Royals Mailbag (05/02)
Royals Mailbag
We're barely a month into the season, but the Royals are holding strong near the top of the division with an 11-9 mark heading into a three-game series that begins tonight with a split-location series -- tonight is a make-up game with St. Louis on the east side of the state before the series resumes tomorrow with two in Kansas City.
Why have the Royals historically had such a hard time developing pitching?
Up until recently, the infrastructure just hasn't been in place. They've relied upon former veteran big-leaguers and minor-leaguers alike to run the pitching staffs at the lower levels (Jeff Suppan, Mitch Stetter to name a few) to implement their individual philosophies. After 2019, they brought on former MLB pitcher Paul Gibson to oversee the development process for the pitching side, much how they overhauled the hitting side. They also brought in some outside faces to coach the pitchers in the upper levels, namely Dane Johnson (Omaha), and Derrick Lewis (NW Arkansas).
Driveline Baseball, which is in St. Louis, has also been a big factor. All four of the Royals' "Big 4" from the 2018 class have worked with Driveline in the past, and others in subsequent classes (Asa Lacy, Will Klein) have also worked with them in recent years. Team president (then-GM) Dayton Moore also said after the 2019 season, they've gone away from trying to force pitchers to change largely, and have tried to work with what they do best, which if true, is a bit surprising (and alarming!).
Analytics have also been a part of the new-ish approach of the front office -- former Royals minor league pitcher Andy Ferguson, 33, and new assistant GM for analytics and scouting Travis Greenleaf provided feedback to the organization's pitchers based on piles of data that were put together by Ferguson and R&D head Daniel Mack.
If that sounds like a lot of names, you'd be correct, but it may take another handful of seasons to really see the fruits of the labor that are being put in as of this mailbag.
Thoughts on the first month?
Considering their struggles in the rotation and up and down the lineup, going 11-9 through the first twenty games is pretty impressive. That said, they've had a favorable schedule where they played a ton of their games at home. That's going to change in a hurry. In May, they'll play twenty-nine games, with seventeen on the road.
Where do the Royals go from here re: Mondesi?
I think there are two real scenarios here -- he rehabs the knee, and comes back next year to compete for a starting role -- or secondly, the Royals non-tender him this offseason and try to lower his number. The second scenario is risky if you eventually want to bring him back, but he's so injury-prone that it may drive opposing interest down, and therefore lower Mondesi's price. There's no chance for any return in a trade. None.
Problem is, with scenario number-one, where is he going to play? Nicky Lopez is a damn fine defensive shortstop. Whit Merrifield is really struggling to begin 2022, but it seems likely he'll find his footing in the near future. Bobby Witt, Jr., is the team's immediate answer at third base. I think it might be time for fans to accept (and maybe Mondesi should, too) that his ceiling now is that of super-sub that starts 3-4 games per week, including some spot defensive duty and pinch-running in the days in between.
The caveat here is if Merrifield continues to decline at the plate, there may be an opening for Mondesi to take over at second base, or maybe in RF if the platoon of Edward Olivares and Kyle Isbel doesn't work out.
Is Salvy a legit MVP candidate this year?
He should be. Kansas City right now is two games over .500 with average starting pitching, average bullpen, and zero around him offensively aside from Andrew Benintendi. He's been the best hitter in baseball through the first three weeks and change of the season. He's not going to hit a dozen homeruns every month, but he's likely going to threaten fifty again like he did last year. However, teams are going to start avoiding him like the plague if guys like Merrifield, Carlos Santana, or Hunter Dozier can't get their act together. If Salvy is out for any stretch of time this year, they'll be in a world of hurt.
What's the one move you'd make if you wanted to turn around the struggling offense?
I don't think it's feasible to get rid of him at this point due to his salary, but I'd drop Santana to where he's hitting no higher than seventh each night. He's still a moderately valuable hitter because of his on-base skills, but he's just not striking the ball well at all; and without power, it doesn't make any sense to DH him, so first base it is.
In addition (and this is probably not going to happen either), but they should seriously consider moving Merrifield down, as well. Not to eighth or ninth, but sixth possibly? The only three guys that are consistently hitting now -- Lopez, Benintendi, and Perez -- should occupy the first three spots. Dozier has shown flashes of the hitter he was back in 2019, but he's still been more down than up to this point.
Also, at what point do you begin to start pointing the finger at the hitting coaches? The Royals' offense has been an abject disaster to begin this season, and was a bottom-third unit in the league the last two seasons. Even prized hitting prospects in Nick Pratto, Vinnie Pasquantino, and MJ Melendez are off to rough starts in Omaha, after both of them ran roughshod over Double and Triple-A pitching a year ago. Bobby Witt, Jr., hasn't been as bad as the numbers might indicate, but a .510 OPS is still not great no matter how you slice it.
