The Royals had been mum about his condition at first, but he’s since headed back to Kansas City for an MRI and the early prognosis is that he’ll be ready for a return in 2-to-4 weeks. High ankle sprains can be tricky, and the Royals don’t want Dyson to rush back and re-injure himself. Dyson, at least, is in good spirits:

Thanks everyone for the love, mrzoombiya will be ok and will have a healthy return soon, I want to wish my team the best of luck on the road

— JarrodDyson (@mrzoombiya) May 17, 2013

David Lough filled in fine in his first game back in the big leagues, going 2-4 with the Royals only RBI and he offered an outfield assist on a Brandon Moss double attempt. If the Royals are going to continue to split time between Jeff Francoeur and a left-handed bat, Lough’s first game is at least encouraging.

Jorge Bonifacio with Wilmington in their 2013 home opener (Jen Nevius).

Speaking of right field, key Royals prospect Jorge Bonifacio will be on the shelf for 6-to-8 weeks with a broken bone in his hand. That pauses what was turning into a big season in High A Wilmington, as Bonifacio – ranked sixth among Royals prospects by Baseball America – had a .325/.404/.452 line in 34 games in the Carolina League. With Wil Myers traded and Bubba Starling a level lower and struggling, he’s the next impact outfield prospect the Royals have (or was prior to the injury).

Bonifacio turns 20 years old next month, so the injury doesn’t throw him way off track, but a you still want a top prospect to be on the field rather than recuperating. He’s got an advanced approach for his age and makes good contact. With a few mechanical tweaks, he may turn into a bigger power hitter, as well.

Finally, the only other two Kansas City Royals on the disabled list aside from Dyson are Danny Duffy and Felipe Paulino. Both are on the rehab track after Tommy John surgery last summer.

Duffy recently threw a four inning simulated game on May 16th and continues to do other workouts. Paulino threw a three inning game on the 17th and a four inning game is his next step. It also appears that both pitchers are going on a normal rest schedule to get in line with a regular starting schedule. Duffy’s surgery occurred on June 13th. Paulino’s was on July 3rd. Typically, it’s at least 11 months for a pitcher to come back to regular game action after tearing their UCL. Duffy’s velocity was back into the mid-90s earlier this month, so he may not miss a beat when he comes back.

May 15, 2013; Anaheim, CA, USA; Kansas City Royals center fielder Jarrod Dyson (1) walks off the field after he was injured trying to catch Los Angeles Angels first baseman Mark Trumbo (not pictured) homer in the eighth inning at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

The Royals haven’t provided an official update on Dyson’s condition, and with an off day between series, there were no pregame media sessions to talk with Ned Yost. The clues point towards a Dyson DL stint, though.*

First, Dyson’s best asset is his speed. If his ankle is hurt, he can’t utilize that weapon and it limits his ability to contribute. It makes sense to sit him for two weeks and let him fully recover, then come back at full strength than to try to manage the injury and either aggravate it, get subpar results or have him overcompensate and hurt something else.

Second, David Lough wasn’t in the lineup in tonight’s Triple A matchup between Omaha and Las Vegas. Then Minda Haas noted that he wasn’t even in the dugout and Lee Warren heard from Storm Chasers manager Mike Jirschele that Lough was out for a “potential call up“. Bob Dutton all but confirmed all of this later on Twitter.

Dyson was starting to take playing time from Jeff Francoeur and taking advantage of it. Ned Yost says they weren’t heading for a platoon between Dyson and Francoeur, but it was sure starting to look that way. Dyson was hitting .268/.286/.561 (!) in 42 plate appearances in 2013 and has matched Francoeur in extra base hits in a third of the at bats. The defense benefits with Dyson in the game, as Lorenzo Cain is a more favorable option than Francoeur in right, with a strong enough arm for the position but significantly better range.

Lough was hitting .340/.393/.477 in 171 plate appearances for Omaha. He spent all of last September up with the big league club, hitting .237/.292/.305 in 20 games. If he does come up (as expected) it’s not certain if the Royals will still split time as they had been, but Kansas City will face Oakland right-hander Jarrod Parker tomorrow. If Lough (a lefty) is in the lineup, that could be a signal that they’ll keep rolling with the not-platoon-that-is-basically-a-platoon.

*UPDATE: The Royals have now officially made the move, according to Bob Dutton.

Apr 28, 2013; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals center fielder Jarrod Dyson (1) singles in a run against the Cleveland Indians during the fourth inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

I don’t want to sound the all-clear too early, but according to the most trustworthy person I’ve never met—Bob Dutton—Ned Yost is considering making some changes to the lineup that include less of Jeff Francoeur and Chris Getz. (awkward white-guy dance in my office while no one is looking to celebrate).

I’ve been one of the most critical of the decision to play these two but most especially of the decision to play Francoeur (I was actually in favor of giving Getz the job out of Spring Training because he earned it and Giavotella did nothing to earn it). So, what I want to do with this post is make the argument I’ve made repeatedly across different posts but in one central location for those who have yet to read it. The argument is that Jarrod Dyson should be starting over Francoeur.

Francoeur and Dyson represent a somewhat difficult line of comparison for two reasons: 1) they are remarkably different players; 2) Francoeur has a lot of major league data to draw from while Dyson has relatively little. In order to accommodate these differences we’ll have to use that thing that allows statistics to come to life: intuition. This is closely related to reason and logic but is not exactly the “eye test” so beloved by Hawk Harrelson. It’s a way of seeing what is most important to the ultimate goal of winning baseball games within the context of what’s already in place.

So, here is the overarching reason Dyson should be playing instead of Francoeur: he’s more valuable. We’ll start with their WAR, a flawed but useful stat. In 2012, the only season in which Dyson saw significant playing time, he posted a 1.6 bWAR (that is WAR as it is measured by Baseball Reference). To be fair to Francoeur, I won’t use his 2012; it was the worst season of his career. Instead, I’ll look at 2011, arguably the best season of his career, in which he posted a 3.2 WAR. Dyson posted his 1.6 WAR in 330 PA and a few handfuls of pinch running appearances. Francoeur earned his 3.2 WAR in 656 PA.

If we simply ended the analysis there, Francoeur looks to have a case for starting over Dyson or at the very least, has a case that he is equally as valuable. If we extrapolate Dyson’s 2012 into a full season, it equals roughly Francoeur’s 2011. We can really keep this analysis extremely simple by asking ourselves one question at this juncture. Do we think Dyson’s 2012 was an anomalous career year? If it wasn’t, if Dyson can do better or at the very least consistently do that well, the answer is simple; Dyson should be starting over Francoeur. Because we know that Francoeur’s 2011 was a pretty anomalous career year. He hadn’t had a year like 2011 since 2007, and those two seasons represent his only full seasons over 3.0 bWAR. He has had a few seasons of negative bWAR, meaning he was worse than replacement level. This includes his 2012 season in which he was -2.3 WAR and the worst everyday player in baseball.

I feel confident saying that Dyson is either capable of maintaining his 2012 performance or improving on it. Here is why. Dyson only hit .260 in 2012, which isn’t great. That comes from a fairly good BABIP of .318, which is pretty typical of fast guys who can scrounge a few extra singles with their legs. The reason his batting average was so low was an unusually high strikeout percentage of 17 percent. It was usually high because in the minors his strikeout rate has been closer to the 12-14 range. However, he also had a fairly high walk rate of 9.1 percent. This gave him a .328 OBP. Dyson’s value is very tied to his ability to get on base and run. As he gets more acclimated to major league pitching, it seems reasonable to believe that he can cut down on strikeouts and put more balls in play, which with his speed should mean a higher average and thus, a higher on-base percentage.

But even if Dyson doesn’t improve at all, even if he only ever performs at the level he did in 2012, he would be a better starting option than Francoeur because the likelihood of Francoeur replicating his 2011 is very low. The inconsistency experienced over his career is remarkable, but if there was a safe bet on Francoeur’s WAR over a given season, it would lie in the .5-1.5 range, which is just below major league average. Nothing to write home about. Some argue that Francoeur has value because he has more power than Dyson and a better arm. This is partially true. Francoeur’s arm and power are better than Dyson’s but not nearly enough to make up the difference in range defensively or the wildly inconsistent offense. And really, Dyson has a pretty good arm as well.

The fact is Dyson is a better defender, and he’s the better base runner by a wide margin. Those are certainties, not open for debate among reasonable people (though I’m sure a few will chime in below to show just how “reasonable” they are). At the plate, Dyson has shown that he can hit at a level that is comparable to Francoeur in every area but power and probably exceeds Francoeur in on-base ability, especially once given a chance to get more plate appearances and see more major league pitching.

The only question people should really be asking is why did this take so long for Yost to see?. 

P.S. Many favor a platoon split in this situation (Francoeur against lefties; Dyson against righties). While this is more appealing than seeing Francoeur all the time, I’d still start Dyson over Francoeur against most lefties. That’s how little faith I have in Francoeur’s ability to be a positive force at this point, regardless of his career numbers against lefties, which aren’t terrible. And while Dyson is worse against lefties, he hasn’t had enough big league plate appearances to tell us that the split will be significant enough to take the dire action of playing Francoeur.

Dyson’s speed is unquestionably an asset. He’s stolen 50 bases in 57 opportunities, and he’s made plays most players can’t simply by being the fastest guy in the stadium. The play where he scored from third on a pop up to shortstop in 2011 comes to mind. After that play, he told Joel Goldberg “That’s what speed do”, a catchphrase that always resurfaces when he does something on the basepaths.

June 26, 2012; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals center fielder Jarrod Dyson (1) scores as Tampa Bay Rays catcher Jose Lobaton (21) can

Having a player like that can be valuable as a pinch runner because he can be employed once at will. The phrase “you can’t steal first base” has been used before for speedy players who might be great once they’re on base, but have trouble getting that small detail of reaching in the first place. As a pinch runner, the Royals can guarantee that they can have Dyson on the basepaths if they want him to be. Having Tejada available for any infield spot and Johnson available to play the outfield does give them the opportunity to use Dyson more liberally as a pinch runner.

Done deal, right?

Maybe, maybe not.

I’ve been guilty of underrating Dyson’s offensive abilities before. To look at him, he looks like the typical speedster who gets the bat knocked out of his hands and otherwise tries to slap everything the other way. In some ways that’s true – he’s not going to have much power. The extra bases he gets will be due to his legs turning singles into doubles and doubles into triples. He doesn’t put the ball in the air often enough to get a lot of random home runs. He has one in his career during his September callup in 2011. Most of the time, though, he puts the ball on the ground (nearly 60% of the time as a big leaguer according to FanGraphs). Remember that scene in Major League where manager Lou Brown is admonishing Willie Mays Hayes for popping the ball up?

It’s just like that. Dyson should be hitting line drives and grounders that he can leg out. But he can also walk and reach base. In 448 big league plate appearances, Dyson has walked 9.6% of the time. Last year, Alex Gordon led the Royals by walking in 10.1% of his plate appearances.

This is why many call for Dyson to work within a platoon (or partial one) with Jeff Francoeur. He won’t provide much as far as driving in runs, but he can create them on his own. Marcus Meade was beating that drum late last December, noting that bunt hits could be an opportunity for Dyson to get more playing time. It’s surprising to say it (or maybe just to me), but Dyson’s value may be underestimated him on this team.

I doubt he’d be a strong everyday player – he still hasn’t hit lefties – but Dyson could do enough at the plate to be more than a second coming of Herb Washington. The Royals want to use him more, but perhaps they’re taking the wrong angle.

According to the Kansas City Royal’s website, speedster Jarrod Dyson, the owner of the “That’s what speed do,” tagline last year, is taking a new approach this season to capitalize on his top tool. Much like the famous character Wesley Snipes played in Major League,  “Willie Mays Hayes” had an issue with putting the ball in the air, effectively reducing his chance to reach base and cause havoc to opponents’ catchers.

July 14, 2012; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals center fielder Jarrod Dyson (1) connects for a single in the third inning of the game against the Chicago White Sox at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Normally a reserve outfield, Dyson saw an increase in action last season while Lorenzo Cain had a bought with injuries. In his time, Dyson swiped 30 bases in 35 attempts. However, he only carried a .260 batting average through 330 plate-appearances, tacking on 30 total walks, for a .328 on base-percentage.

Cue the swing and plate-approach tune up; Dyson now steps into the box with a refined approach to keep the ball out of the air. Well, not completely out of the air. Dyson is now focusing on attacking pitches he can rope into the gaps for extra bases, or adding pressure on infielders by beating out ground balls.

Dyson attributes the change in his swing to pulling his hands closer to the body, which helps to keep a hitter from casting, or creating a loop, with the bat head. In turn, this allows Dyson to have a more direct route to the ball, without needing to dip his shoulders and upper body to speed up his swing in order to be on time to a fastball, or off balance for off speed pitches.

You also may note a change in his approach landing when screaming into second base. Ordinarily, we see Dyson fly into second head first, often time, overshooting the base and barely clinging to safety by the tip of his spikes, or near misses of the baseball flying past his earflap after a tough hop. This change in part, was just precaution of safety, to keep Dyson on the base paths and not the disabled list.

