The McGovern Manifesto- Restoration, Reformation and Retaliation- Part 2

[royals19]

Re: The McGovern Manifesto- Restoration, Reformation and Retaliation- Part 2

Sorry about that, There was a Minnesota series in there that I forgot to mention. I didn't play to every single game in the series against Detroit and Texas... that just wouldn't be fair . Instead, I left it up to the CPU. I held my breath as we simmed through the tough part of the schedule.


Detroit-Swept
Minnesota- 2/3
Texas-Swept
Detroit-Swept

You can't be serious... We swept Detroit with thoughts of first place on our minds. We didn't do bad against Minny but at Texas, we earned our stripes. We swept Texas and left with a tie for the final Wild Card spot. When we come around to play Detroit we're were ready to roll and swept them.

We entered a home series against Minnesota, tied with Detroit for first place...

Around the stadium, our boys worked with a sense of urgency. George Brett was throwing a little harder in the cage, James Shields was popping the glove more in his pre-game pen, Alex Gordon was swinging a little harder... there was a certain air about this team as they suited up for their finest hour.



James Shields, the leading AL Cy Young candidate toed the rubber for us and was locked in from the first pitch on. The changeup had a little more bite to it, the fast ball a little more zip. You could just feel that the Royals were playing for keeps this game. The Twins just couldn't touch Shields... he showed why he should be the Cy Young and that's huge for a team like us going against the Goliath Detroit Tigers.

We wanted Shields to go the whole 9 today because of our exhausted pen but it was all hands on deck for this game, no matter how sore the arm was.



I know Shieldsy is leading the league in Cy Young voting but... Alex Gordon... he might actually hit 25+ homeruns this season. He's just a run producing machine, a gold glove fielder and the new face of the Royals franchise. In all honesty, I'd love to make him a career Royal. He could be the greatest player that we've ever developed since George Brett and that's saying something. Sure there's guys like Salvy, Moose and Hos out there but their time will come.

Right now, it's Gordo's time.



... So while the Royals were led by Shields, Gordon and David Lough, Detroit was crumbling in Cleveland under the pressure. While our guys shook hands out on the field, they had no idea that on the scoreboard behind them, the Indians were putting the finishing touches on an upset for the ages against Detroit.

For the first time in 20+ years, the Kansas City Royals are in first place in August...

[royals19]

Re: The McGovern Manifesto- Restoration, Reformation and Retaliation- Part 2

August 29th, 2013
Somewhere in Upstate New York
5:00 P.M. ET

In a meeting room deep within the confines of this home, several key members of "The Trust" met to plot their course of action... McGovern's Royals were in the national spotlight and the Franchise was back on the map for the first time since the 80s. As the Royals kept winning and kept gaining popularity, The Trust found that it was going to be harder to make McGovern "disappear" quietly.

Something had to be done to unseat him before he became too powerful...

Why don't we just make him sleep with the fishies? That way, we won't have to deal with him any more...

Because Jeff, you know just as well as I do that if we do that then he'll become a national hero from Rapid City to Amarillo... I'm thinking we leave McGovern be.

Isn't he the one we want to get kid of though?

He is, he is... the only way to get at a guy like this is to hit him on a technicality...

...We could kidnap Bo and since McGovern doesn't have ownership of the team, we can purchase it and steal all of his assets and ruin him! It'll be just like '93 all over again!

Bingo! And I know just the right man for the job...

[royals19]

Re: The McGovern Manifesto- Restoration, Reformation and Retaliation- Part 2



I don't like Cleveland... The ball park, the team... can't stand it. To be fair however, Cleveland hates us... no where else do people boo us with such ferocity and throw things with such animosity.... actually, I take that back, Minnesota gives us an equal reception when we go up there.

I really hate to admit it but the Rivalry has gone cold. When we're beating these guys by 5 runs every game, it's not much of a rivalry... that doesn't mean that we can't have a little fun though right?



And Mike Aviles wears one in the back... aaaand he leaves the game. He acts as the toughest guy on Cleveland's ball club but is he? Haha, no absolutely not. He's a rodeo clown compared to some of these guys like Chris Perez and Nick Swisher. I'll admit, we screwed him with a 1,000 dollar signing bonus out of the draft but he sure as heck played like a 1,000 dollar ball player during his tenure here in KC... Then he had the nerve to thumb his nose at us on his was to Boston... we won't forget that... ever.

Now aside from the usual antics, we've got big things poppin'.



