***** Official Royals vs White Sox GDT 09/27/14 *****

[ROYC75]

The Central Division is still at hand, so .......
LETS GO ROYALS!
Royals 88-72
@
White Sox 72-88
Saturday 9/27, 7:10 PM ET at U.S. Cellular Field
Radio: KC: KCSP 610, Royals Radio Network CWS: WSCR 670, 97.5 ESPN Deportes
TV: KC: FSKC CWS: CSN

Royals 2014 stats Last 5 years vs. starter
AVG HR RBI SB AB AVG HR RBI
Escobar, A, SS .283 3 50 31 10 .000 0 0
Aoki, N, RF .283 1 42 17 - - - -
Cain, L, CF .304 5 52 28 3 .000 0 0
Hosmer, E, 1B .274 9 58 4 12 .500 0 1
Butler, B, DH .269 9 66 0 27 .185 0 1
Gordon, A, LF .265 19 74 12 17 .176 0 0
Perez, S, C .260 16 68 1 6 .333 0 0
Infante, O, 2B .254 6 66 9 7 .286 0 1
Moustakas, M, 3B .208 15 52 1 11 .091 0 0

SP- Danny Duffy 2014 season 9-11, 2.32 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 113 Ks
vs. White Sox last 5 years 1-0, 2.35 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 7 Ks

White Sox 2014 stats Last 5 years vs. starter
AVG HR RBI SB AB AVG HR RBI
Eaton, A, CF .296 1 35 14 - - - -
Ramirez, A, SS .273 15 73 21 3 .333 0 0
Abreu, J, DH .314 35 105 3 - - - -
Garcia, A, RF .252 7 29 3 - - - -
Konerko, P, 1B .213 5 22 0 2 .000 0 0
Viciedo, D, LF .232 21 58 0 - - - -
Semien, M, 3B .237 5 25 3 - - - -
Phegley, J, C .133 1 4 0 - - - -
Sanchez, C, 2B .245 0 5 1 - - - -

SP- John Danks 2014 season 10-11, 4.82 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, 126 Ks
vs. Royals last 5 years 5-0, 2.14 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 42 Ks



We got to get this guy early!

[ROYC75]

CHICAGO -- Many things contributed to the Royals' first visit to the postseason since 1985. Such as relief stars Greg Holland and Wade Davis being born in that year.

Or there was Alex Gordon being drafted in 2005, or general manager Dayton Moore being hired in 2006, or Ned Yost being named manager in 2010, or James Shields being acquired in 2012. But let's just stick to the things that happened in the past year:

1. Obtaining Nori Aoki and Omar Infante

Without a traditional leadoff batter since David DeJesus in 2010, the Royals traded for Aoki, giving up promising left-handed pitcher Will Smith to the Brewers. Aoki not only filled the spot well but it made possible moving Alex Gordon into a more productive spot in the middle of the order. Late in the year, Aoki prospered in the No. 2 hole.

Second base had been a position of instability, so Infante was signed to a long-term deal. He teamed well with fellow Venezuelan Alcides Escobar in the middle of the infield and had the best RBI bat of his career.

2. Adding Jason Vargas, Yordano Ventura and Danny Duffy to the rotation

Not much fanfare accompanied the free-agent signing of left-hander Vargas to a multi-year deal in the offseason. However, he proved to be a steady veteran addition.

Ventura, a rookie, was thrown into the fire after just three starts the previous January and won in double figures. Duffy came up from Omaha, took over from Bruce Chen and had a rock-bottom ERA.

3. The development of an unbendable backend in the bullpen

Everyone figured that Greg Holland was established as a proven closer, but who would get the game to him?

Wade Davis, a starter most of 2013, quickly emerged as the eighth-inning buzzsaw with scoreless innings and strikeouts. After a while, Kelvin Herrera established himself with similar credentials as the seventh-inning guardian. Together they became a terrific trio.

4. The tremendous turnaround after the All-Star break

There was a rush of excitement from a 10-game winning streak and a three-day visit to first place in mid-June. The Royals got to the All-Star break two games over .500, but lost the first four games after the break.