If all of Dyson’s changes work, the reserve outfielder could be catalyst for chaos on the base paths at an alarming rate, which according to manager Ned Yost, is what fans pay good money to come to the ballpark and watch. Who knows, if Dyson is able to contribute more offensively with both the bat and his feet, the Royals may be inching closer towards a division title, because as we all came to find out, “That’s what speed do.”

June 14, 2012; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals center fielder Jarrod Dyson (1) slides safely into home as Milwaukee Brewers catcher Martin Maldonado (12) can

KC is counting on a healthy Cain in 2013. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

“Not again,” seems to be the loudest groan heard from Royals fans via the internet. We are barely into spring training, and Lorenzo Cain, 2012′s oft-injured center fielder, is already hurt again.

Fans are worried with somewhat good reason, as Cain’s first full season (well, not if you count all the injuries) in KC saw him injured, re-injured, and injured yet again in 2012. This wasn’t the introduction to Royals fans Cain had hoped for, and has resulted in a reputation as an injury prone player. Fairly or not, fans have labeled him and are already starting to pile on.

Has Cain earned his new “paper doll” reputation? It would appear, from his history in pro ball, that he has not. Looking back over his career (mostly in the minor leagues) it seems Cain has been a pretty sturdy, reliable player. In 2006, he had 603 plate appearances, followed by seasons with 533 and 550 trips to the plate in 2007 and 2008. The first drop in playing time for Cain came the following year, as he only tallied 232 PA in 60 games. In 2010, he was back on track playing 84 games while splitting time in AA and AAA, then playing another 43 for the Brewers after a promotion to the big leagues.

The following winter, Cain was traded to Kansas City as part of the Zack Greinke deal. He spent 2011 in Omaha and managed to play 128 games and getting to the plate 549 times that season (adding another 23 PA in 6 games for the Royals that year).

This track record shows that over the course of seven professional seasons, Cain only missed significant time once (2009). But, for most fans, what they see is what they believe. The average fan doesn’t know, and doesn’t care, what Cain did in the past. Their introduction to Cain came in 2012, and it wasn’t pretty. Groin, hamstring, and hip injuries kept Cain out of commission for the better part of the season, as he only managed to play 61 games. Starting off 2013 with an injury (no matter how minor) is going to send up a red flag.

Jarrod Dyson – Plan B. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Should fans be worried, though? Should Cain be stamped “fragile”? Honestly…it’s hard to say. There are guys in every sport who seem to have a knack for hurting themselves. I have a feeling in this case, though, judging from what I’ve seen reported, this latest injury to the hand is nothing to lose sleep over. Just a bit of bad luck that happened to – let’s face it – the last guy on this roster who needed yet another injury. Another bit of bad luck that gives fans reason to be skeptical.

I’m going to hold off on judgment at this point. Cain’s history is that of a pretty durable outfielder. His 2012 string of injuries were to his legs. This latest injury (if we can really call it that, at this point) is to his hand. While I’d prefer not to have to address an injury at all, at least it’s not a re-injury of something from last year. Seems to me it’s just a bit of bad luck. Let’s hope so…because Cain looks much better roaming center field than he does as a name on the disabled list. Just in case, though, let’s hope Jarrod Dyson is ready to play some ball.

The hard truth is there are no reasonable and good answers to the right field problem. There are pipe dream answers—trade for Giancarlo Stanton. There are insufficient answers—maybe Jeff Francoeurwill play like he did in 2011. But there aren’t any realistically hopeful solutions.

Apr 6, 2011; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals batter Jarrod Dyson (1) lays down a bunt during a game against the Chicago White Sox at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports

Previously, I’ve posited the notion of platooning Francoeur and Jarrod Dyson. Presumably, Dyson would play center field and Lorenzo Cain would move over to right field. The idea being that Francoeur can kind of hit lefties, Dyson can kind of hit righties so maybe together they could be slightly above replacement level. That solutions sounds fairly reasonable and more hopeful than simply allowing Francoeur to enact that seizure like thing he calls a swing at the plate 600 times this season.

Of course none of this would be an issue if Dyson would simply fulfill his potential as a ball player. If he became the player he could be, he would play center, Cain could take right field and Francoeur could start his own lawn care service or something. It’s interesting because by signing Willy Taveras, the Royals have brought in a model to show Dyson what type of ball player he could and should be.

Whenever I see Dyson play I think to myself If this guy knew how to bunt, he’d be an every day centerfielder. Dyson had five bunt hits in 2012 in what amounts to a half-season’s worth of plate appearances. So, project him out to a full season of everyday action, and he’d have roughly 10 bunt hits in a season. That may seem like a lot, but it really isn’t.

Now, let’s look at Taveras. If you ever watched him play in his prime—2005-2007 roughly—then you know he was just as fast as Dyson and bunted a lot. In those four seasons, he had batting averages of .291, .278, and .320 (in 97 games) respectively. In those seasons he also had 31, 21, and 38 bunt hits. This led to really high BABIPs, which Taveras really needed because he never walked and struck out a lot.

Something that really set Taveras apart was how successful he was at bunting for a hit. In 2007, he successfully bunted for a hit 64.4 percent of the time, which is why he hit .320. Over his career, he has been successful 46.3 percent of the time when attempting to bunt for a hit. In comparison, Dyson was only successful 26.3 percent of the time last season. So, it’s safe to say that Dyson doesn’t get many bunt hits because he’s not very good at it, which also makes him try it less.

There are differences, of course, between Taveras and Dyson, and they’re virtually all in Dyson’s favor (except for the fact that Taveras is a much better bunter). Dyson has more plate discipline than Taveras ever has. Taveras has walked only 5.1 percent of the time throughout his career (9.6 percent for Dyson). Taveras hits right handed, which is actually a disadvantage when bunting for hits. Dyson, so far, has been a fairly unambiguously good center fielder while Taveras has had a couple of negative fielding seasons.

Let’s imagine that Dyson could bunt like Taveras in his prime. We’ll take Dyson’s numbers from 2012 and project them for a full season of everyday work in center field and adjust them for a more successful bunter. If we extrapolate Dyson’s numbers from 2012, we get this: 660 PA, 584 AB, 10 BUH, 38 BUH attempts with a success rate of roughly 26 percent. That keeps his season numbers exactly where they were in 2012—.260 BA, .328 OBP. Now, let’s exchange some numbers to make Dyson a good bunter. Let’s say his success rate is 40 percent (six percent below Taveras’ but equal to Alcides Escobar’s success rate in 2012). That would give him 15 BUH. With that simple change, his BA goes up to .268, and his OBP goes up to .332.

Those numbers are miles ahead of Francoeur’s .235 BA and .287 OBP from 2012 (though I don’t believe Francoeur will be quite that bad in 2013).

Now, let’s think about a scenario in which Dyson, because he’s a more successful bunter, bunts more often. Starting from the same numbers as before, let’s say he attempts to bunt for a hit 70 times in a season. At a 40 percent success rate, he would collect 28 BUH. That would leave 590 PA and 514 AB. Add Dyson’s usual performance to his increase in bunting ability and frequency, and his batting average rises to .277. If Dyson could get to .277 and roughly .335-.340 OBP, he could be an everyday centerfielder with his excellent defense and baserunning ability.

What are the odds of this occurring? Maybe 5 percent. People need to give Dyson a lot of credit for how much he’s improved over his time in the Royals organization. But he’s 28 years old, and developing a significant new skill is tough with such limited time.

Still, he should try. He should spend time talking with Taveras in Spring Training and working to develop his overall hitting approach to take advantage of his skill set. In fact, the conspiracy theorist in me believes the Royals signed Taveras with the intent of having him mentor Dyson a little bit. Part of Dyson’s problem is that he seems to slip out of the mindset he needs to always have—one of a speed oriented Juan Pierre type player. By the way, Pierre’s career BUH success rate is 34.3 percent. Kenny Lofton’s was 45.1 percent.

I think there’s something to this idea.

The duo of Jarrod Dyson and Alcides Escobar made club history today as they are the first Royals teammates to both steal 30 or more bases since the World Series Champion team of 1985.  This season won’t have the same outcome as the 85 season had, but it’s still a nice little accomplishment for the pair of Royals.

There are only four other pairs of teammates to accomplish the feat so far this year.  Brewers teammates Ryan Braun and Carlos Gomez have 30 and 36 respectively, and Jimmy Rollins and Juan Pierre of Philadelphia, also are a 30 stolen base duo with 37 and 30.  In Miami, speedsters, Jose Reyes and Emilio Bonifacio both have surpassed 30 stolen bases and the final duo in the AL East are Rays teammates Desmond Jennings and B.J. Upton.  Norichika Aoki could join his Brewers teammates over the last few days of the season if he can swipe 2 more bags and Jordan Schafer can join his Astros teammate, Jose Altuve, if he can grab 3 more bases.

September 25, 2012; Detroit, MI, USA; Kansas City Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar (bottom) steals second base with Detroit Tigers shortstop Jhonny Peralta (27) covering during the sixth inning at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-US PRESSWIRE

The most important piece of this puzzle is getting on base, first.  No matter how fast a guy is, the old saying stands true  that you can’t steal first base.  Dyson has an on base percantage of .332 which is 11 points higher than his career on base percentage.  Escobar’s career on base percentage is slightly over .300, but this season he’s improved greatly in that category with a .329 on base percentage.  Obviously these higher on base percentages are going to result in more opportunities to steal a base, not to mention the big jump in playing time for Dyson as he filled in for the ailing Lorenzo Cain.

Escobar is slightly more efficient this year with a stolen base success rate at 86% by swiping 32 bags and only getting caught 5 times.  Dyson has a success rate of 85% as he has stolen 30 bags and has only been caught 5 times as well.  However, it’s important to note that Escobar has yet to be picked off and Dyson has been picked off 7 times.  In knowing that, the edge definitely goes to Escobar as the most well rounded base stealer on the team.

Most of us knew we were getting a great defensive shortstop in Escy, but we didn’t know we’d get this much production at the plate from him.  His base running/stealing is another element of his game that is just adding to his value as a very well rounded shortstop and one of the league’s best.  Dyson is a fringy 4th outfielder type, but his ability to capture an extra base when the team needs it most is a very important part of his game.  Most teams value having a guy like that on their team and it’s something that could keep Jarrod on the team for next year, at the very least.

Stealing bases can be a huge asset to a team’s success.  Teams sacrifice players on the base path all the time by using bunts and situational hitting, but if a player can advance bases solely on his own behalf, that adds tremendous value to his overall game.  However, a player can also do more harm than good if he can’t steal bases at a high success rate.  This duo was very successful in aiding the team on the base path and hopefully they can continue that success into next season as well.

Kings of Kauffman – How do you explain the White Sox struggles at home against the Royals at home but being successful largely in Kansas City?

Matt Adams– Mostly chance. This team, as is the case with most, go through hot and cold streaks.  It just so happens that some poor games have been strung together against the Royals.  It would be nice to have some extra consistency against a less experienced team but the White Sox haven’t exactly been able to turn that into an advantage.

Jeremy Guthrie will face the White Sox for the second time in just over a week on Sunday at the K. Photo Credit: Peter G. Aiken-US PRESSWIRE

KOK – What is the team’s plan for Chris Sale at this point of the season? 

MA – The idea at this point is to keep him fresh through the year so that he’ll be primed for a playoff run.  It’s tricky with a guy who hasn’t even approached this sort of workload before.  You want to protect him but at the same time you don’t want to miss out on the value that he provides.  Sale is arguably this team’s ace, and you feel much better about winning games when your ace is on the mound.

KOK – On a scale to 1-10 how surprised are White Sox fans with Robin Ventura at this point?

MA – I’d put it at maybe a 2.  Nobody knew what to expect out of Robin before the season started so there isn’t much to be surprised about.  Everybody is psyched about the job he’s done.  The team is in first and the players appear to be pretty relaxed out there.  There are some gripes about his x’s and o’s here and there but overall he’s got the fans feeling good.  A manager doesn’t really need to change his style for fan opinion of him to change.  All that has to shift is the team’s record and the fan opinion will go along with it.

KOK – What’s happened in the brief time since these two teams met last week at the Cell?

MA – Since last we met there was a bit of a moral victory to accompany some big wins.  The White Sox had been notoriously bad playing in the Rogers Center and managed 3 of 4 there.  Again, likely it was just a timing thing along but feels good to not have that hanging over the team.  Paul Konerko has missed the entire week after hitting the 7-day DL from a concussion inadvertently delivered by Jarrod Dyson.  He’s available for the series for the first time since the two teams last played.

For the other side of the conversation check out Southside Showdown

Probable Starters this weekend –

Friday 7:10 pm, Chris Sale (14-3, 2.60) v. Luis Mendoza (6-8, 4.37)

Saturday 6:10 pm, Jake Peavy (9-8, 3.04) v. Bruce Chen (8-10, 5.56)

Sunday 1:10 pm, Jose Quintana (5-2, 2.77) v. Jeremy Guthrie (5-12, 5.75)

In a season that’s seen a complete 0-fer during the first homestand as part of a 12 game losing streak and countless injuries to key players,  the Royals are a mere five games back in the AL Central.

