for cable.

Those passwords are linked to paid accounts, right? So you do need cable, you are just letting someone else pay for it.

[kcfanXIII]

Originally Posted by sedated

Those passwords are linked to paid accounts, right? So you do need cable, you are just letting someone else pay for it.

I don't get why people give out their log in so cheap skates don't have to pay. If you want to help with my bill, I will share my info. Until then, you can go to the bar like every other cord cutter around. Having said that, I'm going to look into sling, simply because I'm tired of a Uverse bill that is the size of a car payment...

[Fansy the Famous Bard]

Originally Posted by Bowser

Because we're only going to win 72 games this year. Haven't you heard?

Only 65 left to go!