Then, after a team meeting at Chicago on July 22, they stepped on the gas and won 15 of 18 games and took over first place. They stayed at the top until Aug. 12, yielding to Detroit but convinced that they were a serious contender for the postseason.

5. James Shields' pitching leadership in the second half

Big Game James, perhaps sniffing playoff aroma, turned on the heat in the second half. Not that he dawdled in the first half, but his efficiency really picked up with his July 23 victory at Chicago, one of the early stepping stones in the Royals' resurgence.

Over his next 11 starts, Shields posted a tidy 2.19 ERA, held the opponents scoreless three times and the team went 8-3 and he got five of those wins.

Dick Kaegel is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

[alnorth]

Sweet! I'm not hung over!

I did try to drink enough water and soda in between shots.

[alnorth]

I had patients starting at 8 this morning, but fortunately my malpractice insurance is all paid up, so we're good.

— Rany Jazayerli (@jazayerli) September 27, 2014

[Bruiser]

[alnorth]

[gblowfish]

As my good Friend Blair at Mizzou used to say after a hard night of partying: "I'm like lunch meat....I'm READY!"

[KChiefs1]

Is it possible the Twins win today & tomorrow?

Otherwise I'd rather there not be a game on Monday.

Shields on Tuesday & Duffy on Thursday & Ventura on Friday then come back with Shields on Sunday would be good for me.

I don't want use Shields on Monday on short rest vs Detroit & then go with Vargas in the WC if we lose. Sure winning the division would be great but not sure I like that scenario.

What say you?

[alnorth]

Originally Posted by KChiefs1

Is it possible the Twins win today & tomorrow?

Otherwise I'd rather there not be a game on Monday.

Shields on Tuesday & Duffy on Thursday & Ventura on Friday then come back with Shields on Sunday would be good for me.

I don't want use Shields on Monday on short rest vs Detroit & then go with Vargas in the WC if we lose. Sure winning the division would be great but not sure I like that scenario.

What say you?

Obviously it would be great to win the AL Central outright, but I do want that game on Monday.

If we play Monday, then we get two chances to advance instead of one. That is so valuable, it is worth any minor issues we may have with juggling our pitching rotation.

[alnorth]

Updating my rough back of the envelope probabilities...

If we assume this:

P(Detroit loss) = 1/3 per game
P(KC Win) = 55% per game

Then...

P(we win the AL Central outright) = 3.36%
P(we play a tiebreaker game in Detroit on Monday) = 18.94%

So, overnight we went from roughly a 1 in 20 that Detroit fails to clinch tomorrow, to about 1 in 5

[alnorth]

And if we assume that P(Oakland win) = 60% per game, then

P(we play in Oakland on Tuesday) = 7.29%

[Prison Bitch]

Originally Posted by ROYC75

1. Obtaining Nori Aoki and Omar Infante

Without a traditional leadoff batter since David DeJesus in 2010, the Royals traded for Aoki, giving up promising left-handed pitcher Will Smith to the Brewers. Aoki not only filled the spot well but it made possible moving Alex Gordon into a more productive spot in the middle of the order. Late in the year, Aoki prospered in the No. 2 hole.

Second base had been a position of instability, so Infante was signed to a long-term deal. He teamed well with fellow Venezuelan Alcides Escobar in the middle of the infield and had the best RBI bat of his career.

Nope, Infante had a wretched season with a .292 OBP. (Not batting average mind you - on base %) His defense is rated as slightly below average by the metrics, and in Fangraphs he ended up 15/16 qualifiers at the position. "Teamed well with" is baseball babble that means nothing and cannot be quantified.


Other than that I agree with all the other points.

[KChiefs1]

Originally Posted by alnorth

Obviously it would be great to win the AL Central outright, but I do want that game on Monday.



If we play Monday, then we get two chances to advance instead of one. That is so valuable, it is worth any minor issues we may have with juggling our pitching rotation.

I understand what you are saying but if Shields loses to Detroit then the Royals are screwed with Vargas on the mound.

How has Shields done on short rest?

[cmh6476]

everyone is on a high except prison bitch is still stuck in a rut

[KChiefs1]

Watch the rest of the regular season for free on MLB.TV this weekend. Enjoy!