It’s a tough place to be as a fan because on one hand, the Royals are on a four game winning streak – but it’s only a four game winning streak. They’re not far removed from a dreadful series against Pittsburgh where they’d gotten swept.

On the other hand, a lot of things are going right at the moment. The Royals had a laughable looking matchup to open the Brewers series, but Alex Gordon seemed to pick that series to wake up and Luis Mendoza somehow outdueled Zack Greinke. The next night, the Royals literally walked off with a win, as Mike Moustakas earned* a free pass to force the winning run home.

*The key pitch in that at bat to me was the second ball, a 1-0 curve in the dirt. I recall Lee Warren and others suggesting that Moose in Triple A loved to go after that pitch. It was definitely thrown as a chase pitch and Moose ignored it.

Then things started getting really weird.

June 14, 2012; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Royals center fielder

Thursday night, the Royals were struggling at the plate as has been usual when a 2-1 lead turned into a 2-2 tie then a 3-2 deficit. Going into the bottom of the ninth, Mitch Maier was set to lead off in the five hole (after a Jeff Francoeur ejection) and struck out. Fortunately for him, the ball went all the way back to the backstop and he made it to first easily, then moved over on a groundout. After an Alcides Escobar strikeout, Jarrod Dyson worked a walk to bring up pinch-hitting Brayan Pena. You’ve probably seen the play already, as Pena slapped a single down the left field line to score Maier easily as Dyson settled on third. Apparently, the first baseman wasn’t covering and Pena alertly made a turn towards second base, drawing a throw from the shortstop. Dyson, ever the opportunist, was drifting off third already and broke home. Rickie Weeks fumbled the catch, then rushed his throw and Dyson slid in safe for a crazy score-from-first-on-a-single win.

It got weirder.

Vin Mazzaro shut out the Cardinals for six innings. Vin Mazzaro. “Worst relief outing ever” Vin Mazzaro. Roman Colon, a weird selection to promote to Kansas City, almost blew the game but the bullpen stopped the bleeding. Then, with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Tyler Greene stole second, advanced to third on throw that hit him and rolled into shallow left-center and turned home after Chris Getz made a wide throw to third. A perfect throw by Moustakas and a great block by Humberto Quintero got the out on a 2-6-4-5-2 putout at home.

This latest run of wackiness has inspired some hope.

The Royals are six games under .500 with Bruce Chen going tonight. Luke Hochevar has looked a lot better. Luis Mendoza isn’t the gasoline can I expected him to be. The bullpen is among the best in baseball. Alex Gordon has reached base in every game since being put back in the leadoff spot (and the last game he started there in the lineup and didn’t reach was in the third game of the year). Eric Hosmer is hitting .289/.365/.511 and has struck out just four times in June.

Not to mention that Salvador Perez should be back by the end of the month. Lorenzo Cain should return at some point as he tries out another rehab assignment. Wil Myers is still raking  and, according to MLB Trade Rumors, the specter of the Super Two deadline may be gone, so if the Royals feel he’s ready, he could make it up to the big leagues soon, as could Jake Odorizzi. Felipe Paulino, who’s looked great, will return as well.

I wouldn’t say there’s a lot going right, because so much already went wrong, but the Royals didn’t let the big losing streak bury them to start the year, they’ve scrapped their way out of slumps, they’ve gotten some tough starting pitching lately and they’re looking like a team on the rise. They’ve won in such strange ways the last few days that it has Rany scratching his head.

Then again, the last time they won four in a row, they turned around and lost seven of their next nine games, so let’s not start printing up playoff tickets just yet.

What interests me is the swings of being a fan during a season like this. Immense hope and optimism coming in – Our Time – gets dashed right away after a losing streak. Key players slump. Injuries continue to pile up. It starts to feel like any other Royals season but perhaps worse because for the first time in a while, there were bigger expectations.

Then a four game winning streak and everyone’s excited again.

It makes me wonder what will happen if the Royals get to .500 or within a game of first place. The decisions we complained about when the Royals were staving off the Twins for last would be that much more important, or they’d feel that way at least. A bad at bat feels more devastating. A pitcher left in too long inspires more rage than before. The swings could be crazy.

Back when the Royals hosted the Yankees this season, I talked with Ricky Keeler over on our Yankees site Yanks Go Yard, asking him just what it’s like being a fan when you know your team is going to be in the hunt all year. At the time, he warned me to take every game one at a time, that the wins feel like something’s still lurking and every loss feels like the end of the world.

Maybe it’s heightened in a New York atmosphere, but it feels like that’s how it is already in Kansas City. We win four in a row and many still say “yeah, but they’re still the Royals”. There’s always a big, scary losing streak waiting around the corner, ready to jump out.

Until then, it’s been a fun week and I hope to see the fun continue.

Who should be the scapegoat for another year of disappointing Royals baseball?  Whose head needs to roll as a result of the team’s poor showing?  Dayton Moore? Kevin Seitzer?  How about Rex Hudler?

Should Ned Yost be the scapegoat for what has been a disappointing season so far? (Credit: Rick Osentoski-US PRESSWIRE)

One of the interesting aspects of social media is that it provides a real time peek into the thoughts of hard core sports fans.  Every evening you can sit down at your computer and watch the commentary during the game.  One of the most frequent themes on Twitter has been that Ned Yost is to blame for this disappointing season and that he should be taken to the nearest bus terminal with a ticket to Anywherebuthere Town, USA.  But I say – not so fast.

Before I explain my thoughts, let’s take a peek into the world of social media and look at just a few of the many thousands of comments concerning Ned Yost:

• Aaron Stilley @Royal_Heritage – You may say Yost is a by-the-book manager, but today I saw him pioneer the use of a late inning defensive downgrade while leading!
• Scott Thomas @hosmermania – Ned Yost=Hank Hill. Old fashioned grumpy guy who hunts. Never does anything new. Very predictable.
• Mike Engel ‏@michaelengel – How many people in uniform were surprised by the bunt? One? The left field ball boy? #Yosted
• Josh Green ‏@Jashg84 - As long as Yost is in there, it will continue like this unfortunately
• 1Yankh8r ‏@1Yankh8r – Can’t wait to see how the Spin Doctors in the Yost camp sell last night’s debacle. #FireYost

#FireYost has become a popular hashtag.  So is #Yosted.  And fans are right to be upset.   Some of Yost’s decisions this season on the surface appear to be nearly inexplicable.  But let’s take a closer look.

I think the best way to judge a manager is to evaluate what he is doing with the talent he has been given.  For instance (I realize this is a very unrealistic example, but I’m trying to make a point), what if one participant in the Indy 500 was forced to ride a bicycle – how well do you think this person would do and where do you think he or she would finish?  You would expect him to finish last because the race wasn’t fair, he wasn’t given the same sleek expensive race car to drive as all the other competitors.  You know what I’m getting at, don’t you?

The Royals payroll is about $61 million.  That’s about $2.5 million per victory so far this year.  Wins are going for about $5 million each in Detroit and Los Angeles (Angels) this year, and almost $6 million in Boston.  By comparison, if higher payroll means greater talent, then Ned Yost isn’t playing all that badly with the hand he’s been dealt.  The Rays do an awesome job at less than $2 million per victory.

Are the Royals going to bunt again?!? (Credit: Scott Rovak-US PRESSWIRE)

Still, how do you explain all the crazy managerial decisions Yost has made?  There have been times I’ve wanted to tear out what little hair I have left every time I watch Yuniesky Betancourt trot out to 2^nd base or yet another failed and ill-advised bunt attempt go awry.

The Royals have been caught stealing more than any other team in the American League except one.  This is pretty remarkable considering 10 teams (in the American League alone) have stolen more bases than the Royals.  Just imagine how bad this statistic would be if Jarrod Dyson hadn’t been playing recently.  Aren’t the Royals young and athletic?  Don’t most of them have average speed or better, with the possible exceptions of Billy Butler and Humberto (why did we trade for him again?) Quintero?  Are the coaches sending the green light at the wrong time?  Are the players using poor technique?

How many times this year have you seen a Royal caught napping and picked off the bases?  Many more times than I care to recall.  Is poor coaching to blame?

There are a couple schools of thought regarding a stable lineup.  Some people say it’s beneficial to a player to always know his role and where he’ll bat when he comes to the stadium.  Yost obviously didn’t attend this school.  Yost believes in juggling the lineup as if it were a bowling ball, a power saw, a flaming torch, and a butcher knife.  Unfortunately, when you play with fire, somebody is going to get burned.

I wish I knew why many of the Royals are slumping at the plate this year.  Is this Ned Yost’s fault?  Last year, Kevin Seitzer was considered to be a hitting guru on the level of Charlie Lau.  This year, Hosmer was unable to hit his way out of a paper bag for six weeks, Alex Gordon is on track for 12 home runs compared to 23 last year, and the team is trending toward scoring about 100 fewer runs than last season.  Is this Kevin Seitzer’s fault?  Is he not providing the same quality guidance and instruction as last year?

So how good are these Royals and how much talent does Ned Yost have to work with?  There’s really no way to know.  With acknowledgement that some may disagree with me, the 2012 Royals may have one of the major’s best defensive shortstops in Alcides Escobar, one of the best defensive catchers (when Salvador Perez returns – please hurry), the best defensive left fielder in Alex Gordon, the strongest outfield arm in Jeff Francoeur, possibly the major’s most improved player in 3^rd baseman Mike Moustakas, the player with the greatest potential in Eric Hosmer, the speediest bench player in Jarrod Dyson, one of the top hitters in a position loaded with talent, DH Billy Butler, the hardest throwing relief pitcher Kelvin Herrera, and a very capable bullpen. But without decent starting pitchers, there is simply no possible way to know how good this team is.

The pitching anchor of the 2012 Royals is Bruce Chen.  Just let that soak in for a moment.  On opening day this season, we sent Bruce Chen to the mound in Anaheim to face Jered Weaver.  Weaver was an All-Star and 2^nd in the Cy Young balloting last year.  Chen’s heater is about 84 mph.   The Royals brought a knife to a gunfight that day and they were shutout 5-0 in a swift 2 hours and 22 minutes, the 2^nd shortest game of the season – it was merciful and quick.  This isn’t the way you want to start a season and it set the tone for what was to come.

Bruce Chen is the Royals #1 pitcher. No really, I'm not kidding. (Credit: Peter G. Aiken-US PRESSWIRE)

I don’t blame Bruce Chen.  Bruce is a very likeable guy who gives it everything he has every time he walks to the mound.  But he shouldn’t be in a position where a team looks to him as the stopper.  Chen earns $4.5 million per year.  Weaver earns $14 million.  It’s like sending your funny cousin Joey into the ring to face Mohammed Ali in his prime every five days.  Who would do that?   Why are the Royals doing it?  It’s insane!  How can we blame Ned Yost for this injustice?

I believe it all boils down to pitching.  Pitching is the lifeblood of a baseball team.  Wins and losses begin with the guy who takes the mound in the 1^st inning.  Pitching holds the other team down, keeps your side in the game, and provides your teammates with a chance to win.  A baseball team simply cannot be successful without strong starting pitching.

When you watch a team play that has poor starting pitching (aka The Royals), anything else you see on the field is an attempt to make up for this shortcoming.  Everyone else must extend themselves and try to do things they aren’t capable of doing.  They must try to steal when the timing isn’t right.  They constantly bunt in a desperate attempt to move runners into scoring position.  They try to hit 6-run homers when nobody is on base.  The manager flip flops the lineup trying to find a winning combination that will overcome the lack of talent on the mound.  He’ll move the potential All-Star 1^st baseman into right field trying to squeeze one more drop of offense out of a team that must overcome a mishmash hodge podge rotation cobbled together from castoffs, 2^nd level trades, and Independent Leagues while waiting for the top prospect hurlers in the minors to one day, some day, fulfill their potential.

So, who’s fault is it that the Royals don’t have a major league caliber starting pitching rotation?  In my opinion, it isn’t Ned Yost’s fault.  He can only manage with the team he’s been given.  He doesn’t draft, he doesn’t make trades, it’s not his main responsibility to evaluate talent and bring prospects up from the minors.  It’s his job to coach the team on the field.  No doubt he overcompensates and ends up doing things that look stupid in retrospect, but many of these decision are made in desperation while attempting to surmount the overwhelming pitching handicap the Royals have been saddled with.  All things considered, it simply isn’t possible or fair to call Ned Yost the worst manager in the major leagues, and we won’t be able to make this assessment accurately until and unless the Royals Front Office provide him with a competitive rotation.

You may say the Royals can’t afford to compete in the free agent wars and their small market revenue stream places them in an unwinnable position.  Well, no doubt it makes things more difficult, but I don’t see anyone in Tampa making excuses for their low payroll, and they are winning.  And by the way, they’re winning with an abundance of talented young pitching.  Just sayin’.

The team experienced a slump that extended over half the season and they lost more than 75% of their games during this stretch.  For all their talent, it seemed that one major piece was missing for most of the year.  By the end of a long and frustrating season, the team was finally coming together and it was only due to injuries to a key player that they didn’t finish on a winning streak.

