Lough Optioned to Omaha; Mendoza named 5th Starter

The inevitable has occured.  OF David Lough, 27, was optioned to Triple-A Omaha last night after the Royals 8-2 victory over Zack Greinke and the Los Angeles Dodgers.  Lough was having an outstanding Spring, compiling a line of .455/.467/.636 in just 24 games for Kansas City.  He had 20 hits in 44 plate appearances  seven of those going for extra bases (6 doubles, 1 triple).  He also collected 5 RBI and 3 SB, striking out twice and taking just one walk.

I was a little disappointed to hear the news, only because Lough has done everything asked of him and then some more down in the minors and has clearly earned a spot on the big league roster.  Unfortunately, as I mentioned in my Opening Day Roster post, he's blocked by the more desired Jarrod Dyson, who is out of options.  Luckily for David, he has options remaining which indeed helps him tremendously.  Dyson is lightning fast and will provide great presence in the need of a pinch runner or when Lorenzo Cain needs a day of rest out in CF.

Lough should very well be the first OF to be called up in the need of a replacement for injury, should one arise this season.  If all goes according to plan, he should dominate in Omaha again until the opportunity comes a knockin'.

Along with Lough being sent down, OF Xavier Nady and LHP George Sherrill were both released from the Royals.  Nady hit .346 in 13 games with the Royals, while Sherrill is still on recovery from TJ surgery.


Also announced today, which I'm very pleased to hear, Luis Mendoza was named the 5th starter to finalize the rotation.  Mendoza, who came into the rotation and provided good innings for the Royals, has pitched in 3 games in ST, starting 2 of them.  He has a 2-0 record with a 0.82 era in 11 IP, striking out 8 and walking just 2 batters, while giving up just 1 earned run.

Since Mendoza wins the race, Bruce Chen will make the move to the bullpen, along with former starter Luke Hochevar.  It will be interesting to see how long Chen can last, considering his spring so far giving up 12 runs in 13.2 IP, his age, and that he doesn't throw hard.

I'm not going to lie, I like what I've seen from 'Relief Pitcher Luke Hochevar'.  Especially after watching him last night coming into the 9th against the Dodgers.  His fastball was electric and his curveball was untouchable.  Even though the only batter worth mentioning in the 9th was Juan Uribe, you can't ignore the fact that Luke has done well coming into relief.  Since being eliminated from the rotation race, he has 5 innings of relief, he has 7 strikeouts, 0 walks, and has given up 2 hits.  Wade Davis made a nice transition to the bullpen last year for the Rays, hopefully this output from Luke can transition into this season.  If it does, he can be flat out filthy for us. (You don't hear that sentence everyday.)

Royal Rewind Wrap Up (10-22-12)

Yesterday as I was flipping through channels and trying to ignore the "must watch" TV of the third and final Presidential Debate, I came across "Royal Rewind" on Fox Sports Midwest.  It had already been going on for a half hour or so, but I caught most of the last half.  Here are some thoughts by a few Royals personnel from the Royal Rewind.  I am only paraphrasing what they said.

Ned Yost

• Losing Paulino and Duffy hurt the most. Rotation would hinge around those guys and both were doing great at time they got hurt.

Although Felipe Paulino was pitching like an "ace" before he got hurt, Danny Duffy wasn't pitching exceptional.  Obviously, losing those two pitchers hurt the rotation badly, but one could also make an argument that losing Lorenzo Cain and Salvador Perez for the first half of the season was just as devastating. Oh and we were playing Yuniesky Betancourt.

• Moose has improved, gold glove caliber third baseman. Production was pretty good for first full year in big leagues.

Mike Moustakas has improved, especially on defense.  He led all 3B in UZR in 2012 at 16.8. This mark put him ahead of the likes of David Wright, and Adrian Beltre.  Moose was also 2nd among 3B in the Majors in UZR/150 at 15.2 only behind David Wright at 16.8.  Moose was hot the first half of the season where he slugged .490 and hit 15 long balls.  Post All-Star Break he was awful. He had an OPS of .586 with a putrid 5 homers.  Don't get me wrong, I love Moustakas, and I still think in terms of his first year he had a real solid year overall.  But if the Royals want to compete for division championships Moose (or Hoz) will both have to be All-Star caliber players in my opinion.

