The Royals have certainly had their fair share of polarizing players in 2020, which is not surprising during a 21-32 season. It’s been a season where many Royals fans have debated fervently about who belongs on this team long-term, and who should probably be on their way out within the next couple of seasons. And… Read More Why Nicky Lopez continues to be an enigma for Royals fans
The MLB Rule 4 Draft (the official designation for the first-year player draft) is quickly approaching on June 10th, and as expected, many Royals experts and fans are giving their analysis in terms of what Dayton Moore will do with the fourth overall pick. Usually, the draft is lost or overlooked by most sports fans… Read More A brief primer on three candidates for the Royals’ first-round pick in the 2020 draft
When it comes to drafting middle infielders, the Royals have had mixed success under Dayton Moore. Christian Colon and Johnny Giavotella were highly ranked and drafted (Colon went in the first round of the 2010 draft; Giavotella went in the second round of the 2008 draft) middle infield prospects expected to provide “pop” and “defense”… Read More Can McConnell and Cancel add to the Royals’ middle-infield depth in the future?
The Royals made a big decision this off-season when they decided to move Whit Merrifield from second-base to center field full time in 2020. Essentially, the move showed that the Royals believe that the 25-year-old Nicky Lopez is the Royals’ second-baseman for the foreseeable future. To many Royals fans, that’s a huge deal, especially considering… Read More Is Nicky Lopez key to the Royals surprising in a shortened season?
For Saber-heads like myself, Baseball Savant’s new metric for analyzing infield defense (infield outs above average) is fascinating, especially when applied to Royals players who took the infield last season. Defense traditionally has always been a difficult part of the game to analyze concretely: what numbers and/or metrics truly rate an infielder or outfielder’s defense… Read More Analyzing the 2019 Royals Infield OAA metrics…And what does it mean for 2020?
Yes, I have not posted on this blog in a while. But now that the Notre Dame football season and my first fall semester of grad school is over, I feel like I can begin to turn my focus toward Royals baseball again, especially as we head into 2020. And let’s face it Royals fans…you… Read More Is Maikel Franco an ‘analytics’ signing by Moore?
With the fifth-lowest payroll in the American League, the Royals aren’t exactly a “poor” team by any means, but they are not competing with the likes of the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox when it comes to out-spending for players. In a plain sense, the Royals are a classic, stable “small market” team:… Read More Cheap Utility: Three Royals who could help the bench in 2020
Royals shortstop Adalberto Mondesi may be one of the club’s most fascinating pieces going forward. 2019 was his first full season where he began and finished with the big league club, as in previous seasons, he jumped back and forth between Omaha and Kansas City on a frequent basis. Part of that was due to… Read More What can Royals fans say about Adalberto Mondesi’s 2019?
Yeah, it’s been a while since I have posted both on this blog as well as on Twitter. However, I figured that rather than just punt the season (as well as another potential blog), I would write a couple of pieces before August finished as well as grad school began. After all, we still have… Read More Which ‘young’ Royals position players should be counted on by next Spring?
With Hunter Dozier experiencing a weird injury from yesterday’s game (never saw “tightness in thorax” before), and Kelvin Gutierrez still not a 100 percent back from injury, the Royals made a surprising roster move earlier today. Cuthbert was not on the 40-man roster, so in order to move him up from Omaha, Dayton Moore needed… Read More The Owings Era Ends; Cuthbert Gets Another Shot
