The Kansas City Royals have stirred up their roster in the last 48 hours. The recently released Raul Ibanez of the Los Angeles Angels was signed by the Royals to improve their bench. Along with acquiring Ibanez, the Royals recalled utility infielder Christian Colon. Colon is able to man second base, third base, and shortstop. In order for acquisition and recalls to work, some negatives have to occur. Outfielder Justin Maxwell and infielder Pedro Ciriaco were designated for assignment. Both players have cleared waivers once this season.
Someone please explain to me why you'd sign a 42-year old player for the bench and bring up a utility infielder in exchange for designating two guys that already can do the same role. Bringing up Colon doesn't make any sense. You have a second baseman, Omar Infante, whom you just signed to a four-year deal. Granted, if anything were to happen, he would be insurance. But you also have a Gold Glove deserving shortstop and a platoon at third base between Moustakas and Valencia. So where would you put Colon? You already had Ciriaco and Maxwell doing the same thing. They just weren't given enough at-bats to perform to their expectations. What if the Ibanez move doesn't pay off? What if he doesn't deliver off the bench.
2014 Stats
Justin Maxwell - .150 BA (6-for-40), 4 R, 1 2B, 0 HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 20 SO, 0 SB, .397 OPS
Pedro Ciriaco - .213 BA (10-for-47), 7 R, 2 2B, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 0 BB, 9 SO, 4 SB, .484 OPS
Christian Colon (AAA) - .296 BA (87-for-294), 48 R, 14 2B, 4 HR, 37 RBI, 28 BB, 25 SO, 14 SB, .744 OPS
Raul Ibanez - .157 BA (26-for-166), 16 R, 5 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 21 RBI, 23 BB, 43 SO, 3 SB, .523 OPS
Monday, June 30, 2014
Friday, June 20, 2014
A Case of Moose Fever - For Everyone
Moose Fever. Symptoms include winning ball games, smashing home runs, forearm bashes, and having fun. The Kansas City Royals were starting to get national attention with their 10-game winning streak that almost included a 4-game sweep in Detroit. The 10-game streak was ended with a score of 2-1 by the Tigers that was a makeup game from their April 3rd rain-out. Before that loss, the Royals hadn't lost in nearly two weeks; dating back to Friday, June 6th. That game was at Kauffman where the Royals lost 4-2 to the Yankees before going on their incredible run. A 5-2 home stand against the Cardinals and Yankees? A 6-1 road trip against the White Sox (3-game sweep of Chicago) and three out of 4 against the Tigers? Royals fans have to be more than enthralled about their leap from 29-32 (5 games out of first) to 39-33 and a 1/2 game lead for first place in the AL Central. The Royals' streak was the 3rd longest in franchise history.
Even though the Royals lost on Thursday to the Tigers, they still secured their first-place lead heading home for a 9-game home stand against Seattle and both Los Angeles teams. But back to the 10-game winning streak. Everything was clicking the Royals way. Highlight plays on defense, a team actually hitting home runs, and scoring runs to back up excellent pitching. The formula to winning ball games. During the 10-game streak, the Royals outscored their opponents 69-30. With runners in scoring position, the team went 42-for-98 (.429) while hitting 13 home runs in the 10 games. These are the numbers for the Royals offense during their last 10 games, including the 2-1 loss to the Tigers:
1. Nori Aoki - 11-for-37 (.297), 7 R, 2 RBI, 3 BB, 1 SO
2. Omar Infante - 14-for-41 (.341), 10 R, 2 HR, 11 RBI, 3 BB, 4 SO
3. Eric Hosmer - 10-for-42 (.238), 6 R, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 3 BB, 9 SO, 2 SB; also had a HR on June 7th
4. Billy Butler - 15-for-37 (.405), 7 R, 1 HR, 11 RBI, 4 BB, 6 SO
5. Alex Gordon - 11-for-39 (.282), 8 R, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 3 BB, 13 SO, 1 SB
6. Salvador Perez - 12-for-39 (.308), 7 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 3 BB, 6 SO
