From this unhappy corner of the internet, it’s either coaching or the players. I wish Jac Caglione the very best hope he kills it. I think they brought him up too early. He kinda looks Mark Teaghanish. He hasn’t had much time to develop. I get it though. The Royals had to do something. I believe they need to take a look at their system methodology as a whole. This offensive funk is years deep. You get swept by the A’s and make a solid case for all three of their starters to look Cy Youngish things need to change.
Two weeks in Triple-A probably wasn't ever going to be enough time, but he was stinging the ball and the early returns still look promising, even if the results aren't there. Just has to keep his head up, which can be difficult.
The hitters and their overall development hasn't come anywhere close to keeping up with the pitchers.
I agree 💯 with that statement. I can definitely live with the Jac decision! He was crushing the baseball even without the results. I think he'll come around. However, something has to change with the hitting offense side of things. IDK what it'll take but they've got to get it done. Also, the lineup is all over the place. Salvy is batting almost clean up, and he looks cleaned up for sure. I'd switch the order accordingly to avg. As any good managers do. We unfortunately don't have one.
I think it needs to be mentioned that once Q took Cameron out we gave up the lead. JJ went into the season knowing that we needed an outfielder that could hit, guess what we still need.
Nice to read you again, Mr. B. Was worried. Hope all is well. We need you.
Sorry, but can't escape the feeling something is rotten in the state of this team. They have no fire. Saturday was like watching an episode of The Walking Dead.
Unfortunately, the current state of ineptness highlights just how fortunate last year's team was.
The unreal RISP success, the nearly complete health of the rotation, Bobby going bonkers.
We saw the collapse of the offense when Vinnie went down in late August. Bobby started to fade and everybody else just quit hitting. September was gruelling and painful to watch - just like now.
Am in nearly complete despair: there's little to no help in Omaha and I don't see JJ making a trade until Ragans' shoulder heals (if it does). The only trade bait is one of the promising catchers and/or
a current member of the rotation, IMO. Sell at the trade deadline, I believe, is the best position.
Thanks, Terry. The Royals are most definitely veering into seller territory as the deadline approaches. But there's not a lot to deal from on the major league roster. Lugo or Lorenzen or maybe some of the bullpen guys will bring back something, but I don't think there's anything there that would come close to building up the prospect pipeline or even immediate offensive assistance.
What's worse is that I could see this collapse coming in the moment of that epically bad decision to bunt. I'm comparing this team to 2014, it lacks hitting talent, for sure. But it also lacks aggression. Baseball feels like a game where aggression, in the right circumstance, can have a real impact on the gave and season. That 2014-15 team went after their opponents. They beat them. They didn't just play the game and see what happens.
I really thought what happened the rest of that eighth inning was sufficient karma for bad decision-making. But Garcia bunted again yesterday. IN THE THIRD INNING. WITH THE RUNNER ALREADY OUT OF A DOUBLE PLAY OPPORTUNITY. It was the only out Springs got in the first four batters he faced that inning. Sure would have been nice to see if the team's best hitter so far this year could have helped make that a bigger inning.
Everyone is tight now so that means they're snatching at opportunities. A crooked number? Before they can even think about that they have to score one. And we all know how difficult that is for them.
So I am sitting here wondering, who are the hitters that aren't driving in runs when given the opportunity. Here is how they stack up as of 6/15/25 stats (thanks to Baseball-Reference.com). This is only considering the times a player has come to bat with runners in scoring position. Player name-At bats-hits-RBI-AVG: India-41-12-15-.293; Witt Jr 60-17-26-.283; Fermin 32-9-6-.281; Garcia 58-16-23-.276; Perez 80-19-22-.238; Waters 47-11-11-.234; Isbel 32-7-11-.219; Biggio 19-4-3-.211; Pasquantino 84-18-29-.205; Massey 57-10-13-.175; Canha 24-3-4-.125. The remaining players had less than 10 AB with runners in scoring position: Loftin 6-2-4-.333; Caglianone 6-1-2-.167 and Rave 6-0-1-.000. I found the above exercise interesting in that most of the hitters actually drove in more runs than they had hits. This can be for a few reasons, walk, hit batter, sacrifice fly, etc. I hope someone finds this as interesting as I did.
