Kings of Kauffman » Trey Hillman

Opportunity Knocks

Michael Engel — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 21:44:52 +0000

A running theme* during spring training so far has been the Royals willingness to mix it up on the basepaths. After acquiring speedy players like Alcides Escobar and Lorenzo Cain to go along with Jarrod Dyson and Derrick Robinson in camp, it’s a good use of personnel to get a feel for how players read pitchers and what instincts they bring to baserunning.

*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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“Batting Second, Jason Kendall”

Michael Engel — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 01:28:49 +0000

True Grit

Last month, Wally, Gage and myself took a glance back at a significant event in the 2010 season – Alex Gordon’s demotion to Omaha and transition to the outfield. I always find it fun to look back at what I thought at the time in light of new information and with 20/20 hindsight.

Today, Gage, Kevin and I are taking another trip in the way back machine to look at another theme of the 2010 Royals season – Jason Kendall‘s confusing chokehold on the second spot in the batting order.

The Backstory: On May 18, in his fifth game as Royals manager, Ned Yost filled out his lineup card with Jason Kendall in the second spot. To that point, Kendall hadn’t hit second all season, as Trey Hillman had primarily used Scott Podsednik in the spot.

The move coincided with an increasingly productive David DeJesus, whose bat was justifying a shift to the third spot in the order, moving Podsednik to the leadoff spot. Those moves seemed to fit the way the Royals were hitting and allowed Billy Butler to bat fourth with the two outfielders ahead of him.

Kendall in the second spot seemed odd, though. He’d only batted as high as sixth a few times to that point and had only seven extra base hits (all doubles) after six weeks of baseball. Yost corrected the mistake the next night, batting Mike Aviles in the #2 spot, but over the rest of the season, Kendall batted second 69 more times. By the end of the season, his OPS batting behind the leadoff hitter was .564.

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Press Release: Baseball Bloggers Alliance Announces Connie Mack Award

Michael Engel — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 02:47:32 +0000

Kings of Kauffman is a proud member of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance, which unites baseball fans, writers, bloggers and site owners in collective discussion and collaborative projects.

At the conclusion of the 2010 season, Kings of Kauffman, as a member of the BBA’s Kansas City Chapter, voted for multiple American League awards. The Connie Mack Award recognizes the best manager of the year in both leagues. (Hint: It wasn’t Trey Hillman, though one of the winners does have a strong Royals connection.)

The Press Release is after the jump. You should also visit the Baseball Bloggers Alliance.
The next award to be announced will be the Willie Mays Award, which recognizes the outstanding rookies in each league. (more…)

Royals Extend Ned Yost Through 2012

Michael Engel — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 21:12:16 +0000

Dayton Moore has been busy today as in between trade discussions, he also managed to extend manager Ned Yost through the 2012 season. Yost took over in May after the firing of Trey Hillman and since, he’s managed the Royals to a 31-37 record.

The second half of July has been rough, but for the most part, Yost has done a serviceable job with the level of talent on the team. He has a reputation for handling young players well, and with many minor leaguers taking big strides towards the major leagues, he’ll likely get to see a handful of them make their debuts. Now if he could just stop batting Jason Kendall second in the order all the time…

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A Tale of Two Bullpens

Michael Engel — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 21:22:59 +0000

I’m a realistic fan. I know that this team has its deficiencies. We play Jason Kendall too often. Jose Guillen would have been a nice candidate for salary-eating release (though okay, that one has kind of worked out so far). The offense hits too many singles, the pitching staff allows too many walks.

So it’s not unusual to find myself lusting after what other teams have. A few examples:
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Royals Fall Short Yet Again Against Washington

Michael Engel — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 19:12:03 +0000

Kansas City looked to right the ship after four straight losses, sending Anthony Lerew against Luis Atilano in hopes that Lerew’s success against Houston would continue.

It wasn’t meant to be.
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Has Luke Finally Harnessed the Force?

Michael Engel — Wed, 26 May 2010 23:42:18 +0000

One of the themes for 2010 before the season began was the necessity for Luke Hochevar to mature as a pitcher and develop more consistency. His last time out on May 20, Hochevar went 9 innings against Cleveland, striking out seven on 107 pitches. It was Kansas City’s first nine inning complete game of the year.

But Royals fans who follow the team closely were waiting for the other shoe to drop. We’ve seen sizzling performances from the former number one overall pick before, only to watch his next start fizzle in a puff of smoke.

