🏀 KuBuckets Archive

Royals are smoking hot in spring training.

They lead the league in offense.

Is this a fluke or a sign for improvement this year under new coaching staff.

@AsadZ hopeful!

@AsadZ Ha its definitely a fluke. Most of the guys playing in Spring Training won't make the roster.

I think the thing I'm most hopeful about is that the pitching improves. It sounds like players were pretty adamant that they were being held back by the former regime. If the pitching situation isn't as bad as it seemed at the end of last season, then I think you can start that transition from a perennial loser to trying to win some games.

I get a sense that this staff is making day to day environment more casual than previous regime which is appreciated by players.

Not royals but the star reliever for the mets Edwin Diaz, 20 million contract this year, injured himself in a postgame celebration in the WBC. May be an ACL. Awful scene after the game. His brother is a teammate and he was just bawling on the field.

@wissox said in 2023 MLB Season - Royals:

Not royals but the star reliever for the mets Edwin Diaz, 20 million contract this year, injured himself in a postgame celebration in the WBC. May be an ACL. Awful scene after the game. His brother is a teammate and he was just bawling on the field.

Kendrys Morales did the same thing years ago. Celebration injuries.

@Jethro I did the same thing too. An all important church softball game to boot. Scored 5 in bottom of 7 to win, jumped to high five a friend next thing I knew I was laying on the ground screaming. My friend kept yelling at me "are you serious?" I answered yes every time but he still didn't believe me! When he saw the bottom half of my leg perpendicular to my top half he believed me.

@wissox I assume you were screaming words appropriate for church.

@wissox Damn, even tho Sox are rivals you never want to see such injuries

@AsadZ I don't even want to say 'fortunately he's a Met' but he's not on the Sox.

@mayjay Word would have gotten back to my parents had I been foul mouthed!

So here we go again, another marathon season starts today.

What are our expectations.

For Royals, I will be extremely happy with .500.

I would love to see our young pitchers strive, Singer, Bubic, Lynch

JJ basically said we'd suck.

If the young guys can get hot early, there's hope. If the pitchers can just not get rocked, there's hope.

Got shut down by Twins on opening day, only 2 hits

Shut down 2nd day in a row, new Royals record.

On a positive note, pitching has looked solid.

Swept by Twins.

While season is long, not a good start to the season.

Hitting was dismal.

Terrible first week for Royals, went 1-6 at home.

@AsadZ the'yre striking out a lot, while simultaneously not hitting the ball over the fence when they do hit it. Not a great combo.

This team is going to lose 100 games. But at least they didn't tease us in April. Hopefully some guys play well enough to be traded.

MJ needs to be moved out of the leadoff spot. Bobby Witt should be leading off.

Then I'd probably go with Olivarez, Savly and Vinnie to round out the top 4. The rest of the lineup you could pick at random.

Pitching has been better, one bright spot so far.

Royals are 3-6 despite having the 7th best ERA through 9 games. But here is the kicker. 4 of the 5 starters will be UFAs this offseason... If they are out of contention in June, they need to sell off every single one of the starters if someone wants them.

Could be a crazy good haul though. So fingers crossed all of these guys can hang around the 3.00 ERA and we can trade for some top prospects. Sad that Cal Eldredge might have been the guy holding the young pitchers back.

This is a sad reality unfortunately.

Initial results are indicating that pitching coaching changes are working well.

I wish Royals had made similar moves on hitting side.

How about Rays, 13-0 to start the season.

@AsadZ If no one is there to see it, did it really happen? -Tampa bay is 26th in attendance - (2 spots ahead of the Royals).

@dylans insane. That team moves in the next 10 years.

I imagine the A’s end up in Vegas and the Rays go to like Nashville

I'd love for the Rays to move to Salt Lake just so Utah would have pro teams called the Jazz (obviously not native to Utah) and a mascot named after an ocean-specific creature (there are no oceans close to Utah).

@FarmerJayhawk said in 2023 MLB Season - Royals:

I'd love for the Rays to move to Salt Lake just so Utah would have pro teams called the Jazz (obviously not native to Utah) and a mascot named after an ocean-specific creature (there are no oceans close to Utah).

Rumors of Salt Lake in an expansion

@Kcmatt7 exactly. Makes a lot of sense for both sides if Nashville doesn't work out.

Royals are 6-21, I was expecting much better.

These guys are really struggling, can they learn and grow?

What about the new manager, is he too nice of a guy?

Yikes they’re ridiculously bad. I thought they hired Tampa bays old coach not the marlins.
😱 Rough.

