1971 Recap: An up-and-down season by the third year expansion team nevertheless led to the team's best finish ever. EVER!
1972 Outlook: The Royals have some severe issues with their pitching staff and the lack of range on defense doesn't help matters much. Still, it looks like they've built up a good power base on offense and that side of things looks like they're only a player or two away from contending.
Pitching
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Code:
Pitching Age BT W L WL % ERA G GS GF CG SHO SV IP H R ER HR BB IBB SO WHIP H9 HR9 BB9 SO9
Chavez, Miguel 31 LL 12 11 .522 3.00 33 33 0 7 5 0 245.2 208 90 82 8 110 13 186 1.294 100.0 0.3 4.0 6.8
LaPointe, Jason 32 RR 11 11 .500 4.18 26 26 0 7 3 0 180.2 189 90 84 14 58 6 91 1.367 100.0 0.7 2.9 4.5
Cervantez, Jorge 25 RR 11 11 .500 3.81 34 23 3 4 2 0 174.2 198 80 74 10 44 12 56 1.385 100.0 0.5 2.3 2.9
Correra, Juan 26 RR 4 11 .267 4.72 30 21 4 2 1 0 137.1 167 85 72 16 52 7 59 1.595 100.0 1.0 3.4 3.9
Banks, Tim 37 LL 2 4 .333 5.36 45 0 30 0 0 13 48.2 60 34 29 4 30 2 23 1.849 100.0 0.7 5.5 4.3
Reyes, Victor 29 RR 4 4 .500 4.98 53 0 30 0 0 12 68.2 78 42 38 4 23 4 53 1.471 100.0 0.5 3.0 6.9
Field, Joe 33 LR 4 2 .667 3.13 35 3 17 0 0 1 60.1 58 21 21 0 38 8 32 1.591 100.0 0.0 5.7 4.8
Bump, Vince 25 RR 3 2 .600 4.08 31 0 21 0 0 2 39.2 41 20 18 2 20 7 28 1.538 100.0 0.5 4.5 6.4
Chaves, Jose 30 RR 10 5 .667 4.54 31 20 2 3 0 0 162.2 158 84 82 28 47 2 123 1.260 100.0 1.5 2.6 6.8
Onizuka, Ellison 25 RR 4 8 .333 5.88 15 13 0 1 1 0 85.2 101 58 56 14 33 2 42 1.564 100.0 1.5 3.5 4.4
Marrero, Mario 30 RR 3 3 .500 5.88 13 10 1 2 2 0 67.1 78 46 44 14 23 1 35 1.500 100.0 1.9 3.1 4.7
Rodriguez, Rick 24 LR 3 3 .500 3.69 6 6 0 2 0 0 39.0 42 17 16 5 7 1 28 1.256 100.0 1.2 1.6 6.5
Zuazua, Jose 25 RR 2 2 .500 7.16 6 4 1 0 0 0 27.2 36 22 22 5 16 0 13 1.880 100.0 1.6 5.2 4.2
Albarran, Eddy 29 LL 0 2 .000 5.61 24 0 9 0 0 0 25.2 31 17 16 5 3 0 16 1.325 100.0 1.8 1.1 5.6
Chavera, Ed 24 LR 1 3 .250 8.46 7 2 1 0 0 0 22.1 37 21 21 3 18 3 21 2.463 100.0 1.2 7.3 8.5
Gonzalez, Ismael 26 RR 1 0 1.000 4.26 16 0 4 0 0 0 19.0 20 9 9 3 5 0 15 1.316 100.0 1.4 2.4 7.1
Quinn, Kevin 36 RR 0 3 .000 5.56 9 0 5 0 0 2 11.1 15 7 7 0 12 2 9 2.382 100.0 0.0 9.5 7.1
Lopez, Ramon 26 LR 0 0 .000 2.57 5 0 4 0 0 1 7.0 8 2 2 0 1 0 3 1.286 100.0 0.0 1.3 3.9
Bailey, Allen 23 RR 1 0 1.000 3.00 3 0 1 0 0 0 3.0 5 1 1 0 1 0 1 2.000 100.0 0.0 3.0 3.0
Code:
Starting Pitching GS Wgs Lgs ND Wchp LTuf WTm LTm tmW-L% CG SHO QS QS% GmScA Best Wrst sDR lDR RS/GS RS/9 IP/GS Pit/GS <80 80-99 100-119 >=120 Max
Chavez, Miguel 33 12 11 10 0 4 16 17 0.485 7 5 23 70% 58 91 19 9 13 2.7 3.3 7.4 115 1 4 20 8 197