Domonic Brown has come back from the DL and played outta his mind. He shows so many shades of Bo Jackson but that's not a fair comparison for anybody. I think that Jason Heyward is more of an accurate comparison but Brown isn't as polished at this point in the game. Down the road, like 3-4 years down the road, I could see Dom Brown as a 30-40 homerun threat. He came back with 7 homeruns and he already has 15.

He's got all 5 of the tools and I will say that this is by far the best trade George McGovern has ever made... ever. We bought low on who was baseball's #1 prospects in 2011 and he's rapidly turning into a star.

Now speaking of stars,



Donnie Joesph.... HWHAT? This dude is legit... he's like a left handed Craig Kimbrell out there. OK, OK maybe that was unfair. But the impact he's had has been incredible. It's insane that we've had this guy buried down in our farm system for quite some time. He's been closing for maybe a half month now and he's probably going to continue in that roll.

Joesph's coming now puts some question into Greg Holland's future... Holland is out until late September with a leg issue and the longer he's out, the more time Joesph has to solidify his spot. We aren't likely to non-tender Holland but he's going to have to earn his way back to the big leagues.



Boom, this was a closer game than I anticipated, especially with Jon Lester on the hill. Lester always shuts down whoever he throws against... for the most part. But never fear, a couple homeruns and we're coasting our way to victory...

This is almost too easy, time to change the sliders amigos.

[royals19]

Re: The McGovern Manifesto- Restoration, Reformation and Retaliation- Part 2

If you think we've been winning games like nobody's business... you'd be dead wrong.



We are literally winning games out the wazoo. 19 Straight... I've maybe played a handful of those games. There isn't anything overly special about the team; we don't have that one superstar player that everybody has. We've been grinding our way to these wins. We're burning rubber between here and Omaha trying to get rested guys in the bullpen and on the bench.

We're going all in on this winning streak and with August slowing down, it's time to start thinking about September and hopefully the postseason.

We've got some good arms in our bullpen but outside of Aaron Crow, Donnie Joesph and Tim Collins, there isn't really anything overpowering.

Enter Taijuan Walker. I don't need to tell you about his stuff, as you can see in the above graphic.

When you have a power arm that has the potential like this to impact your club and throw in high leverage situations down the stretch, you'd be a fool to let him toil in AAA. We aren't going to use Taijuan out of the rotation because we're set there so he's going to find himself working with Timmy Collins and Nate Adcock in Middle Relief and potentially a setup man roll.

I envision him being used similar to the way Tampa used David Price back when they made their deep run into the postseason. In nearly all of our high leverage situations, this is going to be our guy.



The ERA is unsightly but his DIPS is 2.09 so Taijuan is actually pitching at a pretty good clip. Normally, we require all of our minor leaguers to wear the stirrups but in Taijuan case, we aren't gonna make him do that. His days in AAA are numbered. This is probably the most excited I've ever been to see a prospect make his way to the bigs...

So be on the lookout for Taijuan to come up sometime in the next few games.

[royals19]

Re: The McGovern Manifesto- Restoration, Reformation and Retaliation- Part 2



I really hate to say it but at this point, it isn't really a competition any more. We're safely in first place with a comfortable 8 game lead here heading into September. That doesn't mean that each game doesn't have meaning.

After getting kicked around in the AL Central for the past 20 some odd years, we finally get to be the bully. While Detroit is fighting for it's life in the Wild Card race, we're gearing up to curb-stomp them and show them what it's like to be kicked when you're down.



Now I'll be honest, our offense is slowing down. We aren't kicking the crap out of teams by 4-5 runs any more. It's turned into a bunch of close games where we've managed to wiggle out runs. Leading the charge is guys like Alcides Escobar and Trevor Story who haven't been mentioned often enough in the highlight reels.

Tonight, Escobar was a homer shy of the cycle... not too shabby. His batting average has dropped significantly but his power numbers have gone up so it should only be a matter of time before he gets everything put together and becomes one of the better all around shortstops in the league.



So while Escobar and Co. did work on the offensive side, Wade Davis shut it down pitching. We've had him all over this season. He's been in the pen, in the rotation... It was really just an effort to try to kick start his season. Davis is a future key-cog in the rotation and we really need him to be productive and bridge the gap between our front and back ends in the rotation.

His stuff is probably some of the best on the staff... probably better than Shields' but his command is spotty from game to game. He's focusing on control in his training assignments and it's starting to pay dividends.



When you throw 8 innings and strike out 10 of Detroit's guys they sent to the plate... that might as well earn you POG honors. Davis is finally starting to come around thankfully. Dare I say, "The Silent Assassin" has returned?