Today, to follow up on his complete game, Hochevar went 8 innings, walked none, and surrendered only two runs against a Rangers offense that has battered and bruised Kansas City pitchers thus far. Has he finally figured it out? Let’s take a look:
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Royals Rewind: 5/17-5/23

Michael Engel — Tue, 25 May 2010 01:02:49 +0000

After the dust settled and Trey Hillman had become the first managerial casualty of 2010, the Royals had business to tend to, hitting the road for a pair of two game series before returning home. The Royals won their first series under new manager Ned Yost, so would the good times continue to roll?
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Quarterly Review

Michael Engel — Sat, 22 May 2010 01:55:28 +0000

We’re just a touch past the first quarter of the 2010 season so it’s not a bad idea to take a look back at our Royals and how things stand relative to expectations.
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Never Underestimate the Power of Mojo

Fri, 21 May 2010 15:42:23 +0000

Many baseball analysts will submit that managers have only a minor impact on the fortunes of a team during a 162 game season. That might be true when factoring the direct affects of tactical decisions such as whether or not to hit and run, bunt, steal, when to yank your starter, which reliever to use and in what situation, batting order, lineup, and the like (although I wouldn’t bet on it). But an area where managers indisputably have a significant influence is the atmosphere of the club, and self-confidence of the players. And from where I’m sitting and watching, the Royals look like a different ball club since Ned Yost took over. In a good way.
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Rewinding to April 3rd, the lost Q&A

Wally Fish — Tue, 18 May 2010 21:18:58 +0000

Let’s rewind back to before the 2010 season. Back on March 26th, I was approached by one of the writers for the New York Mets site, Mets Paradise, to answer some questions about the Kansas City Royals. Always willing to talk Royals, and always willing to provide thoughts on our team to anyone who is willing to listen or read them, I gladly accepted. At the time of the request I was immersed in all things related to Call to the Pen as I prepared for that site’s launch, but found time to write and send back the following on April 3rd.

The series that my responses were intended for, Around The Blogs In 30 Days, seems to have died off as their focus has turned to other things. I don’t blame them in the least for moving on from the series, and I must say that they do an excellent job covering the Mets on a daily basis. That said, it seems like a shame to not share my responses somewhere so I thought I’d publish them here. If nothing else it has been fun to look back at my responses before the season started in relation to where things stand with the Royals today. I hope you enjoy reading the following questions and answers which appear exactly as they did when I sent them back to Mets Paradise back on April 3rd. (more…)

Royals Rewind: 5/10-5/16 – Progress (?)

Michael Engel — Mon, 17 May 2010 02:02:08 +0000

The Royals returned home after a dismal road trip that saw them go 3-11. A lack of timely hitting and too many walks cost them a few games that otherwise could have been won, and after a day off for travel on Monday, they opened up against Cleveland looking to right the ship.
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Was Timothy Leary Right?

Fri, 14 May 2010 21:16:57 +0000

There are lots of different ways to deal with the ups and downs of baseball. Part-time DH Ken Griffey Jr reportedly took a little siesta recently in the clubhouse. Keith Hernandez, former first baseman and current TV announcer for the Mets, also indulged in a brief snooze during a recent extra-inning game, his head down on the desk, sort of like I used to do in first hour English during my brief, awkward foray into the magical world of high school academia. Trey Hillman reportedly did a lot of praying, and reading from the good book. But by far my favorite way to deal with the grind of 162 games comes from the annals of 70′s baseball via (more…)

It Rolls Downhill

Michael Engel — Fri, 14 May 2010 21:09:49 +0000

With the firing of Trey Hillman, the Royals continued with changes to the coaching staff, reassigning now-former third base coach Dave Owen within the organization. Eddie Rodriguez shifts across the diamond to take Owen’s place and Rusty Kuntz returns to his familiar spot in the first base coaching box. None of this is surprising.

Additionally, Ned Yost‘s first lineup makes a lot more sense (the Royals face LHP Mark Buehrle tonight, still no Kila):
LF – Scott Podsednik
2B – Mike Aviles
RF – David DeJesus
1B – Billy Butler
DH – Jose Guillen
3B – Alberto Callaspo
CF – Mitch Maier
SS – Yuniesky Betancourt
C – Jason Kendall

Compare that with Hillman’s insistence to bat Kendall sixth in the order. Up until the 8 and 9 spots, that’s not a relatively bad lineup. Underwhelming still, but I’m glad to see Maier get a higher slot.

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Trey-ding Places

Michael Engel — Fri, 14 May 2010 01:51:30 +0000

As Jon passed along earlier, Trey Hillman was fired as manager of the Royals and replaced by former Brewers manager Ned Yost. Fans and media have called for the move for a while now, and the Royals 11-23 start certainly warranted the move, especially after a dismal first two years under Hillman. The timing – announcing the change after the Royals win this afternoon – was odd, but I suppose there’s no right time to announce such a thing.

