OK, This Is Getting Old

This team sucks.

At least, they have really sucked for the last three weeks or so.  They have looked very much like the teams that lost 100 games three out of four years, and not at all like the team that came out of the gate strong and pushed to the top of the Central Division.  And I can only ask—what gives?

Here at Unknown Royals Fan, I choose not to focus my efforts on single players.  Therefore, if you want your Zack Grienke needs satisfied, I encourage you to read Rany Jazayerli’s excellent blog, RanyontheRoyals.com. Rany breaks down the magic of Zack’s performance YTD much better than I ever could.

And yes, Grienke has been awesome this year by any measure; 8-1 with a 0.84 ERA is incredible; more incredible is his five complete games!  I am truly enjoying watching Zack this year as he goes to the mound.  I’ve always loved pitchers who took the mound with the attitude of going nine innings. 

The fact that Dennis Leonard was my childhood hero ought to explain a lot.  I also love Zack’s newfound willingness to plunk a hitter that’s leaning out over the plate; again,  Leonard-like in his aggressiveness.  Zack should win at least 20 this year, and more likely 22-25.  That’s great. 

But I’m constantly reminded that Steve Carlton won 27 for the 1972 Phillies, a team that only won 59 total.  So the great pitcher does not necessarily equal a great team.

What the Royals equal right now, at least when Zack is not on the mound, is a lousy team that’s a pushover for opponents.  Last night’s 11-2 pasting by the Tigers is just the latest example.

I’m not upset so much about Brian Bannister—what he’s done thus far this year is what he is—a completely average pitcher who is able to put up some good nights, but who operates on such a slim margin that when he gets hit, he really gets hit.

He’ll seldom go deep in games because he isn’t capable of making the Big Pitch that will get him out of jams.

More concerning are the struggles of Gil Meche.  I don’t give a damn what anyone says; Meche is having back troubles and they are affecting his stamina.  Meche has, over his Royals career, been a solid seven or eight-inning guy.

As of right now, Gil hasn’t gone seven innings since Apr. 23, which was one start before his back problems came to light.  In the time since, he’s been completely average to below average as a starter.

I’ll go on record here as not being a big fan of Nick Swartz as a trainer.  His “rest a couple days and maybe the problem will go away” approach to injury has seldom helped any Royal, and the Royals have consistently had a worse DL record than other teams.

Perhaps Swartz and his staff are the next place for Dayton Moore to overhaul.

Nor has Kyle Davies shown himself to be the guy to lift up the team.  His ERA has now crept over five for the first time in a couple of years, and he’s backslid toward being the wild and inconsistent pitcher that the Braves released, rather than the guy who absolutely owned hitters down the stretch last year.

The bullpen, too, has gotten less stellar over the past few weeks.  Although the timing coincides with Soria’s DL’ing, I’m not sure that cause and effect matchup.  Simply put, we’ve been in precious few situations where Soria would be a factor, particularly with Trey Hillman’s by the book use of his closer.

The Royals’ demotion of Luke Hochevar after his seven-inning outing baffled a lot of people, including me. I have to be honest—I thought that Luke would buy himself at least another couple of starts with that show of adequacy. 

It didn’t happen, and I have to wonder if Luke didn’t display some untimely temperament after losing that game.  Hochevar’s problems have long been thought to be between his ears, and he did little in his short time in KC to convince otherwise. 

Frankly, I think that when a player is willing to sit out a year because he has his nose out of joint about his draft offer, that player is worth being passed on the next year.  There simply aren’t the success stories to back up the investment.

So, where is help to be found?  I haven’t the foggiest.  I really believe we’ll see Gil Meche DL’d before July 4 fireworks go off.  Even Swartz has to see that Meche is not physically 100%, and is getting farther away every time we run him out there.

Of those in the bullpen, only Jamey Wright has been a moderately competent starter, and I have predicted that we’d see Jamey taking the mound as a starter before the end of the year.  But—and I’m a big Jamey fan—that’s no panacea, as our best-case scenario is to see him give us five or six decent innings every fifth day.

If the offense could pick up our pitchers on nights they don’t give up 11 runs, it would be nice.  Looking up and down the lineup, the only real spots that stand out as hurting us are David DeJesus and the catching spot.  But for the others, it seems like we’re just piling up stats. 

Mark Teahen got two hits last night, for example, but was erased in double plays both times.

Maybe it’s about time for somebody to flip over the postgame spread and go nuts, huh?  This team just needs to start playing up to its potential.  This team, talent-wise, is closer to the division leading team we saw in April than the cellar dwellers we’re seeing now.