Pitcher Luke Hochevar and catcher Humberto Quintero - representing two positions where a potential missing piece could emerge. (Credit: Debby Wong-US PRESSWIRE)

Could the description above fit the 2012 Kansas City Royals?  It’s close.  Over the past few years the Royals have experienced a changing of the guard at all levels from the field to the front office.  They’ve transitioned from a team that plugged holes with washed up veterans with nowhere else to play, to a team of young upstarts low on experience but high on potential.  The young players have shown flashes of their talent and gave us a glimpse of what they could accomplish in 2011, but have been mired in several slumps caused by injuries and growing pains, and a lack of a strong starting pitching rotation in 2012.  The first paragraph might be referring to the 2012 Kansas City Royals, but it’s a more accurate description of the 1990 Dallas Cowboys.

In 1990, the Dallas Cowboys introduced the sports world to a trio of extremely talented players who became commonly referred to as “The Triplets.”  Michael Irvin, a wide receiver, was drafted in the first round of 1988.  Troy Aikman, quarterback (you remember him – the guy who hawks buffalo wings for a living now), was drafted in the first round of 1989.  Both players started the season and were featured throughout by the Dallas Cowboys.  But it wasn’t until 1990 first round draft pick Emmitt Smith, running back (and the NFL’s future all-time leading rusher), took the field in October following a long holdout with a 121 yard rushing performance that the team finally began to fulfill its promise.

Mike Moustakas and Eric Hosmer - two of the "found" pieces. (Credit: Jerry Lai-US PRESSWIRE)

In my opinion, the Dallas Cowboys of 1990 make a good comparison to the 2012 Kansas City Royals.  Both teams changed coaches, executives and philosophies from previous seasons.  Both teams had introduced a few of it’s young studs the previous year.  The Cowboys had Irvin and Aikman, the Royals have Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas (I’d like to put Salvador Perez in this group too, but I’ll hold off until I see his performance when he returns from his knee injury.)  Both teams slumped out of the gate – the Cowboys lost 75% of their games between September 16 and November 11.  The Royals notoriously lost 12 in a row in April.

Then came Emmitt Smith, the missing piece of the puzzle for the Cowboys.  By November 18, 1990, Emmitt had firmly established himself and the Cowboys rattled off four consecutive wins and were within one victory in their final two games (or a single loss by the Saints) of making the playoffs.  Then Troy Aikman separated his shoulder and everything went down the toilet – at least for 1990.  But good things, actually VERY good things were to come for the Cowboys over the next few seasons.

It’s difficult to say exactly what the missing piece might be for the Royals.  The easiest answer is that the Royals are missing a couple of quality starting pitchers.  But what if having Salvador Perez behind the plate to call different pitches on the night of April 11 in Oakland would have prevented Jonathan Broxton’s nightmare-inducing 12^th inning meltdown (that still haunts my dreams to this day) and could have changed the course of this season?  What if this painful loss hadn’t kick-started an avalanche of bad luck and lost confidence that took a month to overcome?  What if Salvador Perez is the missing piece?

I had a chance to watch Lorenzo Cain play in Surprise this Spring before he was injured and he was quite impressive.  I think he could have made an impact for us if he had been on the field this year, and if you think Jarrod Dyson is the answer in Center, you’re kidding yourself.  Maybe Cain is the missing piece, but probably not.

Could Wil Myers be the missing piece? (Credit: Jerry Lai-US PRESSWIRE)

And what about the looming presence of Wil Myers and Jake Odorizzi in Omaha?  Could they make an appearance this year, establish themselves, and then help take the Royals to the playoff promised land next year and beyond?  What if Mike Montgomery figures it out?  (I have my doubts.  Serious doubts.)  What if the Royals packaged Cheslor Cuthbert and Yordano Ventura in a trade and picked up a #1 pitcher?  (I don’t want to trade these guys, I’m just speculating on what could happen.)  You never know what might transpire to supply the final piece of the puzzle and ultimately push the Royals over the top.

In 1989, the Cowboys record was 1-15.  The next year, when all three Triplets appeared on the field at the same time they were 7-9 and probably only missed the playoffs due to an injury to Aikman.  In 1991 they were 11-5 and reached the playoffs.   In 1992 they were 13-3 and began their Super Bowl run with victories in 1992, 1993, and 1995.

Is it really that much of a stretch to see the Royals add a missing piece or two and playing competitive baseball in the second half of this year?  Am I dreaming to think the Royals can make the playoffs in 2013?  Would you commit me to a mental hospital if I said the Royals could be World Series bound in 2014?

Yogi Berra, "It's deja vu all over again."

Picture yourself in 1990, reading a Cowboy’s website (if there had been such a thing) and ask yourself the same questions.  Would it have been realistic to expect a 1-15 team to be competitive the next season, to reach the playoffs the following year, and to begin an unprecedented Super Bowl run after that?  You probably would have called the writer crazy and delusional.  In hindsight we know this was the beginning of one of the greatest football dynasties ever.  (It’s difficult for me to type these words considering my all consuming hatred of the Cowboys.)  But few, if any, could have realized this in 1990.

I don’t know exactly what the future holds for the Royals, but I believe they may be just a couple of missing pieces away from becoming the team we’ve all dreamed about.  The Cowboys proved it can be done, it’s not just a pipe dream, and I know it can happen again.  I believe it’s possible because as I learned in school – history has a way of repeating itself.  And as Yogi Berra once famously said, “It’s déjà vu all over again.”

Things are not going well. It’s pretty obvious. The smile and the swing you had last year seem a distant memory, and now everyone is clamoring to jump off your bandwagon from a year ago to adopt the phrase “same old Gordon”. It’s been a rough couple of months, I know, but I’m sure things will get better.

I’m not sure why it’s you, Alex, that others choose to use that phrase for. Why, there’s another player on your team that is performing exactly how he always has (not well) but everyone makes an excuse for him, because he smiles or something. You could smile too, but that’s just not how you are. People should forgive you; I forgive you. But I want my Alex back.

I want my Alex that doesn’t miss belt high fastballs. Remember when you used to get your foot down and stayed inside the ball? I do, and boy was it glorious. You were clearing the centerfield wall with plenty to spare, and lacing doubles to both gaps. You were a star; the star I always knew you could be.

Now, you’re not getting your foot down, and you’re not hitting belt high fastballs. You’re not hitting much of anything. And it’s starting to wear on people.

Sure you’ve been jerked around the lineup once you finally found a comfortable home hitting leadoff. Sure fans like to talk about how the batting order is all about comfort, and once a player finds his comfort level, the best thing a manager can do is leave him where he’s productive. But you had to know you weren’t going to hit leadoff forever, Alex. You don’t look like a leadoff hitter. Jarrod Dyson looks like a leadoff hitter. It doesn’t matter that you posted a 139 OPS+ and a .376 on-base percentage last year batting mostly leadoff, you don’t have the gift of blazing speed and singles-only power, so you were never destined to bat No. 1.

You were destined to be a star, and a star you were last year.

You were a star to the point that the team gave you a new contract worth nearly $40 million. With that kind of contract (especially in a market like Kansas City) comes expectations, the kind of expectations that cause a grown man that wears tights and a cape to berate me on Twitter.

Ignore him Alex. Ignore all of those that don’t continue to believe in you. I believe in you. I always have believed in you.

Today is the day. You’re back hitting leadoff despite Dyson’s best efforts to play his position incorrectly and knock you out of the lineup. Today is the day you get hot (as if you weren’t already. Wink.) and take back your place as this team’s best player.

Forever yours,

Kansas City

Bruce Chen will look to snap the Royals two-game losing streak in the series opener at Baltimore. Photo Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE

When these teams met last Wednesday and Thursday at Kauffman Stadium, it was KC who was the hotter team having gone 4-1 on a roadtrip on the southside of Chicago and Arlington. Baltimore has been one of the early surprises of the season leading the AL East.

In the quick two-game series, Kansas City jumped out to the lead with the end result being Baltimore coming back late to earn the sweep. Game one went 15-innings which was highlighted in many Royals fans minds of Jonathan Broxton blowing his second save of the season and Nate Adcock surrendering a 15^th inning bomb to Adam Jones in the 4-3 Orioles win.

Game two again KC built an early lead with Humberto Quintero and Johnny Giavotella driving in the runs putting the Royals up 3-0 in the third. The O’s got two back in the next inning with Jones again hitting a homer this time of the two-run variety. Luke Hochevar who pitched well ran into trouble in the seventh inning after back-to-back singles (highlighted by Jarrod Dyson misplaying what should’ve been only a single).

J.J. Hardy who tied the game for Balitmore in game one, again came up with the big hit putting the birds in front for good. Aaron Crow who has been good in relief was unable to help Hochevar out walking Lois Esposito and Xavier Avery back-to-back loading the bases which culminated with Hardy’s hit.

Probable Pitching Match-Ups (All Times Central):     

Friday, 6:05 pm – Bruce Chen (3-4, 4.17) v. Jason Hammel (5-1, 3.12)
- Chen, enters this start having won his last three starts beating the Red Sox, at Rangers and Diamondbacks. He’s reached the seventh inning in each of these starts and averaging five strikeouts and 1.3 walks in these starts. Another thing helping is KC is giving Bruce run support scoring 4.6 runs compared to just an average of two runs in his first six starts.
- Hammel, Has been great so far this season for the AL East leaders starting 5-1 with two no-decisions. He’s 2-0 with a ND in his last three starts beating Boston and Washington while not figuring into the loss against the Yankees. In his last two starts he went five and 5 1/3 innings allowing 6.5 hits in his last two starts and 4.5 runs.
Saturday, 3:05 pm – Felipe Paulino (2-1, 1.42) v. Wei-Yin Chen (4-1, 3.35)
- Paulino, So far in three of his four starts in 2012 he’s not allowed a run, the game he did at Chicago he did suffer his lone loss. Felipe went seven innings last week against Baltimore but the Royals bullpen was unable to hold onto the lead. In four starts Paulino is averaging seven strikeouts which includes nine against the O’s last Wednesday and eight in the Bronx on Monday.
- Chen, Suffered his first defeat at Washington 9-3 in his last start for the rookie out of Taiwan. The six-runs he allowed were a season high and nearly a third of the 22 runs allowed this season. He’s been getting 4.6 runs of support in each start.
Sunday, 12:35 pm – Luke Hochevar (3-5, 6.61) v. TBD
- Hochevar, Sure I and Royals fans have had fun at the former number one pick expense but let’s give him credit as of late. In Luke’s last three starts he’s made it into the seventh inning and seen his ERA go from an even nine to its current 6.61 form. Also encouraging has been his strikeout numbers in the last three starts increasing with 5, 6 and 8 in those games.
- TBD, For now we’ll have to wait and see who Buck Showalter goes to if that is activating someone from the DL or calling up someone from the minors.

In every game, the first baseman will make several putouts.  With the exception of the few times each game that the first baseman may catch a line drive, or beat the catcher back to the base on a grounder, most of these outs are preceded by another defensive player snagging the ball and throwing it to the first baseman.  If it wasn’t for Alcides Escobar, aka #ShortStopJesus, and Mike Moustakas, aka #Moose throwing leather all over the left side of the infield, Eric Hosmer wouldn’t be credited with nearly as many putouts.

Jeff Francoeur puts fear into the hearts of opposing baserunners (Image: Peter G. Aiken-US PRESSWIRE)

For all their short comings, one thing the Royals have in good supply is strong defense.  The left side of the field is covered by Gold Glover Alex Gordon, future Gold Glove shortstop Escobar, and the most improved third baseman in baseball, Moustakas.  When Salvador Perez returns at catcher I believe he will significantly solidify our only current position of defensive weakness.  Eric Hosmer plays strong defense, and Chris Getz, Jarrod Dyson / Lorenzo Cain can hold their own with the best of them.  But there is one aspect of our defense that nearly outshines the others with consistently stunning and noteworthy performances – Jeff Francoeur and his lethal ability to gun down unsuspecting baserunners.

When I began writing this story, I started to research all the records for outfield assists so I could compare Francoeur to the great Carl Yastrzemski (he lead the league in outfield assists 7 times) and Roberto Clemente (led the league 5 times and many say he had the best arm ever), or talk about how some of the “so called” greatest players, such as Albert Belle and Barry Bonds were the easiest outfielders to run on, etc., etc.  And then, I decided against it.

If given the choice, would you rather read about the history of the Grand Canyon, or would you prefer to stand on the edge, peering down into the magnificent canyon below while the sun set in the surrounding desert?  Endure a tedious classical art lecture, or gaze opon the timeless face of the celebrated Mona Lisa?  I decided not to engage in a boring discussion of defensive assists and simply pause for a few moments while we take in the majesty of the greatest outfield arm of our generation.

