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Handing Out Royals First Half Honors

By Michael Engel |
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The second half of the season (technically it’s closer to the final 40% or so but the All-Star Break makes a nice clean separation), so the staff of Kings of Kauffman looked back at the performances of the team and came up with some quick awards for the Royals.

The four categories we considered were:

Jul 16, 2013; Flushing, NY, USA; American League pitcher Greg Holland (56) of the Kansas City Royals throws a pitch in the 7th inning in the 2013 All Star Game at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

First Half MVP

  • Jen Nevius: Greg Holland. He started out slow, but turned into an All-Star.
  • Mike Vamosi: Greg Holland. No one has touched him since April.
  • Brian Henry: Ervin Santana
  • Marcus Meade: David Lough. Lough gets the edge over Ervin Santana and James Shields because he represents two positives: 1) his excellent play since being called up. 2) No more Jeff Francoeur. Lough’s been worth a quite a bit in the WAR department in his short time up. So, I’m giving it to him.
  • Jordan McLaughlin: Greg Holland. He has been the most dominant pitcher for the Royals this season. I wouldn’t consider anyone from this offense MVP worthy therefore Holland gets my vote.
  • Jeff Parker: James Shields. He’s been as good as  advertised. Though he’s struggled of late, he legitimized the front of the rotation.
  • Hunter Samuels: James Shields. He has had his share of rough outings, but he still is among the top 10 starters in the American League (by WAR).
  • Ethan Evans: Greg Holland. It’s hard to vote for anyone else with Holland being as dominant as he’s been.
  • Michael Engel: Alex Gordon. He’s the best overall player and a big offensive force in the first two months. I think there’s an argument for James Shields or Ervin Santana for the innings they’ve thrown (and quality ones, at that), but when Gordon hit the ground against the Indians and was threatened with a possible concussion, it felt like the season would have been lost without him.
  • Kevin Scobee: Alex Gordon – toyed with the idea of say Shields because he leads the team in fWAR, but the lead isn’t substantial enough to give it to him over an every day player. Gordon has put together one of the best three-year stretches in club history, and even though his last 3-5 weeks have taken a huge dive from where he was at the start of the year, there’s still a very real possibility he’ll put up another 5-win season. On a roster filled with contact-dependent, no power, all-hype offensive performers, even Gordon’s weaknesses get glossed over because he’s so much better than the rest of his teammates.

Jun 16, 2013; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Ervin Santana (54) against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Biggest Surprise

  • Jen: Ervin Santana
  • Mike: Ervin Santana. After his first start in Chicago it looked like it was the same Santana but then he became the Magic Man.
  • Brian: Ervin Santana
  • Marcus: I assume this means positive surprise so I’ll go with Ervin Santana. It made sense to expect some positive regression from his performance last year, but he’s been so good in the first half. Consistent and near dominant.
  • Jordan: David Lough. Hard to argue anyone other than Lough. Although, I can’t imagine too many people had Ervin Santana performing this well.
  • Jeff: Ervin Santana. He has teamed with Shields to give the Royals a potent 1-2 punch. Santana’s been stellar and I don’t think anyone saw that coming.
  • Hunter: David Lough. Lough has put up very solid numbers in his limited playing time, and while I expect some regression in the 2nd half, what he’s done to this point offensively (.757 OPS) has been impressive.
  • Ethan: David Lough: At the beginning of the season, I was desperately hoping there would be some alternative to Jeff Francoeur getting regular playing time. David Lough came up and proved that he was capable of playing better Francoeur and eventually pushed Francoeur to the bench which I was happy about. I suspect that he may not be as good as he appeared during the start of the season, but I hope he continues to play well.
  • Michael: David Lough. I did not see this coming. I knew he could hit a little, run a little, but I didn’t expect the instant production.
  • Kevin: Billy Butler‘s struggles. Shocking to think that a player of Butler’s caliber and ability to barrel baseballs on a consistent basis had a first-90 games that Butler had. For someone who is just 27 and in his 7th year of experience, Butler has been remarkably consistent with offensive output. Though, in reality, calling his pre-All-Star break a “struggle” is a bit of hyperbole, despite what all he (doofus) detractors say: his career OPS+ is 120; his OPS+ this year is 112. The rest of the roster though, is no surprise. There were only two legitimate and objectively capable bats heading into the season, and there’s a fair argument that is still the case.
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