Royals won 3-2 today, now 7-21

Singer has been a major disappointment.

He missed valuable innings build up prior to start of the season by getting into US roster but did not get to pitch much in the tournament.

But still, he does not have same control he possessed last year.

We will be paying for Dayton's sins for another 2-3 years. They need to find a way to field a competitive team by 2025 though if they want the downtown stadium dream to come true. People will not pay for it for a 100-game perennial loser.

Witt has been awesome since All Star break, he has a shot to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases.

Pitching continues to be awful.

Ragans seems to be an exception on trades made by Royals in recent history in that it is looking promising, he has good stuff and solid control.

Witt jr only needs 3 more hr for a 30/30 season.

Edit - 2 hrs to go

Ragans won AL pitcher of the month award for Aug and he pitched another gem last night.

He is emerging as Royals ace.

What a story Ragans is. Under team control for 4 more seasons too.

Too bad the Royals have no minor league system and those 4 seasons will end up being a waste and we'll trade him his age 29 season for scraps. They should really consider trying to trade him at the deadline next season if he has a 1st half resembling anything like the way he has pitched so far for us.

I hope they actually clean house in the front office in a month.

Balk off last night. Sox sinking to new lows.

@wissox I feel your agony and pain.

@AsadZ Thanks, this season has been my worst as a Sox fan, and yet somehow we're probably finishing ahead of the Royals in the standings.

@wissox Losing the draft too, I see.

@dylans Sox don't know how to draft so no loss there.

@wissox 😂

@wissox wild game last night

Vaughn is a good hitter

@AsadZ Yeah I like Vaughn, wild game to come back from 0-9, tie and then cough it up right away.

Vasquez has been another nice trade get for Royals; in small sample size he has already hit 12 HRs

@AsadZ The initial reaction at the trade deadline by the media/twitter was clearly a massive overreaction...

Royals won at the deadline, period. Even if Ragans and Vasquez regress next year they already showed what the Royals Front Office saw when they made the trade. I don't think you can take that away from them at this point.

Looking at this from a positive standpoint:

1. Vinnie will be back in 2024.
2. The outfield of Olivares, Velasquez and Melendez can hit the ball.
3. Fermin will be back in 24, meaning Salvy/Vinnie can rotate 1B.

From a negative:
1. Absolutely no pitching on this team outside of Ragans. None.
2. 3B is a huge weak spot for this team. Garcia is not the answer.

Ultimately I think the bats are good enough to make a run as long as the injury bug doesn't bite. But there is no depth and NOTHING in AAA. Health will dictate a huge part of the season next year. But they absolutely need to find some pitching. They have a 0% chance of winning 70 games next season without acquiring 5-6 pitchers this offseason and at least a couple of them working out in the starting rotation. They may need to sacrifice some bats for pitching. Ragans, Witt and Salvy are probably the only three guys who should be untouchable.

@Kcmatt7 Nice summary. I concur.

It is so disappointing to see how Royals 2018 college pitching draft overhaul has worked out.

There was so much hope that couple of guys from the likes of Singer, Kowar, Lynch, Bubic etc would become quality MLP pitchers. It is frustrating to see how Singer has regressed this year.

Royals will need to spend money this offseason on pitching to be competitive.

After bad play throughout the season, Royals always end the season on a high note with a winning record in September, only raising hopes for the following season.

Then they tank and cycle continues.

They swept mighty Astros on their home turf who are fighting for first place finish of their own.

@Kcmatt7 I saw below from an article on Royals infielders and wanted to run by you, this is on Garcia

Garcia tops American League third basemen with 12 OAA at the position -- he has 14 OAA total this year adding in the innings he’s played shortstop -- well ahead of the Mariners’ Eugenio Suárez (9). With Garcia, Alguacil’s main concern was his comfort level, considering it was a position Garcia had never played before. Early on, Garcia played toward the foul line and farther back in the dirt to take advantage of his tools as a shortstop.

Recently, Garcia has started to play more towards the hole, where he can take advantage of his 8 OAA mark, going to his left side to take away hits, which leads all third basemen. The angle is different, and the throw is longer to first base, but Garcia’s max-effort arm strength is 88.3 mph, which ranks seventh among players with 100 or more throws at third.

“When I first started playing third base I [committed] a lot of errors because I didn’t move my feet and the ball was coming too hard at me,” Garcia said. “I know guys hit harder here than in the Minor Leagues, so I learned to wait for the ball, not come in.”

Wow, Witt Jr made history, first Royal to hit 30 HRs and steal 30 bases.

What a talented player, hope Royals can keep him in KC.