Looking back and looking forward

Long story short (for once), I didn't go out for New Year's. That puts me here, in my computer chair, at less than two hours into 2009, and somehow I don't feel any different than I did before 12:00 struck. Also, all the cool kids are doing years-in-review, so I have to too!

This blog and its author had some fun times in 2008.
Like...January, when we went to Texas and caught up with Mike Sweeney again. Fun times, right?
We also hit up the Royals Caravan in that month, got a snazzy pic taken with Ryan LeFebvre, and made John Mayberry chuckle.

In February, we had some trouble with an old laptop (may it rest in peace), and openly mocked KSU superfrosh Michael Beasley to his face. One of those things was more fun than the other.

In March, we fretted about Spring Training performances, made some pointless tables, and also got "discovered" by a couple of Royals message boards and other Royals blogs. Finally, someone who doesn't share my last name or bloodlines started reading this! Then Opening Day finally arrived, and we babbled like idiots.

Then came April, which meant the Royals home opener. We ogled Crown Vision's enormous glory and watched A-Rod strike out FOUR times. Then we became one of the Ladies..., which was pretty exciting, and reflected on the origins of our Royals fandom.

May...was mostly stupid. We stewed about the Buzz Bissinger affair, had our hearts broken by a 12-game losing streak, and finally had something to celebrate when Mike Aviles got called up.

June was all about branching out, like a piece for Yahoo! about Aviles, and a new sports blog elsewhere where I pondered the human drama of minor league ball, and shared a tale of a game the ORoyals played with no electricity after a horrible storm beat our fine city to a pulp. (That game ended up being my favorite sports moment of 2008 in this Ladies... post.) Oh, I also saw my first no-hitter in person, and was not amused. Oh, and I went to Kansas City for a few days!

The beginning of July contains my birthday, so we figured out how the Royals have done on birthdays past. We later wrote our first-ever FanPost at Royals Review, which was a trade rumor involving Tony Pena Jr. And then TPJ pitched. Then, we were giddy to learn that the Hawaiian Punch himself, Kila Ka'aihue, had been promoted to Omaha.

Remember the time the Royals won seven f*^*^&*^*ing games in an entire month? Yeah, that was August. But we had Kila to keep us sane. His plate approach was a sensational break from people who we won't specifically name, but whose name might rhyme with...Mason Pith. Oh, and here's a tale from the dugout.

September was SO. MUCH. BETTER! The Shealy finally got his much-deserved callup when rosters expanded - and was still misused - and hit a bunch of homers. But we also got to see Kila (now!) in KC. We enjoyed all the winning and pondered why we're still Royals fans. Then we got to see The Shealy at an awesome win over the Stupid PoopySox.

In October, we DID NOT WANT Mike Jacobs, but it happened anyway. How miserable.

November came, and the Royals did a bunch of stuff with catchers, which prompted us to examine the catching market. Then Coco Crisp happened, and we reacted. We then ate our words for your enjoyment, and hopefully more of those posts are coming soon.

December was a month of farewells, like Greg Maddux. And the Royals said farewell to Mark Grudzielanek but helllooooo to a sandwich pick. The Baseball Writers Association of America said some hellos, inviting two Baseball Prospectus writers to join their ranks. And we tried but failed to make any sense of the Kyle Farnsworth signing.

Going into 2009, I hope to post more often, use shorter sentences, and use more statistics. I hope more people find this blog to be worth reading and sharing. I hope the Royals give me happy things to say. I hope I don't suffer any awkward injuries at an ORoyals game in front of 6,000 people, because Joey Gathright is no longer around to save my life. I hope Brian Bannister bounces back to his 2007 form. I hope Zack Greinke signs a long-term extension already. I hope there's at least one person who has read this far, and I hope anyone who is reading has a happy new year!

Royals sign JR House

Via MLB Trade Rumors - Royals sign J.R. House, a 29-year-old catcher who was drafted by the Pirates, but has spent the last 4 season with in the Astros and Orioles organizations.

In AAA Round Rock last year, House hit .306/.378/.480 with 53 walks and 52 strikeouts in regular duty. House has only seen a handful of Major League games over the last 5 seasons, so there's not much known about his readiness.

Tim Dierkes mentions that House was highly touted in his early career, to the point where Pittsburgh would make a drastic move to get him behind the plate:

Back in the day, House was considered the Pirates' top prospect before he was derailed by injuries. There was a time when Jason Kendall was expected to move to the outfield to accomodate him.

Does this mean Matt Tupman will not end up back with the Royals after all? Or is this signing just an insurance policy for the Omaha lineup in case Brayan Pena gets lost to the waiver wire in the spring? Either way, not a bad pickup for the Royals.

ORoyals roster projection: Pre-free agent edition

This will of course be shaken up if/when the Royals pick up random free agents when the FA market opens up on Friday. Before I begin, here are some highly bookmarkable links for you: the list of MLB free agents, and Minor League free agents.

Now, here's who I think we'll be seeing in Omaha next year, at least to start. The usual caveat applies: I'm not an expert, and I'm preemptively labeling this post with "eating my words" for when this roster is totally wrong.

Starting rotation:
Carlos Rosa
Brandon Duckworth (gets placed above Cortes solely b/c of seniority)
Dan Cortes
Jose Capellan
Matt Wright

Duckworth, Wright and Capellan are ultimately roster filler. I'd love to try Wright as a long reliever but there's currently not enough starting pitching depth to test that theory. Cap is a decent pitcher but has never quite been able to crack it in the Majors because of a lack of movement in his fastball. However, no AAA team would suffer from having them on the roster, and of course Duckworth is good for a handful of spot starts in the event of an injury.