One of my all-time favorite baseball highlights is the video of Francoeur’s perfect, perfect, perfect throw to nail the Tiger’s Jhonny Peralta at third base on August 7 last year.  Apparently, Peralta didn’t get the memo about Frenchy’s ability to throw runners out.  I challenge you to find a more beautiful, almost breathtaking defensive play – Francoeur running toward the line to pick up the ball, whirling and launching a rocket to 3^rd, capped by the ho-hum nonchalant tag made by Moustakas as if it happened every day.  And check out the Tigers 3^rd base coach’s reaction as he hangs his head during the slow motion replay, it’s classic.  Click here to see perfection.

Then, fast forward to this season, May 1, 2012 and apparently Peralta was suffering a memory lapse evidenced by his ill-advised attempt to test Francoeur’s arm again.  (Peralta would make a great subject for an SNL Weekend Update “Really?!?” skit.)  Click here to see the result, as if you don’t already know.  Don’t you just love watching Jhonny Peralta run the bases against the Royals?  On the downside, this highlight would be a lot more enjoyable if the Royals weren’t losing 9-0 in the 4^th inning.

Another of my all-time favorite defensive highlights is from September 7, 2011 when Michael Taylor of the Oakland A’s came to bat in only his 4^th game and lined what appeared to be a sharp single into right field.  Well, bad luck for Taylor, Jeff Francoeur was playing right field and as a baserunner you can never take anything for granted on a ball hit to Frenchy.  Even more amazing to me is the fact that Hosmer went to first base to cover the throw from Francoeur.  That is the definition of heads-up.  Click here to see the embarrassing moment.  Welcome to the big leagues rookie.

Last year, the ESPN blog ranked active outfielders’ throwing arms and came up with a virtual tie for the number one position between Francoeur and Shin-Soo Choo.  In 2012, Choo has one assist, Francoeur has 5.  End of discussion.

The difference between those who have the ability to throw out runners from the outfield and those who don’t is absolutely huge.  In 2012, Francoeur is tied for the AL lead with 5 assists and only 16 other guys have two or more.  Everyone else has one or none.  Francoeur’s ability to throw out runners is similar to Willie Wilson’s ability to steal bases, or George Brett’s ability to hit for average, or Humberto Quintero’s ability to swing at the first pitch and tap a dribbler back to the pitcher – it’s far above the abilities of almost any other player in the league.

One thing worth mentioning in this story is that with all his talent, Jeff Francoeur didn’t lead the Royals in outfield assists last year.   In 2011, that honor went to Alex Gordon.  Remember this when you hear someone talking about an unfair arms race, they may be talking about the Royals rather than the Russians.

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With my ideal lineup the Royals I feel would put up more runs than they currently do . Photo Credit: John Rieger-US PRESSWIRE

Wednesday night against the Red Sox we saw a line-up that had everyone a buzzed given how it looked after it was publically revealed. Fans seemed to be surprised at Eric Hosmer and Mike Moustakas getting midweek rest and Billy Butler time at first. Results being what they are that lineup is 1-0 this season.

With the off day taking place I started thinking about what I’d do if given the chance to set a lineup. Here is my ideal lineup.

1. Jarrod Dyson, CF – Currently hitting .283 overall at the moment, in the 13 games he’s played in KC he’s led off 12 of them. In those 12-games he is hitting .286, 2-of-3 on the base paths with a .662 OPS and 17 total bases. His speed when he reaches has given the opposition fits moving around on the bases which flustered Matt Albers.

2. Johnny Giavotella, 2B – Here is the guy I’d like to hit second even though I also like Alex Gordon in this spot. The numbers I’m drawing upon are from 2011 and aren’t that glossy because Ned only hit Johnny second five times. Still he was 6-of-21 for a .286 average with a homerun, three doubles and a triple. Johnny just seems to make something happen each at-bat to get on base.

3. Billy Butler, DH – Country Breakfast has batted in this spot 17 of 30 games played during the 2012 season the difference is his batting average hitting third is .254 to as opposed to .353. In this spot he’s hit four HR’s with 14 RBIs compared to two and 9 when batting fourth. Interesting to note Billy has been plunked three times when batting in this spot.

4. Eric Hosmer, 1B – This is in good faith as I need not remind anyone that Hos hasn’t hit at all this season thus far. Nonetheless don’t let what’s happened the first 30 games make you think Hosmer won’t hit his projected numbers.

5. Mike Moustakas, 3B – The fifth spot really gave me pause because it’s a spot that I liked Alex or Moose at over Frenchy. To me in I’ve liked the small sample size I went with the long-term thought here of Moustakas. It was only one game that we saw Mike hit fifth but and he went 1-for3 this spot is where I’d like him to be while wearing a Royals uniform.

6. Alex Gordon, LF – Gordon in the sixth spot? With a deep lineup, Gordo just got pushed down in my lineup but could easily get flopped with Moose depending on the match-up.

7. Jeff Francoeur, RF –Francoeur hitting seventh is something most actually want to see with how slow he’s started. Like Gordon, Francoeur hasn’t hit in this spot since 2010 and actually had success. In 165 plate appearances he belted six HR’s plus driving in 30.

8. Brayan Pena/Humberto Quintero, C – I’d rather Salvador Perez here but nothing we can do about that  until he and Manny Pina come back. If we could combine Pena’s bat with Quintero defense I’d take that.

9. Alcides Escobar, SS – Has better numbers hitting eighth than in the ninth spot but I really like him here with the ability to turn over the lineup. While only hitting .260 in 77 plate appearances he does have 20 hits. In the ninth position is where 8 of his 10 doubles are in addition to his lone homer and triple. Batting ninth has been good for Esky’s as 10 of his 12 extra base hits have come in this spot. So far in 2012 his slugging percentage risen up to .410 from last season’s .343 average.

This arrangement leaves Chris Getz, Irving Falu, and Mitch Maier plus whatever catcher who isn’t playing on the bench. The Royals are averaging 3.9 runs but let’s make that four by rounding up and I think that this lineup could surpass that.

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Mar 16, 2012; Surprise, AZ, USA; Kansas City Royals center fielder Lorenzo Cain (6) slides safely into third base during the third inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at Surprise Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-US PRESSWIRE

The Royals knew that Lorenzo Cain would be out for a little while still after what was initially thought to be a groin strain turned out to be a torn hip flexor.

Now, he’ll resume his minor league rehab assignment and will report to Surprise, Arizona. Unfortunately, he’s still 4 to 8 weeks from returning to action, according to Bob Dutton. Until then, the Royals will continue to look at Jarrod Dyson and mix in Mitch Maier in center field.

To this point, both have filled in well. Maier is batting just .222 but he’s reached base 35% of the time and has played strong defense in center. He’d be just fine as an injury fill in full time in my opinion. The Royals want to see what they have in Jarrod Dyson. Recently, he’s been playing better than his early season cameo when he was sent back down after two games. He has a base hit in all seven games he’s played in this year and he’s seeing more pitches per plate appearance (4.0) than the league average (3.82). Last night, he had two at bats of eight or more pitches at the top of the order.

That will play for this team. If he keeps making contact, his speed will be an asset. If he can work a walk and get some pitch counts up, even better.  If for some reason there’s another setback with Cain or neither of Dyson and Maier can stay in center, Derrick Robinson is still hitting surprisingly well in Omaha, and the Royals may have occasion to call up Wil Myers to Omaha and could use the roster spot.

In pitching news, Greg Holland threw a bullpen session on Wednesday and said he felt fine after 26 pitches. He was placed on the disabled list after a dreadful appearance against the Blue Jays last month where he threw 22 pitches but just 7 strikes.

He was a potential replacement for Joakim Soria coming into the year, and at least figured to be an elite setup man after a breakout 2011, but he hadn’t recreated the same dominance from last season. In one of his seven appearances did he retire the side in order. He’ll start a minor league rehab assignment soon and should be on the mend shortly after that. Until then, the trio of Jonathan Broxton, Aaron Crow and Tim Collins have been effective and Kelvin Herrera has been great in lower leverage situations.

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I was actually sitting in the stands in Surprise on the day when Joakim Soria blew out his elbow.  I didn’t know for sure what was happening before the trainer went to the mound, but after watching him pitch to a couple batters I tweeted to @Ethan_Bryan,  “I can see Soria’s mojo slipping away before my eyes.”

Royals fans are looking forward to having Salvador Perez behind home plate again. (Credit: Kim Klement-US PRESSWIRE)

One of the darkest days of this young year actually occurred before the season began.  Last March 13 during Spring Training, Salvador Perez got his cleats stuck in the dirt and twisted his knee while warming up starting pitcher Jonathan Sanchez.  An MRI revealed Perez had torn his lateral meniscus which required surgery to repair.  It is likely he’ll be out of the lineup until sometime around the All-Star game break.

You may also remember that prior to Salvador Perez’s stint on the DL, Manny Pina suffered a similar injury that has prevented him from getting any playing time this year.  This left the Royals with Brayan Pena as the only healthy major league caliber (stretching the definition of “ML caliber” just a little) catcher in their system.

We heard rumors that the Royals considered several temporary options to fill Salvador’s position, including Ivan Rodriguez who decided to retire last week, but settled on a trade with Houston that has Astros fans feeling pretty good and Royals fans a little uneasy.

To obtain catcher Humberto Quintero, and backup outfielder Jason Bourgeois from Houston (yes, the same Jason Bourgeois that was recently demoted in favor of “one-tool” Jarrod Dyson), the Royals packaged Minor League pitcher Kevin Chapman and the dreaded “player to be named later.”  (PTBNL)  On the surface, this doesn’t seem like a terrible deal for either team, except for the unknown piece of the agreement.  The Astro’s gave up two guys who weren’t going to make their team, in exchange for a decent minor league pitcher from the Royals with potential to eventually become a respectable reliever, plus the ominous PBTNL.

Even the specter of the PBTNL wouldn’t be too worrisome, except for this comment which was Tweeted by Alyson Footer, MLB’s beat reporter and Sr. Director of Social Media for the Astro’s – “I’m getting impression that Chapman is projected to be 7th/8th inn reliever and that the ptbnl is a good one, not just throw-in.”

Humberto Quintero is filling in for Salvador Perez and may become his permanent backup. (Credit: David Richard-US PRESSWIRE)

And then during the announcement of the trade, Jeff Luhnow, General Manager of the Astros, stated that the player to be named later would be the key component of the trade.

What are Royals fans supposed to think about this?  While our farm system may still be loaded with talent even after the promotions of Hosmer, Moustakas, Perez, Duffy, and Cain; few of us believe that we have extra pieces to simply give away in exchange for a temporary player that could be virtually useless in a few weeks – unless he becomes Perez’s permanent backup.  (Cue the ominous movie background music.)

Because Quintero (or “Q” as many call him) has played part-time in the National League, few of us knew much about him upon his arrival in KC.  Dayton Moore told us “Humberto Quintero is a guy we like as a solid catch-and-throw guy and has a lot of experience at the Major League level and gives us the depth that we need at this point.”  You remember DM calling Q a “solid catch-and-throw guy,” right?  So what did you expect when you heard this?  Did you expect the 3^rd most stolen bases allowed? Did you also expect him to be among the leaders in passed balls?  I doubt it.  Considering Q is only a part-time player, these results are not encouraging.

Quintero is batting a semi-respectable .283/.366/.429 (before Tuesday’s game), with zero HR’s, but he has never hit higher than .250 over the past 9 seasons (except 2006 when he only played in 11 games) so I’m certain we can expect to see his numbers regress dramatically soon.  Brayan Pena is hitting just as well as Q right now in nearly every category and no doubt will continue to produce offensively at a higher level than Humberto over the remainder of the season.

Brayan Pena rides the bench most nights while Humberto Quintero starts (Credit: Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE)

I haven’t been a fan of Pena’s defense ever since he failed to block home plate at least twice last year on critical plays, but stats suggest his defense has been just as good as Quintero’s so far this year.  Quintero’s WAR is 0.2, Pena’s is 0.3.   Pena earns $875,000 and Quintero earns $1M.  But more importantly, Quintero cost us a PTBNL.  (I know, I’m harping on the PTBNL thing, but it bothers me so I can’t help it.)

I just don’t understand why we needed Quintero?  Couldn’t we have just picked up almost any journeyman free agent catcher off the street to backup Pena while waiting for Salvador Perez to recover, rather than trade away an unknown PTBNL?

Maybe I’m worried over nothing, but what if the PTBNL is based on playing time?  Quintero is getting the majority of the starts this year (for reasons unknown) and it’s possible that the more games he plays, or more plate appearances he receives will result in us forfeiting a higher caliber prospect.  Why wouldn’t the Royals have announced the terms of the PTBNL?  I’ve always said – if someone purposefully won’t tell you something, it’s because they don’t want you to know.  And why don’t the Royals want us to know?  My guess is that if it was something we’d be happy to hear, they’d tell us.

In my opinion, the Royals didn’t make a good move here.  We gave up prospects to get Quintero which tells me they projected him to be Perez’s permanent backup.  It tells me they believed Quintero is a stronger player than Pena.  It also tells me that once again, they don’t always know what they’re doing.