• Hoz really struggled

Boy did he.  Eric Hosmer was incredibly tough to watch most of the year; and not just at the plate.  He was hard to watch on defense as well, thanks to his windmill digging style and the tendency to fling the ball across the field.  Like Moustakas, Hosmer will have to become an All-Star caliber player in order for the Royals to compete year in and year out.

• Ryan Lefebvre asked Ned something along the lines of it was as simple as starting pitching for the Royals to become a contender.
• Ned: "It's that simple really" Experience is extremely valuable and core is set on the field (lineup).
• Bullpen is efficient, need a couple starters and we should be in good shape.

Is it as simple as SP? Well in some ways yes it is.  We desperately need 2 or 3 starters that can pitch somewhat like Jeremy Guthrie did for the Royals, or even Luis Mendoza.  Luke Hochevar should not be in the rotation next year. Period.  I know I'm not the only fan who is saying this, in fact, its most likely a choir of Royals fans saying this.  I still think there is more to the Royals competing, and that is what I said earlier: Moustakas and Hosmer living up to star potential. Or at least one of them.

Steve Physioc

• Holland was fantastic and has makeup and mentality to be a closer

I agree, he looked great. Love his strikeout ability.

• Guthrie raised the entire rotation up, Mendoza pitched better (when Guthrie came) and Chen pitched better too.

Guthrie raised the rotation up because he pitched very well, Mendoza was consistently slightly above average and Bruce Chen was terrible for the most part, I don't get the love for Chen.

Rex Hudler

• Bruce Chen set the tone for rotation
• Led the entire season
• "Raise the Roof in 13"

Oh Rex. Chen really led the staff all year with his 5.07 ERA and becoming the human launching pad by giving up 33 dingers on the year. You amaze me Rex.

Sorry About the Wait, Dinner is Served

(Time for me to eat some crow.)

Entering the season I feared the Royals would give the last rotation spot to Luis Mendoza instead of Felipe Paulino. Despite very pedestrian peripheral numbers in Omaha, it seemed the organization had bought into Mendoza's Pacific Coast League leading 2.18 ERA. Not to mention former Royals starter Phillip Humber was coming off a season in which he found some success in the White Sox rotation.

It seemed as though the Royals would be so determined to not allow another starter to slip through their fingers, that they would overlook certain statistics which appeared to show that Mendoza had no right to hold down a spot in a Major League rotation. Eventually, injuries occurred and Mendoza broke camp in the big league rotation.

I tried to look at the bright side. You know, at least this way the Royals can find out he doesn't belong and move on. After four starts, an ERA of 6.00 and a strikeout to walk ratio of 0.55, it finally appeared that the rose colored glasses would be cast aside and the dream of Mendoza in the rotation would finally come to an end.

Instead the Royals rotation was swamped by injury. Starters Felipe Paulino, Danny Duffy, and Jonathan Sanchez all hit the disabled list and the Royals needed arms to fill out their abysmal rotation. Mendoza, who had shown marginal improvement as a long man was given another shot, almost more by default than anything else.

But then something happened. Perhaps, Mendoza made a mechanical adjustment. Perhaps, he grew a pair of gonads and began to challenge hitters, or perhaps he found a lucky rabbit's foot. Whatever it was, Mendoza started striking some guys out. Since his return to the rotation Mendoza is striking out 6.3 batters per nine innings. When you consider that in the same time frame he has lowered his bb/9 to 2.3 and that he is getting more ground balls than ever it isn't hard to see why he has quickly changed his reputation among Royals fans.

Watching Mendoza you can tell that he is a different pitcher than he was at the beginning of the year. Typically, I try to avoid broad statements and gut feels in my writing but the dude is just pitching with more confidence. His fastball has more life than any Royals starter and since his return to the rotation he is 4-5 with a 3.64 ERA.

The Royals are clearly in desperate need of front line starting pitching heading into next season. But the Royals also need to figure out a way to field the middle and back of the rotation. Just a couple of months ago one may have wondered if the Royals had a single starter deserving of a spot in the 2013 rotation. Today, it appears that at least one of those spots should be filled by Luis Mendoza.

