Joe Mauer leads the surging Minnesota Twins into the K, the last time the teams met in Kansas City the Royals got the sweep in April. Photo Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

While many of you were sleeping Kansas City salvaged game four of the I-70 Series at St. Louis 4-2 after a 5 ½ hour rain delay. The team ends their five game road trip with a series in Arlington against the Rangers this weekend.

Series Preview –

KC just completed a 2-3 road trip through St. Louis and Texas in which they alternated wins and losses. Over their last five Minnesota is 4-1 as they’ve passed the Royals in the AL Central standings.

Probable Pitching Matchups –

Tuesday, June 4 (7:10 pm): Samuel Deduno (1-1, 5.11) v. Luis Mendoza (1-2, 4.63)

- Mendoza against pitched well enough to win in his last start at St. Louis picking up his third straight no-decision after leaving with a 1-run lead

- A season ago the Dozer went 2-1 with a 2.67 ERA against the Twins

Wednesday, June 5 (7:10 pm): P.J. Walters (2-0, 4.50) v. Jeremy Guthrie (5-3, 3.84)

- Guthrie is looking to snap his three game losing streak (at Angels, at Astros, Angels)

- Last time out he to a no-decision leaving the series finale at St. Louis trailing 2-1 after throwing six innings, he did come back in relief to help get the field ready with other teammates

Thursday, June 6 (7:10): Mike Pelfrey (3-6, 6.66) v. Wade Davis (3-5, 6.16)

- Wade comes into this start having lost his last two starts against Los Angeles and at Texas

- Over his previous six starts he’s thrown over six innings just once which was 6.1 against the Angels on the last homestand

2013 Results –  

As mentioned these teams haven’t seen each other since April 8-10 at the K which the Royals swept the series. Ervin Santana opened the series with a great performance which was followed up with wins by Guthrie and Davis the next two days.

TV/Radio –

All three games are on Fox Sports Kansas City with Steve Physioc and Rex Hudler handing the call while Joel Goldberg hosts the pre/postgame show with Royals Hall of Famer Jeff Montgomery. Fans can also listen to the games on 610 Sports Radio with Royals Hall of Famer/2007 Ford C. Frick Award winner Denny Matthews, Ryan Lefebvre and Steve Stewart.

2013 Schedule v. Twins – KC 3-0

April 8-10, Kauffman Stadium – Royals swept the series with 3-1, 7-4 and 3-1 wins

June 4-6, Kauffman Stadium

June 27-30, Target Field

July 30-31 and August 1, Target Field

August 5-7, Kauffman Stadium

August 27-29, Target Field

Game Notes –

Minnesota

Kansas City

Kansas City returns home to open the home portion of their schedule at Kauffman Stadium on Monday against Minnesota. Photo Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Series Preview –

Kansas City returns home for the first time in 2013 and they’ll see AL Central foe Minnesota at the K. A season ago the Twins won 11 of 18 games against the Royals.

Probable Pitching Matchups –

Monday, April 8 (3:10 pm): Kevin Correia (0-0, 2.57) v. Ervin Santana (0-1, 6.00)
- Santana gets the ball in the 2013 home opener, here’s hoping it’s better than Luke Hochevar’s last season.
- Last time out in Chicago, Santana went six innings but allowed four runs on five hit but allowed three home runs.

Tuesday, April 9 (7:10 pm): Mike Pelfrey (1-0, 0.00) v. Jeremy Guthrie (1-0, 1.50)
- Last Thursday Guthrie was solid in his continued mastery of the White Sox
- Royals fans will want to see how he does against a non-pale hoes team.

Wednesday, April 3 (7:10 pm): Liam Hendriks (0-0, 7.71) v. Wade Davis (0-0, 9.00)
- Davis got roughed up in his Royals debut Friday in Philadelphia against the Phillies.
- Hendriks also didn’t fair the best in his first start and one hopes that Davis bounces back.

2012 Results –

Last season the Royals went 7-11 against the Twins they were outscored by Minnesota 89-85. The 85 runs were the second most runs KC scored against an opponent last year (103 versus Cleveland).

