Pitching Perspectives (6/29-7/5)

The Royals finished the week with a 3-4 record and at the end of the week were 35-46 on the season.  They remain in 4th place in the AL Central.

The Rotation:

IP

H

R

ER

BB

SO

HR

PC

ERA

WHIP

Zack Greinke

6.0

9

4

2

1

6

1

82

3.00

1.67

Luke Hochevar

7.0

2

0

0

4

2

0

102

X

X

6.0

9

4

4

2

3

2

95

2.77

1.31

Brian Bannister

7.0

6

2

1

1

6

1

98

X

X

6.0

5

2

2

2

2

0

99

2.08

1.08

Gil Meche

6.0

6

3

2

5

5

1

121

3.00

1.83

Bruce Chen

6.0

5

2

2

1

5

1

100

3.00

1.00

Totals:

44.0

42

17

13

16

29

6

2.66

1.32

Week 1: 3.62 ERA and 1.21 WHIP
Week 2: 1.91 ERA and 1.27 WHIP
Week 3: 4.38 ERA and 1.10 WHIP
Week 4: 6.46 ERA and 1.67 WHIP
Week 5: 2.54 ERA and 1.15 WHIP
Week 6: 6.44 ERA and 1.53 WHIP
Week 7: 4.21 ERA and 1.38 WHIP
Week 8: 4.75 ERA and 1.44 WHIP
Week 9: 6.17 ERA and 1.71 WHIP
Week 10: 1.74 ERA and 0.94 WHIP
Week 11: 7.48 ERA and 1.60 WHIP
Week 12: 4.19 ERA and 1.09 WHIP

One of these things is not like the others; can you guess what it is?  It is Gil Meche’s pitch count as Trey Hillman continues his crusade to run him into the ground.  After Gil’s 132 pitch outing a few weeks ago, Meche threw 75 and 84 pitches in his next two starts.  It wasn’t a case of Trey protecting his starter as much as Gil’s ineffectiveness that necessitated his short outings.  Then this week we watched as Meche was left out there for 121 pitches.  Look at the pitch counts above and then go back to my previous versions of Pitching Perspectives.  Gil Meche is the only pitcher that Trey is utilizing this recklessly, and Meche is the only starter to deal with injuries this season.  Call me crazy, but continuing to overwork your $55 million pitcher who has been dealing with a back issue and now a dead arm is ignorant.  It doesn’t matter what Gil Meche wants to do in these situations.  The manager has to do the right thing and protect the Royals investment in Gil and maximize their future returns.  Meche now has a 4.14 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, and 1.76 K/BB on the year.

Without his best stuff and with a very suspect defense behind him, Zack Greinke keeps on keeping on.  On the season he has a 2.00 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, and 6.32 K/BB.  Greinke should be the American League’s starter for the All-Star game.

Luke Hochevar had one brilliant and one passable start.  I am more encouraged by his passable start than his brilliant one because he was able to respond and adjust during the game when he was getting knocked around.  Instead of being pulled by the 3rd inning, he changed his approach and gave the team 6.0 innings.  On the season Luke has a 5.08 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, and 1.11 K/BB.  One more decent start and he should have his season ERA under 5.00.

Brian Bannister continues to try and adjust my thinking on him.  He turned in 2 more quality starts for the week and now has a 3.87 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, and 1.96 K/BB on the season.

Bruce Chen got the job done yet again.  I don’t believe it will last, and tonight’s game certainly takes some luster off his performance this season.  Still he has been serviceable as the team’s 5th starter and at the end of the week had a 4.38 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, and 7.00 K/BB.  A couple more bad starts beyond his game tonight, check back next week for more on that, and we will see the return of Kyle Davies to the rotation.

The Bullpen:

IP

H

R

ER

BB

SO

HR

ERA

WHIP

John Bale (L)

2.1

4

2

2

2

0

1

7.73

2.58

Season:

6.39

1.66

Roman Colon (R)

1.1

2

0

0

0

0

0

0.00

1.50

Season:

3.60

1.13

Juan Cruz (R)

4.0

2

0

0

0

4

0

0.00

0.50

Season:

4.46

1.24

Ron Mahay (L)

2.1

1

1

1

1

2

0

3.86

0.86

Season:

4.50

1.69

Joakim Soria (R)

3.0

0

0

0

0

7

0

0.00

0.00

Season:

1.66

1.02

Robinson Tejeda (R)

2.2

3

3

3

3

3

0

10.11

2.25

Season:

4.50

1.75

Jamey Wright (R)

3.1

4

2

2

0

0

1

5.41

1.20

Season:

4.23

1.38

Totals:

19.0

16

8

8

6

16

2

3.79

1.16

Week 1: 2.30 ERA and 0.83 WHIP
Week 2: 5.87 ERA and 1.70 WHIP
Week 3: 3.75 ERA and 1.25 WHIP
Week 4: 2.52 ERA and 1.36 WHIP
Week 5: 1.69 ERA and 1.50 WHIP
Week 6: 2.38 ERA and 1.50 WHIP
Week 7: 8.04 ERA and 2.04 WHIP
Week 8: 9.50 ERA and 2.22 WHIP
Week 9: 4.50 ERA and 1.07 WHIP
Week 10: 4.62 ERA and 1.20 WHIP
Week 11: 7.97 ERA and 1.72 WHIP
Week 12: 2.57 ERA and 1.07 WHIP

Two huge things happened for the Royals bullpen this week.  First, Juan Cruz continued to reassert himself and show his SO stuff.  In his last 7.0 innings pitched he has 7 SO and only 1 BB.  Cruz is getting hot at just the right time if the Royals want to pursue trading him prior to the deadline.  The better he pitches, the greater the potential return on their offseason investment.  Second, Joakim Soria seems to be hitting his stride.  After having some rocky appearances last week against the Astros, Soria rebounded this week throwing 3 hitless innings while striking out the side.  Roman Colon continued to contribute solid work, but Bale, Tejeda, and Wright struggled.

Bonus Stat: ERA+ Rankings
Joakim Soria (258)
Zack Greinke (214)
Roman Colon (119)
Brian Bannister (111)
Gil Meche (104)
Jamey Wright (102)
Bruce Chen (98)
Juan Cruz (96)
Robinson Tejeda (95)
Ron Mahay (95)
Luke Hochevar (84)
John Bale (67)

Ho-Ram’s 2009 ERA+ as a member of the Royals was 72, 3 points higher than Bale.  Not that anyone wants Horacio back, but perhaps Dayton and Trey should rethink Bale’s spot on this team.  Ponson’s ERA+ of 59 is by far the worst of any pitcher who has taken the mound for the Royals this year and serves as further evidence that he should be released.  Doug Waechter (95), Kyle Farnsworth (101), and Kyle Davies (74) round out the rest of the cast of characters to toe the rubber for Kansas City this season.

Closing Thought:
The staff as a whole had a 3.00 ERA and 1.27 WHIP for the week, and yet the team was 3-4. I fear it is going to be a long second half of the season.