[royals19]

Re: The McGovern Manifesto- Restoration, Reformation and Retaliation- Part 2

I'm not going to lie... we aren't running our best 9 out there every single day. A lot of these guys have been on their grind for the entire season trying to get us back into the race so they should get well rested before the post season. Some of these guys we're trying to get better looks at like David Lough and Domonic Brown and others like Mike Moustakas are trying to iron things out. We're resting Salvy too giving George Kottaras and Jose Molina the majority of the starts.

Anyway, on to Texas!


Nothing like playing in the blistering heat of Texas is there? David Lough sure doesn't seem to have a problem with it. He has defied all odds to make it as our starting right fielder. Last season, he toiled around in AA and AAA, not even seeing big league time. This season though, he's turned into our #3 hitter and he's hitting .309. At 28 years old, he's finally hit his groove.

Barring any unforseen injuries or trades, David Lough will probably remain our starting right fielder. He will need to repeat a fraction of this year though to keep his job with names like Jason Heyward looming on the free agent market next year.



Yordano Ventura... that's a name to remember. Here's a stat for all you stat junkies out there.

In 9 games started, Yordano Ventura has struck out 93 hitters.

That's impressive. He has always had a great arm but when you're throwing like this, he's unstoppable. He will probably march into next season with a spot already locked down because we'd be a bunch of damn fools to send him back down.

He has carved up the competition beyond recognition, especially tonight. A 100 mph heater, hammer curve at 83 and a 78 mph change piece... it doesn't get better than that. This kid is the real deal 6-0, 1.98 ERA coming into tonight.



So while one pitcher rises, another pitcher falls... Remember Greg Holland? Well he's back... sort of. Don't expect him to be making the big league roster though next year. He has to prove himself all over again. I'm pulling for him, Joe Maddon's pulling for him, heck, even McGovern's pulling for him. He's a great story but unfortunately, he has to produce or he's out of a job.

Tonight, a scoreless night in under 30 pitches was a positive first step in the right direction.

[royals19]

Re: The McGovern Manifesto- Restoration, Reformation and Retaliation- Part 2



Back in KC, things are heating up... we're drawing more crowds, the budget projections are giving us 10-15 million more to spend this offseason and we're starting to see some of the fruits of our player development with expanded rosters this September.

Our Franchise is in a totally different stage than where it was last season. In fact, we've made minimal changes to the roster, outside of signing Lester and trading Butler, this is virtually the same group of guys we rolled into last year with... they've just gotten a heck of a lot better.

In fact, we're on pace to win 100 games for the first time in franchise history... and we haven't even done anything stupid like trading for Stanton.



Playing the Angels is always a treat because you know Mike Trout's bound to do something insane that you'll never see again. However, that just wasn't the case today, Eric Hosmer hit an opposite field 2 run shot into the fountains out there in left... impressive to say the least but Jed Lowrie's homer was the talk of the town and was featured on Baseball Tonight numerous times.

Spoiler

I'm still trying to figure out how to make these dang flabbin' videos. I finally figured out how to cut out the audio and add pictures so we're making progress. Eventually, I'd like to try and add MLB.com audio or something more baseball but that's a whole other project haha.

I honestly didn't think that Jed Lowrie was capable of such destruction... I guess when Jerome Williams is pitching, anything is possible.

But aside from Lowrie and Hos' power show, Andrew Cashner was showcasing a different type of power.



Barring any stupid collapses or anything, we're anticipating making the playoffs. With that being said, Andrew Cashner and Yordano Ventura are locked in a battle for the final rotation spot behind Shields and Lester.

Cashner's return to the rotation was phenomenal tonight, we he's on the ace potential is there... when he's off, it's walk city. Tonight he was on and blowing 100 MPH heaters by Mike Trout and Albert Pujols.

Onwards, we press into September.

[royals19]

Re: The McGovern Manifesto- Restoration, Reformation and Retaliation- Part 2

So with things cooling down here in early September, I figured now would be a good time to see how our affiliates are doing in their playoff hunts. The Storm Chasers lost in the second round... bummer. But hold the phone. Not all is lost.

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals are playing in the Championship game of the Texas League series. This team that we're featuring now reminds me a lot of the 2010 league winning squad that was stacked with top prospects.

Eric Hosmer
Mike Moustakas
Danny Duffy
Mike Montgomery
Chris Dwyer
Jarrod Dyson
Johnny Giavotella
John Lamb
Louis Coleman
Aaron Crow
Everett Teaford

That squad was absolutely STACKED. On top of that, these guys were viewed as the team that was going to win it all for KC one day. These we're some of the first, and best, guys that Dayton Moore had drafted... these were the supposed cornerstones.