TV/Radio –

All three games are on Fox Sports Kansas City in addition can be found on 610 Sports Radio.

2013 Schedule v. Twins –

April 8-10, Kauffman Stadium
June 4-6, Kauffman Stadium
June 27-30, Target Field
July 30-31 and August 1, Target Field
August 5-7, Kauffman Stadium
August 27-29, Target Field

Outside of Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau the Twins will have plenty of new faces in 2013. Photo Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports

Kings of Kauffman – What do the Twins need to do get the offense going this season?

Puckett’s Pond – Actual issues for the Twins offense replacing Denard Span and Ben Revere (finding a leadoff hitter, could be rookie Aaron Hicks), Trevor Plouffe needs to be more consistent at the plate, Chris Parmelee will most likely start the season in RF and needs to show that his AAA mashing can translate to the gigs. Josh Willingham is a candidate to drop off production in 2013.

KOK – Pitching was a problem last season for Minnesota what can we expect in 2013?

PP – Pitching should be better than last year, but that’s not saying much. Twins brought in a number of mid-level and bargain free agents, but they have a number of young stud pitchers who could see time with the big league club this year, notably Kyle Gibson and Trevor May. This rotation could look very different at the end of the season. Bullpen was very solid last year and should be again.

KOK – Expectations are low but what are your expectations for this season?

PP – Who knows, the offense has the potential to be pretty devastating, and the pitching should be poor but improved this is a team in flux, so rookies and young players could step up and help the Twins surprise, but realistically this is a team in transition, and by the end of 2013, you’ll start to see the pieces of a future contender trickling in. So in sum: the record is much less important than seeing the team moving in the right direction prospects/youngsters Hicks, Gibson, May, Parmelee, Oswaldo Arcia, Joe Benson and others could all see MLB time this year and start to form the core of a team that
should contend by 2016.

KOK – The Royals farm system is well know but how is the future looking for the Twins organization?

PP – The Royals farm system dropped off severely in national rankings this year, but the Twins farm system jumped dramatically we’ve got an at least top-7 system, higher in many publications. Span was traded for Alex Meyer and Revere for May, and the Twins drafted Byron Buxton, JO Berrios and a slew of college power arms last year. Here’s the top 5 with links to the top 40; we’re stacked and deep, and now sitting much better at pitching after the past year.

And even though the Royals are hosting Singles Night at Kauffman Stadium on September 20, they ended up previewing it tonight in Minnesota as 13 of their 14 hits were mere singles. But singles add up and the Twins outfielder Ryan Doumit helped with three errors in the fourth inning as well.

Luke Hochevar barely finished five innings to get the win. After the Royals put up five runs after a walk and six straight singles (followed by two pop outs and another single), Hochevar got two quick outs, then walked Justin Morneau and Doumit doubled to left through a shift and a Jamey Carroll single scored both runners. Hochevar got a visit from Dave Eiland and induced a ground out from Alexi Casilla to get out of it. The bullpen held the Twins scoreless from there.

Butler and Perez lead the Royals Twins-bashing. Photo Credit: David Banks-US PRESSWIRE

Last night, every batter in the lineup but one got a hit. Tonight, they all did. Billy Butler had three singles, including a deep drive that hit three quarters up the left field wall with the bases loaded (he admired his shot and only made it to first) and drove in three on the night. Salvador Perez had the lone extra base hit, a homer that extended his hitting streak to 16 games, a team high and tied for the league high for catchers.

Perhaps the most impressive at bat, though, belonged to Alcides Escobar, who got down 0-2 in the eighth inning against Casey Fien, then worked it to 2-2. From there, he fouled off another five pitches while working the count full. On the 12th pitch of the at bat, he looped a soft line drive into left field. Eric Hosmer stopped at third but Doumit fumbled the ball, then threw wildly to home and let Johnny Giavotella and Escobar advance in the process while Hosmer scored the first run of the inning.

Then the Royals scored Giavotella on a grounder to Casilla that he didn’t field cleanly, then Butler and Perez singled to add two more runs and extend the lead.

