****Official Royals Vs. White Sox OPENING DAY Gamthread 4/6****

[SPchief]

Ok folks, the wait is finally over. Time to defend the pennant and it all starts now. Newly rich Yordano takes the bump, Moose is batting 2nd, and #Yosted is no longer a bad thing (He gets the benefit of the doubt for at least a week on lineup and sac bunt usage)

#LetsthrowdefendingALchampsFire




Lets do this shit!

[Hootie]

I liked what Moose said at the end of the game yesterday...something about how the numbers don't matter, it's all about the win...and the numbers will be there.

We saw Moose hit his first career opposite field home run in terrible hitting weather, lay down a beautiful sac bunt (even though I thought it was a dumb move on Ned), rip a ball down the line 1 inch foul, and laid off some really tough pitches that Hosmer couldn't lay off a few batters later.

If he approaches the plate like that this year ... he could literally be a monster.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by ChiTown

Hard to tell being at the game, but other than his first AB, he looked damn good yesterday. He just seemed to have his timing down better. Maybe Hoot's is correct. Maybe it is a confidence/swagger thing that will lift him up. Here's hoping!

Moose had a good first AB. I know he struck out, but he saw 8 pitches. I can live with that.

[kcfanXIII]

Originally Posted by Hootie 2.0

I liked what Moose said at the end of the game yesterday...something about how the numbers don't matter, it's all about the win...and the numbers will be there.

We saw Moose hit his first career opposite field home run in terrible hitting weather, lay down a beautiful sac bunt (even though I thought it was a dumb move on Ned), rip a ball down the line 1 inch foul, and laid off some really tough pitches that Hosmer couldn't lay off a few batters later.

If he approaches the plate like that this year ... he could literally be a monster.

Moose looked like a beast yesterday. Whatever he did in the offseason, I'm not sure I've ever seen this side of him. Maybe flashes in the postseason last year, but he walked up, looked at the shift, and gave a metaphorical finger to the White Sox. He just looks to me as if he turned the corner, and finally got that monkey off his back.

[Dartgod]

Originally Posted by Hootie 2.0

I liked what Moose said at the end of the game yesterday...something about how the numbers don't matter, it's all about the win...and the numbers will be there.

We saw Moose hit his first career opposite field home run in terrible hitting weather, lay down a beautiful sac bunt (even though I thought it was a dumb move on Ned), rip a ball down the line 1 inch foul, and laid off some really tough pitches that Hosmer couldn't lay off a few batters later.

If he approaches the plate like that this year ... he could literally be a monster.

I heard Ned say the sac bunt was all on Moose. It really wasn't that great of a bunt, a little hard, but he got it past the pitcher and the result was good.

Also, that ball was a foot foul, not an inch. But he did smoke it.

[MTG#10]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

Looking back at the box score, we gave up 5 hits and 2 walks. We also turned 3 double plays and didn't make any errors...plus we picked off a runner and didn't allow a stolen base. We can win a lot of games when we only allow 7 runners to reach base and erase 4 of them.

Also, 7 of our runs we're scored with 2 outs.

That's HUGE

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by ChiTown

Yep. Sal caught 146 games last year. That's ****ing insane. He should be limited to 130 (actually would to see him closer to 125) games MAX, and let him DH some with Morales.

It was 158 including the postseason, I believe. Most in 40 years or so, as I remember.

[PunkinDrublic]

I loved that we just rocked the Sux prized FA pitcher. That guy was supposed to help shore up their rotation. The Sux were highly overrated in the offseason and will be fighting it out with the Twins to stay out of last place.

[Saul Good]

So we made 24 outs yesterday. Going off memory, I know we had two double plays. One was a base running error by Rios, and the other was Cain not hustling down the line late in the game. We also had at least one sacrifice (Moose). That's three outs given away, so really 21 batters made outs while attempting to reach base.

We had 13 hits and 5 walks, so 18 batters reached base safely compared to 21 who didn't.

Remove Infante, and the majority of our at bats ended up reaching base safely. To my eye, it really looked like our hitters came to the plate with a plan to see more pitches and not get themselves out. I'm curious to see if this continues. Getting into the opposing team's bullpen should be a huge priority for us this year.

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

So we made 24 outs yesterday. Going off memory, I know we had two double plays. One was a base running error by Rios, and the other was Cain not hustling down the line late in the game. We also had at least one sacrifice (Moose). That's three outs given away, so really 21 batters made outs while attempting to reach base.

We had 13 hits and 5 walks, so 18 batters reached base safely compared to 21 who didn't.

Remove Infante, and the majority of our at bats ended up reaching base safely. To my eye, it really looked like our hitters came to the plate with a plan to see more pitches and not get themselves out. I'm curious to see if this continues. Getting into the opposing team's bullpen should be a huge priority for us this year.

The Rios thing was on Salvy more than Rios.

Rios got such an incredible jump, Salvy HAD to take that pitch. Rios was sliding into 2B at the same time the ball's flight path entered the outfield.

Hitters are responsible for protecting baserunners, too, unless they're making a concerted effort to hit the ball on the ground.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

The Rios thing was on Salvy more than Rios.

Rios got such an incredible jump, Salvy HAD to take that pitch. Rios was sliding into 2B at the same time the ball's flight path entered the outfield.

Hitters are responsible for protecting baserunners, too, unless they're making a concerted effort to hit the ball on the ground.

I was driving at the time, so I'll defer to you here. The announcers said that Rios lost track of the ball and should have been able to get back. Not sure how you don't hear the ball being hit and go into a slide. Either way, we have away an extra out, though.

[CoMoChief]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

Looking back at the box score, we gave up 5 hits and 2 walks. We also turned 3 double plays and didn't make any errors...plus we picked off a runner and didn't allow a stolen base. We can win a lot of games when we only allow 7 runners to reach base and erase 4 of them.

Also, 7 of our runs we're scored with 2 outs.

Dont forget the Salvy/Rios hit n run mishap...there were 0 outs when that happened. Had Salvy not swung, Rios would have been safe at 2nd with 0 outs. Very well may have scored another run there.

Confidence and plate discipline will do wonders for this team.

[ChiTown]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

It was 158 including the postseason, I believe. Most in 40 years or so, as I remember.

Yep, I was just looking at regular season, which is the only thing you can control.

Once post season comes, you play everyday until your legs fall off...........or until you are knocked out of the Playoffs by Madison Bumgarner

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by ChiTown

Yep, I was just looking at regular season, which is the only thing you can control.

Once post season comes, you play everyday until your legs fall off...........or until you are knocked out of the Playoffs by Madison Bumgarner

That's an even better reason to give your stud catcher more rest during the regular season, especially when his offense is falling off the table in the second half and his legs are clearly dead.

Giants ran into some of the same issue with Posey.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

So we made 24 outs yesterday. Going off memory, I know we had two double plays. One was a base running error by Rios, and the other was Cain not hustling down the line late in the game. We also had at least one sacrifice (Moose). That's three outs given away, so really 21 batters made outs while attempting to reach base.

We had 13 hits and 5 walks, so 18 batters reached base safely compared to 21 who didn't.

Remove Infante, and the majority of our at bats ended up reaching base safely. To my eye, it really looked like our hitters came to the plate with a plan to see more pitches and not get themselves out. I'm curious to see if this continues. Getting into the opposing team's bullpen should be a huge priority for us this year.

I just realized that I forgot about the 2 beanballs. We had 20 batters safely reach base, 21 who didn't, and one sacrifice bunt.

[Mama Hip Rockets]

Yost is a genius.