I’m not going to get too deep into analysis, but I agree that Hillman needed to go. (more…)

The Reviews Are In

Wed, 12 May 2010 15:05:03 +0000

Horrific. Nauseating. Repulsive. These are the words once used to describe audience reaction to my performance as the leading man (thanks a lot Mom – it still hurts) in a Norman Elementary School second grade production of “Come Back Little Sheba.” Hey, I’ll admit my interpretation of recovering alcoholic Doc Delaney may not have been as rich and nuanced as Bert Lancaster’s in the 1952 screen version. But I was only seven years old. And in my defense, I’d never actually seen any alcoholic “recover” before (no Mom, I won’t forget the case of Beefeaters next week when I visit you at the nursing home). (more…)

Royals Rewind: 5/3-5/9 – U G L Y

Michael Engel — Mon, 10 May 2010 01:00:20 +0000

After some (mostly) strong pitching at Tampa Bay, the Royals moved on to Chicago and Texas, spending all week on the road while shifting the makeup of the major league roster. Some of the bats that propelled Kansas City atop the majors in batting average cooled off as Jose Guillen, Yuniesky Betancourt, Jason Kendall and Scott Podsednik either slumped severely or witnessed a sharp decline in productivity.

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Hillman Watch

Sun, 09 May 2010 03:14:16 +0000

Each Spring since 1969, I have high hopes for my Kansas City Royals. Ever the clear-eyed realist, I may have acknowledged on occasion that they might not win the World Series every year, but I am always convinced that this is the season they will at least be competitive again. And keep in mind this includes teams whose opening day roster has highlighted such baseball giants as Emil Brown, Doug Mientkiewicz, and Angel Berroa in starring roles. As Ricky Fitts said in American Beauty, “Never underestimate the power of denial.” Politicians and cheating spouses know that Ricky was right. And so do major league baseball executives. (more…)

The Glad Game

Michael Engel — Thu, 06 May 2010 23:36:54 +0000

I may be getting into unexplored territory here, but when I was younger, usually in the summer, I would stay up well past my bedtime. When I was nine, my parents let me have a cable box and TV in my room, so I would stay up until the wee small hours of the morning watching sports highlights, infomercials and the Disney Channel. (Did I hear a record scratch?)

One of the films they would show with regularity was Pollyanna starring Hayley Mills (later of The Parent Trap and Saved By The Bell fame). If you don’t know the story, it goes like this: Pollyanna moves to an embittered town after becoming orphaned. Her aunt is a spinster, and the town is full of general grumpiness and discontent. Until Pollyanna comes along. She refuses to see anything in a negative light, always looking for the bright side. Why, she even makes Rany look like a Grinch. One of her favorite techniques was to play “The Glad Game” – coming up with anything and everything that made her glad.

Well, the Royals are 11-17, they’ve only won one series all year. They just came out of a series at Tampa where they scored only 8 runs. Their pitchers have walked more than any other team. The bullpen has fallen apart multiple times.

I think we could use some Gladness in Kansas City. Here’s what I’m glad about:
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Is Alex Gordon Still Part of The Process?

Michael Engel — Tue, 04 May 2010 21:22:01 +0000

By now, you’ve heard the news of Alex Gordon’s demotion to Omaha. And now, the news is that the Royals organization wants him to work on learning the outfield and playing more at first base. So how did Gordon, 2005′s second overall pick, get to this point and where does he go from here?
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Royals Rewind: 4/26-5/2

Michael Engel — Mon, 03 May 2010 00:19:45 +0000

Well there was some great starting pitching this week. How great? Great enough to get the Royals a 3-4 record in two series at home against Seattle and on the road at Tampa Bay.
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Throw The Book At Him

Michael Engel — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 22:19:36 +0000

With Chris Getz returning from the disabled list, Victor Marte’s brief stay in the Kansas City bullpen came to an end, as he was optioned back to Omaha, which returns the Royals to a typical seven man bullpen. So much has been made of the failures of the bullpen in 2010 for the Royals. And I don’t want to relive the pain, but, hey, I’m a Royals fan. Pain is what we do around here.
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40 hours: Josh Fields and mixed messages

Wally Fish — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 20:03:18 +0000

Let’s go back in time to Friday night. It was 8:04 pm when Terez A. Paylor published some injury updates on Chris Getz and Josh Fields for the Kansas City Star. By all accounts, Chris Getz is on his way back and that is good news assuming the Royals can make room for him on the roster in a way that does NOT involve Alex Gordon. This isn’t about Chris Getz or impending roster moves, however. [...] (more…)

Alberto Callaspo and the Revolving Lineup Spot

Michael Engel — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 02:25:01 +0000

Royals fans may remember Bob Boone (and probably without fond memories). A former Royal himself, Boone managed Kansas City from 1995 until midway through the 1997 season and was notorious for creative lineup manipulation. In 1996, he used 152 different battling lineups. He certainly wasn’t one to subscribe to the theory of crafting a batting lineup based on player archetypes.

