Kansas City has a lot of good young offensive talent within the system, and a few of them just got promoted to AA from High A.
Ryan Ruffin a 21 year old DH gets promoted from High A after batting .312 with 13 homers and 62 rbi in 66 games. He is definitely in the future plans for KC. He has tremendous power and will be a good hitter as well.
Sam Porter is a 22 year old SS who has a ridiculous bat. This is his second promotion already this season and in 30 games in High A, he hit .338 with 46 hits and 32 runs scored. Not much "pop" in the bat, but he is a good table setter and a very patient hitter.
Miguel Santana is a 24 year old RF who will make the transition to LF because of Dean Crawford. Miguel Santana played in 54 games for High A KC, hitting .331 with 9 homers and 44 rbi. Last season he played in Rookie ball and made the leap straight to High A at the beggining of this season. He is coming along very quickly. KC would like to see him get a little more power, but as long as he's driving in runs, they'll be happy.
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Saturday, September 27, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
58 games through; it only got worse.
Kansas City--
After 58 games, the Bluebirds are a horrendous 24-34, and sit 13GB of Honolulu in the AL West. At this point, KC needs to try and scratch their way back to .500 then work from there.
How has it taken a turn for the worse? The main culprit is starting pitching. With a minimum of 32 innings pitched, the lowest ERA is Russ Jerchower. It only gets worse from there.
The new addition to the rotation is Emil Lopez, and while he only had 9.0 innings pitched in 4 games, he's been fairly solid. He needs to control his pitch count and go deeper into ball games however.
In short, a team with a combined ERA of 5.98 (4th worst in the AL), is not going to win many ball games.
The offense has been a bright spot, but it can't do the job alone.
So, what are the options to fix it?
1) Trade for a SP? Not likely. We were told "only if it benefited us greatly". So don't expect to see any major moves to "help" the team compete. We wouldn't be shocked to see some payroll cut though.
2) Acquire FA's? Nope. No players are available that could come in and contribute.
3) Help from within? The most likely candidate. That doesn't mean it's sure fire though. There are a few young quality arms within the farm system, but none that are Major League ready. A couple of vets in the farm could be called back up, but there is reason they were placed on waivers in the first place.
With the Amateur Draft coming up, hopefully KC can get that stud pitcher in waiting.
After 58 games, the Bluebirds are a horrendous 24-34, and sit 13GB of Honolulu in the AL West. At this point, KC needs to try and scratch their way back to .500 then work from there.
How has it taken a turn for the worse? The main culprit is starting pitching. With a minimum of 32 innings pitched, the lowest ERA is Russ Jerchower. It only gets worse from there.
The new addition to the rotation is Emil Lopez, and while he only had 9.0 innings pitched in 4 games, he's been fairly solid. He needs to control his pitch count and go deeper into ball games however.
In short, a team with a combined ERA of 5.98 (4th worst in the AL), is not going to win many ball games.
The offense has been a bright spot, but it can't do the job alone.
So, what are the options to fix it?
1) Trade for a SP? Not likely. We were told "only if it benefited us greatly". So don't expect to see any major moves to "help" the team compete. We wouldn't be shocked to see some payroll cut though.
2) Acquire FA's? Nope. No players are available that could come in and contribute.
3) Help from within? The most likely candidate. That doesn't mean it's sure fire though. There are a few young quality arms within the farm system, but none that are Major League ready. A couple of vets in the farm could be called back up, but there is reason they were placed on waivers in the first place.
With the Amateur Draft coming up, hopefully KC can get that stud pitcher in waiting.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Who needs pitching?
Kansas City--
The Bluebirds have been rolling, after starting 4-6, they now sit at 10-9 and currently tied for first place with Honolulu in the AL West. During this turnaround, KC has been getting decent pitching performances from their starters, good relief pitching and a TON of offense...
In their last 9 games, they have put up the following run totals..22, 9, 21, 18, and 14. They have also held their opponents to 4 runs or less 4 times in that stretch, not good, but definitely better than the first week or so.
"I like the way the team has been gelling, they pick each other up. We get somebody on base, he's usually going to touch home plate. We have a good mix of hitters who hit for power and average." "I must also talk about our recent addition Oswaldo Jacquez. He's hitting .378 with 13rbi, 2 homers and a sb in 45 at bats...Not to mention his obp is .440. I think we got ourselves a great player"
KC has also been winning within the division, a key component for any team who wishes to be a contender.
"You have to win around 60-70% of your divisional games to have a really good chance of winning the division. We struggled out of the gate losing 3 of 4 to Honolulu, but we're 5-1 since that series within our division, we currently stand at 6-4" Quoted Lariel Martin, who is tied for the team lead in homers with 9.
