For a while there it looked like the Royals might contend in the weak AL central. Much like the Cubs they got off to a decent enough start to the season and had a winning record as recently as May 14. Then they reeled off two five-game losing streaks in the span of two weeks and that was that. They come in to this series riding their fourth five-game losing streak of the season.
There is reason to hope for Royals fans though. Unlike the Cubs, who pretty much just have Starlin Castro, the Royals have promoted a number of their future stars to the club this year, including players like Eric Hosmer and Danny Duffy. There’s a good chance we’ll see “short reliever” Tim Colllins, who the twittersphere is all over I guess. On the flip side, they also regularly play the likes of Melky Cabrera and saberist bete noire Jeff Francouer.
Team Overviews
Team stats with respective league ranking in parens:
| Cubs | Royals | |
| wOBA | .316 (7th) | .322 (6th) |
| UBR | -6.2 (16th) | 4.2 (4th) |
| UZR | -16 (15th) | 1.9 (8th) |
| SP FIP | 4.19 (14th) | 4.74 (14th) |
| RP FIP | 4.09 (14th) | 4.34 (11th) |
Hey, the Cubs bullpen isn’t last anymore! They’re on pace to move up two slots every series. By the end of the year the Cubs pen will be the -26th ranked pen in the majors!
Billy Butler and Alex Gordon have formed the main core of the Royals offense. Butler has put up a kind of strange line for a guy I seem to remember as a power hitter: .302/.404/.438. The Most Exciting Player in Baseball, Alcides Escobar, has been a black hole of suck in the lineup, batting .249/.285/.313 for a .270 wOBA over a run-killing 288 PAs. On the pitching side, only Felipe Paulino (remember him?) is the only starter to put up deent numbers, albeit over five starts. They’ve had nine pitchers start a game this season, which is just as many as the Cubs.
Pitching Matchups
Friday Friday: Ryan Dempster, RHP (5.46, 4.15, 3.38, 3.79) vs Bruce Chen, LHP (3.59, 4.95, 4.53, 4.68), 7:10 PM CT
Bruce Chen is still in baseball? What? If you look up “Replacement Level Swingman” in the dictionary you won’t find anything, but if you could then there would be a picture of Bruce Chen next to the entry. Of course, this means that you can chalk up a 7 IP, 6 K, 1 ER outing from Chen tonight.
Dempster had a hard time finding the plate in his last start, walking six batters in five and a third innings. Not having to face the patient Yankee lineup this time should give Dempster a break.
Saturday Saturday: Carlos Zambrano, RHP (4.50, 3.85, 4.10, 3.75) vs Danny Duffy, LHP (5.03, 5.11, 4.50, 4.54), 6:10 PM CT
The Royals picked up Duffy as a third round pick in the 2007 draft, and after strong years in A and A+ ball in 2008 and 2009 he blew through AA and AAA to make the big leagues. I’m guessing he was hurt in 2010, or fangraphs has something up with its minor leagues database, as he only pitched 75 innings or so across 5 different teams after pitching 126.2 innings in 2009. ZiPS seems to think he’s being a little too rushed to the bigs, but the projection systems sometimes have a hard time playing catchup to guys like Duffy. Of course, they’re down on him this season for a reason, as his current 2011 numbers show.
Z turned a rocky first inning into a strong start against the White Sox. He went eight innings for the fourth time this season, striking out five, walking two, and getting eleven grounders. This could be one of the last few starts where we’ll see Z in a Cubs uniform, so MB is lucky to see it in person.
Sunday Sunday Sunday: Randy Wells, RHP (5.70, 5.43, 4.66, 4.03) vs Luke Hochevar, RHP (4.97, 4.75, 4.18, 4.28), 1:10 PM CT
Wells struggled at times against the Yankees, but he looked much more like the RAndy Wells we expect to see in that game. He got eleven ground balls, but still continues to walk batters at a much higher pace than his career numbers suggest. It will probably still be a while until the rust gets knocked off.
Hochevar was the Royals opening day starter, and the best thing you can say about him is that he’s probably a league averageish pitcher. Like (good) Wells, he doesn’t issue too many walks and keeps the ball on the ground. However, this season he’s seen a huge drop in his strikeout rate. To his credit, he’s averaging over six innings per start. He was knocked around by the D-Backs in his last start.
Prediction
These matchups work out pretty nicely for the Cubs, but they are on the road. I’ll still take the Cubs to win the series. But this Royals team has a much brighter future than the players that Cuey is going to trot out there this series.
Comments
Someone needs to OV meme that pic of the underpants gnomes’ plan…
MishQuote Reply
MishQuote Reply
Oh Castro
binkyQuote Reply
TOOTBLAN
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
Soto is mired in a bad, bad funk.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
[quote name=Mercurial Outfielder]Soto is mired in a bad, bad funk.[/quote]
So you’re saying he joined a terrible Rick James cover band?