March 12, 2012; Surprise, AZ, USA; Kansas City Royals center fielder Jarrod Dyson (1) steals second base against San Francisco Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford (left) during the fourth inning at Surprise Stadium. Dyson advanced to third base on a throwing error by Giants catcher Eli Whiteside (not pictured). Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

If you haven’t heard, Lorenzo Cain’s rehab was derailed by a hip flexor problem, and it’s going to take a few more weeks, perhaps even a month, to get him back into the Royals lineup. This is, of course, bad news for a team that doesn’t really need more bad news.

After a hot spring, people began hoping Cain could be a faster, more defensively sound version of Melky Cabrera. At the very least, he would be a defensive upgrade and a slight offensive downgrade—a trade the Royals were obviously willing to take at a key position like center field with Cabrera’s contract considerations.

I was of the belief that Cain had the potential to be a solid .280/.320/.480 guy who plays great centerfield in a ballpark that demands speed in the outfield. Some thought he would never hit that much, but his limited track record in the majors and his productive minor league career suggest otherwise. Forget what his swing looks like; it works.

Now, what are the Royals left with? Not much. For most of Cain’s absence, they used a mix of Mitch Maier and Jason Bourgeois. Neither was very productive. Recently, they sent Bourgeois down and brought up Jarrod Dyson, who looks every bit the bench outfielder with his inability to hit big-league pitching. He started Friday, and it looks like Ned Yost is going to give him a chance to start for a while.

Here’s the thing about Dyson. Right now his numbers suck—.231/.267/.308—but I love the way he’s trying to play the game. He saved the Royals some runs in Friday’s game with a terrific sliding catch on a ball many other centerfielders wouldn’t have gotten to. He keeps hitting the ball on the ground and drawing the infield in with bunt looks. I’ve watched a few Storm Chasers games with Dyson as well, and it looks like he has the ability to be a patient hitter as well. That’s very important as a leadoff hitter. Patient, slap-hitting, good defense, that’s his ideal game. He has to be that type of player to be successful in the big leagues.

If you’d like a comparison to Dyson, think Juan Pierre. Their games should be identical if Dyson wants to be successful. Pierre’s had a lot of success in MLB and helped a lot of teams win by slapping the ball around and running. He helped lead the Marlins to a World Series championship with that style of play. If Dyson can be like Pierre, hopefully with a better arm from the outfield, he can stick as a starting center fielder.

Will that be with the Royals? I don’t know. It looks like right now, this is his tryout. If he plays out of his mind and the Royals keep winning, this disabled list stint might be a curiously long one for Cain. If I had to put a percentage on it, I’d say there’s a 10 percent chance Dyson plays well enough to usurp the starting job from Cain. But Dyson would have to play better than he has ever indicated he can. Cain has so much upside and such a rare blend of speed and power it will be difficult to take that job from him before he has a chance to prove himself. Dyson is more of a one-trick pony, but a very important trick that the Royals don’t have otherwise.

We’ll see how Dyson does with his tryout. Soon, the Royals will have to decide what to do with that situation. If Dyson plays well, he may for the Royals into a very tough decision. If he doesn’t, let’s hope his play doesn’t facilitate another nose dive and Cain gets back in time to see the Royals reach .500.

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Alex Gordon by the numbers gives you the best option as a leadoff hitter. Mandatory Credit: Peter G. Aiken-US PRESSWIRE

My idea for a lineup is to have one that you use every single day, with the exception that it be tweaked for day games. This hasn’t been the case at all through 19 games I’ve long felt guys will get comfortable if they can get into a routine.

So far this season Alex Gordon, Jason Bourgeois, Jarrod Dyson, Yuniesky Betancourt and Chris Getz have all batted leadoff for the Royals. I won’t accept that if healthy Lorenzo Cain would have batted leadoff because the highest he’d batted had been second which only happened on opening day.

Gordon has shown flashes of coming out of his early season slump but hasn’t yet found a consistent home this season in the lineup. He’s batted leadoff opening week, moved down to the fifth spot for a couple days then he’s moved up to number two. Ideally Gordon might be best in the fifth spot but over the last year he’s been good at the top of the lineup on a team that lacks that guy.

In 89-games during the 2011 season he hit .305, 383 OBP, .916 OPS in 422 plate appearances. In addition he hit 18 homeruns, was 10-of-16 stealing bases, 56 RBI’s with 197 total bases. Not what the typical leadoff does but it helped everyone else out in the lineup.

Dyson tonight in Minnesota is getting another chance to leadoff after being recalled from Omaha this afternoon with Bourgeois being sent down. Getz got the chance in Cleveland and we were told he be “the” guy.

Prior to the series opener in the Twin Cities Ned has used 15 lineups in 19 games, last season Yost had 87 and to up the numbers to include interleague play it was 89. The fifth spot has been held by Gordon or Jeff Francoeur, let me say I like Franchy in the clubhouse and defensively but the guy needs a break from batting fifth or a day off.

Francoeur is hitting .227, no homeruns, three RBIs while scoring just six-runs, hardly befitting of battling fifth in the lineup. Move him down get his groove back then put him back if that’s where you want him Ned.

Mike Moustakas occupying the sixth spot (here is your guy who should be promoted to fifth batting .303, 2-homeruns, 8-runs scored and nine RBIs). With the numbers I just listed here is your fifth spot batter which at this point makes the lineup better. At the end of the day if you gave KC fans a 3-4-5 of Billy Butler, Eric Hosmer and Moustakas you’d have a grateful fan base.

Having the same lineup day in and day out helps players I firmly believe because they are creatures of habit. Telling a baseball player they will be in the same spot daily will put them at ease which usually produces better results. Now if after a period of say one-two weeks players aren’t producing then changes need to be made.

Mike Moustakas has produced the numbers that be well served in the fifth spot of the lineup. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-US PRESSWIRE

I concede the importance of righty/lefty match-ups plus prolonged slumps but changing lineups just for the rational of it didn’t work the day before or consecutive days doesn’t work for me. Pick a lineup let it go and then makes changes accordingly is all many of us ask.

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Dyson earned the promotion by posting surprisingly stellar offensive numbers at Omaha. Dyson has put up a .333/.373/.476 line in 63 at-bats. The .476 slugging percentage has been the biggest shock, as Dyson has shown a modicum of power in hitting three doubles and three triples against Class AAA pitching. For comparison, Dyson’s .849 OPS thus far is 136 points better than his full-season line in Omaha during the 2011 season.

Jaon Bourgeois's defining moment in a KC uniform may have been this April 22 pickoff against the Blue Jays. Peter G. Aiken-US PRESSWIRE

Bourgeois, for his part, has essentially been a non-factor since being traded in Spring Training from the Houston Astros in the Humberto Quintero-Kevin Chapman deal.  His defining moment, in fact, may have been a low-light. In the middle of the club’s crippling 12 game losing streak, Bourgeois was picked off of first base in a close game with the Toronto Blue Jays on April 22. It was the last time Bourgeois appeared in a game for the Royals. With Dyson raking in Omaha, the move to swap the two outfielders was a no-brainer.

Bourgeios’ inclusion in the Quintero deal was always questionable, especially since Lorenzo Cain was healthy at the time and Mitch Maier was/is firmly entrenched as the club’s fourth outfielder.

Dyson, however, is slightly more intriguing both because of the increased power he’s flashed at Omaha this season as well as the fact that he experienced success at the beginning of 2011 while manning that “super-sub” for the Royals.

Dyson will be starting in center field and leading off in tonight’s game, and it will be interesting to see how he seizes his latest opportunity with the big club.

From my perspective, though, it will be difficult for Dyson to fall short of Bourgeois’ high water mark for the Royals. And with any luck, Dyson can show a little bit of pop and improve the base-running for a squad that has only recorded 11 stolen bases in 19 attempts.

In short, there is little to lose by calling up Dyson, but there is a potential gain. It’s a good decision, especially considering the recent news that starting center fielder Cain has suffered a setback in his rehabilitation from a pulled groin.

Let’s see what Dyson can do.

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Felipe Paulino was placed on the DL before the season started and helped Luis Mendoza and Danny Duffy stick in the big league rotation. He had a strained right forearm and is making a rehab start for Northwest Arkansas on Wednesday, according to Bob Dutton.

I’d expect that Paulino will make a start for Omaha as well before the Royals determine when to make a switch. Duffy has pitched well in two starts before some struggles in Sunday’s game, but his ERA overall is 3.63 and his average fastball velocity is rivaled only by Stephen Strasburg so far this year. Mendoza, on the other hand, has had two rough starts, walking nine in 13 innings and giving up 24 hits. He may have two more starts to convince the Royals he’s actually changed and that his 2011 wasn’t a mirage. You know my thoughts on the matter.

Lorenzo Cain early in 2012. Mandatory Credit: Jason O. Watson-US PRESSWIRE

The more immediate good news is that Lorenzo Cain is close to returning. After a fine running catch in Oakland, Cain strained his groin, landing on the DL. He made his first rehab appearance Sunday for Northwest Arkansas and Dutton reports that he’s tentatively set to return on Friday when the Royals will be in Minnesota.

Cain was hitting .133 through four and a half games when he hurt himself, but after a strong spring, he may be the answer to the Royals problems in the top of the order. So far, Ned Yost has used a mix of Yuniesky Betancourt, Chris Getz, Alcides Escobar and Jeff Francoeur in the top two spots in the order. Cain isn’t a traditional leadoff hitter, but his speed would play well there. He’d also be a good bat between Alex Gordon and Eric Hosmer – two lefties – at the top of the order.

His return would also help out by adding offensive potential with great defense. In his absence, the Royals have played a rotation of Jarrod Dyson (who misplayed some balls in two games of the Cleveland series) and Jason Bourgeois while Mitch Maier has gotten the most work. None of the three are seen as consistent regulars, though Maier has filled that role in the past. They’re all better suited to being late inning replacements for defensive or pinch-running purposes.

Blake Wood may be ready to return soon to reinforce a bullpen that has been heavily taxed early on in 2012. His return would help since Greg Holland was placed on the DL after his awful appearance on Friday night. Joakim Soria, of course, is out for the year, while Manuel Pina and Salvador Perez both have a way to go to recover from meniscus surgeries.

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This should be simple and quick. The Royals suck at baserunning. This is strictly observational, but I feel like I have a lot of anecdotal evidence to back me up early in the year. If you’ve been watching the games so far this season, you should have noticed. But I’m going to look at the latest Royals let down as evidence of how baserunning is actually stealing wins from the Royals.

Surely you watched the Royals make their roaring come back against the Indians tonight on the back of an energy boost from an intentional beaning and some hot bats. It was great watching players come up with big hits in key moments. For a few innings, the Royals showed people what they can be as opposed to what they are too often–good as opposed to bad.

One such terrific moment came in the bottom of the sixth when, with two outs, Mike Moustakas hit a line drive to deep right field. The ball sat in Shin Soo Choo’s glove for a moment before he slammed into the wall jarring the ball lose. Choo was forced to get up off the ground, find the ball, and throw it back in. On base were Billy Butler and Yuniesky Betancourt. Of course, Butler scored. But despite the fact that Choo essentially performed a vaudeville act with the ball in right field, Betancourt couldn’t find it in his power to score from first on a double … with two outs … and the team down by three. I’m no major league baserunning coach, but I do remember one rule of baserunning: with two outs run hard on contact and don’t stop until someone tells you to. There is no reason on earth, including a slow moving Butler in front of him, why Betancourt should not have scored on that play. Playing the what if game, if he scores, the Royals lead by one at the end of regulation and win the game.

Surprisingly no one on the television broadcast raised a question about why Betancourt didn’t score. They didn’t show him on camera, but I would have loved to see what he was doing during that double. Last game, they showed Jarrod Dyson losing track of the number of outs and not running hard with two outs. Was that the issue? I’m not sure, but whatever the reason, that’s bad baserunning. That’s leaving runs on the field because Betancourt didn’t execute the most basic understanding of how to run the bases.

Betancourt did pitch in a homer to try to make up for his mistake, but I still don’t forgive him. Eventually, the Royals tied it up and were in great shape to win it in the bottom of the ninth. Shockingly, Dyson reached on a walk to lead off the bottom of the ninth. I’m sure many Royals fans were thinking Steal second Dyson. All I was thinking was Don’t even fantasize about stealing. The pitcher had a good move and was quick to the plate, and the Royals had their 2, 3, and 4 hitters coming up. Predictably, Dyson ran and was thrown out. Good base stealers should know situations. The risk in that situation was not worth the reward in that spot in the lineup. Jeff Francoeur struck out before Dyson attempted to steal, but Eric Hosmer and Butler would have both come up if Dyson hadn’t been thrown out. Instead, just Hosmer came to the plate, he struck out. Essentially, Dyson took the opportunity out of Butler’s hand by getting thrown out. Assuming Hosmer strikes out no matter what, it comes down to what is more likely. Is it more likely that Dyson successfully steals second base AND Butler hits a single. Or, is it more likely that Butler hits a double. I don’t have the stats in front of me, but I’m going to say the double is more likely.

Right now the Royals are three of eight in stolen bases. They have the worst stolen base percentage in the league on the young season, and that’s not a huge deal except that their terrible baserunning may have cost them two games now. Remember the Oakland game when Hosmer and Francoeur were thrown out stealing third and second respectively in the same inning?