**Note: Roman Colon can be used effectively as a starter if any of the 5 on this list are not retained or if Cortes starts the season at AA again (not entirely sure why that would happen, but it could). Colon showed the ability to throw a lot of innings when he had to start games last year, often going deeper into games than some of the regular starters. However, I’ll also list him as a possible reliever, because he can be either according to the team’s needs.

BULLPEN:
Devon Lowery should start the year at Omaha; his September performance showed he has the ability to strike batters out, but he still gave up too many hits in limited appearances. He’s not quite ready for the Majors and will spend part of next season dominating AAA batters.

Greg Atencio, who was promoted from AA NWArk late in the 2008 season, will start the season at Omaha this time around. He’ll again serve as a durable middle reliever, and maybe even see a little time in the Majors later in the season.

Brad Salmon had a rough 2nd half of ’08 after being thrown into a starter’s role for which he wasn’t fit. If he gets to go back to the pen full-time he’ll be OK but probably won’t be first in line for a callup if KC has a need in their bullpen.

MIDDLE INFIELD
Because the Blue Jays claimed SS Angel Sanchez in November, the Omaha middle infield will be even more full of holes than before – and I didn’t think that was possible. Unless Dayton Moore makes some moves here, Omahans may be stuck watching Josh Labandeira and Gookie Dawkins butcher everything that comes their way again. Throw Dave Matranga into that mix as well, although Matranga is the most talented of this trio of filler.

CORNER INFIELD:
Kila Ka’aihue will likely anchor 1st base for at least the start of the year. On days he needs to take off, Mike Stodolka can come in from the outfield to fill in. This could change depending on how Dayton Moore handles Billy Butler, who is not out of options.

Third base is more up in the air, as stud Mike Moustakas isn’t going to be ready for AAA for a while yet. Expect to see 3b manned by a revolving door of fill-ins like the middle IF trio mentioned above, and even catcher-cum-utility man Brayan Pena as needed.

OUTFIELD:
The Royals will stick with Chris Lubanski in the outfield, but only because they have to. As soon as a different option comes along, the team should cut ties with Lubanski, who has been a pretty big disappointment after being the team’s #1 draft pick in 2003. I think Shane Costa will return, because his late-season injury problems will chase away any teams that might have otherwise wanted him. Mike Stodolka and Damon Hollins will probably return, but again it’s just out of necessity and a lack of OFs in the lower minors who are ready to move up to Triple-A.

CATCHER:
Brayan Pena has been added to the 40-man roster, and Matt Tupman was removed from it, a sensible move given Tupman’s lack of power, failure to develop throughout his 20s, and recent injury history. Pena will likely see more of the starts in ’09, but the two will continue to share duties. If one is hurt, the club can bring up someone like Demaso Espino from AA.

Royals make lots of catcher-related announcements

The big story today is that the Royals and Miguel Olivo both exercised his $2.7MM option for next year, so Olivo will still be a Royal.

I'm a little surprised by this, mostly because I thought Olivo was pretty darn sure ("hell no!") he wouldn't remain in Kansas City after this season. But more than that, I'm relieved that the team won't have to go shopping for a backstop this winter. Here's a complete list of free agent catchers this offseason from MLB Trade Rumors:

Brad Ausmus (40)
Paul Bako (37)
Josh Bard (31)
Michael Barrett (32)
Gary Bennett (37) - $900K club option for '09 with a $50K buyout
Henry Blanco (37)
Johnny Estrada (33)
Sal Fasano (37)
Toby Hall (33)
Paul Lo Duca (37) - Type B
Adam Melhuse (37)
Chad Moeller (34)
Ivan Rodriguez (37) - Type B
David Ross (32)
Javier Valentin (33)
Jason Varitek (37) - Type A
Vance Wilson (36)
Gregg Zaun (38) - Type B

Of those names,none really stand out to me as someone I'd want. Many, like Pudge Rodriguez, are in decline. Others, like Gregg Zaun, Paul Bako and Sal Fasano*, have been with the Royals before and are well past their prime compared to the catchers KC has now.

*Side note about Fasano. In the summer of 2007, I found someone on Facebook who was allegedly David DeJesus. It obviously wasn't DDJ, just someone pretending to be him, but one thing I remember about the fake profile was that one of the only groups "DeJesus" was in was "Put Sal Fasano on the Ballot for the 2007 MLB All-Star Game." Random!

Moving along in the list, I feel that Varitek would be too expensive. Lo Duca was booted to the minors far part of this year and wouldn't be an improvement. Michael Barrett seems to have a fallen off a statistical cliff after his very good 2006 season.

So yeah. It's a pretty uninspiring free agent market for catchers. To let Olivo part ways with the Royals would create a difficult task.

MID-POST UPDATE: Since starting this post, the Kansas City Star has expanded its story about Olivo's retention to include the news that Olivo will be the Royals' #1 catcher for 2009. Interesting.

Elsewhere in the Royals roster:
Matt Tupman and Yasuhiko Yabuta outrighted to Omaha. I'm glad the team has ended - at least temporarily - the Yabuta-as-a-Major-Leaguer experiement. Dutton referred to him as an "expensive whiff" at this point, and I agreed with that assessment a long time before he wrote it.

As for Tupman being moved, I'm not surprised. He didn't show enough improvement through his mid- to later 20s to warrant staying on the 40-man. His shoulder problems didn't help, and at this point Brayan Pena deserves the roster spot instead. I had hoped that Pena would be given a shot in September, but I can wait until Spring Training to see what he can do.