The recent losing streak not withstanding, I have been leaning more toward this is just not our year. We need to be sellers at the trade deadline. While we exceeded in hitting last year with RISP, this year, we are not. My Yogi-ism for the day (coined by me) is the law of averages have a way of averaging out. The Royals have come back to Earth on RISP. It is clear we need a bat or two but at what expense? If we are sellers in 2025, I am becoming more in favor of trading Seth Lugo and/or Michael Lorenzen. Both are on 1 year contracts (Lugo with a player option he will most likely decline). Both have significant value to a team in contention. Using one or both as framework for a deal, I felt (until yesterday) that the Boston Red Sox were our best trade partner. They have an abundance of young OF and need(ed) pitching at the major league level. My suggested trade was:
Royals receive - Wilyer Abreu OF
Red Sox receive - Seth Lugo SP, Michael Lorenzen SP/RP, and either Carter Jensen or Blake Mitchell (whichever the Royals see as having the least value and retaining the better prospect)
The trade of Rafael Devers probably makes this trade moot. But I was still looking at building for 2025 and beyond.
We were fortunate to miss out on all free agent OF targets this last off season. That can't happen again in 2025/26 off season. The pitching development team seems to be rolling doing their job. They are getting veterans and making them better while also coaching up the prospects already within the system. We now need an off season infusing a few hitters at the major league level and hope we have a core of Witt/Garcia, Pasquantino to build the offense around.
I hear you on the best trade candidates from this roster and matchup with the Red Sox. (What in the world were the Red Sox thinking?) Of course, we all think of the Chapman for Ragans deal and hope Picollo has more trade market magic at the ready.
I think this homestand pushed them into seller mode. Possible they can get out, but I don't see it. So I'm with you...this is not their year.
Glad to see you again, though I wish it was under happier circumstances.
Thought I would see tons of comments about pulling Cameron today, but don't blame any fan for being apathetic right now. I was actually glad they pulled Cameron - had heard As announcers saying he had been killing it and sure enough he has hit .429/.439/.587 in last 30 games . I am glad they protected the golden child, even if he is really bronze.
I was weirdly ok with the bunt heard round the blogs, wouldn't normally be, but understand Q and company are trying to get any run across the plate these days. Was it a confidence kick below the belt to the team? - maybe but its time for some tough love. (Giving you this opening to vent)
Ill deal out some tough love for my fellow fans - Half this team is essentially a AAA team now, we may have been expecting too much.
Thanks, Herbie. I agree that expectations may have been outsized. But was it unrealistic to expect development from guys like Massey and, to some extent Pasquantino? Some kind of moderate rebound from a Renfroe and Melendez? Admittedly, looking for this is searching for a best-case scenario, which hardly ever comes to pass. The improvements didn't happen and then guys like Perez dove headfirst into the regression pool. Hoping for the best and watching the worst.
In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.
Coaching is hard to quantify and analyze in terms of why do some Coaches get results and others don't. Some players say they respond to a Coach because he does this, others will say it's because their Coach never does the same thing.
At the MLB level, all of the Coaches have knowledge of the game and more specifically, what they're Coaching. Pitching Coaches know pitching, third base Coaches know the dynamics of Coaching that position, etc. So, if they all have knowledge, and presumably they are Coaching that very knowledge, then why is it that some get results (the ultimate gauge of success) and others don't? Don't worry, it's not a rhetorical question lol.
Inevitably, Coaching comes down to "are they (the players) buying what you (the Coach) are selling. Whatever AZ and his staff are selling simply isn't being bought by this team. So AZ and his staff need to either sell it differently or sell something else - it's not that difficult.
Am I advocating for a change? Yes, as I have been for a while. AZ and staff can either make a change, or get changed. In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.
"Inevitably, Coaching comes down to "are they (the players) buying what you (the Coach) are selling. Whatever AZ and his staff are selling simply isn't being bought by this team. So AZ and his staff need to either sell it differently or sell something else - it's not that difficult."
You have distilled this entire offensive malaise perfectly in just three sentences. Love it.