For the night, the Royals hit 8-16 with runners in scoring position. That’s usually going to lead to good things.

The win gives the Royals a 28-27 record against the AL Central this year, which only makes the awful July and April’s 12 game losing streak all the more painful.

Tomorrow night, Luis Mendoza takes on Liam Hendriks. Mendoza gave up two runs on seven hits in his last start against the Twins on September 2. The last time the Royals saw Hendriks, they chased him after 3.2 innings and scored three runs off of him on ten hits – unfortunately, Hochevar had started that night and gave up eight runs in 1.2 innings and the Royals lost anyway.

Luke Hochevar will open the series for the Royals against the Twins this weekend at Kauffman Stadium. Hochevar has been pretty good in his last six starts which hopefully continues. Photo Credit: Denny Medley-US PRESSWIRE

When Last We Saw …

The last time the Royals and Twins met was at the end of June up in the Twin Cities, Minnesota took three-of-four to win the series. Kansas City and Luis Mendoza held onto win 5-4 after Mr. Excitement Jonathan Broxton made things interesting. That weekend the Twins hit homerun after homerun to take the next three games by scores of 7-2, 5-1 and 10-8.

Season Series …

This season Minnesota holds a 6-3 advantage against Kansas City in the three meetings so far in 2012. In April the teams met in Minneapolis with the result being a split due to game two getting rained out. The first week of June was the second meeting taking place at the K with Minnesota taking two-of-three. Coming into tonight KC will try to snap a three game losing streak to the division’s last place team.

4/27 Royals 7 @ Twins 6
4/28 Royals @ Twins PPD
4/29 Royals 4 @ Twins 7
6/4 Twins 10 @ Royals 7
6/5 Twins 0 @ Royals 1
6/6 Twins 4 @ Royals 2
6/29 Royals 4 @ Twins 3
6/30 DH Game 1 Royals 2 @ Twins 7
DH Game 2 Royals 1 @ Twins 5
7/1 Royals 8 @ Twins 10

Probable Pitching Match-Ups (All Times Central):     

Friday, 7:10 pm – Nick Blackburn (4-5, 8.10) v. Luke Hochevar (6-8, 5.26)
- Hochevar comes into this start 3-1 with two no-decision in his last six starts against Milwaukee (ND), @Houston (W), Tampa Bay (W), @Minnesota (L), @Toronto (W) and Chicago White Sox (W)
- During this streak he’s kept his walks down and strikeout totals high but the biggest positive is he’s worked past the sixth inning in four of these six starts.
- Blackburn has only faced the Royals once this season and he got the win on June 6 going just five innings. He was bailed out by his bullpen holding KC scoreless the rest of the game.
Saturday, 6:10 pm – Scott Diamond (8-3, 2.96) v. Luis Mendoza (3-6, 4.32)
- Mendoza was the tough luck loser on last Sunday against the White Sox going 7 1/3 innings in a 2-1 defeat.
- As mentioned his best start was at Target Field on June 29^th when he went eight innings allowing one run on five hits while striking out five.
- Diamond first career start against KC game in the second game of the last series when he threw the first game of the Saturday doubleheader. In the game he threw eight innings allowing two runs on six hits in 101 pitches.
Sunday, 1:10 pm – Sam Deduno (0-0, 5.59) v. Jeremy Guthrie (3-9, 6.35)
- Newly acquired Colorado Rockies pitcher Jeremy Guthrie is being tabbed as Sunday’s starter for the series finale. With Colorado Guthrie was 3-9 with a 6.35 ERA but here is hoping that a change of scenario works out for him and Jonathan Sanchez who part of the deal
- In his career Guthrie is 4-1 with a 2.70 ERA in eight career games against the Twin having thrown 46.2 innings. Another positive stat is his strike to walk ratio against Minnesota striking out 28 against six walks.
- Deduno is in his first season with the Twins, having spent the first two seasons of his career in the national league is facing the Royals for the first time. He came with Colorado in 2010 and was with San Diego during the 2011 season.