And farewell to Angel Sanchez. He certainly had - and still has - potential to be a nice middle infielder at some point, but is injury-prone so I don't blame the Royals for not pushing to hold on to him. The way to build organizational depth in the middle infield is not to fill roster spaces with guys who get hurt often and carry a light bat when they do play. I wish him the best with the Blue Jays.

Mike Jacobs: DO NOT WANT

This stupid Mike Jacobs trade keeps popping up. I thought it fell through a few days ago, but this morning it's back. If you've missed it, this rumor has the Royals sending outstanding pitching prospect Carlos Rosa to the Marlins for first baseman Jacobs.

I'm unhappy about this, almost livid. It doesn't make any sense at all to add ANOTHER 1B to the mix in Kansas City. I think the team has more urgent needs (like an OF who can hit) than that for now. Acquiring Jacobs would spell the end of things for Ryan Shealy in KC because he's out of options and I don't think they'd retain him and Jacobs and Billy Butler and Ross Gload.

And I don't understand trading Rosa, who is the club's only starting prospect who is close to Major League-ready. Who does the club acquire to replace him? Why not just leave first base alone? The ONLY good thing I see about the team discussing signing a new 1B is that they clearly aren't looking at Gload to be the everyday 1B for 2009. But as a Shealy fan, and a Rosa fan, and a fan of taking care of priorities before adding to a position where we have 934571495784 choices already, I hate this trade idea.

(And personal side-note: I'm still computerless. I came back from a break from school over a week ago, and my computer would not start up. Turns out the motherboard's toast, and as my mom said, "When motherboard ain't happy, ain't nobody happy." In the meantime I've been using my dorm's computer lab and my roommate's computer, but it's not even close to ideal. The longer I go without having my own computer with my own stuff on it, the closer to insane I get. I have like 30 Royals-related posts started on that machine, and I can't get to them until at least Saturday. AUGH!)

Me interviewed at RoRetc

Ray at Royals on Radio Etc. interviewed me this week about the Omaha Royals' struggles, occasional non-struggles, and future. You can read it here.

Ka'aihue up, apparently

SOURCE

So much for all my speculating and caution earlier today. First base is gonna be crowded.

Hat tip to Royals Retro: Devon Lowery up. Not a huge surprise, and he definitely deserves it.

Roster expansion musings

It is now September, the time of year when the Royals call up players from the Minors and then have them sit on the bench for a month! (OK, hopefully that practice is no longer in place, and was just a Buddy Bell thing. As much as I love to see guys rot in the dugout instead of being evaluated meaningfully at the ML level, I hope Hillman has a different plan for his callups this month.) As far as I know, the only roster moves the Royals have made so far are to activate Jimmy Gobble and John Bale from their rehab assignments with Omaha. According to the KC Star, those two and Ron Mahay could be ready to go in time for tomorrow's game against Oakland.

The only other move that seems certain is that Ryan Shealy will be called up, and it's likely that Neal Musser will get his obligatory turn, since he's already on the 40-man; ditto for Josh Newman and Matt Tupman.

Then what?

A lot of people desperately want to give Kila Ka'aihue a roster spot for the month, but it's uncertain whether the club will do that. I don't think they can, not at all. Shealy is out of options; they need to see if he can (still*) hit Major League pitching.

*there's certainly some debate as to whether he could really hit in the Majors in the first place. His 2006 second-half was very nice, but not astounding. A line of .280/.338/.451 in his 51 games with KC was good for an OPS+ of 102. So what has been described as a "great" 2nd half with the team was really just "a little bit above ML average." Then again, the Royals are historically bad at finding 1st basemen who can hit, so maybe those numbers appear greater compared to the team's historical hitting disappointments at that position.

Yes, we'll eventually need to know the same thing about Ka'aihue: is he for real? Can he hit big league pitching? We do need to figure that out at some point, but not right now; September doesn't have enough ABs to solve both Shealy and Ka'aihue. Shealy will need as many chances as possible for the club to decide if his "nightmare" 2007 was actually a product of all the injuries*, or if his bat just can't catch up with big league pitches. In the 2.5 seasons since he became a Royal, Shealy has improved as a hitter in some ways. In 2006, he only walked 13 times in 172 AB. In 396 AB this season, he was walked 55 times, which is 25 more than his 2006 numbers would suggest. Would that apparent improvement in plate discipline translate from Omaha to KC? I guess we'll find out.

*I've long thought that Shealy is a heck of a role model for kids because of how hard he works and how friendly he is to fans and teammates. Talking to him about last season only serves to confirm that theory; I'll dig up the exact quotes at some point, but basically he talked about how he can't become bitter about the things that happen to him, and he just has to keep working his hardest no matter what things - good or bad - happen to him. Hearing that made me feel better about steering a lot of young Omaha fans toward choosing Shealy as their favorite ORoyal.

If Shealy does well this month, that solves a lot for next season. Maybe he could start the year as the everyday 1B while Kila proves he is pretty much the man in AAA. If Kila keeps hitting for power while sustaining his fabulous BB:K ratio, then he gets the job at midseason and Shealy gets traded or something. That's a long time from now, and a lot will happen between now and then. But even if I wouldn't call up Ka'aihue right now, if someone let me be GM for a day I absolutely would add him to my 40-man by November 20 so he's protected from the Rule 5 Draft.

As for other moves...who knows? I'd love to see Omaha Pitcher of the Year Devon Lowery get a shot. If Jose Capellan and Carlos Rosa were not hurt, I'd want to call them up too, but they're both on the DL. I know Tupman is already on the 40-man, but in a lot of ways I'd much rather see the surprisingly-versatile Brayan Pena. While his teammates have been dropping like flies, Pena has played all over the field, including both corners of the outfield and of the infield.