LaPointe, Jason 26 11 11 4 3 5 14 12 0.538 7 3 14 54% 50 83 0 7 12 3.8 4.9 6.9 103 5 6 7 8 148
Cervantez, Jorge 23 10 11 2 2 6 10 13 0.435 4 2 14 61% 49 82 27 8 8 3.1 4.1 6.8 98 3 11 5 4 146
Correra, Juan 21 4 11 6 1 4 7 14 0.333 2 1 11 52% 43 73 -2 6 10 2.4 3.6 6.1 98 3 6 11 1 122
Chaves, Jose 20 9 5 6 2 1 11 9 0.550 3 0 11 55% 52 79 15 2 9 3.6 4.7 6.9 104 1 5 12 2 120
Onizuka, Ellison 13 4 8 1 2 0 5 8 0.385 1 1 3 23% 42 77 10 3 4 2.6 3.7 6.4 101 0 7 5 1 122
Marrero, Mario 10 3 3 4 1 0 6 4 0.600 2 2 4 40% 45 84 18 2 6 3.6 5.0 6.5 99 2 3 4 1 130
Rodriguez, Rick 6 3 3 0 1 2 3 3 0.500 2 0 4 67% 54 77 41 2 3 3.8 5.3 6.5 93 1 1 4 0 116
Zuazua, Jose 4 2 2 0 2 0 2 2 0.500 0 0 0 00% 31 45 11 1 2 4.5 6.8 5.9 99 0 2 2 0 111
Field, Joe 3 2 1 0 0 1 2 1 0.667 0 0 3 100% 59 71 49 1 2 2.7 3.4 7.1 109 0 2 0 1 147
Chavera, Ed 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 0.000 0 0 0 00% 32 47 16 0 2 1.0 1.6 5.5 106 0 1 1 0 115
Code:
Relief Pitching GR Wgr Lgr SVOpp Sv BSv SV% SvSit Hld IR IRS IRS% ALi LevHi LevMd LevLo Run Emp <3O >3O 0DR 1DR 2DR 3+DR Out/GR Pit/GR
Reyes, Victor 53 4 4 16 12 4 75% 18 2 22 7 24% 1.240 16 26 26 12 41 9 22 12 10 4 27 3.9 20
Banks, Tim 45 2 4 15 13 2 87% 16 1 12 7 37% 1.239 15 18 18 7 38 8 12 13 11 10 11 3.2 19
Field, Joe 32 2 1 3 1 2 33% 5 2 23 12 34% 0.792 5 20 20 12 20 7 10 6 7 7 12 3.7 20
Bump, Vince 31 3 2 3 2 1 67% 6 3 18 6 25% 1.001 5 19 18 9 22 4 10 3 12 6 10 3.8 20
Albarran, Eddy 24 0 2 2 0 2 0% 7 5 18 8 31% 1.139 8 11 11 10 14 8 6 5 4 5 10 3.2 15
Gonzalez, Ismael 16 1 0 0 0 0 0% 1 1 6 2 25% 0.638 2 9 9 5 11 5 4 2 5 2 7 3.6 17
Cervantez, Jorge 11 1 0 1 0 1 0% 2 1 7 2 22% 0.819 2 7 7 4 7 1 9 2 0 2 7 4.9 24
Chaves, Jose 11 1 0 0 0 0 0% 1 1 6 4 40% 0.562 0 6 6 4 7 1 7 1 2 2 6 6.5 34
Quinn, Kevin 9 0 3 3 2 1 67% 3 0 3 3 50% 2.366 4 3 3 1 8 2 3 3 2 1 3 3.8 28
Correra, Juan 9 0 0 0 0 0 0% 1 1 1 0 0% 0.568 0 5 5 1 8 2 1 2 1 2 4 3.1 16
Lopez, Ramon 5 0 0 1 1 0 100% 2 1 0 0 0% 0.966 1 2 2 0 5 0 2 1 2 1 1 4.2 17
Chavera, Ed 5 1 1 0 0 0 0% 0 0 2 2 50% 0.894 0 3 3 1 4 1 3 0 0 0 5 6.8 45
Marrero, Mario 3 0 0 0 0 0 0% 0 0 1 1 50% 0.236 0 3 3 1 2 1 1 0 0 0 3 2.7 17
Bailey, Allen 3 1 0 0 0 0 0% 0 0 1 1 50% 1.840 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 0 0 2 1 3.0 17
Zuazua, Jose 2 0 0 0 0 0 0% 0 0 2 2 50% 0.241 0 2 2 1 1 0 2 0 0 0 2 6.0 34
Onizuka, Ellison 2 0 0 0 0 0 0% 0 0 2 1 33% 1.078 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 3.0 14
