Welcome back, everybody! It is now the Kansas City Royals' turn to step up and receive their 2009 report card. Let's take a look at their record and team leaders:
Kansas City Royals:
Record: 65-97 (tied for last place in AL Central with Cleveland, 21.5 games behind Minnesota).
Batting Leaders:
Batting Average: Billy Butler (.301)
Home Runs: Miguel Olivo (23)
RBIs: Billy Butler (93)
On-base Percentage: Billy Butler (.362)
Pitching Leaders:
Wins: Zack Greinke (16)
ERA: Zack Greinke (2.16). Bullpen- Joakim Soria (2.21).
Strikeouts: Zack Greinke (242)
Innings Pitched: Zack Greinke (229.1)
WHIP: Zack Greinke (1.07)
Saves: Joakim Soria (30)
Highlight of the Season: Tie between Zack Greinke's 15 strikeout performance against Cleveland on August 25 and his one-hitter at Seattle just five days later.
Lowlight of the Season: After getting off to a strong 18-11 start (and being in first place as late as May 15), the team fell apart, going 47-86 the rest of the way.
The Lowdown:
The "lowlight of the season" could possibly serve as the epitaph of the 2009 Kansas City Royals. Fans of the team have seen the same old song and dance before; a season starting off with so much promise finishing as a complete, unmitigated disaster. Their ignominious 65-97 finish marked the seventh time they have finished in the AL Central basement this decade, another thing that Royals fans are all too familiar with. Was their fast start a sign of things to come in the next decade, or did their disastrous second-half reveal their true colors? While history would suggest the latter, let's examine the team together so we can make an educated guess.
Offense:
Kansas City's offense in 2009 was below average, to say the least. They finished in the bottom third of MLB in batting average (23rd), home runs (24th) and on-base percentage (26th). Also, their team batting average was good enough for 20th in MLB at .259, which, believe it or not, was better than the Phillies. Despite all of this, they still had some people in their lineup worth mentioning. Two of their regulars hit at least .300 this season, with second baseman Alberto Callaspo (.300) and first baseman Billy Butler (.301) each turning the trick. This season was also a breakout one for the 23-year-old Butler, who pounded 21 home runs and drove in 93 to go along with his batting average. He also compiled a whopping 299 total bases this season, which was good enough for 10th in the American League. Another aspect of Butler's game that has improved was his batting eye, as he watched his on-base percentage go up from a dismal .324 last year to a pretty solid .362 this year.
However, the biggest thing that hurt this lineup was the absence of Jose Guillen's bat. Guillen played in just 81 games this season, as a torn right hip flexor and a knee injury limited his playing time. The injuries also sapped his power numbers, as he went deep only nine times and drove in just 40. His presence in a lineup that is devoid of power is crucial, not only because his bat strengthens their lineup, but because it also justifies the three year, $36 million contract the Royals gave him two years ago. While some would question why the front office would give such a large contract to a mediocre player, there is no doubting that their front office is trying much harder than in recent years to build a contender, something Royals fans have not seen since the end of the 1980s.
Left fielder David DeJesus and the recently departed third baseman Mark Teahen also had solid seasons at the plate for KC, as they each compiled similar numbers. DeJesus hit 13 home runs and drove in 71, to go along with a .281 batting average, while Teahen hit 12 home runs and drove in 50, to go along with his .271 average. They each played in 144 games this year.
Altogether, this offense is not bad (although they look worse without Guillen), but it is not all that great, either.
Final Grade: C-
Pitching:
Here's an easy question: What are the two words that sum up Kansas City's pitching in 2009? Couldn't figure it out? Well here's the answer: Zack Greinke. Saying that he put together a fantastic season on the mound would simply be an understatement, as he was simply phenomenal in 2009. He not only dominated the Royals' pitching staff statistically, he dominated the major leagues statistically. His microscopic 2.16 ERA led the majors, and he finished third in strikeouts (242) and sixth in WHIP (1.07). His ERA looks all the more impressive when you consider that he pitches in the American League with the DH. Also, the fact that he was able to still compile 16 wins on such a sorry team is also a testament to just how great he was this year. His efforts were good enough for him to capture the AL Cy Young Award, the first by a Royals pitcher since David Cone in 1994. He also joined Steve Carlton as the only two pitchers in the history of the award to win it for a team that lost as many as 97 games (Carlton did it for the Phillies in 1972).
Once you get past Greinke, the rotation becomes very beatable. Three of their starters posted ERAs above five (Gil Meche, Luke Hochevar and Kyle Davies), with Hochevar recording a ghastly 6.55 ERA. What could possibly be worse: Hochevar's ERA, or the fact that the Royals are paying Gil Meche $11 million a year to record ERAs above five (he finished with a 5.09 ERA)? I'll let you be the arbiter of that.
The bullpen, much like the starting rotation, has one stand out guy, and his name is Joakim Soria. He might very well be the best kept secret in baseball as far as closers go, as he has had a level of dominance during the last two years that is simply Rivera-like. In the last two years, he has closed out a ridiculous 72 games in 78 chances, while putting together a 1.87 ERA in that time span. His strikeout-to-walk ratio during the 2009 season was especially mind boggling, as it was 69-16. 69-16! He struck out over four times as many people as he walked! Maybe some of the other relievers on the team could take a page out of Soria's book, as they were largely unimpressive. Jamey Carroll and Juan Cruz were two of KC's other major players out of the bullpen, and they each sported bloated ERAs, with Carroll coming in at 4.33 and Cruz coming in at 5.72.
The Royals pitching staff, sans Greinke and Soria, were pretty bad overall. As a group, their team ERA was 4.83, which tied with Milwaukee for 26th in the bigs and their opponents hit .269 off of them this past season, which was 22nd in MLB. Due to the presence of the aforementioned two, I'll spare the Royals' pitching staff.
Final Grade: D+
Wild Card: Triples and Complete Games
KC tied for the American League lead in complete games with 10, in which Greinke accounted for six of them. Their 51 triples were also tops in the majors. Arbitrary stats, but it still has to count for something, doesn't it?
Final Grade: B
Overall:
The lineup is below average at their worst and mediocre at their best. Their pitching was pretty bad this year when you take Greinke and Soria out of the equation. Even though pitchers Brian Bannister, Luke Hochevar and Kyle Davies are all fairly young and have room for improvement next year, that does not change the fact that they were not very good this year.
Final Grade: D+
Check back tomorrow for the report card on the Cleveland Indians!
No comments:
Post a Comment