One last move I want to see more than anything: Josh Labandeira. Yeah, I think he should be moved to a different roster...a Little League one.

***********************************************************************************
One last note: I know that Mike Aviles' X-rays were negative yesterday, but I can't get too excited yet, not until I see him actually back out on the field. Recall that Mike Stodolka also didn't have any fractures in his hand, but he also hasn't played since August 5 and has since been placed on the DL.

The ORoyals start their final game in 20 minutes, and I still have not eaten lunch. I should probably get on that.

Silver linings galore...?

Brett Bigler's Mustache* just his first-ever professional home run to give Omaha a lead, right after I thought, "He has no power, hopefully he can just get on base here."

*the team is still using his old Wilmington picture on the website, but he is currently sporting a ratty 'stache that looks like two caterpillars died on his face. My brother enjoys rooting for him by the name "Brett Bigler's Mustache." So there's that.

Anyway, I am celebrating a mustache's hitting because Kansas City gave us another frustrating day. Lifeless hitting, poor bullpen management (Kip Wells was probably left in there for a batter too long - it was pretty obvious to me that he wasn't going to start finding the strike zone at all), another possible injury... the usual crap.

HOWEVER, three of the Royals' farm teams are in the playoffs: Northwest Arkansas, Burlington (IA), and Wilmington. It's nice to have a little bit of hope for the future, and to have some postseason games to follow.

Currently, KOTK's Mark Nassar is laughing his ass off about Brayan Pena making a circus-like, floppy catch out in left field. Good times. If Omaha holds their lead today, they will guarantee a non-last place finish. Nashville is a game behind the ORoyals, and their last games in New Orleans were canceled on account of Gustav. The worst Omaha can do is lose today and tomorrow to finish in a tie for last (or 3rd, if you're a glass-half-full type) with the Sounds.

More later...just wanted to check in so y'all know I'm not dead.

The coolest thing happened to me tonight

Boy it's been a long time since I've posted, hasn't it? Long story short, I did not have Internet in my dorm room (horror of horrors!), and then both of my computers conspired against me and gave me hard drive failure scares.

Tonight was the last Omaha Royals home game until April 17, 2009. I'm not counting down or anything, but that's 232 days away. I have a lot of thoughts from the last homestand, but I'll have to get to those tomorrow when I have no classes to attend and a whole day to spend with my Baseball Prospectus and my laptop (now featuring an Internet connection).

For now, just one quick story:
I ran dangerously low on fuel on my way to the stadium this afternoon, but decided to wait until after work to get more. So I pull into the gas station closest to Rosenblatt, put in my debit card and pin number, and untwist my Taurus' gas cap. Before I could get any further, a white pickup pulls up behind me, and the driver, a 40-something man, says "Hey! You're from Western Nebraska?"

Turns out this man and his wife were from a town near my hometown. And also that they had $35 left on a gas card to that station that they couldn't use, so they gave it to me, based only on my familiar license plate prefix.

After the bummer of a game that Omaha played, on top of the fact that it was the last home game of the season, I was feeling pretty blue. I can't think of anything else a stranger could have randomly done for me that would have been better, or more timely. So now I'm in a good mood, reflecting on the positives of my day, rather than being completely bummed out that my season is over, and I no longer get to see the Shealy and the Colon and the Wright and the many, many other smiling faces that made my summer days so much fun. Man I'm getting all mushy and cheesy here, so I'll stop and go do something manly, like chop down a tree or watch last night's Project Runway. Back with actual baseball stuff tomorrow!

A new low, in NSFW-rant form.

From Sam Mellinger's blog today:

Maybe my memory's just short, and the 12-game losing streak is fading, but to me, because of the way they've lost these games, the stranglehold they now have on last place (again), the injury to Hochevar, the anemia of the offense, the struggles of Banny, this is about as bad as it's been all season.

It was admirable of Sam to try to see the other side of the shitty way it feels to be a Royals fan right now. But he does go on to concede that the last two weeks have felt a lot more miserable than that 12-gamer back in May, and he's correct. Sometimes I joke that "I hate being a Royals fan." Tonight when I expressed this feeling to a friend... I meant it.


<---Yeah, David, I feel the exact same way.

It sucks to lose on all days that end in 'Y'. It sucks to be described everywhere as 'hapless.' It sucks to have people suggest that the Royals be relegated to a less-than-major league, EPL style. It sucks to have to deal with a disabled list a mile long.

What sucks the most for me right now is knowing that Omaha has no one to offer the hurting parent club. Normally I'd offer a Carlos Rosa or even a Dusty Hughes, but they're both nursing injuries and far from normal form. I'd love to propose a Shane Costa to ease the burden of David DeJesus and Mitch Maier being DL'ed, but he's done for the season and has been for quite a while. We've been limping through the last week or so with Single-A mediocrity Brett Bigler in the outfield, so we have nothing to spare. And I'd be beyond thrilled if I could give KC a middle infielder to fill the Mark Grudzielanek-shaped void and a 3rd baseman to take Alex Gordon's place, but we've got this guy playing most days, so no help there either. (An Omaha season-ticket holder who is brutally honest about everything described Labandeira as someone who should be playing in Little League right now. Ouch. But true. Ouchtrue. Trouch?)

The kind of losing in which the Royals have entrenched themselves is impossible to escape: Injured starters and no rested relievers to take over their innings, along with the losses of bats like DeJesus and Gordon, and the epic depletion of the AAA team... it's the recipe for the most miserable August and September on record. I'll still watch, but I have zero expectations. Having those for this year has only hurt, and I've given this shitty team enough of my heart. I think that, for my own emotional health, I should check out for the season. I can't keep up this level of investment, because I don't want my roommate to come home from classes and find me curled in the fetal position on the floor, draped in a rumpled powder blue jersey and frantically muttering something about new blue tradition. If I'm going to lead a normal life, I have to try to detach myself somehow from this team. But I'll probably fail at that, because failing is what the Royals do.