BerseliusQuote Reply
[quote name=Berselius]So you’re saying he joined a terrible Rick James cover band?[/quote]
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
Dempster can’t hit the broad side of a barn with a bazooka right now.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
So, it turns out the reason Kosuke is in center is the Reed is 1-16 against Chen.
ACTQuote Reply
Nice play by Castro, though it nearly was yet another error.
ACTQuote Reply
What about Tony Campana!? I kid.
binkyQuote Reply
weirdest out ever
binkyQuote Reply
[quote name=josh]weirdest out ever[/quote]I think Quade has made it a rule that the Cubs must complete a minimum of four throws before recording an out on the basepaths.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
[quote name=Mercurial Outfielder]I think Quade has made it a rule that the Cubs must complete a minimum of four throws before recording an out on the basepaths.[/quote]
Norman Dale approves
BerseliusQuote Reply
[quote name=Berselius]Norman Dale approves[/quote]
Damn you beating me to the Hoosiers reference.
Aisle424Quote Reply
[quote name=Aisle424]Damn you beating me to the Hoosiers reference.[/quote]
Coach stays
BerseliusQuote Reply
TOOTBLAN after lead! (dying laughing)
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Another run and a TOOTBLAN! (dying laughing) (dying laughing) (dying laughing)
Rice CubeQuote Reply
And thrown out again. Note to Cubs: You tested the Royals’ arms. Let’s please stop doing that.
binkyQuote Reply
[quote name=Mish]
[/quote]
My Photoshop is busted but I can do something crude in Paint…any suggestions? Probably not a bad idea to have suggestions for when GBTS and Ryno have time or care too.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
It’s like the Cubs want to just give away outs and give the other team more outs.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
No, they don’t want to. They just aren’t very good.
binkyQuote Reply
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Gragh. Fuck Jeff Francouer
BerseliusQuote Reply
Anyone else get the feeling the Cubs waited a year too long to deal Dempster?
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
Also the most exciting walk in baseball
BerseliusQuote Reply
This is the part where Brad or MB comes in and tells us Dempster isn’t broken (dying laughing)
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Cubs lose…
Rice CubeQuote Reply
[quote name=Rice Cube]This is the part where Brad or MB comes in and tells us Dempster isn’t broken (dying laughing)[/quote]
Or you could scroll up and see that he has a 3.38 xFIP
BerseliusQuote Reply
[quote name=Berselius]Or you could scroll up and see that he has a 3.38 xFIP[/quote]
I scoff at your spreadsheets.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Yeah, Demp is starting to look donesville.
binkyQuote Reply
(HR*13+(BB+HBP-IBB)*3-K*2)/IP
What’s the constant these days? That HR probably messed up his FIP a bit.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
I don’t have a problem with Soriano trying to score with 2 outs and DJ on deck. It may have been his best chance of scoring.
ACTQuote Reply
Keith and Judd are excited about Moustakas’ play just now.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Kosuke’s Godzilla arm.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
[quote name=ACT]I don’t have a problem with Soriano trying to score with 2 outs and DJ on deck. It may have been his best chance of scoring.[/quote]Maybe if he could still run. That said, it was pretty close.
binkyQuote Reply
[quote name=josh]Maybe if he could still run. That said, it was pretty close.[/quote]
Perfect throw/relay. Give Royals kudos.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Well, that’s part of the issue. The Royals are really good in the outfield. They throw out guys all the time.
binkyQuote Reply
[quote name=Berselius]Or you could scroll up and see that he has a 3.38 xFIP[/quote]You’re going to have to keep saying that until it isn’t true. Like next week. (dying laughing)
[quote name=josh]Well, that’s part of the issue. The Royals are really good in the outfield. They throw out guys all the time.[/quote]
Nice to see the Cubs advance scouts are as good at their jobs as the rest of the organization.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
Fucking TOOTBLANs…jeez.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Hey, we tested him again. Turns out his arm still works.
binkyQuote Reply
Terrible judgment by Aramis there.
ACTQuote Reply
Didn’t know Jackie Robinson stole home 19 times. Wow.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
[quote name=josh]Maybe if he could still run. That said, it was pretty close.[/quote][quote name=Rice Cube]Didn’t know Jackie Robinson stole home 19 times. Wow.[/quote]
ACTQuote Reply
Don’t know how that quote by Josh got in there.
ACTQuote Reply
Terrible blocking technique by Yogi there.
ACTQuote Reply
It’s April 85th.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Oooh, Ivan DeJesus decided to do something smart and not testing Francoeur’s arm…
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Brett Jackson playing RF tonight for the first time in quite a while, and then Vitters left the game after a HBP.
Pretty shitty night around the minors for the Cubs. The highlight looks like a pinch hit 2 run double from… Jay Jackson.
Chris DickersonQuote Reply
[quote name=Rice Cube]Oooh, Ivan DeJesus decided to do something smart and not testing Francoeur’s arm…[/quote]Cubs runners are thrice bitten, once shy.
