I was skeptical early, then I got on board just in time for this team to absolutely dump all over it. Fortunately I've been on vacation for must of it without a way to watch.
BW2 deserves playoff baseball. Don't let this man be Mike Trout. Don't let us be the Angels, please!
There is no scenario where this team grabs the second wild card spot. Not with Detroit finishing against the White Sox. Literally all we can hope for is for Minnesota to continue their slide and back in as the third. Though playing Houston instead of Baltimore doesn’t seem ideal.
Stranger things have happened. I will agree that all positives seem highly unlikely at the moment. The Royals do hold the tie breaker which isn’t nothing.
Agreed. I guess the silver lining is that if Detroit stays unstoppable, Baltimore may still be playing for the first spot when they face the Twins over the weekend.
I chatted with an Oriole fan on Bluesky the other day. If he’s anywhere near representative of the fan base, they’re in quite a state of their own at the moment. The only teams that are remotely happy these days seem to be the Guardians and Tigers. Crazy.
Yeah, they haven't played well for a while and let the Yankees get away with the division title. They're lucky both the Royals and Twins have been crappy.
Garcia and Isbel are the biggest problems: They never seem to have a plan. Garcia has a terrible habit of always taking the first pitch and if it's a strike, he's behind in the count and screwed.
Isbel needs to get on base any way he can to set up the top of the lineup. He rarely walks, so good luck with that.
These two are terrific defenders and need to be fixed for next season to have any chance of success.
I'm afraid it's too late for this year and that absolutely crushes my blue-bleeding heart.
I’ve been disappointed with the lack of development of Garcia this season. At this point I think it’s safe to say he is who he is.
I feel a bit better about Isbel in the lineup. It just seems like every large inning the Royals had this year where the top of the order put things together, Isbel at the bottom was the guy who started things rolling.
Generally, a team's top hitter bats third. Why not move Bobby to third (and Salvy to fourth) and let TWO hitters try to get on base before him? That lessens the stress on the lead off hitter to get on base.
I would give Witt as many plate appearances as possible. I think Quatraro has him in the right spot in the order.
Plus, the Royals lead off spot has been awful this year. They don’t have a “second” lead off type of guy. I think if you move Witt down, you run the risk of having a parade of low OBP hitters in front of him.
If we're being cynical, it's actually impressive to have the odds to make the postseason slide from ca. 98% to 68% in a week, especially with the expanded playoff format. We're watching history!
I told someone on Saturday that "No Pham in the lineup means they won't score ANY runs"--and I felt smug when it came to pass. But the joke's on me as he's in the lineup on Sunday, yet the Royals still don't score any runs. It's getting hard to be content from improving from 56 wins to 82 wins, particularly when the starting rotation has maintained its spot in the top five of MLB.
At this point, I can’t even focus on the improvement from year over year. Yet that can’t be discounted. Still, if they come this far only to fall short, that would be an incredibly disappointing end to what has become a fantastic season.
Really like the lineup ideas. I'm kinda surprised they gave up on Nelly down the stretch. I really don't see what Grossman is giving this team that Nelly couldn't honestly. I get Grossman's splits, but even then, he either seems to walk or strikeout and not sure he provides much on defense or on the bases. My gut would be to part ways with Grossman and maybe move Pham into a lower part of the batting order. He can hit the ball hard, but Pham is not a guy right now who is going to work a count or draw a walk.
I'm intrigued by the Maikel at leadoff. You're right, this team was humming the most when he hit leadoff. At this point, the Royals have nothing to lose and against lefties he's been far more effective in terms of approach (0.50 BB/K ratio) and performance (81 wRC+). Maikel still is hitting the ball hard and not chasing and that's a lot better than Pham who is chasing way too much.
Another guy I would rather have out there than Hampson is Blanco. I know his defense has been poor, but I would like to see him get those platoon at-bats instead of Hampson at this point. Blanco's squared up rates aren't bad, and he's shown that he can go on a heater, especially in a more hitter-friendly ballpark.
Call up Nelly, DFA Grossman (or Hampson, though would rather keep Hampson because of positional versatility), play Nelly and Blanco more, have Maikel bat leadoff again against LH SP and let's see where the chips fall. It can't be any worse than what we've seen over the past two weeks.
Thanks, Kevin. Quatraro has to do something, but I’ve been going back and forth in my mind about how he approaches this. He cannot look as though he’s making moves out of panic or desperation. So there can’t be wholesale lineup changes or bizarre shifts (like hitting Perez at the top of the order or something), it has to be pointed, calculated and something that would make sense for a random game in June.
