Royals Links: 2015 Schedule, Raul Ibanez, Team Weaknesses, & More

Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

I like to think of myself as a very rational fan. I do my best to not get too high or too low, because, quite frankly, I don’t have the energy to get worked up over every single thing that happens in the course of a baseball season. That being said, I felt incredibly nervous in the minutes leading up to yesterday’s first pitch. Luckily, that feeling dissipated rather quickly, especially after the disastrous third inning.

Still, I didn’t find myself that discouraged, because no matter how bad that inning was – and it was bad – that loss still only counted as one loss in the standings. Obviously you’d prefer to see a different result, but with a touch more BABIP luck, that game could have looked much differently, and it’s not as if this team hasn’t responded to losses before. Tonight will be a great opportunity for the Royals to get back on track, but before they do that, you should take a few minutes and read some articles about them from around the internet.

– Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports writes that the Royals may have some obstacles to get through en route to the playoffs, but the idea that the moment is too big for them is simply foolish. I completely agree with the author in this instance. The Royals have played more than 140 games and are in first place, so they’ve proven they can play. Omar Infante and the injury to Danny Duffy could be much more troublesome than any kind of September pressure.

More from KC Royals News

– The Kansas City Star’s Sam Mellinger talks more about the Royals’ obstacles, namely their razor-thin margin for error, and how yesterday’s loss to the Tigers highlighted those issues. A couple of defensive plays could have – and probably should have – been made to escape trouble early on, but instead, Jeremy Guthrie allowed what seemed like 46 straight hits, and the Royals were in a very deep hole. In these last 20 games, they’ll need to limit those kinds of mistakes if they hope to reach the playoffs for the first time since 1985.

– Even though the 2014 season is not yet finished, the 2015 schedule has already been released. The Royals will face the NL Central in interleague play next year, including trips to Chicago, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, and of course, St. Louis. They’ll also open the season at home for the first time in four years. You can see the full schedule by clicking on this hyperlinked text.

– At USA Today, Bob Nightengale wrote about Raul Ibanez and his impact on the Royals clubhouse. The article reveals more of what was said in that players-only meeting following the Red Sox series after the break, when Ibanez essentially gave the squad a pep talk, and told them how talented they really are. I’ve questioned the reasons for giving Ibanez playing time in the last month or so, but it’s pretty easy to see why the organization likes having him on the roster. Even though “clubhouse presence” can be overstated at times, the rest of the Royals appear to have responded to Ibanez extremely well.

– Yahoo! Sports’ Jeff Passan has a piece focused on the issues with Wins Above Replacement, somewhat centered around Alex Gordon. As you may know, Gordon’s defensive metrics have rated him so highly that he ranks as one of the most valuable players in baseball in both versions of WAR. Passan’s criticisms are 100% fair, and they’re coming from someone who has touted advanced statistics before, so it’s not just some member of the old guard shouting at people to get off of his lawn. That post sparked another post from Dave Cameron at FanGraphs, who goes into more depth about possible revisions to the WAR formula.

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