I like your Massey/Loftin platoon, as I think Massey is (at this point) in danger of losing his spot on the team if Devanney keeps hitting in Omaha. You have me convinced the Royals will get one of the guys on your list at the deadline.
Devanney was one I wanted to get into more, but wanted to lean into THE BAT X projections for this one. He's smashing at Triple-A and could easily force his way into the mix soon. I'm pretty convinced as long as this team is at or above .500 in a month, Picollo will make an early move for a bat.
Cags is up within the next ~3 weeks if he hits Triple-A pitching. Picollo has shown he's willing to jump the market, so it wouldn't shock me at all if the Royals are the first team to "buy," assuming they're still at or above .500 toward the end of June.
Interesting projection but: (1) I don’t think Salvy will be the cleanup hitter by August, (2) I don’t think the Angels will trade Ward for anything less than one of the Royals current starters under contract for beyond this year, and (3) the Royals should be targeting multiple position players in their 20s at the trade deadline (because there is only one Cags in the minors and he’s not enough), even if that means trading multiple pitchers to get them.
I think they'll give Sal every opportunity to hold on to his spot in the order, for better or worse, as the captain of the club. Not saying you're wrong, though; they might be better with Ward or another import stepping in behind Vinnie.
We can definitely talk "selling" for prospects and players with multiple years of control later this summer if it gets to that point, but we're certainly not there now. Regardless of the offensive malaise, KC is in the thick of the playoff race as things stand entering June.
My biggest thing is I'd like to see Garcia moved up to batting fourth. Salvy has been garbage for a hot minute, and Maikel keeps getting on base. Having Salvy strikeout or hit into double plays, forcing Maikel to lead off before the bottom of the order, is doing nothing for the Royals' sequencing.
Salvy's numbers look better over the last week or so, but that's almost entirely based on home runs. His batting average and OBP are still atrocious. So I think batting fifth or sixth would really suit his current iteration better.
From a pure numbers standpoint, moving Salvy to the seventh spot makes a ton of sense. I just don't think it's happening with the C on his chest unless this continues for another several weeks. (I'm also not much of a believer in batting order being that important, especially when you're talking a one-spot difference between fourth/fifth. Simply flipping Garcia and Perez does basically nothing -- just my opinion.)
The other question is... if you're moving Perez down in the order... who exactly is performing better to move up?
I think it’s awfully optimistic them being 2 games back of Tigers on August 1st.
Of course it is! I created my own version of the universe here.
I can appreciate that! Royals homey for life here also. 👍
Good column!
I like your Massey/Loftin platoon, as I think Massey is (at this point) in danger of losing his spot on the team if Devanney keeps hitting in Omaha. You have me convinced the Royals will get one of the guys on your list at the deadline.
Devanney was one I wanted to get into more, but wanted to lean into THE BAT X projections for this one. He's smashing at Triple-A and could easily force his way into the mix soon. I'm pretty convinced as long as this team is at or above .500 in a month, Picollo will make an early move for a bat.
As always, thanks for reading!
I like it, but they need to get on it sooner rather than later. It would be a damn shame to miss the playoffs with this pitching staff.
Cags is up within the next ~3 weeks if he hits Triple-A pitching. Picollo has shown he's willing to jump the market, so it wouldn't shock me at all if the Royals are the first team to "buy," assuming they're still at or above .500 toward the end of June.
Interesting projection but: (1) I don’t think Salvy will be the cleanup hitter by August, (2) I don’t think the Angels will trade Ward for anything less than one of the Royals current starters under contract for beyond this year, and (3) the Royals should be targeting multiple position players in their 20s at the trade deadline (because there is only one Cags in the minors and he’s not enough), even if that means trading multiple pitchers to get them.
I think they'll give Sal every opportunity to hold on to his spot in the order, for better or worse, as the captain of the club. Not saying you're wrong, though; they might be better with Ward or another import stepping in behind Vinnie.
We can definitely talk "selling" for prospects and players with multiple years of control later this summer if it gets to that point, but we're certainly not there now. Regardless of the offensive malaise, KC is in the thick of the playoff race as things stand entering June.
My biggest thing is I'd like to see Garcia moved up to batting fourth. Salvy has been garbage for a hot minute, and Maikel keeps getting on base. Having Salvy strikeout or hit into double plays, forcing Maikel to lead off before the bottom of the order, is doing nothing for the Royals' sequencing.
Salvy's numbers look better over the last week or so, but that's almost entirely based on home runs. His batting average and OBP are still atrocious. So I think batting fifth or sixth would really suit his current iteration better.
From a pure numbers standpoint, moving Salvy to the seventh spot makes a ton of sense. I just don't think it's happening with the C on his chest unless this continues for another several weeks. (I'm also not much of a believer in batting order being that important, especially when you're talking a one-spot difference between fourth/fifth. Simply flipping Garcia and Perez does basically nothing -- just my opinion.)
The other question is... if you're moving Perez down in the order... who exactly is performing better to move up?
I like it, but they need to get on it sooner rather than later. It would be a damn shame to miss the playoffs with this pitching staff.