Miguel Chavez is not a real #1 starter but he does the job for KC. The former Twins mid-rotation guy threw the most Ks he's ever thrown in Kansas City and the 2nd highest total of his career (he tossed 201 in a 1967 year where he went 13-13 with a 2.83 ERA). After making the All-Star Game last year with a full-season ERA of nearly 5, he didn't make it this year in spite of finishing 8th in that category. A quick check of his midseason stats indicates that he was 6-6, 3.11 at the break: fine but the team was already represented by Dave Corona, so why bother?
Jose Chavez is penciled in as the #2 man following a season with a nice record if not the greatest peripheral numbers. The Royals will put the "he's a winner" moniker to the test. It's worth noting that his ERA was completely blown up by 3 very, very bad relief appearances in August before the Royals handed him a rotation slot in September: you take those away and his ERA drops to 4.21. The other guy who's a surety to be in the rotation to open the year is 26 year old
Jorge Cervantez, who transferred a gig in the back of the bullpen with Pittsburgh into a starting job with these Royals. Cervantez is a pure control guy who really needs to get more people to whiff on his split-fingered fastball to stay in this league.
That back of the rotation is... rough.
Rick Rodriguez might have the inside track with a solid September that followed a 12-12, 3.26 campaign in AAA Omaha. He at least is young enough to improve and scouts love his slider.
Ellison Onizuka, an engineer for NASA in his spare time, was given 13 starts to show what he could do and just plain did not look ready to go. Given the previous calendar year at Omaha (11-11, 3.07 in 222.2 combined innings from 1970-71) and his still young age, he'll get a long look in spring training. And don't count
Juan Correra out. The Royals acquired him late last offseason from the Red Sox and he... well, he stunk. I'd barely mention him except that the last guy in the mix at this moment is
Jose Zuazua, who has done nothing but look like cannon fodder in 9 starts over 2 seasons (3-4, 6.66 ERA THE ERA OF THE BEAST).
The bullpen, for all its faults, wasn't absolutely terrible at holding leads.
Victor Reyes resuscitated his career after a horrific 1970 (1-8, 6.50 combined between ATL and KC). He still had an awfully high ERA but somehow converted 75% of his save chances; it seems like when he did blow up, it was in lower leverage situations.
Tim Banks was their #2 closer last year but retired following a pretty rough campaign of his own... although like Reyes, he came through when it counted.
Joe Field ended the year as Reyes' second-hand man. He's another finesse guy with iffy control, which is probably not great long-term but he's going to be rewarded for the 2.77 ERA he put up for this team that finished dead last in the league in pitching.