/rant

Kip Wells....yep. Back to baseball!

I do love the Kansas City Star, and I am eternally grateful that it is available online for free. But two things bother me about it:
1) The comment section

There's not much the Star can do about the comment sections, but they are often filled with unrivaled idiocy and misguided vitrol by people who are sure they are geniuses. I am always amazed at some of the things people say, opinions and "solutions" for the Royals which are obviously not researched in the slightest nor given any practical thought before the words are committed to the comment box.

The smart thing to do would be to stop reading, but I can't. Anyway, I found this comment in the Kip Wells story to be particularly...something:
"He should be a "free" agent, because he's not worth a nickel!"

Um. Yeah. Thanks for that, YAWN, if that is your real name. I'll get to Wells' value in a second, but first the other thing that bugs me about the online edition of the Star.

2) Awkwardly large and often pixelly pictures.
I'm pretty sure that player mugs are meant to be displayed in a small size, like the ones on everyone's player page. (Take David DeJesus, for example, because that's what my whims dictate.)

So when I open a story on kansascity.com, it's alarming to find things like this staring back at me:

The face of Kip Wells, enlarged to show texture
-or-
Kip Wells just ate a bad burrito
-or-
Kip Wells believes that the cameras are stealing his soul
-or-
Someone just told Kip Wells that his dog died
-or-
Kip Wells was just informed that the Rockies had DFA'd him

...oh wait. That last one really did happen. Anyway, there's not a whole lot to criticize or praise about this pickup for the Royals. Some of our starters aren't pitching deep into games, we just traded away one reliever, our stud veteran setup guy isn't healthy, and Trey Hillman made a vow to only use his best pitcher once a week, and even then only for the 9th. They had to get somebody, and Wells was suddenly available. Dutton writes that Wells will be used to bolster the bullpen, but it's not unrealistic to think he could be used as a spot starter if anything happens to the rotation.

Meanwhile, Kansas City had yet another off day, and Omaha was rained out in Oklahoma, so it feels like it's been forever since I've seen the Royals play. (Yeah, there was a Kansas City game yesterday, but that doesn't mean any of them actually played any baseball. Yikes.) Alberto Callaspo and Joey Gathright were both 0fer in their respective rehab appearances Sunday night in Oklahoma. Then again, the majority of the lineup went 0fer in that game, so whatever.

I'll be moving back to Lincoln (while still working in Omaha) later this week, so posts might be sparse for the next week or so. Again, I extend my traditional invitation to anyone in the Omaha area to come catch an ORoyals game before the season ends! Here's what's on tap for the last homestand, from oroyals.com. See you at Rosenblatt?

A tale from the dugout

The Omaha Royals are mired in kind of a rough patch these days. That'll happen when two of your hot pitching prospects (Carlos Rosa and Dusty Hughes) are hurting and held to pitch counts, your outfield is depleted by injuries and callups, and Josh Labandeira plays every day. Yeah, losses will happen when the bullpen has to work that much and the lineup doesn't have replacement bats for the likes of Mitch Maier, Shane Costa (who is likely done for the season), and even Mike Stodolka (whose hand is apparently still bothering him). I think we just have to grit our teeth and bear this rough patch until Rosa and Hughes are healthy enough to pitch more than an inning or two at a time. At least we have Kila Kaaihue to cheer us up.

Since there's not much more I can say about the ORoyals' current struggles, I'll just share a story from the dugout yesterday, featuring that day's birthday boy, Roman Colon:

One of our daily between-innings promotions is the water-balloon toss, where one child tosses water balloons and another tries, often with limited success, to catch them in a batting helmet with a pasta strainer on top. After yesterday's contest, we had two unpopped balloons, which I mindlessly tossed to one of our mascots.

In the next half-inning, I heard a "Hey Minda!" from the dugout, so I turned to see a frightening sight: a grinning Roman Colon holding one of the balloons. Oh no, how did he get that? I made a mental note to slap whichever mascot had put a water balloon in such dangerous hands.

Luckily I had an errand to run in the other part of the stadium, so I quickly spirited myself out of Colon's launching range, and the crisis was averted until the next inning. I was sitting on the stairs next to the dugout preparing for the next promotion. In front of me and a few feet to my left was Bob, the guy who films the Omaha players for Kansas City. He has a camera and a laptop set up in the camera well, and normally we're able to stay out of each other's way. So when a little yellow water balloon came sailing out of the dugout towards me, I had to weigh the possibility of ruining Bob's equipment against the possibility of getting soaked. I didn't have much time to decide, but I was able to swat the balloon away and it popped harmlessly in an empty corner of the camera well.

But then....Colon had another balloon. I made another mental note re: punishing the appropriate mascot, because Colon is a mischievous fellow, and for him to have anything to throw at me is always a terrifying prospect. He tossed the second balloon much higher than the first, and this time I was standing, and much closer to that laptop and camera. OK here comes the balloon ah crap I don't want to get soaked oh but Bob would kill me if I wrecked his stuff and holy crap this is bad bad BAD.

Then I caught the balloon in my bare hand. It did not pop.
ME: 1
Colon: 0

BAM! With hands that soft, I should play middle infield. Sign me up!

A lot of a lot. Mostly bad news.

