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Thursday 10 March 2011

CTOD: Kansas City Royals


In 2006 Dayton Moore took over a team that was in shambles yet showed promise and had people in Kansas hoping to see success like some of the previous great Royals teams. Moore promised to be build a team through drafting and scouting and he has done just that, the Royals have the best farm system in baseball according to Baseball America. The flip side is that the Royals have had only one winning season since 2000, which is how they built the best system in baseball, giving them 8 top 10 selections over the past ten years.



In 2010 the Royals finished with just 67 wins (good for last in the AL central). Now the Royals certainly won't be contending for a division title this year and some may wonder if they ever will. However Dayton Moore and the Royals are on the right track and are certainly getting better. A closer look at the numbers tells us that the Royals fielded a great team night in and night out and may not be as bad as people think.

2nd in team batting average in MLB
5th in total AB's (meaning their getting through order and guys are hitting)
2nd in MLB in total hits

Now the runs aren't quite there but they will come, you can't put up the above numbers and be that unlucky forever. With the addition of young prospect Alcides Escobar (acquired in the Greinke trade) and Francouer (looking to revive his career) it should only bolster the already good young line-up. The Royals have some strong player prospects in Moustakas (crushing in AAA) and Hosmer (red hot this spring) who will factor into the line-up at some point in 2011. They both have tremendous upside and will only make the Royals a stronger team all around.

Pitching is a totally different story. As everyone knows pitching wins games, just ask San Francisco, who were not near as high in team batting average, total AB's and total hits, yet won the world series. Kansas' pitching has been awful, except for Greinke and he's now gone. There is some bright spots though, the Royals have an elite closer in Soria and Bruce Chen turned in a decent season considering the Royals starters ranked among the worst in all of baseball. Chen, a southpaw, was the only starter to even turn in a winning record (12-7). All of the Royals top 5 pitching prospects are set to start the season in double A and some of them should see big league innings this year for sure. Pitching will be rough but if the Royal's staff can get some runs support, I think they will see a few more wins bolstering their confidence and giving people in Kansas something to smile about for once.

Surprise Player: Billy Butler. This guy can flat out play, he hits for a great average and has the power to match. With a stronger line-up and some protection, I see Butler having a breakout season proving himself to be worth the wait.

Player to Watch: Luke Hochevar. This is a guy who was a 1st overall selection that absolutely dominated in University. A huge man with 4 good pitches, who just battles inconsistency and unfortunately the bad nights seems to be more frequent than the good ones. However last season, Hochevar showed some real dominance against some good teams (Boston & Texas). I think he just took awhile to come around and although I don't see him being the ace the Royals thought, he still has the goods to be a horse you can call a quality number 2 guy.

Prediction: I anticipate a tough year for the Royals in the always competitive AL central, yet wouldn't be surprised to see the Royals make some noise upping their win total from 67 in 2010. I predict the Royals to finish 4th this year in their division ahead of the Indians. One thing is for certain the future is bright in Kansas and I fully expect them to be competing for a AL central title in a few years. They have all the right pieces, they just need a bit of seasoning.

2 comments:

  1. I am excited to see some of the Royals prospects start making it to the bigs. Unfortunately, there isn't much other reason to watch.

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  2. They absolutely crushed a nearly complete Dodger line-up today. Even though it's spring training, you have to be excited of you're a Royals fan.

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