I know the Royals’ motto on the bases is “be aggressive.” But since when does aggressive equal stupid? The areas of their greatest mistakes are simple matters of paying attention to what is happening in the game. To show you their state of mind, Butler attempted to swipe a bag the other day. Why? Who the hell knows. He was out by a mile, and once again the Royals did their opponent a favor.

I’m fine with aggression on the base paths. But aggression is sending runners from third against guys with suspect arms when you wouldn’t normally. Aggression is encouraging runners to make early reads on balls hit to the outfield in order to take an extra base. Aggression is not stealing at inopportune times and forgetting how many outs their are. That’s stupidity. That’s amateur hour.

*This post was written with plenty of anger after the failed come back loss to the Indians.

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Lorenzo Cain won't make these plays for a little while. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-US PRESSWIRE

On Tuesday night, Lorenzo Cain made a long, running catch in centerfield to rob Daric Barton of at least a double. After the play, though, he came away favoring his leg and played one more inning but gave way to Mitch Maier as a pinch hitter.

The Royals said Cain strained his groin and he sat out Wednesday’s game. The team said Cain’s day off was planned anyway and not to worry. Today they placed him on the disabled list retroactive to yesterday and recalled Jarrod Dyson from Omaha. The move prevents him from re-aggravating the injury and missing further time.

Cain had two hits in fifteen at bats in the early season but his defense had an impact, as his speed put him in range of many balls that Melky Cabrera likely wouldn’t have caught up to last year. Dyson brings similar speed, as does Jason Bourgeois, though neither have the arm that Cain does (which is about average). Maier has a stronger arm but not quite the speed.

Dyson was 12-33 in Omaha and was successful in all six stolen base attempts.

Ned Yost hinted that Dyson will play the majority of the time in center while Cain is out. My vote would have went to Mitch Maier, who’s a more well-rounded player and has filled in as a regular when injuries have hit in the past. Defensively, the Royals can’t miss with any of the three candidates. Dyson still has to prove he can hit at the big league level. If he gets most of the time in center over the next two weeks, he’ll have his chance to show one  way or the other.

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My friend Mark surprised and spoiled me, taking me for a two-day vacation to Surprise,Arizona.  From our first take-off to our final landing, the entire trip was phenomenal.  For the first time in my life, I wasn’t strip-searched, poked, or prodded passing through security in the airport.  Both of our flights actually arrived early.  The weather in Arizona was perfect.  There is no possible way to fully share my experiences at Spring Training.  However, here are some highlights from that 48-hour pilgrimage:

*Being in the right place at the right time out of pure ignorance and getting the opportunity to witness the PCL Champion ring ceremony.

*Having conversations with Dick Kaegel, Toby Cook, and Bob Dutton.

Kaegel, “There’s always a good story to find out here.”

Cook, “I got this job because I was a TV anchor who emcee’d a Royals’ Charities event and got a serendipitous call from Mr. Glass.  How can you ever plan that?”

Cook’s son, “I want to be the GM of the Royals when I grow up.”

Dutton, “Right now, we’re looking at a .500 team.  With a little luck on the pitching mound, some good things could happen this year.”

*Getting pictures with Duffy, Hosmer, Moustakas, Wathan, and Brett.

*The sound of wooden bats echoing all over the complex.

*George Brett giving hitting lessons to Wil Myers.

Brett and Myers were working on balance.  Brett took his stance like he was getting ready to field a ground ball and then picked up his bat, demonstrating the importance of remaining balanced throughout the swing.

*Omaha manager Mike Jirschele hitting blistering backhands to Billy Butler at first base.

*Calling out to Aaron Crow with “M-I-Z” and having him respond “Z-O-U, baby!”

*Conversations with Kevin Seitzer, one of my childhood heroes.

*Watching Seitzer’s “extra-batting practice game.”  On day one, Seitzer pulled Billy Butler, Johnny Giavotella, Lorenzo Cain, and Yuniesky Betancourt aside to play the game.  The rules were simple: five swings to hit the ball to the opposite field with power.  One point for a single; two points for a gap shot that rolled to the fence; three points for a ball that landed on the warning track; four points for a home run.  Anything pulled, hit too high, or that could potentially be fielded by the most amazing infield ever was an out.  After ten rounds, Gia and Yuni tied for the victory, one point ahead of Cain andButler.  I called out to Cain as he was leaving the field, “That’s a great number you’re wearing for your position.”

He smiled and responded, “You better believe it.”

On the next day, the players were paired up for the game—Hosmer and Jarrod Dyson against Mitch Maier and Clint Robinson.  The wind was blowing out slightly; Hosmer and Maier were hitting bombs.  Hosmer once scored 10 points in 5 swings.  On the following at-bat, Maier scored 11.  Dyson proved to be the critical difference, helping solidify the victory in his final at-bat.  As they gathered the balls on the field, thanking Seitzer for the time, Dyson called out, “Me and Hosmer take on anyone, Seitz, anyone.  We are unstoppable.”

I called out to Dyson and told him that he was in my Royals book from last year.  “Lemme guess,” he said, “it was the game when I scored on the pop-out to the shortstop.”

“You got it, dude.”

“I gotta use my speed every chance I get.”

*Meeting Elliott and his family.  (See that story here.)

*Watching an outfield-assist game.  The players were Gordon, Maier, Cain, and Francoeur.  Each player got two throws to each base.  Points were awarded on the “friendliness” of the hop and the accuracy.  Gordon took a quick and impressive lead.  Frenchy could potentially catch him if his final throw to home plate was perfect.  Frenchy released a cannon-like throw that short-hopped Perez and tailed up the third-base line.  He the cussed loudly and conceded the victory to Gordo.  Then he demanded a one-throw rematch later that day.

During that day’s game, Alex recorded his first assist of the season on a play at the plate.  I bet that’s the throw he submitted for the rematch.

*Hosmer’s ridiculous defensive plays at first base—one of them made ESPN.

*Witnessing Gordon’s second home run of the spring.

*Meeting Darren and Tyler, Bob McClure’s nephews. Tyler will be one of the ball boys for the 2012 All-Star Game.

*Driving by Luke Air Force Base and watching the jets practice “touch-and-go’s.”

*As we were walking into the stadium, David Glass was walking right behind me.  I slowed down for a minute and said, “Mr. Glass, thanks so much for the gift of baseball in KC.”

He looked at me, nodded, smiled, and replied, “You’re welcome, son.  So good to see you out here supporting the team.”

*On the way back to the airport, I ate my first In-N-Out Burger—it was incredible.  Someone really needs to bring that franchise to KC.

I know that numerous KoK readers have also made the sacred pilgrimage to Surprise.  What are some of your highlights?

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The Royals will likely ask Gordon to leadoff and aggressively run the bases in 2011 (Jake Roth-US PRESSWIRE)

What is the job of a leadoff hitter?  His job is to get on base and score runs by any means possible.  It doesn’t matter if he gets a hit, a walk, forces an error, lays down a bunt, is hit by a pitch, bite, scratch, slash, burn, dive – anything to turn himself into a potential RBI.  Then, job number two is to move his way around the bases by getting good leadoffs, watching the pitchers’ moves, avoiding a pickoff, stealing when appropriate, taking the extra base when he can, and being aggressive.  Generally, the prototypical leadoff hitter is also fast, very very fast.

Who fits this description on the Royals roster?  Jarrod Dyson fits many pieces of this description, but his projected batting average is less than optimal, and he may not even make the major league roster.  Lorenzo Cain has the potential to fit the description, but he hasn’t demonstrated elite base stealing skills in the minors and we haven’t witnessed his abilities first hand for an extended period at the big league level yet.  How about Alcides Escobar?  Maybe, but then again, maybe not.  The Royals don’t currently have a player in the Willie Wilson mold, and they aren’t projected to have one for the foreseeable future.

So, why is Alex Gordon batting leadoff?

Alex Gordon is batting leadoff because last year he hit .303, he took 67 walks, he stole 17 bases (but was picked off 8 times), he banged out 45 doubles, he was hit by pitches 7 times, and he scored 101 runs.  (Plus 23 homers – Bonus!)  Alex knows how to get on base and he knows what to do once he gets there.  He isn’t the fastest guy on the team, but he’s not the slowest either, and he’s a good solid choice to hit leadoff.

The sight of Alex Gordon batting leadoff reminds me somewhat of former Royals coach Whitey Herzog’s decision to regularly place George Brett at the top of the order from 1977 – 1979.  Herzog’s theory was that nobody got on base more frequently than Brett and this would lead to increased opportunities for other batters to push him around and score runs.  I was an avid Royals fan in the 70’s and I must confess I wasn’t very excited about Brett batting leadoff.  Without conducting any research, my bias against this decision clouded my memory and I had assumed the Royals probably under-achieved with this approach.

I was skeptical of the decision to bat Brett at the top of the order because first of all we know George was able to hit for more than just average and on base percentage, he had power and the ability to stoke clutch base hits.  I assumed the Royals weren’t able to take advantage of this talent when placing him in a leadoff role with nobody on base.  And later in the game when he typically wasn’t leading off, he was hitting behind the batters in the bottom of the order who didn’t present as many RBI opportunities.  You would think that his RBI count would have gone down while batting first, but you’d be wrong.  Brett had 88 RBIs in 1977 (about average for his career) while playing in only 135 games, which projects to nearly 100 if he had played 155 games that season.  So, it doesn’t appear that batting first had any significant impact on his RBI total.

Brett was no slouch running the bases, but he wasn’t a burner either, so it would seem plausible that his run total would be reduced due to the difficulties he would face with scoring from first on a double, stretching a double into a triple, or challenging a strong outfield arm at the plate.  Once again, that thought would be wrong.  Brett scored the 3^rd most runs in the league in 1977.

While leading off 58% of the time (he only played in 139 games), Brett scored 105 runs in 1977 which was good for the 3^rd most in the American League that year behind Rod Carew who batted 3^rd for the Twins at 128 runs (in 155 games) and Carlton Fisk who started the season batting 8^th and finished the season batting 5th in the Red Sox order at 106 runs scored (in 152 games played.)   Hal McRae also scored 104 runs that year while batting primarily 2^nd in the order.  Brett and McRae – now that was a one/two punch!

Do you know what is conspicuously absent from a list of the American League top 8 in runs scored from 1977?  Prototypical leadoff hitters!  (None of them even batted at the top of the order!)  I don’t think anyone ever accused Carlton Fisk, Jim Rice, or Bobby Bonds of burning up the base paths.  Rod Carew was fast, but not that fast.  These guys scored runs because they hit for average and they knew what to do when they got on base.  Their hitting skills and base running expertise permitted them to overcome their lack of blazing speed.

And how about the leaders of the 2011 season?  Of the Major League top ten in runs scored last year, only two of them regularly batted in the leadoff position or could be considered prototypical type leadoff hitters.  The rest of them were just like George Brett, Carlton Fisk, Jim Rice, Bobby Bonds, and Rod Carew in 1977.  You may recognize some of their names from 2011: Matt Kemp, Justin Upton, Albert Pujols, Miguel Cabrera, Ryan Braun, and Jose Bautista.

Alex Gordon is following in the footsteps of many great leadoff hitters and run scoring leaders who didn’t quite fit the “perfect” mold and characteristics of a prototypical top-of-the-order athlete.  Gordon may not be the Royals leadoff hitter forever and my guess is his tenure in this role depends on what Lorenzo Cain does with the bat over the next few months.  Until then, I’m happy to watch Alex Gordon stride to the plate immediately after the umpire yells, “Play ball!”

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Elliott, Moose, and Hosmer

Spring Training baseball is unlike anything I’ve ever seen.

My friend Mark and I traveled to Surprise,Arizona in hopes of watching a couple of games and maybe getting a couple of autographs.  We were completely unprepared for the amazing experience that awaited us.

For two days, we watched batting practice, situational drills, and throwing games.  We saw Kevin Seitzer pitching extra batting practice and making a game of it—Eric Hosmer and Jarrod Dyson beat Mitch Maier and Clint Robinson by one point.  We saw the outfielders practicing their throws to every base—Alex Gordon beat Jeff Francoeur in that game.  Frenchy demanded a one-throw rematch.  Danny Duffy threw a bullpen session and looked phenomenal.  Johnny Giavotella and Billy Butler spent hours fielding rocket shot ground balls.  But one of my favorite memories from Spring Training 2012 is Elliott.

Wherever Elliott went, he was surrounded by ballplayers.  The six-year-old blonde-haired kindergartner from St. Joseph knew the names and numbers of everyone and wasn’t afraid to ask the hard questions.  When introduced to Bubba Starling, Elliott asked, “Bubba, when will you be in the majors?”

Bubba smiled and laughed, “I don’t know yet, Elliott, I just don’t know.”

On Monday, before warm-ups, the players gathered around Elliott and started quizzing him on who wore what number.  Elliott answered every one correctly.  One of the players even responded, “I didn’t know he wore that number.”  (Elliott has always been a numbers guy.  His dad used to let Elliott stay up late watching the games on TV while using various scenarios to teach him math skills—a brilliant parenting strategy.)

