Saturday, July 25, 2009
Breaking: Royals still aren’t good
Posted by Dan NovickI always wanted to know what it was like to be the first to know something. Tonight, I still haven't captured that feeling.
Via BTF, we learn that not only are the old Royals bad...so are their new guys. The construction of their lineup, which was intended to revolve partly around the thunderous bat of Mike Jacobs, has been among the worst in the AL. A lot of that is because of Jacobs himself, who is currently sporting a .313 wOBA and a shiny -.2 WAR. The 2009 Royals lineup reminds me of the 2008 Mariners lineup, and I shouldn't need any fancy stats to tell you why that's a bad thing. The opening line of the article is what led me to this comparison:
Mike Jacobs is a designated hitter who has been replaced in six of his last 13 games for a pinch hitter. This is not a good thing.
Remember when Jose Vidro was the Mariners designated hitter last season, despite his complete inability to...well, hit? The Royals are doing essentially the same thing by playing Jacobs at first base. They have admitted that he can't hit by pinch-hitting for him all the time, yet they play him at the second most offensive-minded position in the game. Forgetting the fact that a player who can't start on the Royals must not be the greatest player in the world, what are the Royals thinking? They pinch hit for the guy who is playing the position usually assigned to the best or second-best hitter on a team.
Jacobs can't hit, or at least this year he's not. They don't have to play him every day if that's the case. The Royals are playing him every day, but they are then conceding that he's not a good enough hitter to be counted on late in the game. Does any of that make any sense? Does anything the Royals do make sense? Hello?
The Royals aren't going anywhere this year or next. What they should do if they've lost confidence in Jacobs, as he says they have, is call up Triple-A slugger Kila Kaaihue. The Hawaii native hasn't put up the same stellar numbers this year as he did last, when he hit 38 home runs across three levels, including one in the major leagues. This year has been quieter, at .263/.396/.470 with a 69/71 strikeout-to-walk ratio, but still very productive. Why they haven't called him up get some experience is beyond me, especially since he's already on the 40-man roster.
Do any Royals fans have any insight into this situation?
Dan Novick is a lifelong Yankees fan, and still gets the chills every time Enter Sandman plays from the Yankee Stadium speakers. He welcomes comments and questions via e-mail.
Where do I start as a (gulp) Royals fan.
The Royals are basically the least sabermetric friendly team in baseball (ironically Brian Bannister may be the most asture sabermetric player in baseball) they don’t get on base % is important, the organization has taught 1rst ball hitting for years though they claim to have changed that philosophy with the new regime. They keep making excuses why Kila can’t make it, they didn’t trust the rapid jump he made last year, his swing was too long, now of course he’s having an off season though clearly still a better hitter than what they have. Despite having the minor league hitter of the year, Ryan Shealy after a return to form in September and Billy Butler they had to trade for Jacobs power bat. They clearly had the tunnell vision going. Nevermind you were in free swingers hell and forced a lineup that couldn’t field and had several 1 pitch hitters (Guillen-Olivio-Aviles-Jacobs) so the lineup was doomed for a few solo shots and lots of bad offense. They are slow with little power and poor skills at getting on base. Now we have the phenom “Braves Way” GM Dayton Moore who for the first time is facing 2nd guessing, the glow of the Meche signing is gone and all the other incredible bad multi year deals for replacement level talent is exploding on him and a manager way over his head. Currently I see Moore’s response as “dig in” never admit a mistake and pure stubburness will not call up guys like Kila and Disco Hayes nor admit Hillman is as bizarre a manager that has passed these parts in over ... (when was the last Royals manager?) We’re a miss again and we’re locked in with committed salary for most of these guys for next 2 years so we ain’t getting better.