Good news: Dusty Hughes is back(ish)
The lefty pitcher made his first appearance since July 29 (an ugly game, for sure) after some shoulder soreness has kept him on the bench. His pitch count for tonight was 40-45, which lasted him two innings. I suppose it's not surprising for a guy who hasn't thrown in a while to be uneconomical with his pitches, but he fared pretty well anyway, racking up 5 Sonic Strikeouts (sorry, I had to) and allowing zero hits. He did walk two batters, but again I think that was just him shaking off a little rust from his time on the bench.

Bad news: The Omaha bullpen

When Hughes left the game, the ORoyals enjoyed a 3-0 lead. Then Tyler Lumsden came in, and got through 1.2 innings perfectly. But with two out and nobody on in the 4th, things got really stupid. Two 'Topes singled to bring up Michael Ryan, who also singled. Paul Lo Duca was coming around to score, but right fielder Brett Bigler* almost got the out at home, as Matt Tupman did everything he could to swipe Lo Duca but apparently missed the tag.

After Lo Duca reached home safely, Tupman tried to cut down Ryan advancing to 2nd, but nobody was there to cover, the ball sailed in to center field, another run scored, and Ryan ended up at third. Lumsden struck out the next batter, and the stupid inning was over.

*If you've ever wondered what happens when a team is desperately in need of some outfield help when all of their OFs are injured, look no further than Bigler. He was batting just .197 at SINGLE-A, but was added to Omaha's roster to help get through these dark, Costa-less days. In addition to Costa's injury, we're also playing without Mike Stodolka, whose hurt hand has kept him out of the lineup for a week now. And we're really feeling Mitch Maier's absence here; since his callup on July 24, the ORoyals are just 5-15.

But if the 4th was a stupid inning, the 5th could only be described as excruciating. Or maybe as child abuse. Lumsden and Brad Salmon tag-teamed to give up 8 runs that inning, and I was ready to tear out my eyeballs. I'm glad that inning eventually ended, but I'm concerned about the Omaha bullpen.

With Hughes and Carlos Rosa hurting, the bullpen has had to act as a starting rotation lately, and it's pretty apparent that they are stretched too thin.

Good news: Hawaiian Punch
Sam Mellinger wrote about him a few days ago, and Rany has more thoughts tonight. I'm a wee bit concerned about Kila's 13 strikeouts in 14 games, because the book on him was that he walked way more than he struck out. I'll be looking for him to cut down on his K/9 rate as the rest of the season plays out. It's weird to say anything about him having trouble adjusting to a higher level of pitching, because he is still hitting incredibly well. But I do think it is a weakness, and something he'll have to fix soon in order to justify a promotion to the Majors later this season.

Two sightings tonight:
Joey Gathright showed up in plainclothes partway through the game, and was properly chastised by the Village (the fans who sit by the 3rd base and who are AWESOME) for his tardiness. Obviously everyone who was around last year was glad to see him, and he took the time to talk to everyone who wanted him, and signed a crap-ton of autographs after the game. He has been a fan's man for as long as I've known him, and that hasn't changed in the slightest. He'll be in tomorrow night's lineup.

Alberto Callaspo showed up in the Omaha dugout (in that same gray hoodie he's always wearing). He's not on the roster at the moment, but he's around.

One last note:
I was in the middle of an epic solo in Eric Johnson's "Cliffs of Dover" on Guitar Hero this morning. Then I felt something tickling the top of my bare foot. It was a spider. This is not a good way to get five stars on any song.

Off-day thoughts

I'm still numb from the notion that Tony Pena Jr.'s batting average as a designated hitter is 1.000.

**********
Mark Nassar just reported on 1420 KOTK that the Omaha Royals are no longer last in the PCL in drawing walks; that honor now belongs to Round Rock. Sounds revolutionary.

Meanwhile, Omaha is ahead of Nashville 2-1. Do you want to guess where Omaha's runs came from? Go on, guess. You're probably right.

Yep. Another Kaaihue home run. I really hope he's for real.

**********
Speaking of the ORoyals game experience (watching Kaaihue hit is an experience, but don't take my word for it - if you have the chance, come out to a game!), the team has put a fan survey on their website. Those who take it can get some free tickets or $5 to the Royal Treasures Gift Shop. You can take the survey here, but be warned that it doesn't seem to work in Firefox. Maybe try it in Internet Explorer?

**********
My honest-to-God first reaction when I read this headline is that this is good news for the "Aviles for Rookie of the Year" dream. It seems that Evan Longoria is headed to the DL with a broken wrist.

A few thoughts:
1) I am clearly a bad person for reacting that way.
2) It really doesn't matter whether Aviles wins the RoY award. It would be really cool, but the fact that he's even in the discussion is a good enough story. He's one of the good guys, and seeing him mentioned on SportsCenter and figuring out the league's pitchers (who thought they had already figured him out) makes me very happy.
3) Obviously, bad news for Tampa Bay. A lot of folks have predicted that the Rays would collapse because that's what young teams do. That may have been the case, but right now they're missing the chance to prove those people wrong. If they are indeed going to falter, I'd like it to happen with everyone in the lineup. That would seem to be more conclusive than all the what-ifs that crop up when a team suffers key injuries late in the season.

********
Joey Gathright has yet to collect a hit in his rehab assignment with Omaha, nor get on base any other way. (Through 6 innings tonight)
I don't think that means much of anything, but it's hard to see how healthy a guy looks in a game situations if he doesn't give himself any opportunities to run any bases.

OK this is getting ridiculous...

...but I LOVE it.
Kila Kaaihue hit a homer last night, and has yet another one tonight. (But Omaha still trails the Sounds, 5-3, at this writing.)

KILA NOW!