Now you take that team and compare it to this year's squad.

Bubba Starling
Elier Hernandez
Austin Meadows
Cam Gallagher
Jiwan James
Cheslor Cuthbert
Miguel Almonte
Kyle Zimmer
Tyler Matzek
Kyle Smith
Mario Rosas
Jason Adam

Obviously the team is highlighted by our future outfield of Meadows, Bubba and Hernandez but the arms that are here are impressive as well with Zimmer, Matzek and Almonte fronting the rotation. This should be the next great wave of Royals talent to come through the system.

But on to the game....

It was a close one the whole time. Zimmer got smacked around and the bullpen did it's best to keep things from getting out of hand. We almost rallied several times but The Huston Astros affiliate was loaded with high octane arms and they'd just turn it over to one of them and shut us down.

Before we knew it, it was the 9th inning and we were down by 1. Cam Gallagher managed to get a leadoff base knock and we proceeded to get two quick outs... Enter Bubba Starling the hometown kid... He worked a 2-1 count and sat on a Lance McCullers 98 MPH fastball.

BOOM.


A 422 ft Shot from the hometown hero ties the ball game. Virtual Bubba is 10x better than the real Bubba as of now. Virtual Bubba finished the season with a .307 average and 29 homeruns... which is impressive to say the least for a 21 year old in Double A.

Following the Bubba shot, Max Ramirez hit a homerun to put us ahead and it was now all on Brian Sanches' shoulders to save the ball game.



And there you have it folks, the Northwest Arkansas Naturals are the 2014 Texas League champs. Most of these guys will probably be in AAA next year where they can hopefully repeat and win up there, a feat the Moustakas-Hosmer group wasn't able to complete.

This will go down as one of the key moments in our franchise history... is it as good as Utley's base knock to win the wild card game last year vs. Texas? No but this is still special.

[royals19]

Re: The McGovern Manifesto- Restoration, Reformation and Retaliation- Part 2

Ladies and Gents, welcome back to more Royals baseball... But hold on, you'd better getcha a sandwich and a Ice Tea because we're about to hit this hard and get the regular season outta the way here today.

For starters, let's head back up to Minnesota.


Ahhh... I see... So it's going to be one of those games again. Dang, you'd think that teams would love to try to spoil our season this late in the season and we're giving them plenty of opportunities out there by running out our "B team".

I hate how we play all the games against our rivals late in the season when there isn't even the same fire as there was earlier in the season. Folks, we're throwing at people at they aren't throwing back... Dare I say the rivalries between the Indians and Twins have cooled?

I hope not.

But hey, there's nothing better than blowing out a rival. I'll take that any time... just not every time.



So for starters, we knew this was going to be a cake walk when Elliot Johnson of all people hit a bases loaded triple against Alex Meyer in the 2nd inning. When Elliot Johnson hits a bases loaded triple like that, you might as well throw in the towel this year and go home for the winter.

To be honest, these guys are just showing up to the ballpark, scoring a ton of runs then putting it on cruise control. I don't like it and quite frankly I'm tired of these blow outs.



But still there was one bright spot from the game. James Shields, currently leading in the Cy Young voting, may have won the award with his 11 strikeout-shutout of the Minnesota Twins. We may have found a great bargain at 4 years for 29 million last offseason.

His velocity is up, touching 97-98 compared to 95-96 last year, his command is much better from last season and you combine that with his ability to throw 120+ pitches every outing without tiring... folks, we're sitting on a top 5 pitcher in baseball.

[royals19]

Re: The McGovern Manifesto- Restoration, Reformation and Retaliation- Part 2

So before we move on, let's take a look at the league leaders and see what they're all up to.



Of course, we've got Big Game James up there leading the Cy Young voting... I could give you the "He's the face of our franchise, team leader, yadda yadda" crap but hopefully you already recognized that... if not, my bad.

On the flip side, Clayton Kershaw is probably going to land a 300 million dollar contract. One of the new features this year is the ability to give players 30 Million annually so take that and multiply that out 10 years... somebody is about to break the bank. It will be interesting to see where he lands this year. Back with the Dodgers- perhaps, up to the Yanks- maybe, Tampa Bay- Don't count 'em out.

Right off the bat, you'll notice that somehow, Yasiel Puig is leading the NL ROY voting with a .254 batting average. I love that dude, the bat flip, the flair... but he ain't rookie of the year material this year... maybe next year... wait. I'm also trying to wrap my mind around how Zack Cox of all people is third in voting... leave it to the show I guess.

