Bruce Chen, 1-0, and not scored upon this year.

 

Holding down the Twins in KC in the top of the 7th, 1-0 KC on a Butler solo homer. Mauer just doubled off him.

 

Wade Davis started for KC.

Edited April 11, 201313 yr by caulfield12

The Royals look like they could be something. They play Toronto next and then hit the road--Atlanta, Boston, Detroit.

 

We'll see.

So far...

 

Tigers offense: MASHING Starters: Mediocre Bullpen: GOD AWFUL 4-4

 

Sox offense: Pretty bad Starters: Okay Bullpen: Okay 4-4

 

Gonna be really interesting to see where they both are in July when they finally meet. No one is running away and hiding, gonna be very similar to last year I'm guessing.

The Royals look like they could be something. They play Toronto next and then hit the road--Atlanta, Boston, Detroit.

 

We'll see.

 

They have only played one good team so far, and that was the series they lost.

Royals 5-1 since leaving Chicago. Wade Davis works out of bases loaded, no out jambs in the 1st and 2nd innings to throw 5 scoreless, then Bruce Chen adds 3 scoreless, Herrera with the save. Royals sweep the Twins.

 

I'm going to my first game of the season Saturday, 2nd row behind the Royals' dugout. James Shields v. R.A. Dickey. I'm pretty pumped!

Edited April 11, 201313 yr by High Mileage

They have only played one good team so far, and that was the series they lost.

 

Let me know where they are on July. Teams start hot when the adrenaline is going. It wears off.

Tigers up 5-1 in the Second. Is that lead safe? From either the pitching or rain

6-1, and Johnson is out of there.

 

Torii Hunter plays younger than 37/38, whatever he is.

Torii Hunter plays younger than 37/38, whatever he is.

 

The amazing thing is that he probably feels five years older after playing all of those years on the Metrodome turf.

How would you like to have a $130 million payroll with no closer?

But anyone can close. There is nothing special about it. The bigger outs are usually earlier in the game anyway.

But anyone can close. There is nothing special about it. The bigger outs are usually earlier in the game anyway.

 

It's not that hard to find an adequate closer unless you're looking in the wrong places.

 

You just have to draft the right guys for the job. Look at the Royals, they have at least 3 guys who can close in that bullpen in Holland, Herrera, and Crow.

Edited April 12, 201313 yr by chw42

How would you like to have a $130 million payroll with no closer?

 

They managed to win the division without a closer last year.

They managed to win the division without a closer last year.

 

More like we lost the division.

Is it really ever too late for a season preview? AL Central by the Numbers

Is it really ever too late for a season preview? AL Central by the Numbers

No, no it is not.

Matt Harvey has a no hitter against the Twins through 5 innings

he has no hit stuff..ermm, more like the Twins havent hit anything hard.

its very possible this could happen

well, out of no where Justin Morneau got a hold of one and hit a HR in the bottom of the 7th.

If the cigarettes don't get him, that bullpen is going to kill Jim Leyland.

Chris Getz just hit his first homer in 954 at bats. First one since 2009 with the White Sox.

The Royals kids are hitting like they play for the White Sox.

Of more concern is the lack of power -- or any kind of production, really -- from the left-handed bats of Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas. One reason for much optimism around the Royals this year was the expected improvement for the 23-year-old Hosmer and 24-year-old Moustakas. Those expectations were a reason the Royals believed they could trade minor league stud Wil Myers for James Shields. After all, even though both were pretty bad last year, there were signs of hope: Hosmer had hit well as a rookie in 2011 and Moustakas had a very good first half before falling apart in the second half.

 

But after going 1-for-8 in Tuesday's loss, their batting lines:

 

Hosmer: .242/.359/.273, 1 2B, 5 BB, 8 SO

Moustakas: .171/.244/.220, 2 2B, 4 BB, 6 SO

 

That's a .203 average, three doubles, no home runs and five RBIs in 74 combined at-bats. This is where we point out that it's early and that all this is small-sample-size kind of analysis and each player could have two big games and suddenly be having good seasons. There is some positive news in those numbers as well, as neither player is striking out excessively.

 

In Hosmer's case, he just isn't driving the ball -- at all. He had his one double to deep left-center and one fly out to deep left, but after flying out twice and striking out twice on Tuesday, he now has 12 ground balls in play and six fly balls. He has hit seven line drives, but those lines drives aren't being driven into the gaps.

 

This is somewhat similar to the issue he faced last year when he had trouble pulling the ball with much authority -- he only pulled three home runs all season (he hit seven to the opposite field and four just to the right of center). You can be a good hitter even if your natural stroke goes to the opposite field, but unless you possess the raw power of someone like Ryan Howard or David Ortiz, you're not going to develop into a big home run hitter unless you pull the ball more. Hosmer hit .284 and slugged .444 against fastballs last year, which sounds pretty good, but the major-league averages were .295 and .485 for qualified regular. Hosmer ranked in the 42nd percentile in batting average and 32nd percentile in slugging percentage against the fastball. The trouble is, he was even worse against "soft" stuff -- he hit .177 and slugged .245, well below the .242 and .393 marks of the 144 qualified regulars.

 

I would argue that it all stems off hitting the fastball. If he can't catch up to the good fastballs, he's going to struggle much more against offspeed stuff. So far in 2013, he is 0-for-17 in plate appearances ending in fastballs. Until he shows he can hit the hard stuff with authority, Hosmer isn't going to meet the lofty expectations everyone had for him after his rookie season.

 

As for Moustakas, he has had the opposite problem: Twenty-two fly balls, seven ground balls and seven infield pop-outs. He had one fly out and one foul infield pop-out on Tuesday. He's just getting under everything (he has had four deep flies to center field that were caught).

 

In looking at Moustakas' success rate against fastballs, last year he hit .261 and slugged .478. The power was there but the batting average was low -- in large part because his chase percentage (swings at fastballs outside the strike zone) was 32 percent, which ranked in the 10th percentile of all regulars. So far in 2013 that chase percentage is 35 percent, not a sign that he's going to drastically improve.

 

Both are young. Both have a lot of work to do before they become stars and meet the hype they generated coming up to the majors.

 

The good news for the Royals: The bullpen has struggled, their two young corner infielders have struggled, and Salvador Perez hasn't hit yet. And they're still 7-6.

The top 4 in the Tigers lineup so far this year...yikes

Well, we all know Torii Hunter's not a .400 hitter.

 

I can't quite believe he was a .300 hitter last year....but with that line-up in LA, he had a lot of protection with Trout, Pujols, Morales, Trumbo, etc.

DELETE

Edited April 18, 201313 yr by caulfield12

Hopefully they get it all out of their systems by the time we see them.