Will Mike Moustakas overtake Billy Butler in HR's and RBIs in the second half?. Photo Credit: Rick Osentoski-US PRESSWIRE

Kansas City will get to .500 at the K

I really feel that the Royals will play better at home and my faith comes from what I was a part of during the All-Star break at the K. The city and fan base wants a winner and I think they’ll come out to support the team which will translate to the team feeling the love which will turn to wins.

Mike Moustakas leads the team in HR’s and RBIs

Get ready for more MOOOOOOOOSE! Chants in the second half of the season because I feel the Royals sophomore third baseman will continue to improve. He’s not far behind Country Breakfast in homeruns and runs batted in which I think he’ll overtake him in the second half.

Wil Myers won’t appear until August of September

Driving back from KC on Wednesday I decided to listen to both 610 (the Royals flagship) and 810 (the former rights holder) on the drive back. Flipping between both got me to thinking that Wil Myers might not be in Kansas City as soon as hoped. Dayton Moore was on 810 and he mentioned that Jake Odorizzi might be in triple-A the whole year and depending on how Lorenzo Cain and Jeff Francoeur do (or get moved) he’ll be a Storm Chaser longer.

Royals won’t make a move at the deadline

I’m gun-shy about what GMDM will do at the deadline, I’ve got fears that nothing will happen. Obviously many fans want Frenchy gone for the purpose of letting Myers play. With 2013 being now dubbed the year it seems prospects might not be moved to get pitching at this deadline which is the biggest need right now. I really want to be wrong on this prediction in the worse way. In the offseason probably will be a different story when the team will need to acquire pitching.

Kansas City finishes the season around .500

Not only will the team get to .500 at home which helps the overall record is why I make this prediction. The team might’ve finished the first half with a whimper but I feel this group will make strides like they did last year and will be a thorn in the side of those competing. I’m also of the belief that the starters will help the bullpen which also helps the W/L record. Better starting pitching will lead to a less taxing of the ‘pen which makes the entire staff better.

The 2011 Omaha Storm Chasers received their PCL championship rings this week, photo courtesy of Ethan Bryan

Several current Kansas City Royals played in Omaha and received their PCL championship rings earlier this week from general manager Dayton Moore and Storm Chasers GM Marty Cordaro. Nine players from Omaha’s roster made the big leagues last year, but that didn’t stop the team from bringing home the title.

Celebrating minor league success during spring training has become a common thing since 2008.  Last spring they honored Northwest Arkansas’s title and of course the triple-A squad from last year. The Naturals have been in the postseason three times in the last six seasons (2006, ’09, ’10). Idaho Falls won divisional titles in back-to-back seasons of 2006 and ’07 and Burlington in 2008.

Six players played on all three of those championship teams: Ryan Eigsti, Johnny Giavotella, Mike Moustakas, Clint Robinson, Danny Duffy and Brandon Sisk. Ex-Royal Jeff Suppan wasn’t at the ceremony due to him starting for the San Diego Padres.

For long-time manager Mike Jirschele, it was the first time of tasting postseason success after two first round losses in 1995 and ‘96 for the then Omaha Royals.

Hopefully the next step for Kansas City is the success that the current nucleus of the team translates to success in the major leagues. Other franchises have seen rewards once highly rated talent reached the parent club such as the Cleveland Indians and Minnesota Twins to name a few. Albert Belle, Jim Thome, Manny Ramirez and Charles Nagy helped the mid-90′s were part of the Indians young that meshed with the teams veterans. After the 2002 season the tribe again aquired young talent such as Brandon Phillips, Cliff Lee, Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner.

Minnesota who was had a great run of success got things going with a roster which included home grown talent such as Torii Hunter, Jacque Jones, A.J. Pierzynski, Doug Mientkiewicz and Johan Santana to name a few.

For myself and I’m sure many of you who bleed blue, you’re glad to see the importance Moore has put in bringing players up level-by-level since he took the job. The confidence that this group has by winning together without a doubt has fans believing that this coming season might actually be “Our Time”.