So far in 2010, Trey Hillman has tried to use the same lineup in general, but he just can’t help but tinker. (more…)

Royals Rewind: 4/12-4/18 – Walk It Out

Michael Engel — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 19:21:09 +0000

The second week of the Royals’ season came with a few surprises. Scott Podsednik keeps hitting like he’s in a video game on the Easy level. Jose Guillen looks years younger. And the Royals pitching staff is soon to guest star on The United States of Tara because I just don’t know who’s going to show up on a given day.

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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Add Duncan to Trey and Stir

Wally Fish — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 01:25:27 +0000

When it comes to the 2010 Royals, we know a number of things. Barring injury, Zack Greinke, Joakim Soria, Yuniesky Betancourt, Alex Gordon, and Billy Butler will be on the opening day roster. Thanks to the recent extension to 2014, we know that Dayton Moore will be the team’s GM. There was a lot of speculation that, despite the vote of confidence, Trey Hillman would be shown the door after the end of this season. (more…)

Alex Rios to the White Sox and I Have Ken Williams Envy

Wally Fish — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 03:13:19 +0000

I make no secret of my hatred for the White Sox, but you have to respect the hell out of GM Ken Williams. On top of trading for an injured Jake Peavy in the 11th hour of this year’s trade deadline he has now added the hefty salary of the extremely talented, yet underachieving, Alex Rios for absolutely nothing other than having to pay the remainder of his 7 year $69.835 million contract. (more…)

Dayton’s Delusion and Historic Ineptitude

Wally Fish — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 04:10:01 +0000

I mentioned in yesterday’s post that our front office is apparently subject to massive delusions. Many of you who read other Royals blogs are already aware of our GM’s quotes so I apologize for the redundancy contained herein. To minimize said redundancy, I thought it would be best to provide links that address this issue. (more…)

Injuries, Excuses, and Sucking – Guillen and Meche Quotes

Wally Fish — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 04:11:06 +0000

The Royals’ season got a little more bizarre with some of the quotes being thrown out there over the last several days. First off we learned from Dayton Moore that Trey Hillman would “absolutely” be back for the 2010 season. The dreaded vote of confidence has been cast. Under normal circumstances I would conclude that [...]

Gamer Gil Lands on DL – Here Comes Sir Sidney

Wally Fish — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 02:58:23 +0000

With Tony Pena Jr. gone I have felt like a ship without a rudder for the last day or so. Who could possibly fill the role as the Kings of Kauffman least favorite Royals player (KoKLFRP)? Today it became official. Gil Meche was placed on the DL with a lower back injury and he was replaced on the roster by good old Sidney Ponson. Now my problem is solved. (more…)

Inconceivable and Inexcusable

Wally Fish — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 01:34:54 +0000

The move occurred before last night’s game, but I couldn’t bring myself to write about it until today. I was busy applying pressure to my head to keep it from exploding when I heard the news and read the quotes. To make room for Ryan Freel, Luis Hernandez was designated for assignment. The acquisition of Freel by the Royals is paramount to moving a handful of sand on a beach, but I won’t go back down that road. (more…)

Roster Moves: Buck, Hulett, and Freel

Wally Fish — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 01:28:01 +0000

C-John Buck has been activated from the DL. To make room for him, the Royals have optioned Tug Hulett back to Triple-A Omaha. Hulett has a grand total of 1 hit in 14 AB over 12 G this year. Even though he is more versatile than Buck, Tug won’t be missed, except by TPJ and Luis Hernandez. [...]

Independence Day News, Notes, and Links

Wally Fish — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 20:17:07 +0000

Happy 4th of July everyone!

A couple news items, a few notes, and some links to digest and enjoy.

Last night it became official. The Kansas City Royals have signed Nicaraguan 3B prospect Cheslor Cuthbert to a signing bonus between $1 million and $1.5 million. (more…)

Fixing the Royals

Wally Fish — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 03:02:28 +0000

If you read my last post, you know that I have already fired Trey Hillman and have named John Gibbons interim manager of this team. Why should I stop at just the manager? If I were GM of the Royals, and what a wonderful world that would be, this is how I would proceed. (more…)

International Free Agents, Dayton Moore and Trey Hillman

Wally Fish — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:49:53 +0000

Tomorrow, July 2nd, marks the beginning of the international signing period. The Royals are expected to land one of the top Latin free agents by signing Nicaraguan 3B-Cheslor Cuthbert to an expected bonus of $1 million to $1.5 million. (more…)

What Will the Royals do Without Coco Crisp?

