Sifting Through Spring Training

Look at how fierce Tim Collins looks!

Spring training stats are not typically a good indicator of how good a team is going to be during the regular season. Just because a player dominates spring training doesn’t mean he’s going to have a good season. 2012 Eric Hosmer is an example of that. However, as much as I say that and KNOW it. I still look at spring training stats pretty frequently throughout the month of March. It’s kind of a win-win situation. If the stats are good, I think, “Hey, the team is playing well. Maybe that will transfer over into the regular season.” and if the stats are bad, I get to chalk it up to spring training.

That being said, the Royals are playing pretty well so far, so maybe that will transfer over into the regular season!

That being said, here’s a look at some meaningless spring training statistics through 9 games!

1. The Royals are leading the MLB in team batting average at .338. The closest teams are the Athletics and Dodgers at .309. That’s a pretty wide margin. Must mean the offense is back.

2. The Royals are 3rd in the MLB in on-base percentage at .391. They only trail the Astros and Dodgers. Looks like firing Seitzer was the problem for the Royals last year!

3. The Royals are tied with the Angels for the MLB lead in triples. Each team has 7. Don’t ask me how this is important, but it is! TRIPLES!

4. We are currently leading the MLB in team E.R.A., standing at 3.00. Clearly the acquisitions made in the offseason have solved our pitching woes.

5. And to further back up #4, the team’s WHIP is 1.13, which is good enough for…you guessed it! First in the MLB!

Look, It’s easy to be snarky about the Royals. Most individuals who have followed the team closely for several years have to be. It covers up the years of anguish.

I can’t pretend it isn’t nice to see it, but I feel safer keeping spring training success at arm’s length, rather than embrace it as a sign of good things to come.

And I know better than to praise the team’s success on Twitter or Facebook as I’m seeing so many people doing. There’s way too much of a chance that that’s going to come back to bite you in the butt.