7. Mike Moustakas - 10-for-34 (.294), 7 R, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 5 BB, 5 SO (hence Moose Fever)
8. Lorenzo Cain - 12-for-40 (.300), 5 R, 7 RBI, 0 BB, 9 SO
9. Alcides Escobar - 14-for-36 (.389), 7 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 1 SO, 2 SB
10. Jarrod Dyson - 8-for-27 (.296), 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 6 SO
Even though the Royals lost on Thursday to the Tigers, they still secured their first-place lead heading home for a 9-game home stand against Seattle and both Los Angeles teams. But back to the 10-game winning streak. Everything was clicking the Royals way. Highlight plays on defense, a team actually hitting home runs, and scoring runs to back up excellent pitching. The formula to winning ball games. During the 10-game streak, the Royals outscored their opponents 69-30. With runners in scoring position, the team went 42-for-98 (.429) while hitting 13 home runs in the 10 games. These are the numbers for the Royals offense during their last 10 games, including the 2-1 loss to the Tigers:
1. Nori Aoki - 11-for-37 (.297), 7 R, 2 RBI, 3 BB, 1 SO
2. Omar Infante - 14-for-41 (.341), 10 R, 2 HR, 11 RBI, 3 BB, 4 SO
3. Eric Hosmer - 10-for-42 (.238), 6 R, 2 HR, 9 RBI, 3 BB, 9 SO, 2 SB; also had a HR on June 7th
4. Billy Butler - 15-for-37 (.405), 7 R, 1 HR, 11 RBI, 4 BB, 6 SO
5. Alex Gordon - 11-for-39 (.282), 8 R, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 3 BB, 13 SO, 1 SB
6. Salvador Perez - 12-for-39 (.308), 7 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI, 3 BB, 6 SO
7. Mike Moustakas - 10-for-34 (.294), 7 R, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 5 BB, 5 SO (hence Moose Fever)
8. Lorenzo Cain - 12-for-40 (.300), 5 R, 7 RBI, 0 BB, 9 SO
9. Alcides Escobar - 14-for-36 (.389), 7 R, 2 RBI, 2 BB, 1 SO, 2 SB
10. Jarrod Dyson - 8-for-27 (.296), 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 BB, 6 SO
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
A Royal Journey
It's been a while since I've written about the Royals on here. If you haven't known yet, I've started writing Fantasy Baseball articles for a company. What an interesting 64 games it has been so far for the Kansas City Royals. 32-32. 3rd place (3 games back) in the Central, 2 games out of the Wild Card. We have seen an offensive struggle to score even a single run. We have seen a pitching staff make hitters look like they don't know what they're doing. And most importantly, the Royals took three out of four from the St. Louis Cardinals and two of three so far (game No. 4 on August 25th) from the New York Yankees.
It's June 11th and the Royals are 32-32. Let that sink in. In May of 2013, the Royals won just 8 games while losing 20. Last month, the Royals went 12-17. Not great but it's better than last year. The month of May last season might have cost them the playoffs. So how big are 12 wins and only 17 losses in May? On June 11th, 2014, the Royals were 29-33 and 6.5 games back in the Central. 32-32 (not including today's game) and only 3 games back in the Central is certainly better.
The Royals shouldn't worry though about standings at this point in the season, it's too early. They should continue to focus on hitting as a team, winning as a team, and striving to improve even more.
It's June 11th and the Royals are 32-32. Let that sink in. In May of 2013, the Royals won just 8 games while losing 20. Last month, the Royals went 12-17. Not great but it's better than last year. The month of May last season might have cost them the playoffs. So how big are 12 wins and only 17 losses in May? On June 11th, 2014, the Royals were 29-33 and 6.5 games back in the Central. 32-32 (not including today's game) and only 3 games back in the Central is certainly better.
The Royals shouldn't worry though about standings at this point in the season, it's too early. They should continue to focus on hitting as a team, winning as a team, and striving to improve even more.
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