Pitching Perspectives (4/20-4/26)

The Royals finished the third week of the season with a 2-4 record. They are now 9-9 and tied for 2nd place in the division.

Gil Meche went deeper into a game and it cost him. Prior to the 8th inning, he had only allowed 1 run and was looking solid. I certainly can’t fault Hillman for leaving him in, and even with the struggles in his final inning, Meche still had an excellent start.

Zack Greinke now has two complete games in a row, two straight 10 SO games, a 0.00 ERA in 4 starts and will be on the cover of Sports Illustrated. He is simply phenomenal and has put the Kansas City Royals back in the headlines of national media. We are watching something truly special evolve in the form of Zack Greinke. His final pitch of his 1st complete game last week was clocked at 94 MPH. This week after the unearned run broke his scoreless innings streak, Greinke took it to a whole new level blowing away the Tigers.

Kyle Davies continued his downward progression I referenced last week. Now is the time for Davies to prove he belongs in a ML rotation. Does he bounce back or does he continue to slip? I anxiously await his next start to see how he reacts to the recent adversity he has faced. With Ponson and Bannister behind him in the rotation, his spot is safe even if he continues to struggle so he’s got some time to get back on track.

Sidney Ponson this week showed himself in his full bi-polar glory that has been evident his entire career. His first start was awful, while his second start was about the best he has to give at this point. He has surpassed my extremely low expectations thus far, but a 5.79 ERA and 1.54 WHIP in 23.1 innings prove he still does not belong in the Royals rotation. For comparison Brandon Duckworth’s career numbers are 5.28 and 1.53 respectively.

Brian Bannister completely surprised me in his first start. Anything is better than watching Ho-Ram get another start so I’ve got no complaints. Still, I’m not delusional enough to think this will last very long, and like Ho-Ram will be replaced by someone else within a month or so.

Rotation Assessment:
Week 1: 3.62 ERA and 1.21 WHIP
Week 2: 1.91 ERA and 1.27 WHIP

It was a mixed bag for the rotation this week. They got great starts from Greinke and Bannister, good starts from Meche and Ponson, and terrible starts from Davies and Ponson. The only two games they won came on the nights the pitching put up great starts. The offense needs to come through on the other days or this team will fade quickly.

The Bullpen:

Week 1: 2.30 ERA and 0.83 WHIP
Week 2: 5.87 ERA and 1.70 WHIP

The 8 walks and 3 home runs in 12.0 innings pitched are somewhat concerning. This was also the 1st week this season that the pen struck out less than a batter per inning. Soria’s injury is another huge concern for the team. So while the ERA and WHIP are solid, there are 3 troubling factors circling around the pen right now. On the bright side, Farnsworth didn’t give up a run in his inning of work.