Why the Royals Will Be OK

It’s just 10 games into the season, and many Royals fans are already getting that familiar feeling of hopelessness that inevitably sets in every year after the Royals go through one of those classic KC losing streaks. But don’t despair. We’re not actually this bad! Here’s a very dumbed-down, non-analytical piece explaining why…

1. The lineup isn’t this bad

The naysayers like to point out that the bottom four or five of our lineup is consistently made up of guys with no power and well-below-average on-base-percentages. Well, they’re right. But half those guys won’t be there by the All-Star break. Jarrod Maier will become Lorenzo Cain; Yuniesky Getz will step aside for Johnny Giavotella; and Brayan Quintero will become Salvador Perez. Even if the impact is negligible, that lineup has drastically more potential on any given night. And it will be so much more fun to watch.

2. The bullpen isn’t this bad

The Royals’ bullpen was supposed to be one of its strengths going into the season. As we all know, it’s been less than stellar so far. But this has been exaggerated by the lousiness of our starting pitching. What we’re seeing is what happens when you are forced to bring relievers into the game in the 3rd inning every night. Of course, this problem won’t get better unless the Royals’ starting pitching improves, which brings me to the third point…

3. The starting pitching isn’t this bad

For months I have complained about the suckiness of KC’s starting pitching. Any time you have Bruce Chen start on opening day, you know you’re dealing with a well below average staff, to put it politely. But even so, the Royals aren’t throwing their best 5 pitchers out there, and we all know it. Even with his supposed bad luck, Felipe Paulino is probably better than Luis Mendoza. So is Everett Teaford, I think (maybe). And there’s no way that Jonathan Sanchez is really going to have THIS hard of a time adjusting to the AL, is there? Anyway, I’m not optimistic about KC’s starting pitching. Ultimately, it is why the Royals will not compete this year in the central. But come on. There’s no way it’s this bad.

The bad news, is that I actually see the 2012 Royals suffering through some pretty lousy losing streaks, especially during the first half of this year. But this is just what tends to happen when you don’t have a single above-average starting pitcher who you can rely on to consistently shut the opposing team’s bats down every five days. Oh well. Get over it. We’re not competing this year. But I still say we’ll finish within 5 or 10 games of .500. Maybe that’s too optimistic, but I think there’s just too much talent on this team to lose 100 games.

In Defense of Rex Hudler

So Rex Hudler made his Royals television broadcasting debut last week. And after one half inning, it seemed most people in the Royals Twitter community had decided that they absolutely hate the guy.

This is really not too surprising, since Twitter has a way of turning otherwise innocent Midwestern folk into hyper-critical sons of guns (or overconfident macho men who harass movie stars online and then go on local radio to brag about it).

Anyway…I think that a lot of people were really just expressing frustration at the loss of Royals legend Frank White, who was let go as the Royals color commentary guy after last season, allegedly for being “too critical of the team.”

But I do think there are some legitimate reasons why Royals fans are criticizing the Wonder Dog. And Greg Schaum over at Pine Tar Press nicely summarized some of them today.

For example, the “once a Yankee, always a Yankee” line was indefensible. Rex has to stop saying things like that about the Yankees if he wants to keep doing Royals broadcasts.

I also admit that Hudler is a bit of a homer. He seems to be enthusiastically supportive of every Royals player, gushing with praise for Chris Getz’s defensive skills, Aaron Crow’s willingness to be sent to the bullpen, and even Jamie Romak’s offensive prowess.

But I don’t understand why his enthusiasm should be viewed as a bad thing.

Sure, he talks a lot, but it’s clear that Rex and his longtime partner Steve Physioc (who I really have enjoyed listening to this spring on the radio with Denny) have that fluidity that is needed on a broadcast.

And the best part about Hud’s style is his unpredictability. Frank White, bless his bitter little heart, had a certain way of falling into that horrible sing-songy pattern after every pitch like TV commentary guys often do.

I admit that people might need to get used to his Hawk Harrelson-esque baseball lingo that refers to a double play as a “ham and eggs and roll ‘em over” or a hard line drive as a “screaming meemie.” I understand that. Denny Matthews, he is not.

But that’s kind of the point. You just can’t fill up a broadcast team with a bunch of Denny Matthews and Ryan Lefebvre types (and man oh man do I love both those guys) year after year and expect things to still be interesting.

It’s a risky move, putting Rex Hudler in there. But I like it. And I have a feeling that most Royals fans will, too, once this young Royals team starts finally winning some ballgames.

Opening Day 2012 is Almost Here / First Blog Post

With the 2012 season almost here, I figured I’d throw together a blog so I can share some of my longer-than-140-character thoughts on the Royals.

Don’t expect any non-Royals related posts from me. As I say on Twitter, I couldn’t care less about the Chiefs, Tigers, Jayhawks, or Sporting KC. 

This year is bound to be one of the most interesting years in recent memory for the Royals nation. 

Throughout the week, I’ll share my predictions for the 2012 season. But for now, I just wanted to give you a quick heads up that there’s a new blog in town.