Think back to the start of the 2011 season for a moment. On May 23, the Cleveland Indians owned first place in the American League Central by seven games after jumping out to a record of 30-15. They were the talk of baseball, and the toast of the town.
The Royals had an off day on May 23, but on May 24 they were 22-24 and entered the opening game of a series at Baltimore a full 8.0 games behind the Indians.The point? Fast (or slow) starts don't always matter. From that point on, the Indians fell apart, going 50-67 and finishing the season at 80-82.
Last year's Royals were 6-4 through 10 games and sat in third place in the AL Central. This year's team has lost five straight games early on to start 3-7. The Royals are 4.0 games back of the Tigers, and tied for fourth place in the standings.
Because of lofty expectations heading into this season, Royals fans are acting like the sky is falling. One bad weekend against the Indians has KC "faithful" calling for Dayton Moore's job, booing some of the team's promising young players, and completely overreacting to every little thing.
Here's a classic example of fans' stupid behavior. After Luke Hochevar was drilled on the ankle by a line drive off the bat of Cleveland catcher Carlos Santana, I read a post on Royalboard.com where a fan was actually hoping he broke his leg or ankle to end his season. Really?! Come on, man.
Listen people, it's 10 games into a 162-game season. I've done this type of analogy before, but those ten games are the equivalent of one game in an NFL schedule. So, the Royals lost their first "game." They are very capable of bouncing back and being competitive within the Central.
Don't get me wrong, I'm among those who are frustrated with the disappointing start to the season. I expected a much better first 10 games. I didn't think Eric Hosmer (8-for-40) and Alex Gordon (5-for-39) would have combined to go 13-for-79 at the plate. I didn't think Cleveland would have seven-run, six-run, five-run, AND four-run innings during the three-game weekend set.
But it's baseball, and I'm certainly smart enough to realize that this is the youngest team in the game and stretches like this are going to happen from time-to-time. I'm not calling for Dayton Moore's head. I'm not jumping off the bandwagon after one crappy weekend.
After all, I've been riding this bandwagon since 1980, and I know it's a bumpy ride. Things WILL get better, so calm down and enjoy the ride.
Showing posts with label Luke Hochevar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Luke Hochevar. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Hochevar Impresses in 6-1 Loss to Rangers
Wednesday's 6-1 loss to the Texas Rangers in the Cactus League opener for both teams wasn't exactly the kind of result most Royals fans were hoping for. In fact, Kansas City's offense looked an awful lot like last year's version -- little punch, and a lack of runs, which included stranding guys in scoring position.
But it might be exactly what Trey Hillman needed to help get across his message that the Royals need to work diligently on fundamentals in order to manufacture runs. And, before people start complaining about this or that, let's remind ourselves that this was the first game of Spring Training, for crying out loud. These games truly mean nothing, so here is a look at some of the bright spots.
Without a doubt, the most positive thing to come out of this game was the sparkling performance of right-handed pitcher Luke Hochevar. The top overall pick in the 2006 draft, Hochevar is coming off a 2007 season in which his Minor League numbers weren't overly impressive. He was a combined 4-9 with a 4.86 ERA for Wichita and Omaha last year, but those results might be skewed because of the fact that he was working on strengthening his weaknesses.
Hochevar enters this spring with an outside chance at earning a spot in Kansas City's rotation, but is probably more likely to start the year as a starting pitcher in Omaha. He's also been talked about, though, as a possibility in the Royals' bullpen, where he could be eased into a rotation slot -- sort of like Kansas City did with Zack Greinke last year.
Against the Rangers, the 6-foot-5, 24-year old former University of Tennessee standout threw two perfect innings, facing six batters and not allowing a ball out of the infield, yielding four ground balls, one line-drive, and a pop-up.
It's far too early to be raving about anything, especially after the first Cactus League game of the year, but Royals fans have been hoping that Hochevar will start to display some of the dominance that led him to be drafted not once, but twice, by the Dodgers. He turned down both chances to sign with Los Angeles, before the Royals took him with their first selection in 2006.
Offensively, six Kansas City players had one hit apiece, including a promising ground-rule double for left fielder Justin Huber, and an RBI single for shortstop Tony Pena. Third baseman Alex Gordon and first baseman Billy Butler also collected singles.
Butler, who's attempting to earn the starting first base job, played flawless defense before being replaced in the lineup. Ryan Shealy, Butler's primary competition at first base, was 0-for-4 as the designated hitter.
So, it's one game down, and way too many to go. But seeing Hochevar throw the way he did makes this loss almost feel like a win.
But it might be exactly what Trey Hillman needed to help get across his message that the Royals need to work diligently on fundamentals in order to manufacture runs. And, before people start complaining about this or that, let's remind ourselves that this was the first game of Spring Training, for crying out loud. These games truly mean nothing, so here is a look at some of the bright spots.
Without a doubt, the most positive thing to come out of this game was the sparkling performance of right-handed pitcher Luke Hochevar. The top overall pick in the 2006 draft, Hochevar is coming off a 2007 season in which his Minor League numbers weren't overly impressive. He was a combined 4-9 with a 4.86 ERA for Wichita and Omaha last year, but those results might be skewed because of the fact that he was working on strengthening his weaknesses.Hochevar enters this spring with an outside chance at earning a spot in Kansas City's rotation, but is probably more likely to start the year as a starting pitcher in Omaha. He's also been talked about, though, as a possibility in the Royals' bullpen, where he could be eased into a rotation slot -- sort of like Kansas City did with Zack Greinke last year.
Against the Rangers, the 6-foot-5, 24-year old former University of Tennessee standout threw two perfect innings, facing six batters and not allowing a ball out of the infield, yielding four ground balls, one line-drive, and a pop-up.
It's far too early to be raving about anything, especially after the first Cactus League game of the year, but Royals fans have been hoping that Hochevar will start to display some of the dominance that led him to be drafted not once, but twice, by the Dodgers. He turned down both chances to sign with Los Angeles, before the Royals took him with their first selection in 2006.
Offensively, six Kansas City players had one hit apiece, including a promising ground-rule double for left fielder Justin Huber, and an RBI single for shortstop Tony Pena. Third baseman Alex Gordon and first baseman Billy Butler also collected singles.
Butler, who's attempting to earn the starting first base job, played flawless defense before being replaced in the lineup. Ryan Shealy, Butler's primary competition at first base, was 0-for-4 as the designated hitter.
So, it's one game down, and way too many to go. But seeing Hochevar throw the way he did makes this loss almost feel like a win.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
