Royals

[pdub]

I know this isn't how it works but Salvys like what, 8 WAR right now?

[NewtonHawk11]

Just looked at it because you mentioned it. .4 WAR. Odd.

You mean to tell me Cam Callagher and Sebastian Riveria or whatever would be close to same output too..?

[Sparko]

WAR: wannabe amateur rating. I loved Bill James essays, but he wasn’t even a good mathematician IMHO. He ushered in a legion who were, but some of his standards are useless. WAR is my least favorite because if you are surrounded by awful players, it cannot possibly gauge anything (Starters Active on Lackluster Teams—SALT) Spray charts are significant. Propensity/aggression charts are significant. But outfield assists and an array of tried and true stats convey the information without some pompous comparative math garbage. The Royals have some clutch bats that widen the hitting zone above replacement. Intangible. Salvy won three games in a homestand by making exactly the right read defensively and with his bat. He is currently the most important daily player on an AL roster. Nurturing young pitchers, making aggressive pickoff throws, clutch hitting—HRs or base hits depending on the situation.

[pdub]

It's somewhat a similar stat to +/-.

[Cascadia]

WAR is definitely a flawed and overused metric. But fanboys eat it up.

[Sparko]

Really, the eye test tells you the Royals have three wins that without Salvy they wouldn’t have over the last week. But extended metrics also include getting pitched around or hitting long flies into an arctic front. Or booting a ball no one else reaches.

[Deleted User 865]

Holy shit, Benintendi just made ESPN #1 play fully laying out for a ball. That was incredible.

[Sparko]

Some good defense tonight

[NewtonHawk11]

Are the Royals.... Good?

[Sparko]

With that 100 mph fastball closer and the wily veteran closers on the back end? And Mondi and Witt Jr. on the way, this is looking promising. Some great defense too and thump in the bats.

[Cascadia]

Great start to this road trip (and 23 game stretch). Duffy tomorrow, a win would be huge.

[Deleted User 865]

Are the Royals.... Good?

Royals are a good team, but not sure if they are good. I think they have a lot going for them. Making it to May above 500 is promising. The central being weak and then playing in the clutch has been great to see

[Sparko]

The Royals actually have depth this year at every position--pretty nice luxury.

[Cascadia]

Can’t believe they pulled Duffy after 5 innings, 4 hits, 8 k’s and no walks

[Cascadia]

Got to the 7th . HGH Time......oh wait....

[Deleted User 865]

Can’t believe they pulled Duffy after 5 innings, 4 hits, 8 k’s and no walks

I was hiking and just watching scoring plays. Did he have a high pitch count? Because that’s crazy to pull him if it wasn’t 100 pitches yet.

This is getting close to calling this 2014. A’s with best AL record, and Royals showing a lot of fight.

[CrimsonNBlue]

Detroit is terrible. That’s why you beat them down when you play.

Sko Yals

[Deleted User 865]

Detroit is terrible, but sweeping any MLB team on their home field, especially divisional, is a reason to get excited

[Cascadia]

Can’t believe they pulled Duffy after 5 innings, 4 hits, 8 k’s and no walks

I was hiking and just watching scoring plays. Did he have a high pitch count? Because that’s crazy to pull him if it wasn’t 100 pitches yet.

This is getting close to calling this 2014. A’s with best AL record, and Royals showing a lot of fight.

Still don’t have a good feel for if this is 2013 or 2014.

Would honestly take either

[jfish26]

Detroit is terrible, but sweeping any MLB team on their home field, especially divisional, is a reason to get excited

Haven't swept em yet (getaway game at noon today).

Are the Royals going to go 102-60? They're not.

But it's more likely that they'll win 90 games now than 70, and it's enormous to keep stacking up these wins when you're still getting nothing/effectively nothing from Witt/Soler/Mondesi. And Dozier/Keller, to a lesser extent.

This is exactly the sort of thing you want to do - buy yourself a bit of a cushion - if you want to get to July and have really interesting decisions to make (on which prospects do you start the clock?; do you spin any prospects for lineup help now?).