Now I have heard a lot of media people in the city talking about how bad the Royals played and how we look awful, and it occurs to me that these same media get paid to not fully evaluate the game. Now this was the first game I have seen but, I DVR'ed it and watched it that evening, I had already heard the score so I knew we got smacked, so I was not sitting waiting for us to do something I already knew it didn't happen. So, with that said I sat down and evaluated each and every pitch from both sides of the plate, also evaluated defensively what went wrong. I am aware that this is Spring Training, however, The sun tore up both sides pretty badly, secondly Grudz commiting two errors is uncommon, so I chalk that up to a bad day. With that said, and yes the errors extended the Cubs big inning. Tomko pitched well, not great but, well. His box scores look bad, but the pitches he was beat on most of them were down in the strikezone throwing to the target. He also, threw a ton of first strike pitches, getting hitters in the hole early. Now the blame can simply be blamed on Buck or Tomko for getting beat or maybe we should give credit partially to the Cubs hitters who, if you saw the game the hits against Tomko for the most part were just loopers into the outfield with the exception of I believe it was two solid rips for doubles. The rest of the pitching was spotty and Yabuta(sp?) should be released, he has no vilocity, his stuff was awful, and left the majority of pitches up in the strikezone. As far as the hitting, we were off just a little in every swing with the exception of Buck's shot in the gap. Teahen is a blazer, the kid can run, but Sending him (yes it is spring I know) was a mistake. Silverio is a joke as a Coach and should be released. Now, comes the disappointing news. Gordon right now (not just that game but, including last year) Can't hit a Curve or Offspeed pitch on the outside corner of the plate. He pulls off too much, and looks silly. He needs to have someone hit behind him that will force the pitchers to throw him fastballs, or he needs to have Grienke throw him pitches in batting practice. So with that said, I am still optimstic about the season and was not as disappointed as the box scores showed.
Going forward, what I think needs to happen for the Royals.
We need to find a way to trade for Daryl Ward. I know the Cubs love him, but he is not going to be a starter. He could be a starter for the Royals at First or as DH. Depending on what we do with Butler. If Butler plays first the Ward DH's giving Gload the position he was signed for backup. If Ward Plays first then Butler DH's. This make Shealy and Huber expandable.
DeJesus needs to learn to steal. Gathright needs to play awsome the first couple of weeks of the season so we can trade him to the Mariners for Ibanez who we shoud not have given up.
We need to find an arm for the bullpen. Something similar to Grienke young with a ton of control and a ton of speed.
Let me know what you people think!