Batting
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Code:
Batting Age BT G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS DP BA OBP SLG Pos
McIntyre, Nick 28 LR 110 383 34 77 18 3 9 49 33 90 0 0 11 .201 .259 .334 2*
Johnson, Isaiah 28 RR 37 83 7 16 3 0 1 6 7 26 0 0 1 .193 .245 .265 2
Hernandez, Carlos 33 RR 26 63 9 10 4 1 0 3 7 20 0 1 1 .159 .243 .254 2
Cashion, Justin 25 LR 18 42 4 8 1 1 0 1 3 15 1 0 0 .190 .292 .262 2
Nick McIntyre was expected to do so much more for the Royals in 1971. Coming off of a .266/20/54 year in just 286 at-bats for the White Sox, the Royals felt they could trade away a top outfield prospect in Moniko Fernandez (name subject to change) to get some good pop and potential Silver Slugger level hitting at the position. Instead, McIntyre barely hit above the Timonen Line and didn't even reach double digits in HRs. His arm was also only average at best. The best news for him, if not for KC, is that they have absolutely nothing behind him.
Isiah Johnson has a slightly better arm than McIntyre but that .193 average may even be a high water mark, given that he hit .165 in 200 at-bats before getting called up.
Justin Cashion is a guy who got a September look because he hit .309 in AAA but in addition to clearly not being ready, that 94 AB stint in Omaha came after hitting .207 in AA. He's not considered anything more than a complementary player. Kansas City's highest rated prospects are either internationals or guys in the low, low minors who are all several years away from being ready.
Code:
Batting Age BT G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS DP BA OBP SLG Pos
Davis, Jim 26 LL 69 213 37 44 12 1 13 30 57 67 0 1 5 .207 .373 .455 3
Ono, Yahashi 40 RR 89 243 24 52 5 1 1 25 27 39 0 2 8 .214 .288 .255 3
Lewis, Josh 30 RR 118 227 22 61 11 0 5 31 26 31 2 0 8 .269 .344 .383 3
Coleman, Ian 29 RR 141 507 49 129 17 6 7 57 50 85 6 7 9 .254 .317 .353 4*
Jaquez, Arturo 28 RR 2 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 .000 .000 /4
Newton, Ryan 26 LR 114 371 47 112 27 1 7 47 28 49 13 5 7 .302 .343 .437 5/68
Ramos, Mike 34 LR 85 232 24 70 14 2 4 28 13 31 4 0 4 .302 .333 .431 5/34
Carroll, Matt 26 RR 33 71 10 19 3 1 2 12 1 15 0 0 1 .268 .274 .423 5/3
Sita, Nate 25 SR 149 507 56 114 12 3 15 52 60 122 4 12 7 .225 .302 .349 6*/4
Altmann, Carlos 35 SR 62 154 17 30 2 6 0 12 17 24 5 0 5 .195 .273 .286 64/5
Steinmetz, Andy 30 RR 5 11 2 6 0 0 1 5 2 1 0 0 0 .545 .615 .818 /654
Jim Davis writes a cartoon in his spare time about a cat who likes to eat lasagna. We're not sure if this has wings but hey, maybe he'll sell it eventually. As a hitter, he looked very feast-or-famine last season, with the month of September (.191/3/8) being mostly a famine month that weighed everything else down. He's still a haevy favorite to start this year if for no other reason than that he's still at least relatively young and the Royals don't really have a lot left at the position after
Yahashi Ono fell apart following 2 nice years with the team.
Josh Lewis will likely spell the lefty hitting Davis a lot at first; he was solid and maybe a little above league average last year after suffering through a 1970 season (.234/10/54 in 398 at-bats) with the White Sox that could have been his last had the Royals not come calling.
Ian Coleman has been the team's starter at the keystone for all 3 years of their existence. Last year he set career highs in RBIs and intentional walks, the latter because he spent most of the year hitting in the 8 hole. One very intriguing prospect is
Wilton Bruselas (name subject to change) who was drafted in the 17th round last year but looked very promising, jumping 3 levels and at the time of this writing sitting on the team's AAA roster. There's no way I'm going to put him in the mix but Coleman doesn't do anything really all that well and so he's vulnerable.
Once the team settled on
Ryan Newton, he rewarded them with some fine hitting and solid defense and now he looks like a long-term starter at the position. That's bad news for the former 3-time All-Star
Mike Ramos, who's kicked around the league since getting cut by Cincinnati early last season and now looks like a backup corner infielder and pinch-hitter at best. He does have value in that role and is reportedly OK with his situation with the Royals.