The Bluebirds have been rolling, after starting 4-6, they now sit at 10-9 and currently tied for first place with Honolulu in the AL West. During this turnaround, KC has been getting decent pitching performances from their starters, good relief pitching and a TON of offense...
In their last 9 games, they have put up the following run totals..22, 9, 21, 18, and 14. They have also held their opponents to 4 runs or less 4 times in that stretch, not good, but definitely better than the first week or so.
"I like the way the team has been gelling, they pick each other up. We get somebody on base, he's usually going to touch home plate. We have a good mix of hitters who hit for power and average." "I must also talk about our recent addition Oswaldo Jacquez. He's hitting .378 with 13rbi, 2 homers and a sb in 45 at bats...Not to mention his obp is .440. I think we got ourselves a great player"
KC has also been winning within the division, a key component for any team who wishes to be a contender.
"You have to win around 60-70% of your divisional games to have a really good chance of winning the division. We struggled out of the gate losing 3 of 4 to Honolulu, but we're 5-1 since that series within our division, we currently stand at 6-4" Quoted Lariel Martin, who is tied for the team lead in homers with 9.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
KC pulls off deal...
Kansas City--
Today Kansas City sent distraught veteran Charles Regan to the Scranton Salt Dogs in exchange for Oswaldo Jacquez and Pitcher Ned Caminiti.
The move also helps free up a little more cash in the payroll for KC, who is still a decent amount under budget.
Manager Buckeye86 liked the move..."I think we got a capable replacement in Oswaldo Jacquez. He may not have asgood of a hitter, but I think he'll fill in nicely. We also received a pretty good 20 year old pitcher in Ned Caminiti." He'll be sent to AAA to start his career with us. He looks like he could be a decent #3 guy in the bigs. We'll see..."
When asked what he thought of the team so far after 10 games, Buckeye86 responded.."It's only 10 games, this is a marathon, not a sprint. Obviously the pitching needs to be a lot better, but to be 4-6 with those performances, I'll take it. We're in 2nd place, 3 games back of Honolulu."
He later added-"It's going to be a fun season"
--A little more on the players received via trade.
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Today Kansas City sent distraught veteran Charles Regan to the Scranton Salt Dogs in exchange for Oswaldo Jacquez and Pitcher Ned Caminiti.
The move also helps free up a little more cash in the payroll for KC, who is still a decent amount under budget.
Manager Buckeye86 liked the move..."I think we got a capable replacement in Oswaldo Jacquez. He may not have asgood of a hitter, but I think he'll fill in nicely. We also received a pretty good 20 year old pitcher in Ned Caminiti." He'll be sent to AAA to start his career with us. He looks like he could be a decent #3 guy in the bigs. We'll see..."
When asked what he thought of the team so far after 10 games, Buckeye86 responded.."It's only 10 games, this is a marathon, not a sprint. Obviously the pitching needs to be a lot better, but to be 4-6 with those performances, I'll take it. We're in 2nd place, 3 games back of Honolulu."
He later added-"It's going to be a fun season"
--A little more on the players received via trade.
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Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Season 9 underway!
Kansas City--
The Kansas City Bluebirds have high hopes for the upcoming season. Despite finishing last season 80-82, KC finished 1st in the division and put up a good fight in the ALDS.
The major area of concern with KC has to be the quality of pitching in the organization which has been evident in the first two games. They have some capable hitters, but the pitching needs to really step it up in season 9 as a lot of teams are improved.
Manager Buckeye86 expects his team to compete within the AL West, but is also very realistic. "We may have to score a 1,000 runs to have a chance" he said during his post game news conference after falling to Honolulu in back to back games 4-12 and 2-10.
So far, 2 games into the season, the bullpen has been tattooed and we've already seen some roster transactions with Domingo Pascual being called up to replace Rock Clayton who had given up 8 earned runs, including 3 homers in 1.2 innings of work.
If this continues, the Bluebirds may need to score 10 runs a game to have a chance; and we don't see that happening.
The Kansas City Bluebirds have high hopes for the upcoming season. Despite finishing last season 80-82, KC finished 1st in the division and put up a good fight in the ALDS.
The major area of concern with KC has to be the quality of pitching in the organization which has been evident in the first two games. They have some capable hitters, but the pitching needs to really step it up in season 9 as a lot of teams are improved.
Manager Buckeye86 expects his team to compete within the AL West, but is also very realistic. "We may have to score a 1,000 runs to have a chance" he said during his post game news conference after falling to Honolulu in back to back games 4-12 and 2-10.
So far, 2 games into the season, the bullpen has been tattooed and we've already seen some roster transactions with Domingo Pascual being called up to replace Rock Clayton who had given up 8 earned runs, including 3 homers in 1.2 innings of work.
If this continues, the Bluebirds may need to score 10 runs a game to have a chance; and we don't see that happening.
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