Luis Mendoza and Pitching Lines

Yesterday, I made the comment that if Mendoza can post similar lines throughout 2012, he can find success. I want to be clear on the meaning of that statement. So let's take a look at the line that Luis Mendoza posted yesterday against the Colorado Rockies: 4 innings pitches, 2 hits allowed, 0 runs allowed, 0 walks allowed and 3 strikeouts. He threw 48 pitches, 36 of which were strikes, while recording eight ground outs to just one air out. Not to mention that both hits were also ground balls.

Make no mistake about it this is a heck of a line. The reason for my comment was to illustrate that if Mendoza was this kind of pitcher during his brief two start call up, and during his breakout in 2011, I would be much more optimistic about his potential moving forward. However, this isn't the case.

Last season in Omaha, Mendoza posted a 5.05 K/9 to a 3.37 BB/9, and a league average ground ball percentage of 43%. Where Mendoza did find some success was his slightly above average pop up percentage. In his two September starts Mendoza was virtually the same guy, with virtually the same flukey success. Yes, Mendoza reworked his delivery. Yes, Mendoza put together a great 2011. No, it isn't sustainable.

This brings me back to my comment from yesterday. Even in Mendoza's first Spring start he posted the same type of line as he did in 2011. If Mendoza continues to post roughly as many walks and strikeouts and an average ground ball rate, he could have a perfect ERA and I would still believe it a mistake if he opens in the rotation. However, if Mendoza's line can change and he keeps his ERA down, my interest will grow.

Yesterday, for the first time since Mendoza has been on the rotation radar, he actually posted a quality line. The guy was dominate. It will be these type of lines that Mendoza will need to post in order to be a legitimate candidate for the rotation.

It must be said that it is likely much more than coincidence that the first time Mendoza's line correlates with his earned runs, he was facing the Colorado Rockies' less than normal lineup. No Tulo. No Car-Go. My comment was in no way emphasizing Mendoza's line as a turning point. I merely wanted to point out that it was that kind of line that would be necessary on a regular basis in order for me to take Mendoza seriously as a rotation candidate.

Return of the Six Man Rotation

After the enormous success of the Royals six man rotation last summer, it seems the Royals are going to boldly lead Major League Baseball into a new era of pitching. Ned Yost announced yesterday that the Royals would return to the six man rotation.

A six man rotation makes huge sense for the Royals, who have one of the strongest groups of starting pitchers in the league. There were really no other choices available to get all of Kansas City's pitching studs the innings they deserve. How else would the Royals have managed innings for Pacific Coast League stud muffin Luis Mendoza?

What?

The Royals aren't permanently going with the six man rotation? It's only for the early weeks of Spring Training?

I can see the logic here. In fact, while I hanging out in the depths of my parent's basement, in between battles with Orcs in the World of Warcraft and handfuls of cheetos, I've been known to utilize the six man rotation in Spring Training while playing Out of the Park Baseball.

The Royals will be able to evaluate all of the starters competing for rotation spots. Six guys will start games and in the early weeks, and six more will be able to piggy back start. This allows the Royals to evaluate 12 rotation candidates. Do the Royals have 12 legitimate big league starters? No. But do the Royals have 12 starters in camp needing innings? Yes.

My only concern with the six man rotation, would be the delay in allowing the starters to get into their season routines. However, this concern is only minor and the fact that the Texas Rangers have used this Spring Training strategy before makes me much more confident in its benefits. Not to mention, that the competing starters have all had plenty of experience in five man rotations If a starter doesn't have a routine at this point in his career, well, no wonder they aren't a lock for the rotation.

The other thing I should mention, is that with each passing day a sickness grows in my stomach. It is the same feeling I get from overdoing the chips and queso at the local Mexican joint. Every day I get a stronger feeling that Luis Mendoza will open camp as the fifth starter. Mendoza is out of waivers and I believe the Royals are deathly afraid that if they cut him he'll be a beast in another team's rotation.

When breaking camp teams often look to control inventory. Duffy has options, Mendoza doesn't. For this reason I expect Mendoza to open as the five starter, with Duffy logging some innings in Omaha to begin the season. Although, there is an even worse scenario that involves Paulino struggling this Spring, but I don't even want to think about that.