I'm sorry, but you're absolutely incorrect here with Matt Quatraro pulling Cameron! There's a certain feel to each game as well. Stats don't show it, but I knew it was Deadly Wrong to pull him there, and LOOK WHAT HAPPENED?! AGAIN X 3!! SAME THING SAME RESULTS! He's pulled Cameron, just like the same thing with playing the Cardinals the other day. Same thing, Same RESULTS! MATT QUATRARO NEEDS TO GO BYE BYE!!!
I'm sorry, but you're absolutely incorrect here with Matt Quatraro pulling Cameron! There's a certain feel to each game as well. Stats don't show it, but I knew it was Deadly Wrong to pull him there, and LOOK WHAT HAPPENED?! AGAIN X 3!! SAME THING SAME RESULTS! He's pulled Cameron, just like the same thing with playing the Cardinals the other day. Same thing, Same RESULTS! MATT QUATRARO NEEDS TO GO BYE BYE!!!
Well I'm sorry, but you're blatantly wrong on this "Pulling Noah Cameron" thing... This has happened 3x in a row with Ole MATT FREAKING QUATTRO CINCO!!! HE NEEDS TO GO BYE-BYE!!! He couldn't coach in little league 😞😭😭! There's a certain feel to the game as well, and Matt Quatraro doesn't have it! At All! The players sure aren't responding to him either! The Royals Almost were swept by THE DAMN CHICAGO WHITE SOX! The worst team in baseball! It's a mess and he doesn't have any answers!! Pulling Cameron just like he did in the Cardinals game shows he is stubborn and doesn't have any feel for the game! Zero!
I guess my other comment didn't post... However, I think it was crazy taking Noah Cameron out of the game AGAIN! X 3! SAME THING SAME RESULTS! The same thing happened in the Cardinals game too. It shows how Matt Quatraro either leaves pitchers in too late or pulls em early. He really doesn't have a feel for the flow of the game! And someone has to answer why the team is imploding right now!!!
From this unhappy corner of the internet, it’s either coaching or the players. I wish Jac Caglione the very best hope he kills it. I think they brought him up too early. He kinda looks Mark Teaghanish. He hasn’t had much time to develop. I get it though. The Royals had to do something. I believe they need to take a look at their system methodology as a whole. This offensive funk is years deep. You get swept by the A’s and make a solid case for all three of their starters to look Cy Youngish things need to change.
Two weeks in Triple-A probably wasn't ever going to be enough time, but he was stinging the ball and the early returns still look promising, even if the results aren't there. Just has to keep his head up, which can be difficult.
The hitters and their overall development hasn't come anywhere close to keeping up with the pitchers.
I agree 💯 with that statement. I can definitely live with the Jac decision! He was crushing the baseball even without the results. I think he'll come around. However, something has to change with the hitting offense side of things. IDK what it'll take but they've got to get it done. Also, the lineup is all over the place. Salvy is batting almost clean up, and he looks cleaned up for sure. I'd switch the order accordingly to avg. As any good managers do. We unfortunately don't have one.
I think it needs to be mentioned that once Q took Cameron out we gave up the lead. JJ went into the season knowing that we needed an outfielder that could hit, guess what we still need.
They really need two! Someone! Anyone!
Nice to read you again, Mr. B. Was worried. Hope all is well. We need you.
Sorry, but can't escape the feeling something is rotten in the state of this team. They have no fire. Saturday was like watching an episode of The Walking Dead.
Unfortunately, the current state of ineptness highlights just how fortunate last year's team was.
The unreal RISP success, the nearly complete health of the rotation, Bobby going bonkers.
We saw the collapse of the offense when Vinnie went down in late August. Bobby started to fade and everybody else just quit hitting. September was gruelling and painful to watch - just like now.
Am in nearly complete despair: there's little to no help in Omaha and I don't see JJ making a trade until Ragans' shoulder heals (if it does). The only trade bait is one of the promising catchers and/or
a current member of the rotation, IMO. Sell at the trade deadline, I believe, is the best position.
