A little rain delay is nothing to Cole Ragans who turned in another dominant performance. Maikel Garcia homered again. And the bullpen threw it all away.
Matt Q. should never have left Smith in to face McCann. The situation called for a right hander, especially since Smith had already proved he was awful last night before McCann's hit. Smith looks washed up and worthless to me. Two loses and a blown save with an ERA of 20.25.
Can’t argue against going to the platoon split there. Although my hopes for Smith have certainly been impacted I’m still willing to give him time, although in those lower leverage situations. There’s still a path forward where he’s a decent lefty in this pen.
Craig, as David pointed out, he didn’t have a righty warmed up. Every time I brought Smith in, I would have a righty warming up right behind him. I got the game on the Orioles station and Jim Palmer said it was a big mistake letting Smith pitch to McCann.
There's really nothing I can add that you didn't cover or I didn't already rant about on Twitter last night, but to reiterate, that's about as bad a loss as you can take in the sixth game of the season.
To waste another Ragans start and go from flying home at .500 after opening against Minnesota and Baltimore with a chance to make some hay against the White Sox to a long flight home after a cold, rain-delayed walkoff loss is devastating for young team trying to learn how to win. Hopefully, the hangover doesn't carry over into a favorable matchup against Chicago.
I liked the Smith signing and it's too early to say he's washed, but he hasn't looked good at all so far and definitely shouldn't have been out there. Don't know who it should have been, which I suppose is its own problem, but definitely not him. Very demoralizing. It's only one game, but if this is going to be a trend, and if feels like it's going in that direction, the bullpen is going to take a major toll on the psyche of that clubhouse.
Even on these six games they’ve shown the ability to rebound from difficult losses. That just sort of seems to be the clubhouse vibe even going back to last season.
Having said that, the danger is there if these losses are going to pile up in this fashion. Every game this year, the anxiety ramps up when the bullpen comes into play. Not great. Q has to sort out his relief situation immediately.
I look at it as good news that the Royals aren’t masking their deficiencies with close wins. They are better, but obviously the hitting (beyond Garcia, Jr, and Salvy) needs considerable improvement and their bullpen needs young, strong arms, which should come from the minors.
I watched the Garcia gif loop 30 times in a row. No lie. What a swing.
Truth. Mesmerizing.
Matt Q. should never have left Smith in to face McCann. The situation called for a right hander, especially since Smith had already proved he was awful last night before McCann's hit. Smith looks washed up and worthless to me. Two loses and a blown save with an ERA of 20.25.
Can’t argue against going to the platoon split there. Although my hopes for Smith have certainly been impacted I’m still willing to give him time, although in those lower leverage situations. There’s still a path forward where he’s a decent lefty in this pen.
Craig, as David pointed out, he didn’t have a righty warmed up. Every time I brought Smith in, I would have a righty warming up right behind him. I got the game on the Orioles station and Jim Palmer said it was a big mistake letting Smith pitch to McCann.
There's really nothing I can add that you didn't cover or I didn't already rant about on Twitter last night, but to reiterate, that's about as bad a loss as you can take in the sixth game of the season.
To waste another Ragans start and go from flying home at .500 after opening against Minnesota and Baltimore with a chance to make some hay against the White Sox to a long flight home after a cold, rain-delayed walkoff loss is devastating for young team trying to learn how to win. Hopefully, the hangover doesn't carry over into a favorable matchup against Chicago.
I liked the Smith signing and it's too early to say he's washed, but he hasn't looked good at all so far and definitely shouldn't have been out there. Don't know who it should have been, which I suppose is its own problem, but definitely not him. Very demoralizing. It's only one game, but if this is going to be a trend, and if feels like it's going in that direction, the bullpen is going to take a major toll on the psyche of that clubhouse.
Even on these six games they’ve shown the ability to rebound from difficult losses. That just sort of seems to be the clubhouse vibe even going back to last season.
Having said that, the danger is there if these losses are going to pile up in this fashion. Every game this year, the anxiety ramps up when the bullpen comes into play. Not great. Q has to sort out his relief situation immediately.
I look at it as good news that the Royals aren’t masking their deficiencies with close wins. They are better, but obviously the hitting (beyond Garcia, Jr, and Salvy) needs considerable improvement and their bullpen needs young, strong arms, which should come from the minors.