Matt Carroll is also in the mix at the position, although if I'm being honest he'd be a lot more in the mix if his plate discipline (he had a .383 OBP in 64 games in Omaha) translated into the major leagues.
Nate Sita is a 25 year old with a great chance of being 30 in 5 years. OK, he does have good pop for a shortstop but otherwise there's not a lot he does that makes him look like a long-term fit. He finished 2nd in the AL in strikeouts, which if anything tells me he played too much. In the field he's got good range and great hands - maybe the best hands in all of baseball in fact - but a comparatively weak arm. No doubt he'd be a Gold Glove contender at second base... but he doesn't hit like a second baseman so that's right out. For now the Royals don't really even have a serviceable backup as
Carlos Altmann called it quits following a 9-season major league career as a backup SS (he was the Royals' starter in '69). For now it's
Mike Dawson (possible name change incoming) but the 22nd overall pick in the 1969 draft struggled mightily in AAA Omaha last year (.202/8/36) and while his glove definitely looks ready for the big leagues, they could be hurting his development if they decide to bring him up too soon.
Code:
Batting Age BT G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO SB CS DP BA OBP SLG Pos
Corona, Dave 22 LL 152 546 113 157 28 14 13 63 137 87 52 17 0 .288 .430 .462 7*8
Manchego, Edwin 26 LL 38 117 18 29 9 0 9 27 20 19 1 0 1 .248 .360 .556 7/9
Barlow, Terry 27 LL 26 42 6 8 0 0 3 5 3 7 0 2 0 .190 .255 .405 /79
Danza, Tony 23 LL 6 5 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .400 .400 .600 /7
Martinez, Alex 26 LL 3 2 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 .500 .667 .500 /7
Scurry, Allen 25 RR 131 425 54 103 12 6 13 57 66 68 7 16 6 .242 .337 .391 8*/7
Coldiron, Josh 25 LR 41 95 8 20 3 1 0 7 13 11 8 4 1 .211 .303 .263 8/97
Domínguez, R.J. 26 RR 150 518 99 147 24 1 26 85 124 91 2 5 8 .284 .424 .485 9*
Hull, Tom 30 RR 24 35 3 3 0 1 0 4 2 5 0 0 0 .086 .132 .143 /97
Birley, Joshua 26 LL 17 18 0 4 2 0 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 .222 .190 .333 /9
Dave Corona is a guy the Royals feel they can build their entire team around and for good reason. Still only 22 years of age, he's now a multi-time All-Star and not just because the rules say that someone has to go from every team. Corona led the league in walks and on-base percentage and was the MVP choice for stat nerds who don't care about home runs and RBIs. For 1972 the Royals will try to see if he can produce like this in center field. He had 30 starts at the position in '71 and if anything looked a little less shaky in terms of committing errors there than in left (he committed 9 errors for a .965 FA in left vs. 1 for .990 in center). I guess we'll see! If that works, look for
RJ Dominguez to take over in left following a very nice and relatively unexpected campaign of his own. And like Corona, this is a man who loves to draw out plate appearances and coax walks.
Last year's starter in center,
Allen Scurry wasn't really anything great at the position, although he's certainly got better tools there than Corona. Should the man the fans call "Cookie Monster" prove unable to handle the duties, he's right there and ready to return. And hey, at 25, maybe he still has a little bit of growing left to do.
Josh Coldiron is pretty much nothing special. He did improve his BA by 60 points over 1970, which only goes to show how uniquely terrible he was that year.
As of this writing the Royals are looking to
Kyle Brown as their man in right. Brown spent the entire season as a pinch-hitting specialist for the Washington Senators due to their crowded outfield but the Royals paid a lot of money for him and want to give him a shot. He profiles for good power and, as is now the custom for Royals OFers, a good ability to draw walks. He's the current new hotness over
Tony Danza, who was probably rushed a little into getting 6 September appearances after being drafted 2nd overall last June. You'd think a full year in the minors would do him well but then again, he went .316/1/17 in 65 games in Omaha last year; maybe he's ready after all. I'd say the biggest issue with him getting playing time is that he lacks range and his worn-out boxers' hands can lead to some bad misplays in the field.