Royals Mailbag
By Brian Douglas | Kansas City Star | May 2nd, 2022
We're barely a month into the season, but the Royals are holding strong near the top of the division with an 11-9 mark heading into a three-game series that begins tonight with a split-location series -- tonight is a make-up game with St. Louis on the east side of the state before the series resumes tomorrow with two in Kansas City.
Why have the Royals historically had such a hard time developing pitching?
Up until recently, the infrastructure just hasn't been in place. They've relied upon former veteran big-leaguers and minor-leaguers alike to run the pitching staffs at the lower levels (Jeff Suppan, Mitch Stetter to name a few) to implement their individual philosophies. After 2019, they brought on former MLB pitcher Paul Gibson to oversee the development process for the pitching side, much how they overhauled the hitting side. They also brought in some outside faces to coach the pitchers in the upper levels, namely Dane Johnson (Omaha), and Derrick Lewis (NW Arkansas).
Driveline Baseball, which is in St. Louis, has also been a big factor. All four of the Royals' "Big 4" from the 2018 class have worked with Driveline in the past, and others in subsequent classes (Asa Lacy, Will Klein) have also worked with them in recent years. Team president (then-GM) Dayton Moore also said after the 2019 season, they've gone away from trying to force pitchers to change largely, and have tried to work with what they do best, which if true, is a bit surprising (and alarming!).
Analytics have also been a part of the new-ish approach of the front office -- former Royals minor league pitcher Andy Ferguson, 33, and new assistant GM for analytics and scouting Travis Greenleaf provided feedback to the organization's pitchers based on piles of data that were put together by Ferguson and R&D head Daniel Mack.
If that sounds like a lot of names, you'd be correct, but it may take another handful of seasons to really see the fruits of the labor that are being put in as of this mailbag.
Thoughts on the first month?
Considering their struggles in the rotation and up and down the lineup, going 11-9 through the first twenty games is pretty impressive. That said, they've had a favorable schedule where they played a ton of their games at home. That's going to change in a hurry. In May, they'll play twenty-nine games, with seventeen on the road.
Where do the Royals go from here re: Mondesi?
I think there are two real scenarios here -- he rehabs the knee, and comes back next year to compete for a starting role -- or secondly, the Royals non-tender him this offseason and try to lower his number. The second scenario is risky if you eventually want to bring him back, but he's so injury-prone that it may drive opposing interest down, and therefore lower Mondesi's price. There's no chance for any return in a trade. None.
Problem is, with scenario number-one, where is he going to play? Nicky Lopez is a damn fine defensive shortstop. Whit Merrifield is really struggling to begin 2022, but it seems likely he'll find his footing in the near future. Bobby Witt, Jr., is the team's immediate answer at third base. I think it might be time for fans to accept (and maybe Mondesi should, too) that his ceiling now is that of super-sub that starts 3-4 games per week, including some spot defensive duty and pinch-running in the days in between.
The caveat here is if Merrifield continues to decline at the plate, there may be an opening for Mondesi to take over at second base, or maybe in RF if the platoon of Edward Olivares and Kyle Isbel doesn't work out.
Is Salvy a legit MVP candidate this year?
He should be. Kansas City right now is two games over .500 with average starting pitching, average bullpen, and zero around him offensively aside from Andrew Benintendi. He's been the best hitter in baseball through the first three weeks and change of the season. He's not going to hit a dozen homeruns every month, but he's likely going to threaten fifty again like he did last year. However, teams are going to start avoiding him like the plague if guys like Merrifield, Carlos Santana, or Hunter Dozier can't get their act together. If Salvy is out for any stretch of time this year, they'll be in a world of hurt.
What's the one move you'd make if you wanted to turn around the struggling offense?
I don't think it's feasible to get rid of him at this point due to his salary, but I'd drop Santana to where he's hitting no higher than seventh each night. He's still a moderately valuable hitter because of his on-base skills, but he's just not striking the ball well at all; and without power, it doesn't make any sense to DH him, so first base it is.
In addition (and this is probably not going to happen either), but they should seriously consider moving Merrifield down, as well. Not to eighth or ninth, but sixth possibly? The only three guys that are consistently hitting now -- Lopez, Benintendi, and Perez -- should occupy the first three spots. Dozier has shown flashes of the hitter he was back in 2019, but he's still been more down than up to this point.
Also, at what point do you begin to start pointing the finger at the hitting coaches? The Royals' offense has been an abject disaster to begin this season, and was a bottom-third unit in the league the last two seasons. Even prized hitting prospects in Nick Pratto, Vinnie Pasquantino, and MJ Melendez are off to rough starts in Omaha, after both of them ran roughshod over Double and Triple-A pitching a year ago. Bobby Witt, Jr., hasn't been as bad as the numbers might indicate, but a .510 OPS is still not great no matter how you slice it.
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