Aside from that, Billy Butler was 2nd in MVP voting as of 2 weeks ago... somehow but then the voters came to their senses and put Cecil errr... Prince and Robbie Cano up there. Speaking of MVP voting, I can't believe that Pedro Alvarez is leading the league in the NL. I'm pulling for him because:

1. The dude deserves it after grinding for most of his career.
2. That lyin', cheatin', no good bum, Ryan Braun is hot on his heels.

I'm also curious to see if Alvarez can hit 50 dingers this year. That's something I've only seen Jason Heyward do in MLB 11 and 10 The Show versions where he would get mysteriously good overnight... Like up his OVR 20 points over night... He's doing something and I don't like it.

[ML]

Re: The McGovern Manifesto- Restoration, Reformation and Retaliation- Part 2

How have Prince and Miggy not done that much damage to you guys when you play them...

[royals19]

Re: The McGovern Manifesto- Restoration, Reformation and Retaliation- Part 2

How have Prince and Miggy not done that much damage to you guys when you play them...

I walk them if there are runners in scoring position and I don't throw anything into the strikezone when I face off against them. Miggy can't hit the fastball up and in and Prince swings over curveball's all the time on the outer part of the plate. It's all about not giving them anything good to hit.

Miggy destroyed us last postseason and Prince was really tough last year, I'm surprised how we've been able to handle them.

******

This is a big game for our franchise. We've never won 100 games... ever. And now, we've got a prime opportunity to do so against the rival Cleveland Indians. We've already made them look like fools, so we might as well make them look even worse.

You see, Jon Lester was scheduled to start today but we need to get a better look at some of out younger guys... Maybe Jake Odorizzi, John Lamb?

How about uhh... Tyler Matzek, fresh from the 2014 Texas League Champ Naturals.



So not only are we on the cusp of 100 wins against the Indians, we're also starting a pitcher who has never thrown a pitch above AA. We acquired Matzek last season with Trevor Story for Danny Duffy and it looks like that trade has worked out for us.

Matzek was on a strict pitch count of 90 pitches and he needed every single one of them. Matzek struck out 11 batters and allowed 0 runs in 7 1/3 innings of work. The fastball was working, the change piece was on and the curveball was filthy. This Tyler Matzek kid was the ace down on that loaded AA staff so you might want to watch for him next season.

So while Cleveland got humiliated by a AA pitcher, we punched them in the gut again.



Another 95 MPH fastball in the neck... and again, he would have to leave the ball game. Maybe we're beaning them too much, maybe we're trying to provoke them too much but here's the thing, when you've been kicked to your knees and made fun of for 20 years, you want to get you're revenge and that's exactly what we're doing. We're trying to restore the honor and prestige of our franchise, no matter what the cost.

That being said, there's something different about this team...


And it probably has to do with Joe Maddon. Maddon has found ways to win for this ball club when it was going through it's early season growing pains. Having Joe Maddon here is night and day from Ned Yost last season.

Despite the surface level impacts, it also represents a change in philosophy. For so long, we'd been trying to do things the "Braves Way" but now, we're doing things the "Tampa Bay Way" and we're seeing an immediate impact.

[beamerball811]

Re: The McGovern Manifesto- Restoration, Reformation and Retaliation- Part 2

Congratulations on clipping the 100-win mark! I've been a silent follower for awhile (I think.)

[AC]

Atta boy Royals. Awesome season.

[royals19]

Re: The McGovern Manifesto- Restoration, Reformation and Retaliation- Part 2

Here's the deal, there isn't really any need to throw a party or anything big... we made the playoffs and had the best record in the league. We didn't really make any massive changes since this thing has started. Acquiring Jon Lester is probably the biggest deal we've made in itself and that's fine. We don't need to go out and do any crazy MLB 12 The Show San Diego Padres rebuilds.



In the later months of the season, we were able to overtake Detroit but that's really a combination of us playing good ball and them suffering an epic collapse. Detroit just didn't have it this season. They stood pat last offseason, aside from signing Cody Ross, and it came back to bite them.

So with that being said, here's how the playoffs will shake out.


The same exact teams in the AL that were there last season are here again and the National has been shaken up with the addition of Pittsburgh over the Dodgers. The D-Backs, who won it all last season are playing the roll of underdog yet again. The clear favorite to win it all is Atlanta but Pittsburgh is a close second with their highly touted, but raw team.

In the AL, Toronto should win the whole thing because they've easily got the best and most consistent team. However, don't think that the Royals are incapable of making it far. We were overmatched last season and something tells me that might be the case again this year because we played streaky all year round.

This should be a very, very interesting October.