Wally Fish — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 20:45:34 +0000

Today, Coco Crisp is scheduled to undergo surgery to repair a labrum tear in his right shoulder. There was a lot of speculation that Crisp was done for the year, leading up to the official announcement yesterday. Now that we know that the speculation was indeed correct, the logical question is what will the Royals do without Coco Crisp? (more…)

Trey and TPJ

Wally Fish — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:46:57 +0000

Last night’s loss wasn’t solely on Trey Hillman. He may have pulled Greinke a little early, but Zack was already at 116 pitches. A tired Greinke is better than anyone in the Royals bullpen, but an injured Greinke puts his very bright future at risk, so I am fine with that move. (more…)

Hillman Blunders with Bale and Bloomquist

Wally Fish — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 02:40:22 +0000

I think I have been pretty reasonable in my assessment of Trey Hillman thus far, but this weekend he pushed me over the edge. I am officially done trying to find the positives in his decisions.

Many people have questioned Trey’s usage of the bullpen, but what he did against the White Sox was downright idiotic. The case study for my assessment is John Bale. You will recall that Bale missed spring training and the beginning of the season due to thyroid surgery. Bale’s rehab assignment consisted of 6 appearances and 6.2 innings of work in double-A for the Northwest Arkansas Naturals. It was reported that he would make 5-6 appearances for Triple-A Omaha before being added to the Royals roster on June 3rd. He was instead brought to the Royals early without making an appearance in Omaha. I have no problem with Bale being added to the Royals roster when Tejeda went on the DL and Hochevar was sent back down to stay on regular rest. Since the rest of the pen was in tatters, adding Bale and Colon to the team made sense. What happened this weekend, however, will probably never make sense to me.

Friday night John Bale made his 2nd appearance of the year for the Royals. In mop-up duty with the game already lost, he pitched 1 scoreless inning without issuing a walk or giving up a hit. Considering he had pitched 6.2 IP in double-A and 2.1 innings in the majors, his Friday night appearance should have been the end of his workload for a few days.

Saturday night rolled around and Bale entered the game with a 3-2 lead having pitched the night before. The results were predictable; Bale left the game with the score tied 3-3. He pitched 1.0 inning and allowed 2 hits, 2 walks and 1 run. For any normal ML manager the story would end there, but not for Trey Hillman and not this season.

Sunday John Bale inexplicably entered the game for a third straight game. Again the results were predictable. Bale failed to record an out, gave up 1 hit, 1 walk, and 2 runs. The Royals lost the game and I have lost all faith in Trey.

Instead of turning to Bale, Hillman had other options including Kyle Farnsworth, Ron Mahay, or Sidney Ponson. All three had only made one appearance in the series. Also available was Roman Colon who did not pitch a single game in the series despite pitching 2.1 scoreless innings earlier in the week. Sidney Ponson isn’t really an option and his fate would have been the same as Bale’s on this day, but at least they wouldn’t have risked overworking an injury-prone pitcher who they need to stay healthy under the present circumstances. Horacio Ramirez remains on the roster but hasn’t pitched since Wednesday when he threw 2 pitches to one batter. I don’t know what is going on with him. I admittedly haven’t spend a lot of time figuring it out since it is Ho-Ram, so I am going to assume he was unavailable.

Hillman’s questionable decision-making in the White Sox series didn’t end with just John Bale. With Coco Crisp sidelined with his sore shoulder, Hillman inexplicably turned to Willie Bloomquist to be his leadoff hitter instead of turning to David DeJesus. After this weekend series in which he went 2-11 with a walk, Willie Bloomquist has a grand total of 35 plate appearances batting leadoff for his career. In those 35 PA he is 6-33 with 2 walks for a .182 BA. Incidentally Bloomquist’s best BA in the lineup is hitting 2nd. If Hillman had batted DeJesus leadoff, he could have batted Bloomquist 2nd and both would have been hitting in the spots where they have had the most success throughout their careers. It makes so much sense that someone should have staged an intervention with Trey before he turned in the first lineup card of the series on Friday. It drives me even more nuts considering that when Coco Crisp was given a day off earlier in the season it was DeJesus who was penciled in at leadoff.

The only thing I am certain of after this weekend is that Trey Hillman will not be the manager of this team when it is legitimately competing for a division title. If all goes well, he will be fired by the end of the year or during the upcoming offseason and we can all move on.