Thanks, Terry. The Royals are most definitely veering into seller territory as the deadline approaches. But there's not a lot to deal from on the major league roster. Lugo or Lorenzen or maybe some of the bullpen guys will bring back something, but I don't think there's anything there that would come close to building up the prospect pipeline or even immediate offensive assistance.
What's worse is that I could see this collapse coming in the moment of that epically bad decision to bunt. I'm comparing this team to 2014, it lacks hitting talent, for sure. But it also lacks aggression. Baseball feels like a game where aggression, in the right circumstance, can have a real impact on the gave and season. That 2014-15 team went after their opponents. They beat them. They didn't just play the game and see what happens.
This team does need a spark of some sort. They're dull, bland and lifeless at the moment.
I really thought what happened the rest of that eighth inning was sufficient karma for bad decision-making. But Garcia bunted again yesterday. IN THE THIRD INNING. WITH THE RUNNER ALREADY OUT OF A DOUBLE PLAY OPPORTUNITY. It was the only out Springs got in the first four batters he faced that inning. Sure would have been nice to see if the team's best hitter so far this year could have helped make that a bigger inning.
Everyone is tight now so that means they're snatching at opportunities. A crooked number? Before they can even think about that they have to score one. And we all know how difficult that is for them.
So I am sitting here wondering, who are the hitters that aren't driving in runs when given the opportunity. Here is how they stack up as of 6/15/25 stats (thanks to Baseball-Reference.com). This is only considering the times a player has come to bat with runners in scoring position. Player name-At bats-hits-RBI-AVG: India-41-12-15-.293; Witt Jr 60-17-26-.283; Fermin 32-9-6-.281; Garcia 58-16-23-.276; Perez 80-19-22-.238; Waters 47-11-11-.234; Isbel 32-7-11-.219; Biggio 19-4-3-.211; Pasquantino 84-18-29-.205; Massey 57-10-13-.175; Canha 24-3-4-.125. The remaining players had less than 10 AB with runners in scoring position: Loftin 6-2-4-.333; Caglianone 6-1-2-.167 and Rave 6-0-1-.000. I found the above exercise interesting in that most of the hitters actually drove in more runs than they had hits. This can be for a few reasons, walk, hit batter, sacrifice fly, etc. I hope someone finds this as interesting as I did.
The two guys with the most AB in that situation (Pasquantino and Perez) are two of your worst performers. And then there is Massey. Ungood all around.
The recent losing streak not withstanding, I have been leaning more toward this is just not our year. We need to be sellers at the trade deadline. While we exceeded in hitting last year with RISP, this year, we are not. My Yogi-ism for the day (coined by me) is the law of averages have a way of averaging out. The Royals have come back to Earth on RISP. It is clear we need a bat or two but at what expense? If we are sellers in 2025, I am becoming more in favor of trading Seth Lugo and/or Michael Lorenzen. Both are on 1 year contracts (Lugo with a player option he will most likely decline). Both have significant value to a team in contention. Using one or both as framework for a deal, I felt (until yesterday) that the Boston Red Sox were our best trade partner. They have an abundance of young OF and need(ed) pitching at the major league level. My suggested trade was:
Royals receive - Wilyer Abreu OF
Red Sox receive - Seth Lugo SP, Michael Lorenzen SP/RP, and either Carter Jensen or Blake Mitchell (whichever the Royals see as having the least value and retaining the better prospect)
The trade of Rafael Devers probably makes this trade moot. But I was still looking at building for 2025 and beyond.
We were fortunate to miss out on all free agent OF targets this last off season. That can't happen again in 2025/26 off season. The pitching development team seems to be rolling doing their job. They are getting veterans and making them better while also coaching up the prospects already within the system. We now need an off season infusing a few hitters at the major league level and hope we have a core of Witt/Garcia, Pasquantino to build the offense around.
I hear you on the best trade candidates from this roster and matchup with the Red Sox. (What in the world were the Red Sox thinking?) Of course, we all think of the Chapman for Ragans deal and hope Picollo has more trade market magic at the ready.
I think this homestand pushed them into seller mode. Possible they can get out, but I don't see it. So I'm with you...this is not their year.
Glad to see you again, though I wish it was under happier circumstances.