Elliott got the opportunity to step on the field during batting practice, watching Seitzer help the players make their adjustments.  Moustakas and Hosmer and Gordon all spent some time with him in between swings.  Jason Kendall gave Elliott a fungo bat to practice his own swings.  Gordo watched Elliott swinging and commented, “The kid’s a natural.”

I spent a few minutes visiting with Scott, Elliott’s dad, and learned a little more.  Elliott has loved baseball from the age of 2.  Most evenings after dinner, Scott and Elliott would watch the Royals on TV and play ball on a makeshift diamond in their living room.  Elliott was a couple of months shy of turning three when he attended his first game.  At the game, he knew all the names and the numbers of the entire roster.  However, the numbers were too large for his vocabulary.  Instead of saying, “Twenty-five,” Elliott would say, “Two and five.”

Since that day, it’s been nothing but Royals baseball for Elliott.  He has participated in a couple of summer baseball camps sponsored by the Royals in 2010 and 2011.  He practiced his throwing and hitting while making friends with Bruce Chen, Chris Getz, Tim Collins, and Nate Adcock.  He amazed all of them by quoting their statistics from the week and quickly won their admiration.

One of Elliott’s highlights from Spring Training was visiting the locker room.  He was the center of attention.  From the players to the front office staff, everyone overwhelmed Elliott and his family with kindness and compassion (and pictures and autographs, too).

Elliott, you see, has spina bifida.  On March 1, he underwent his twelfth surgery, a VP shunt revision.  Elliott focused on the important things going into the surgery, telling anyone who would listen, “I’m feeling brave today.  My cousins are gonna come visit and I’m going to Spring Training next week.”

Elliott stayed for the duration of Monday’s game which the Royals lost 2 – 1.  On the way out of the stadium, Elliott spotted his favorite player, Alex Gordon.  Gordo high-fived Elliott and spent a few quality minutes with him.  It was the perfect ending to a perfect Spring Training experience.

Two days after returning home from Arizona, Elliott is playing baseball on the Wii and waiting for the start of the regular season.  He’s already making plans to head back to Surprise next year.

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What are NL teams known for?

Royals second baseman Chris Getz is one of the members of the bench who'll be counted on in 2012 Photo Credit: Kyle Terada-US PRESSWIRE

Having stronger benches.  Granted it’s for various reasons like the pitcher bats meaning changes late in the game need to be made. This topic got me to thinking about the 2012 Kansas City Royals non-starters.  The starters are set with Alex Gordon in left, Lorenzo Cain in center, Jeff Francoeur in right, Mike Moustakas at third, Alcides Escobar at short, Johnny Giavotella at second, Eric Hosmer at first and Salvador Perez behind the plate plus Billy Butler as designated hitter.

To be honest, the signing of Yuniesky Betancourt really spurred this, which has led to looking at available free agents who are versatile. We’ve been told that Betancourt will back-up Escobar in addition to play some third base if need be. Chris Getz is the next guy off the bench who will get playing time when Giavotella needs a day off or heaven forbid starts slow and Ned Yost benches.

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The point is that September is full of hope. At the start of the month, there are another 25-30 games to play. Teams can manage to climb ten games in the standings with a hot streak and their opponents’ corresponding cold streaks. With the introduction of new call-ups from the minors, the balance changes slightly. The fresh blood mixes up the standard game plan for teams and the new variety (and hope) create a fresh experience for fans.

Kansas City is, of course, right in the middle of this influx of new blood.

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Holland is a Royal once more. (Minda Haas)

This morning, the Royals announced that beloved speedster and quote magician* Jarrod Dyson will be sent to Omaha, where he will fill the roster spot shoes of Greg Holland. Holland, in turn, will be making his triumphant return to the Kansas City bullpen. While many, including myself, thought Holland might have a shot to start the season in the majors, he has instead seen some further AAA seasoning as the Royals’ bullpen toiled.

*”That’s what speed do.”

The move surprised me at first, but I quickly realized the reasoning behind this and what Royals management may have been thinking.

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Eric Hosmer got his first major league hit – a single through the hole at second.  He was also intentionally walked in the bottom of the ninth.

And for the sixth time this year, the Royals won in walk-off fashion.

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Friday night’s game against the Twins demonstrated how significant that aggressive approach can be when applied in the right situations.

A combination of timely hitting, hustle and superhuman speed combined to lead the Royals back to .500 as they beat the Twins 4-3.  The final three Royals runs came with one in the seventh and two more in the eighth to take the lead.

There were quite a few heroes in the comeback, most notably, of course, Jarrod Dyson.

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There were a few surprises, though not big ones.  The Royals open camp with four rookie relief pitchers:  Tim Collins, Aaron Crow, Jeremy Jeffress and Rule 5 selection Nate Adcock.  When Robert Fish was sent back to the Angels, it left Collins as the lone lefty reliever in camp while Crow’s promotion has been debated as a good move or not.  It seems split between those who see him as a starter and think he should open up in the rotation in Double A or Triple A and those who see him as a full-time late-inning pitcher.

Then there are those who see him as a potential rotation candidate down the line while getting bullpen work to acclimate himself to the big leagues.  Crow struggled in 2009, but showed solid command in Arizona and in today’s game induced three ground ball outs in a perfect seventh inning.

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It’s what we expected, though hoped wouldn’t happen.  Cain could be the best athlete in Kansas City – if he were starting the year there.  Instead he’ll go to Omaha where he’ll see action rather than sitting behind Melky Cabrera, playing understudy.

While Cain is expected to get back to the big leagues at some point this season, as we approach opening day, his move clears up the Royals outfield picture.  Well, mostly.

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By the way, while I’ve watched the NCAA coverage all weekend, a few things jump out at me:

• Advertising executives are the most overpaid people on earth.  I am about to tear down every NAPA Auto Parts store I find brick by brick because of this stupid NAPA Know How campaign.  I guess it does its job by being memorable, but it’s the bad kind of memorable.  On that note, my hatred of Miller Lite commercials grows every day.
• The fouls in the Butler/Pittsburgh games were fouls.  Period.  Dumb fouls, but fouls nonetheless.
• If the scientific world ever does perfect cloning technology, they should create a Gus Johnson for every televised sports broadcast in the world.  I’d replace Bob Davis with Gus with ease.

Now, Royals baseball time:

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*No pun intended, though it fits so, so well.

I touched on this subject a little bit last month, but with actual games going on now, I think I can look a little deeper into if aggressiveness on the basepaths will be a trend or if it’s something that’s just being looked at in spring.

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Players like Amos Otis, Willie Wilson, Freddie Patek patrolled the field (infield in Patek’s case) and also caused problems for opposing pitchers on the basepaths.

They say you can’t teach speed – it’s either there or it isn’t.  While speed itself isn’t enough to be a capable baserunner or basestealer even, it sure helps and the threat alone can be distracting to the opposition – a manager has to keep the first baseman on the bag instead of playing back, a pitcher has to go to the slidestep, maybe the catcher takes his eye off the ball for a split second and it bounces away.

Speed disrupts.  The Royals (in 2011 at least) might have some speedsters to create some havoc of their own.  That aspect of the (potential) opening day roster gives this group a chance to be very entertaining, even if they may not win a lot of games.

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Other than realizing just how happy I am to be rid of Jose Guillen, Rick Ankiel, and Yuni “Plus Hands” Betancourt, I noticed that in each of the games I watched the Royals used a different leadoff guy. Chris Getz, Gregor Blanco, and Jarrod Dyson made appearances at the top of the order in those three games.

I dug a little deeper and saw something that makes sense now that I think back: the Royals used seven different players to bat leadoff. For clarity, this is just the number of players that started off the game for the Royals. With the player turnover and new additions this offseason, things have been muddied a bit going into 2011. So, where does that leave the Royals to start out games?
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Disclaimer: small sample size caveats apply.
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When last we joined our Royal blue crusaders, we were examining the current 40 man roster and I was offering potential solutions to managing it.  The first installment focused on pitchers.  This installment features the position players.

Let’s dig in.
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DeJesus will return in 2011 to patrol the outfield after having a career year in 2010 where he’d hit .318/.384/.443/.827 in almost 400 plate appearances.   He’d been shut down in July after tearing a ligament in his right thumb while going for a fly ball and colliding with the outfield wall.
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Then over the weekend he went from interesting September callup to the early favorite for starting centerfielder.

Wait, what?
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Jarrod Dyson continues his trek back up through the system, as he’s been promoted to Double A Northwest Arkansas after some time in the Arizona Rookie League and Wilmington rehabbing an ankle sprain.  Dyson finished 2009 in the Texas League, producing a mere .649 OPS but he did steal 37 bases in 43 opportunities.  With he and Derrick Robinson at the top of the lineup, the Naturals have some wicked speed at the top of the lineup.
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*Seems to be my perpetual state lately …

Last Friday OF-Jarrod Dyson (25) was reassigned to Triple-A Omaha.  He’s still on the outside looking in at the top-30 prospects in the organization, but the 50th round pick in the 2006 draft is starting to make a little noise.  Thanks to David Lough’s injury, Dyson was sent to the Arizona Fall League.  Jarrod made the most of his opportunity, hitting 0.310/.364/.408 in 71 AFL at bats.  He followed that up with a respectable showing in spring training with a line of 0.263/.318/.316 in 19 AB.  Dyson has never put up eye popping numbers, but he has performed consistently and has steadily advanced up the rungs of the minor league ladder.  His assignment to Omaha for 2010 will mark his fifth level of minor league baseball in five seasons.

As a member of the O-Royals we can expect a number of things.  First, he’s going to steal his share of bases.  In 234 minor league games he has 107 SB to his credit and has been caught just 24 times.  That gives him a success rate of 81.7% in his career which makes him a legitimate asset on the basepaths.  Baseball America ranked him as the fastest baserunner in the system.  Second, he’s not going to hit many home runs.  If history is any indicator, it would be safe to say he’s not going to hit any home runs.  In 917 PA in the minors he is still looking for his first professional HR.  Add in his 71 AFL and 19 spring training at bats and his professional HR total is still zero.  Third, he’s going to wind up with slash stats in the vicinity of his career 0.270/.343/.325 line.  He may dip since he will be facing Triple-A pitching for the first time, but based on his track record, AFL, and spring training performance, I think he is very capable of holding his own.  From all accounts, he is very solid defensively and his minor league Total Zone numbers support those assessments.

He remains a long shot to ever become a major league regular, but he does have a chance to carve out a career as a 4th or 5th outfielder.  Considering the injury history and track record of the Royals projected starting outfield, we will likely see Dyson make his major league debut at some point this summer.  When he does reach the majors, I anticipate most folks will be pleasantly surprised by his performance.

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On Monday the team optioned RHP-Gaby Hernandez (23) to Triple-A Omaha.  I hope for his sake that he can finally settle in at Omaha, work on honing his craft, and not have to worry about having to find another organization for awhile.  I wrote about Hernandez at length two weeks ago and I stand by my assessment but since he is a member of the Royals organization I’m pulling for him to put it all together.

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The following three players were all reassigned to Omaha on Tuesday.

RHP-Philip Humber (27) has been thoroughly unimpressive in his brief major league action spread over the last four seasons.  In 29.2 IP he has a 6.07 ERA, 1.82 WHIP, 5.8 SO/9, and 1.12 SO/BB.  In his 9.0 major league innings with the Twins he was dreadful giving up 17 hits and nine walks, but on the bright side he did strike out nine.  His prospect standing vanished a while ago and these days he’s primarily Triple-A pitching depth.  He now has almost 400 IP in AAA and his 4.69 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 7.1 SO/9, and 2.27 SO/BB at that level has done little to prove he’s more than “just another guy.”  Looking at things optimistically I can at least see the possibility of Gaby Hernandez becoming a successful major league pitcher.  When it comes to Philip Humber, I think that ship sailed on the back of multiple arm injuries in 2005 and 2006.  He will, however, always be remembered for two things.  One, he was a 1st round pick (3rd overall) in 2004 and two, he was one of the four players the Twins got back in the Johan Santana trade.

RHP-Francisco Rosario (29) has 49.1 major league innings to his credit.  23 of them came with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2006 and the other 26.1 came with the Philadelphia Phillies in 2007.  In those innings he has compiled a 6.02 ERA, 1.76 WHIP, 8.4 SO/9, and 1.59 SO/BB.  In 2008 he pitched only 2.2 innings in High A and didn’t pitch at all in 2009.  Shoulder injuries appear to have ruined his career as they have so many others before him.

C-Cody Clark (28) has been in the Royals system since 2007 with the bulk of his playing time the last two seasons coming with the Double-A Naturals.  To date his AAA experience has been limited to just 22 at bats, so despite backing up Edwin Bellorin, 2010 will be his first shot at extended playing time in Omaha.  In seven minor league seasons he has hit 0.262/.342/.397 in 404 games played and doesn’t appear to have much of a chance to reach the majors this season, if ever.

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(Wally Fish is the lead blogger for Kings of Kauffman and FanSided’s MLB Director.  Subscribe to his RSS feed and add him on Twitter to follow him daily.)