The Royalman Report, LIVE Sundays at 7 pm CST

With the season officially over for the Royals, this week’s Royalman Report looked a lot at what lay ahead.

After a necessary recap of the Royals year and discussion of if they were better than their record indicated (and I’d like to thank Royally Speaking and KC Longball for putting the idea in my head – a lot of the numbers came from them), we talked about coaching changes and a potential shift in the direction of the team.

Then we were joined with Corey Ettinger from AL Central in Focus, who gave his opinion on the outlook for 2012 and the Royals timeline for success.  We also touched on the impact of Twitter and blogging on sports media and how teams in the AL Central approach the topic.

Check out his blog AL Central in Focus and follow him on Twitter at @CoreyEttinger.

Click the embedded player below to listen to this week’s show or you can download the mp3 here.

If you want your business featured during breaks on the Royalman Report, contact us at 816-394-9578 or email royalmanreport@gmail.com.  

Kelly's in Westport - official sponsor of the Royalman Report

If you’re the type that prefers to see the in-studio video stream…check it out below:

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Among Royals topics, we talked about a few trades, All-Star Game selections, the Alex Gordon visit to All Star Pizza in Kansas City, marketing, prospect development, starting pitching – basically anything and everything Royals.  We also checked into the chat room and got some updates on the All-Star Futures game where Wil Myers and Kelvin Herrera made appearances.

We were also privileged to showcase the music of Rebecca Loebe who’s been seen on NBC’s “The Voice”.  You can find her new album “Mystery Prize” on her website at RebeccaLoebe.com and she, too, is on Twitter at @RebeccaLoebe.

If you happen to be a musician and would like to have your music featured on the Royalman Report, contact us at 816-394-9578 or email info@royalmanreport.com.

Click the embedded player below to listen or you can download the mp3 here.

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Regardless, with the All-Star Break quickly approaching, now seems as good a time as any to check on how things are shaping up in the A.L. Central and see the progress that could be made or lost in the next few weeks. (more…)

Justin Morneau came up with the bases loaded and no outs.

It felt like a typical Royals game against the Twins, where the Royals fall all over themselves to give the game away.

Then Morneau grounded out into a 4-3-6-4 double play.  Span scored on the play, but the Royals got two outs.  An error by Mike Aviles allowed Tolbert to score.

Amazingly, even with seven O’Sullivan walks, those were the only runs the Twins scored.

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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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Somebody on Twitter likened the Royals struggles with the Twins to Lou Brown talking to Indians General Manager Charlie Donovan in Major League – “One of these days we’ll figure out how to beat those guys.”

It seems the Twins always have the Royals at arm’s length.  They don’t win all the games, but they win the blowouts and they win more of the close ones.  Tonight, they won one that they shouldn’t have, and the Royals lost one that they should have won.

And no, it’s not all on Robinson Tejeda (though he does take a lot of the blame).

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Well here on the FanSided Network, the AL Central writers have teamed up to provide a weekly review of the goings on in the division.  Wally at Puckett’s Pond hosts the column this week, and it’ll rotate from there.

I was happy to contribute my thoughts to the Royals side of things and you can read the full rundown on Puckett’s Pond:

Stay current on all the Kings of Kauffman content and news by following us on Twitter, Facebook, or by way of our RSS feed.

Writers from every site in the network will choose the best players at every position in their respective division.  Then each division will select an All-Division team, first selecting batters, then selecting a pitching staff.

The All-AL Central team will go up against the teams compiled by the AL East and AL West bloggers.  The winning team by fan vote will take on a similarly vetted team from the National League side of things.

It’s gonna be a lot of fun and a cool way to check out some other sites in the network – so don’t be shy if you’re a hardcore Royals fan and check out our divisional cohorts and partners in combat (for a brief time, at least):

• Southside Showdown
• Deep Left Field
• Motor City Bengals
• Puckett’s Pond

More updates when we’ve created our team.

You can stay current on all the Kings of Kauffman content and news by following us on Twitter, Facebook, or by way of our RSS feed.