I have nothing to say about the Kansas City game, because I was outdoors and came inside just in time to hear things get really ugly in the 6th. Yes, I missed part of a Royals game, but I could not justify sitting at my computer listening to baseball when it's 80 degrees and slightly breezy outside. So I went outside with a picnic blanket and wrote in a journal for two hours. Yay for fresh air! And not getting stung by wasps!

But anyways, back to Omaha. The roster is already all kinds of messed up, with Shane Costa and Dave Matranga each rehabbing injuries in Arizona. Mike Stodolka had an injury scare the other night, but should be good to go. But still, it says something when Brayan Pena has been playing the outfield for a few games and Brian Buchanan has taken over the backup catcher's duties (not in games yet, but I have seen Buch catching out in the bullpen). Things seem to have gotten even hairier, as Angel Sanchez came out of tonight's game after his groundout ended the top of the 3rd. I can only assume this was because of an injury, but Sanchez's removal from the game necessitated a bunch of defensive moves. Gookie Dawkins switched from 3B to SS, Pena moved from RF to 3B (?), and Buchanan came off the bench to play RF and bat in Sanchez's spot in the lineup.

As I typed all of that, the 5-3 Nashville score became final (in 7 innings - tonight is a DH to make up for a rainout in April). More significant than the potential loss of Sanchez (and the inevitable increase in playing time for Josh Labendeira, ugh) was the fact that tonight was Carlos Rosa's first outing since July 13. He's had some tightness and pain in his pitching arm. When I asked him a few days ago how the arm was feeling, he did say it was feeling good, but I hadn't heard that he'd be pitching tonight.

In 1 inning (plus 3 batters) Rosa allowed 4 hits, 3 earned runs, and a walk. He did strike out two batters in the 1st, which is the kind of thing I have come to expect from him. I imagine he was on a tight pitch-count; the organization is being understandably careful with this potentially golden prospect, so I'm not too discouraged by tonight even though it didn't produce a pretty line. If his arm really was feeling "good" (that's a word he uses a lot), he'll be back to his regular studly self soon, and a bit of order might be restored to Omaha's chaotic pitching rotation.

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Other stuff I've done this weekend:
- Thoughts about the murder in Beijing, over at Getting to First Base
- My predictions for last-place finishers at Ladies...

Brief update

Yesterday, I wrote:

- It seems like Shealy has been walking a lot more lately. I don't know if he has changed his approach or if pitchers are being more careful in the wake of his torrid late-June and July, but I will ask him when I get the chance.

I did get the chance to ask Ryan why he's been walking more. He said increased patience has been something he's been working on overall, not just in recent games. Also, he sometimes feels like he's being too patient but, as he says, "that's baseball."

So now you know.

1B/DH drama continues in Omaha!

Kila Kaaihue hit yet another home run in Omaha tonight, but so did Ryan Shealy. What to do? I say they do an American Gladiator-style duel to decide who is the First Baseman of The Future, because I can't keep rooting for them both to dominate here and get (back) to the Majors, can I?

Shealy was back in the game at first after DHing every game since Kila's promotion (except last night, when Shealy had the night off). I wonder if it's a coincidence that Shealy had been in a minislump in those games, or if he hits better when he plays at first. I will look that up in a bit, but I really need some supper first.

But first, some quick thingies:
- Mike Stodolka left tonight's game with some sort of hand injury. Later reports from someone who accompanied him to the hospital said nothing was broken. More updates as they come, but hopefully it's nothing major because the roster is already pretty depleted these days.
- Tonight's winning pitcher for Colorado Springs was none other than Mark Redman. Yeah, that one.
- ORoyals president Alan Stein has been in town the last two days. The team has lost both games. I'm not saying these two items are related, but if this continues I will become a little bit frightened. (In all seriousness, Stein always amazes me with how much time he gives to fans of the team. In the wake of all the news that the ORoyals probably won't call the NoDo stadium home, Stein could have spent tonight's game up in a suite and avoided any potential for negative backlash about what has been a very touchy subject around town. Instead, he spent the entire game in the stands, conversing with fans and hearing their ideas about the team's future. He's a cool president, and I'm not just saying that because he might be reading this; I mean it!)
- I can't overstate how much I enjoy watching Kila Kaaihue bat; he took another walk tonight in addition to the homer. I observed to my friend Becky last night that he's the antithesis of Jason Smith's swing-happy approach, to which she replied, "You mean, he's the antitheSmith?" Yeah, exactly.
- It seems like Shealy has been walking a lot more lately. I don't know if he has changed his approach or if pitchers are being more careful in the wake of his torrid late-June and July, but I will ask him when I get the chance.
- Yes, I realize I've been focusing a lot on Kaaihue/Shealy. It's a dramatic battle to see whose career trajectory can be stifled the most by Ross Gload, a tragicomic dance, with all the grit, determination, dirty uniforms, veteran presence, and other excuses for Gload's playing every day.
- A random cool blog I found tonight: PhotoshopDisasters.

Suspended!

Before I begin, I need to share that I love Dragonforce, and I don't care who knows it. Their forthcoming album, Ultra Beatdown, is just ridiculous; my Guilty Pleasure #1.

All right, with that out of the way, let's take a peek at some of the suspensions handed down after the fracas the other day.

Miguel Olivo, who had three pitches thrown at his head: 5 games
DJ Carrasco, who threw at Olivo's head three straight times AND bitchslapped Olivo in the skull: Zero games
Zack Greinke: 5 games
Trey Hillman: 1 game
Ozzie Guillen, who promised after the game that his pitchers will be throwing at the Royals in future matchups: 2 games
AJ Pierzynski: zero games (OK, he shouldn't have been suspended for his involvement Sunday, but I just can't stand him and his stupid bleached head. If anything, he should already have been suspended for THAT.)