ACTQuote Reply
For Aramis, it’s December 3, at least with RISP
binkyQuote Reply
Wow, 5 hits in 1 inning, 1 run, 0 rbi. That seems much more difficult to accomplish than having, say, a 3 run inning.
Chris DickersonQuote Reply
You know what would have been a better use for Campana? Pinch-running in the top half of the inning. He probably could have scored off Francoeur.
ACTQuote Reply
The GIDP didn’t help, but ironically that was what scored the run (dying laughing)
I see BJax is having strikeout issues again.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
[quote name=josh]Hey, we tested him again. Turns out his arm still works.[/quote]This team is fucked. Even the coaches are fucking stooges.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
It’s painful. All the cogs are slipping.
binkyQuote Reply
Nice AB Bake. You really showed the good stuff there.
binkyQuote Reply
That was a pathetic inning.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
This team…ye gods.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
Campana is on first base by the grace of the baseball gods (dying laughing)
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Does Sori think if you don’t swing at a slider outside you are automatically out? Quade really should tell him that’s not the case.
binkyQuote Reply
BJax —> Golden Sombrero *sad face*
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Let’s see what extended-April Kosuke can do.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
That’s two breaks in the inning ho ho ho.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Marmol being less than nasty.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
12 pitches, 1 out. It’s A Way of Life.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
Ruh roh!
Rice CubeQuote Reply
I suppose Sullivan will find a way to make this meltdown Z’s fault.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
I’d start looking for a trade partner for Marmol.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
[quote name=Mercurial Outfielder]I’d start looking for a trade partner for Marmol.[/quote]
I can’t argue with you today.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
I’d be sad to see Marmol go. His outings are like scary movies that keep you on the edge of your seat but (usually) have a happy ending.
ACTQuote Reply
Kosuke was a bad leadoff guy today…only 12 pitches in 5 PAs.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
He’s been less scary this year. Seemed like last year what we saw tonight was every single outing.
binkyQuote Reply
[quote name=josh]He’s been less scary this year. Seemed like last year what we saw tonight was every single outing.[/quote]I know the numbers likely don’t back this up, but I get a bad feeling that he’s living on borrowed time. But we all know how reliable gut feelings are. (dying laughing)
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
[quote name=josh]He’s been less scary this year. Seemed like last year what we saw tonight was every single outing.[/quote]I meant scary in the sense of feeling that the game is on the line. Marmol always looks as though he’s out of control, but he still gets results.
ACTQuote Reply
That said, I’ve been bothered a little that he isn’t getting as many swings and misses as he did last year (his control has been a bit better, at least).
ACTQuote Reply
Smokies win!
Virginia just screwed up a bases-loaded, no out situation. I think South Carolina is going to advance to meet Florida in the College World Series finals.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
D-Lee was 3-5 with a walkoff homer.
ACTQuote Reply
[quote name=ACT]D-Lee was 3-5 with a walkoff homer.[/quote]He’s no Blake DeWitt.
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
[quote name=Mercurial Outfielder]He’s no Blake DeWitt.[/quote]
I’m sure that thrills him to no end.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
[quote name=Mercurial Outfielder]He’s no Blake DeWitt.[/quote]You wouldn’t know it from his slash line this year.
ACTQuote Reply
[quote name=ACT]You wouldn’t know it from his slash line this year.[/quote](dying laughing)
Mercurial OutfielderQuote Reply
http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=16245467
Someone teach Campana how to bunt. I can’t tell if he was out or not.
Rice CubeQuote Reply
Ned Yost refers to Getz as “Getzy.” http://chicago.cubs.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=16247871
ACTQuote Reply
2013 division winners:
NL East- Washington
NL Central- Cincinnati
NL West- Rockies
AL East- impossible to predict; Rays system seems loaded, so does TOR, but I’d never bet against BOS or NYY
AL Central- Royals
AL West- TEX or SEA
Recalcitrant Blogger NateQuote Reply
I knew he changed his name, but not to what… (dying laughing)
Rice CubeQuote Reply
It’s to the point where I don’t even bother to check the score from last night each morning.
/not a real fan
Suburban kidQuote Reply
[quote name=ACT]I meant scary in the sense of feeling that the game is on the line. Marmol always looks as though he’s out of control, but he still gets results.[/quote]That’s pretty much what I meant, too. Seemed like he couldn’t get a save last year until he let the winning run get in scoring position first.
binkyQuote Reply
My favorite Marmol save last year was when Ted Lilly brought a no-hitter into the ninth with a 1-0 lead. Ted was pulled after giving up a hit to the first batter. Marm then walked the first batter and balked them over to second and third with no outs. I nearly died of a heart attack that night.
ACTQuote Reply
http://www.suntimes.com/sports/baseball/cubs/6155968-417/cubs-in-no-hurry-to-start-purging-salary-with-team-playing-better.html
They’re gonna take a wait and see approach..
XoomwaffleQuote Reply
new shit
mb2111111Quote Reply