Now, on with the show: the Royals returned to Minnesota’s Target Field this week, then traveled to the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati to restart interleague play.
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All told, the Royals went 3-3 which, considering some of the performances of certain pitchers, is a small miracle. So it could be worse. But it could be a lot better. If it doesn’t improve, more people may be following Roman Colon out of Kansas City.

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I have long been in the “don’t trade Soria camp” and for the most part I remain there, but this is one of the few guys and one of the few teams that gets me thinking about it.  If you don’t know about Wilson Ramos he is currently fighting for a major league job this spring, is the Twins number #2 prospect, projects to be an offensive force, is wonderful defensively and is only 22-years old.  Don’t just take my word for it, Christensen wrote the following today:

Ramos is showing why Baseball America recently ranked him as the game’s 58th-best prospect and No. 2 in the Twins organization behind outfielder Aaron Hicks. The same publication lists Ramos as the organization’s best power-hitting prospect, as well as the top minor league defensive catcher.

As manager Ron Gardenhire has said, “He’s the package.”

In addition to his considerable talents as a player, the acquisition of Ramos would give the Royals more flexibility when evaluating the development and future position for Wil Myers.  Before I get too far ahead of myself, Wilson Ramos won’t be easy to pry away from the Twins organization, but they also have Jose Morales who is a good looking prospect at the position in his own right.  Morales’ presence affords the Twins the luxury of entertaining the idea of dealing a player such as Ramos without having to worry about leaving the cupboard bare.  It also doesn’t hurt that they have the game’s best catcher locked up through 2018.

Any deal that has Ramos coming to Kansas City would almost have to involve Joakim Soria heading north to Minnesota.  Considering Soria’s youth, three-year stretch of dominance, and very club friendly contract, a straight-up trade doesn’t make sense for Dayton and the Royals, but what if the Twins were willing to kick in another prospect to sweeten the pot?  Minnesota has a glut of OF prospects that put Kansas City’s to shame.  Ramos and #1 prospect Aaron Hicks would be insane from the Twins’ standpoint, but would they hang-up the phone if Dayton asked for Ramos and #5 prospect Ben Revere?  If Moore could pull off that two-for-one deal I could probably ignore the likely poor performance of the 2010 Royals through the summer.  Hell, I might be giddy inside for the entire season despite the fact that the major league team will be fighting to stay out of the AL Central cellar, and I don’t think the Twins would be getting burned in such a deal.

Still aside from the Johan Santana trade, the Twins are a very intelligently run organization.  I’d be stunned if they were to agree to a Ramos and Revere package to get Soria up to Target Field.  That shouldn’t deter Dayton Moore and the Royals.  In addition to Hicks and Revere the Twins have a handful of other OF prospects that they could pair with Ramos including Angel Morales, Rene Tosoni, and Joe Benson that would provide fair return for Soria.  Depending on the thoughts of the Royals talent evaluation staff when it comes to each of those three players, and Wilson Ramos, the Twins might have to add a third, lower tier, prospect to the package.

I still struggle with the idea of trading Joakim Soria for any package of players regardless of how lopsided the deal would appear to be shifted in the Royals favor.  However, the Twins and Royals appear to match up ridiculously well in terms of a potential deal that would involve Wilson Ramos and Soria.  Further, if Dayton Moore were to trade Joakim, the pain would be a little lessened for me if he wound up pitching for the Twins since they are my second favorite team.

Since taking over as GM in the summer of 2006 Dayton has not shown any inclination or desire to make a major deal like this, so that perhaps more than anything else makes this extremely unlikely.  We all know that Moore and the Royals have grown overly sensitive about criticism, and I think one of the negative results of this sensitivity is that Moore is less willing to deal on this level.  For what it is worth, I also think this sensitivity is part of the reason Josh Fields came with Chris Getz in the Mark Teahen trade, but that is a thought better left for another day.

At some point, there is going to be a first time for Moore to pull off a trade like this and there will eventually come a time when the Royals and Twins become trading partners.

(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.)

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