I get suspending a guy who charges the mound. Five games is normal for that, as we've seen with Olivo already this season. But what about the guy who threw at Olivo three times in a row? I know Carrasco isn't the world's greatest pitcher, but I don't believe that all of them happened to accidentally slip into the exact same area near Miguel Olivo's head. All in a row.

But I guess Carrasco doesn't matter; it was pretty obvious that it was Pierzynski that Olivo wanted to beat. And who among us hasn't wanted to punch AJ Pierzynski in the head at least once...every day? Olivo's grandmother could have thrown those pitches, and he still would have charged the mound, because he didn't appear to have any intention of actually landing a hit on the pitcher.

Hillman's one-gamer is fair enough; that's just what happens. But five games for Greinke? Shoot, that's harsh. Depriving the Royals - who, by the way, have a realistic shot at 3rd place right now - of one Greinke start is pretty harsh.

What I'm wondering about is whether Ozzie Guillen deserves more than two games, based on his postgame comments. I suppose it would set a dangerous precedent to suspend a manager for something he hasn't done yet, but if MLB is cracking down as hard on beanball wars as they say they are, shouldn't Ozzie get like 5 games? If I make a comment anywhere that I'm planning on causing someone bodily harm next time I see them, I'm gonna be in a heap of trouble, and lose my job. But Ozzie promises he's going to have his pitchers intentionally hit Royals batters throughout the rest of his 5-year contract as Chicago's manager, and he doesn't get in any significant trouble? Weird.

I'm glad all of this happened against the White Sox, because they are my least favorite team in the AL. Yes, I even hate them more than the Yankees. So if this is the start of a heated rivalry...I can't wait.

Here are some thoughts about the suspensions at Royals Review. They, as usual, raise some good points: Why would Greinke wait until two innings later to retaliate? And why do it with a runner on and a 1-1 count? And why Swisher; why not someone who actually had some kind of involvement and who is a douchebag?

Jeff Passan weighs in at Yahoo!, addressing the questions about Carrasco's intent, Ozzie's promise to retaliate, and the idea that the Sox should have plunked Mark Teahen when he bunted earlier in that inning. I'm sure they'll get him next time.

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Elsewhere (by which I mean Omaha), there is a rumor afoot that Mark Grudzielanek is in town for some rehab, but only one team employee has seen him, and he certainly wasn't in the dugout (I looked), so until I get confirmation or denial, I will keep up this ghost-hunt. I've never met him, but I'd love to hear him say "y'know" 19 times per minute, in person.

During last night's loss, Kila Kaaihue didn't homer (for a change), but showed a pretty decent indication of who he is as a hitter. His one hit was a single he reached waaaay over the plate to slap through the right side. He was down 0-2 and obviously didn't want to get caught looking at another strike 3, which he had done earlier in the game. I know there's a chance that his success so far in AAA is not for real; I know he took a long time to develop in AA, but I'm willing to stay excited about Kila. He appears to have an understanding of the strike zone, as exhibited by pretty much all of his numbers at two levels this year - lots of walks, not a lot of strikeouts, and of course the home runs.

Speaking of Omaha first basemen, Ryan Shealy sat out last night. He's in a bit of a slump these days, going 3 for his last 22 before last night. He also got ejected on Sunday for arguing a called third strike at the end of the 6th inning. Shealy only has three hits (in five games played) since Kaaihue's arrival. I hope that is a coincidence. He should be back in the lineup tonight, likely as a DH again while Kaaihue mans first base. Sigh.

Hacking.

So, Kila Kaaihue hit another home run last night. That makes two of those in his long-awaited first two games at AAA.

But for some reason, I was more pleased to see that at-bat in which Kaaihue walked. I've heard all about how he hits for power, but this season he also had about twice as many walks (80) as he did strikeouts (41) with Northwest Arkansas. I like that kind of discipline, because I've watched Kila's extreme statistical opposite play infield for Omaha for too long.

Jason Smith is battling with Albuquerque's Dallas McPherson for most strikeouts in the PCL. At this writing, both have 127. The important differences: McPherson has 19 more homers than Smith, and has walked 44 more times, for a difference of .341 between the two players' OPS. My friend Becky and I have long since decided that death and taxes are not the only sure things in life; Jason Smith swinging at the first and/or second pitch is just as certain.

I'm not picking on Smith just to be mean. He's just a textbook example of my least favorite kind of hitter. Hacking is annoying, unless you hit a record-breaking number of home runs (and even then, I'll roll my eyes at all the first pitches you chase). He's not the only ORoyal who can't walk. No one on the team is withing screaming distance of the league lead in walks, and Ryan Shealy's 38 leads the team.

A similar thing can be said about Kansas City - nobody there knows how to walk either, except of course Alex Gordon (who has 51 - good for 15th in the AL). The inability to get on base is generally the same as an inability to win a lot of games; it's no surprise that it's the Royals and hapless* Mariners who are tied for last in OBP.

*Ha! Did you see what I did there? I, a Royals fan/writer, got to call someone else's team "hapless!" And it felt GREAT. Most sites, Deadspin for example, continue to be unable to type "Royals" without preceding it with "hapless," even though the Royals are not in last place. Should we just officially change the team name? "Now taking the field are your 2008 Kansas City Hapless Royals!"

I hope the Royals' apparently official commitment to hacking doesn't rub off on Kila. I hope he continues to walk twice as much as he strikes out, and that his OBP can stay somewhere near the sexily high .463 he put up in NWArk. So far, so good...ahh, small sample sizes:

Kila Kaaihue in AAA:
.444/.500/1.111/1.611

Yes, please!