Thought I would see tons of comments about pulling Cameron today, but don't blame any fan for being apathetic right now. I was actually glad they pulled Cameron - had heard As announcers saying he had been killing it and sure enough he has hit .429/.439/.587 in last 30 games . I am glad they protected the golden child, even if he is really bronze.
I was weirdly ok with the bunt heard round the blogs, wouldn't normally be, but understand Q and company are trying to get any run across the plate these days. Was it a confidence kick below the belt to the team? - maybe but its time for some tough love. (Giving you this opening to vent)
Ill deal out some tough love for my fellow fans - Half this team is essentially a AAA team now, we may have been expecting too much.
Thanks, Herbie. I agree that expectations may have been outsized. But was it unrealistic to expect development from guys like Massey and, to some extent Pasquantino? Some kind of moderate rebound from a Renfroe and Melendez? Admittedly, looking for this is searching for a best-case scenario, which hardly ever comes to pass. The improvements didn't happen and then guys like Perez dove headfirst into the regression pool. Hoping for the best and watching the worst.
Bah.
In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.
Coaching is hard to quantify and analyze in terms of why do some Coaches get results and others don't. Some players say they respond to a Coach because he does this, others will say it's because their Coach never does the same thing.
At the MLB level, all of the Coaches have knowledge of the game and more specifically, what they're Coaching. Pitching Coaches know pitching, third base Coaches know the dynamics of Coaching that position, etc. So, if they all have knowledge, and presumably they are Coaching that very knowledge, then why is it that some get results (the ultimate gauge of success) and others don't? Don't worry, it's not a rhetorical question lol.
Inevitably, Coaching comes down to "are they (the players) buying what you (the Coach) are selling. Whatever AZ and his staff are selling simply isn't being bought by this team. So AZ and his staff need to either sell it differently or sell something else - it's not that difficult.
Am I advocating for a change? Yes, as I have been for a while. AZ and staff can either make a change, or get changed. In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.
"Inevitably, Coaching comes down to "are they (the players) buying what you (the Coach) are selling. Whatever AZ and his staff are selling simply isn't being bought by this team. So AZ and his staff need to either sell it differently or sell something else - it's not that difficult."
You have distilled this entire offensive malaise perfectly in just three sentences. Love it.
I'm sorry, but you're absolutely incorrect here with Matt Quatraro pulling Cameron! There's a certain feel to each game as well. Stats don't show it, but I knew it was Deadly Wrong to pull him there, and LOOK WHAT HAPPENED?! AGAIN X 3!! SAME THING SAME RESULTS! He's pulled Cameron, just like the same thing with playing the Cardinals the other day. Same thing, Same RESULTS! MATT QUATRARO NEEDS TO GO BYE BYE!!!
I'm sorry, but you're absolutely incorrect here with Matt Quatraro pulling Cameron! There's a certain feel to each game as well. Stats don't show it, but I knew it was Deadly Wrong to pull him there, and LOOK WHAT HAPPENED?! AGAIN X 3!! SAME THING SAME RESULTS! He's pulled Cameron, just like the same thing with playing the Cardinals the other day. Same thing, Same RESULTS! MATT QUATRARO NEEDS TO GO BYE BYE!!!
Well I'm sorry, but you're blatantly wrong on this "Pulling Noah Cameron" thing... This has happened 3x in a row with Ole MATT FREAKING QUATTRO CINCO!!! HE NEEDS TO GO BYE-BYE!!! He couldn't coach in little league 😞😭😭! There's a certain feel to the game as well, and Matt Quatraro doesn't have it! At All! The players sure aren't responding to him either! The Royals Almost were swept by THE DAMN CHICAGO WHITE SOX! The worst team in baseball! It's a mess and he doesn't have any answers!! Pulling Cameron just like he did in the Cardinals game shows he is stubborn and doesn't have any feel for the game! Zero!
I guess my other comment didn't post... However, I think it was crazy taking Noah Cameron out of the game AGAIN! X 3! SAME THING SAME RESULTS! The same thing happened in the Cardinals game too. It shows how Matt Quatraro either leaves pitchers in too late or pulls em early. He really doesn't have a feel for the flow of the game! And someone has to answer why the team is imploding right now!!!