I’m not as high as you on Blanco giving production, even in a small sample, although we have seen him do it. Putting him in the lineup wouldn’t be outrageous. Like you say, it can’t be any worse.
After a horrible home stand like that, I guess the good news is that they won’t be playing any games at home for a while. And I plan to be at the game tomorrow, and with Ragans starting, fair to call it a must win. Let’s go!
You have talked about hitting, but what about pitching plans? I think they need to skip Marsh's regular start Wednesday since we have the off day today, That gives you Lugo, Wacha, and Singer to go against Washington. It also sets the pitching for the first 3 games of playoffs, if we get there.
Lugo pitched yesterday. The tentative starters for now are Ragans on Tuesday and Wacha on Thursday. Marsh’s start would be Wednesday which is currently listed as TBD. I would bet they’re waiting to see how Ragans does, specifically, how many innings he can give. I could see them going to Lynch for an opener-type of start. Could be a good left/right kind of combo with Marsh in the middle innings.
I feel that there are two spots in the order that carry a little extra weight. Leadoff is one of them. It’s a mindset, a process. I don’t disagree at all with the logic, but I just question making that move in this moment.
But you also point out my largest complaint about Pham. He came through once very early, but the guy has killed more potential rallies of late by his inability to come through.
With the way this team is hitting, you can just put names in a hat and draw out a lineup it certainly can't score any less. Witt is the only hitter in the lineup that deserves to be in there everyday. I got a hat, anyone have the slips of paper?
I really wonder how things would have gone if instead of bringing in washed vets they had called up Waters, Velasquez and Loftin
Would they produce more than Grossman, Pham and Dejong? I dunno. But I feel like the clubhouse impact of adding 4 new guys in September rather than familiar faces can’t be overlooked
I was skeptical early, then I got on board just in time for this team to absolutely dump all over it. Fortunately I've been on vacation for must of it without a way to watch.
BW2 deserves playoff baseball. Don't let this man be Mike Trout. Don't let us be the Angels, please!
Amen. I will add Witt AND Salvy. Salvy needs to get back again.
Yes, the Trout comp has been worrying me for a while now.
There is no scenario where this team grabs the second wild card spot. Not with Detroit finishing against the White Sox. Literally all we can hope for is for Minnesota to continue their slide and back in as the third. Though playing Houston instead of Baltimore doesn’t seem ideal.
Stranger things have happened. I will agree that all positives seem highly unlikely at the moment. The Royals do hold the tie breaker which isn’t nothing.
Agreed. I guess the silver lining is that if Detroit stays unstoppable, Baltimore may still be playing for the first spot when they face the Twins over the weekend.
I chatted with an Oriole fan on Bluesky the other day. If he’s anywhere near representative of the fan base, they’re in quite a state of their own at the moment. The only teams that are remotely happy these days seem to be the Guardians and Tigers. Crazy.
Yeah, they haven't played well for a while and let the Yankees get away with the division title. They're lucky both the Royals and Twins have been crappy.
What a missed opportunity for someone to grab that fourth spot and a home Wild Card series.
Garcia and Isbel are the biggest problems: They never seem to have a plan. Garcia has a terrible habit of always taking the first pitch and if it's a strike, he's behind in the count and screwed.
Isbel needs to get on base any way he can to set up the top of the lineup. He rarely walks, so good luck with that.
These two are terrific defenders and need to be fixed for next season to have any chance of success.
I'm afraid it's too late for this year and that absolutely crushes my blue-bleeding heart.
I’ve been disappointed with the lack of development of Garcia this season. At this point I think it’s safe to say he is who he is.
I feel a bit better about Isbel in the lineup. It just seems like every large inning the Royals had this year where the top of the order put things together, Isbel at the bottom was the guy who started things rolling.
Generally, a team's top hitter bats third. Why not move Bobby to third (and Salvy to fourth) and let TWO hitters try to get on base before him? That lessens the stress on the lead off hitter to get on base.
I would give Witt as many plate appearances as possible. I think Quatraro has him in the right spot in the order.
Plus, the Royals lead off spot has been awful this year. They don’t have a “second” lead off type of guy. I think if you move Witt down, you run the risk of having a parade of low OBP hitters in front of him.
If we're being cynical, it's actually impressive to have the odds to make the postseason slide from ca. 98% to 68% in a week, especially with the expanded playoff format. We're watching history!
