*** 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.

[C3HIEF3S]

Originally Posted by Anyong Bluth

Move?

I am in college (Eastern Illinois) and just moved back here for the school year. None of my roommates are moving in for another two days so things are a little slow right now for me .

[siberian khatru]

Originally Posted by C3HIEF3S

No he is referring to the Royals. He frequently talks about the Royals. I think when we play them he talks to us in a better light than most other teams, which I always assumed is because of his playing career in KC.

Hawk and Steve Stone have Twitter accounts that they go to often for fan questions on-air. One of them today was "what is the Kansas City special you keep referring to?" and Hawk spent an entire half-inning explaining it. His explanation, IIRC, was that KC puts the ball in play more than anyone else and get more bloop hits and broken bat bleeders than any other team. This led him to discussing our low strikeout rates in which he outlined the best and worst teams in the Majors in that regard and why it is the case.

Alrighty then.

[KChiefs1]

Originally Posted by C3HIEF3S

Oh boy.
Cueto and C3HIEF3S on ESPN Monday night at The K. My goodness.

Royals-Tigers on Monday at Kauffman Stadium will be broadcast on ESPN.

— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughStar) August 5, 2015

Great news for me too! He will be pitching on the 15th!

[C3HIEF3S]

Originally Posted by KChiefs1

Great news for me too! He will be pitching on the 15th!

Awesome! That game is on FS1, too, so Cueto and the Royals will be getting a lot of national spotlight in the coming weeks.

[penbrook]

"We like what he's doing. He brings something to the table every day to help us win" - Ned Yost on Omar Infante #Royals

— 610 Sports Radio- KC (@610SportsKC) August 5, 2015

[ReynardMuldrake]

Originally Posted by cosmo20002

That's called a "Denny Matthews/Fred White Special"

Denny Matthews has kind of a deadpan delivery that's the same for ball 2 or an RBI double. Hawk pouts and refuses to say anything, like watching a silent movie.

[KChiefs1]

Originally Posted by penbrook

"We like what he's doing. He brings something to the table every day to help us win" - Ned Yost on Omar Infante #Royals

— 610 Sports Radio- KC (@610SportsKC) August 5, 2015

#Yosted

[kysirsoze]

Decent way to stream national games? I have MLB.TV on my roku, but I don't have cable and don't really want to go to a bar. Front Row failed me last time this happened. I figure I'm in something of a minority so I can imagine it's difficult to find a decent stream.

[Hootie]

Originally Posted by kysirsoze

Decent way to stream national games? I have MLB.TV on my roku, but I don't have cable and don't really want to go to a bar. Front Row failed me last time this happened. I figure I'm in something of a minority so I can imagine it's difficult to find a decent stream.

They don't black out national games ... At least not the ones on ESPN

[kysirsoze]

Originally Posted by Hootie 2.0

They don't black out national games ... At least not the ones on ESPN

That's weird. I am almost sure I had to listen to a national game not long ago. Maybe it was on FS1? Would that cause a blackout?

[C3HIEF3S]

David Glass said he read some of the pre-season projections: "We were predicted to win 72 games this year and we're gonna do it."

— Joel Goldberg (@goldbergkc) August 5, 2015

[cosmo20002]

Originally Posted by C3HIEF3S

Oh boy.
Cueto and C3HIEF3S on ESPN Monday night at The K. My goodness.

Royals-Tigers on Monday at Kauffman Stadium will be broadcast on ESPN.

— Andy McCullough (@McCulloughStar) August 5, 2015

I hate the ESPN and national Fox games. Hud and Ryan may have their irritating quirks, but they know the team. The national guys know what they read up on that afternoon and it's usually obvious when they are pulling stuff out of their ass. People who don't follow the team every day probably don't notice, but it irritates me.

[C3HIEF3S]

Originally Posted by cosmo20002

I hate the ESPN and national Fox games. Hud and Ryan may have their irritating quirks, but they know the team. The national guys know what they read up on that afternoon and it's usually obvious when they are pulling stuff out of their ass. People who don't follow the team every day probably don't notice, but it irritates me.

I hate Kruk and Schilling (in the booth) with a passion. Both are god-****ing-awful.

[cosmo20002]

Originally Posted by ReynardMuldrake

Denny Matthews has kind of a deadpan delivery that's the same for ball 2 or an RBI double. Hawk pouts and refuses to say anything, like watching a silent movie.

That's very true.
I just have memories of listening to Denny and Fred and suddenly I'd notice there's been silence for a minute. My brother and I would look at each other like, "Is the radio unplugged?" Nope, just Fred and Denny taking a nap.

[Sure-Oz]

Andy Mcollough seems to think Gordon won't be back next season on 610. Also said Infante likely to stick at 2b due to def chemistry and Zobrist goes to rf when Gordon comes back. Rios dfad or bench.