Pitching Perspectives (4/13-4/19)

The Royals finished the second week of the season with a 4-2 record. They are now 7-5 and tied for 1st place in the division.

Kansas City

ERA

WHIP

Gil Meche

6.0

0.00

1.33

Zack Greinke

5.0

104

9.0

111

0.00

1.07

Kyle Davies

5.2

6.0

111

4.63

1.37

Sidney Ponson

6.0

3.00

1.50

Totals:

37.2

1.91

1.27

Gil Meche had another excellent start but failed to go deep in the game. It would be nice to see to see him get through 7 innings more often. Hillman has kept his pitch count down thus far this season, which is probably a good idea to keep him fresh. However if the bullpen continues to struggle like it did this week Trey has to let him throw more pitches.

Zack Greinke pitched 14.0 innings, walked 2, struck out 19 and didn’t allow an earned run. His strike percentages in his starts were 60.0% and 68.5%. He is the AL Cy Young front runner after two weeks of baseball.

Kyle Davies has been off his last two starts but he has kept the Royals in the game and continues to strike out more than a batter per inning. One of the problems Davies had in Atlanta was his inability to throw strikes. Through his first three starts this year he is trending the wrong way. His strike percentage has gone from 65% to 59.2% to 53.2% as his BB/9 has increased. A strike % of less than 60% is not good for any starter so I am mildly concerned about what I am seeing. I think Davies has turned the corner in his career so I fully expect Davies to bounce back in his next start. Still, this is something that bears watching as the season goes on.

Sidney Ponson had a decent stat line in his 2nd start. There are, however, two red flags to take note of. The first is his 1.50 WHIP in his 12.0 innings of work this season. The second is the fact he threw strikes on only 56.7% of his pitches in his 1st start, and 56.2% of his pitches for strikes in his second start. The Ponson implosion is quickly approaching.

Horacio “BP” Ramirez pitched out of the bullpen for the week. His time in the rotation is probably done for the time being.

Rotation Assessment: Outside of Greinke’s complete game shutout, no starter went beyond the 6th in any game. This absolutely needs to change or the bullpen is going to burn out in a hurry. The problem is not a lack of results but rather a lack of pitch efficiency. After posting a 3.62 ERA and 1.21 WHIP in week one, and a 1.91 ERA and 1.27 WHIP in the second week, the rotation is the absolute strength of the team right now.

The Bullpen:

ERA

WHIP

Juan Cruz (R)

2.2

0.00

0.75

Kyle Farnsworth (R)

1.1

27.07

3.76

Ron Mahay (L)

2.0

13.50

2.00

Horacio Ramirez (L)

1.1

6.77

3.76

Joakim Soria (R)

1.0

0.00

2.00

Robinson Tejeda (R)

1.0

0.00

Doug Waechter (R)

2.0

9.00

2.00

Jamey Wright (R)

4.0

0.00

1.00

Totals:

15.1

5.87

1.70

On the bright side, Jamey Wright has been an absolute revelation for the Royals this year. Robinson Tejeda has also done an excellent job thus far and compared to the other options has been underused. Juan Cruz has brought his strike out ways to KC although he hasn’t been as dominant as his stat line would suggest. Farnsworth and Mahay have been brutal. I’m sticking with my assertion that this is a good bullpen, but Hillman needs to open his eyes and use these guys more appropriately. Defining some roles in the pen would also probably help settle things down. Farnsworth’s role should be set to bullpen catcher.

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