I told someone on Saturday that "No Pham in the lineup means they won't score ANY runs"--and I felt smug when it came to pass. But the joke's on me as he's in the lineup on Sunday, yet the Royals still don't score any runs. It's getting hard to be content from improving from 56 wins to 82 wins, particularly when the starting rotation has maintained its spot in the top five of MLB.
We don’t need this kind of history, Jim!
At this point, I can’t even focus on the improvement from year over year. Yet that can’t be discounted. Still, if they come this far only to fall short, that would be an incredibly disappointing end to what has become a fantastic season.
Agree 100%. I felt all along that the numbers were phony--and inflated by 13 games against the White Sox--but I wanted to believe, and this is bitter.
Really like the lineup ideas. I'm kinda surprised they gave up on Nelly down the stretch. I really don't see what Grossman is giving this team that Nelly couldn't honestly. I get Grossman's splits, but even then, he either seems to walk or strikeout and not sure he provides much on defense or on the bases. My gut would be to part ways with Grossman and maybe move Pham into a lower part of the batting order. He can hit the ball hard, but Pham is not a guy right now who is going to work a count or draw a walk.
I'm intrigued by the Maikel at leadoff. You're right, this team was humming the most when he hit leadoff. At this point, the Royals have nothing to lose and against lefties he's been far more effective in terms of approach (0.50 BB/K ratio) and performance (81 wRC+). Maikel still is hitting the ball hard and not chasing and that's a lot better than Pham who is chasing way too much.
Another guy I would rather have out there than Hampson is Blanco. I know his defense has been poor, but I would like to see him get those platoon at-bats instead of Hampson at this point. Blanco's squared up rates aren't bad, and he's shown that he can go on a heater, especially in a more hitter-friendly ballpark.
Call up Nelly, DFA Grossman (or Hampson, though would rather keep Hampson because of positional versatility), play Nelly and Blanco more, have Maikel bat leadoff again against LH SP and let's see where the chips fall. It can't be any worse than what we've seen over the past two weeks.
Thanks, Kevin. Quatraro has to do something, but I’ve been going back and forth in my mind about how he approaches this. He cannot look as though he’s making moves out of panic or desperation. So there can’t be wholesale lineup changes or bizarre shifts (like hitting Perez at the top of the order or something), it has to be pointed, calculated and something that would make sense for a random game in June.
I’m not as high as you on Blanco giving production, even in a small sample, although we have seen him do it. Putting him in the lineup wouldn’t be outrageous. Like you say, it can’t be any worse.
Put Blanco in the lineup every day--if he can use his crayon bat.
After a horrible home stand like that, I guess the good news is that they won’t be playing any games at home for a while. And I plan to be at the game tomorrow, and with Ragans starting, fair to call it a must win. Let’s go!
No pressure Murray, but we’re all expecting you to bring them a victory.
No problem. I’ll have Q start me in the outfield.
As requested ! The boys finally played some ball!
You have talked about hitting, but what about pitching plans? I think they need to skip Marsh's regular start Wednesday since we have the off day today, That gives you Lugo, Wacha, and Singer to go against Washington. It also sets the pitching for the first 3 games of playoffs, if we get there.
Lugo pitched yesterday. The tentative starters for now are Ragans on Tuesday and Wacha on Thursday. Marsh’s start would be Wednesday which is currently listed as TBD. I would bet they’re waiting to see how Ragans does, specifically, how many innings he can give. I could see them going to Lynch for an opener-type of start. Could be a good left/right kind of combo with Marsh in the middle innings.
Forgot about Lorenzen. He could be activated for that start.
Why not bat Witt leadoff? Twice the Royals have lost recently with the leadoff player up.
The benefit to, "Witt can drive someone in," is outweighed by, "Witt didn't get to hit."
I feel that there are two spots in the order that carry a little extra weight. Leadoff is one of them. It’s a mindset, a process. I don’t disagree at all with the logic, but I just question making that move in this moment.
But you also point out my largest complaint about Pham. He came through once very early, but the guy has killed more potential rallies of late by his inability to come through.
With the way this team is hitting, you can just put names in a hat and draw out a lineup it certainly can't score any less. Witt is the only hitter in the lineup that deserves to be in there everyday. I got a hat, anyone have the slips of paper?
What have the Royals done to anger the baseball Gods?
I really wonder how things would have gone if instead of bringing in washed vets they had called up Waters, Velasquez and Loftin
Would they produce more than Grossman, Pham and Dejong? I dunno. But I feel like the clubhouse impact of adding 4 new guys in September rather than familiar faces can’t be overlooked