It took an unfortunate injury to get David Lough to the big leagues.

After outfielder KC Royals Jarrod Dyson injured his ankle trying to catch Mike Trout’s home run ball on Wednesday night in LA, he was placed on the DL this afternoon. Lough was held out of Omaha’s game on Wednesday, which led people to believe he would be recalled.

Which he was. It is the first official roster move by the Royals this season (besides Will Smith being recalled twice as the 26th player for doubleheaders).

Lough has been the Omaha Storm Chasers best hitter so far this season in Triple-A. He was hitting .340 in 36 games with six doubles, three triples, and three home runs. Mainly batting from the leadoff spot, he drove in 17 runs and stole five bases. I was impressed with his play this spring and was disappointed to see him not on the Opening Day roster.

Dyson had been playing of late because 1. he was hitting and 2. Jeff Francoeur was struggling. Does this mean that Lough will slide right into the Royals starting lineup? Or will Frenchy keep playing?

I’d like to see Lough get a chance to play. He’s always hit in the minors and the only way to see if he can hit in the big leagues is to play him (and more than once a week). Maybe he will be the sparkplug the offense needs.

Here’s his chance and I hope he does well, so well that when Dyson is ready to come off the DL, he makes the Royals have to make a tough decision.

It took over three and a half hours, but the KC Royals finally beat the LA Angels, 9-5.

Both teams’ pitching left something to be desired.

The Royals scored seven runs in the top of the 3rd inning. That’s right SEVEN. They sent 11 men to the plate. Jarrod Dyson walked to leadoff the inning and scored on a Billy Butler two-run single. Dyson would later triple in a run later in the inning.

In that inning, the Royals collected five hits and worked three walks. The Angels starter, Barry Enright, lasted three batters into the third. His replacement, Mark Lowe, allowed all three inherited runners to score in the 3rd inning, along with four of his own. He needed 36 pitches to get through the inning.

Royals starter Wade Davis definitely wasn’t on. He needed 103 pitches to get just one out in the 6th inning. He allowed four runs on nine hits and three walks. He struck out two.

Kelvin Herrera once again struggled and for some reason, manager Ned Yost let him pitch two innings. Well, Herrera probably won’t be pitching on Friday, as he threw 44 pitches (just 23 for strikes). He allowed yet another homerun, a solo shot by Mike Trout.

On the positive side, the Royals pitchers got into trouble and for the most part, worked out of it. The Angels collected 12 hits, but only went 3-for-10 with runners in scoring position. They left ten men on base.

Back to the offense.

The Royals collected 13 hits, five for extra bases. Every starter except Eric Hosmer had at least one hit and every one scored a run except Salvador Perez. Lorenzo Cain, Perez, and Elliot Johnson each had two hits. Cain hit two doubles and drove in three runs. Perez had two RBIs. Alex Gordon went 3-for-4.

The Royals now head to Oakland (with a day off on Thursday) for three games. James Shields gets the Friday night start versus the A’s Jarrod Parker.

*On the negative side, Dyson left the game late with a sprained ankle.

**The Royals TV broadcast honored the passing of Fred White earlier in the day with a half-inning of silence.

Kansas City and Boston played a rare afternoon game on Monday to end their four-game series. The Red Sox took the series, as they beat the Royals, 5-1.

Both teams scored single runs in the first inning. The Royals scored their run without a hit. Jarrod Dyson walked, stole second base, and moved to third on an error. He scored on a sac fly. After a great catch by Dyson in centerfield for the second out, Jacoby Ellsbury hit a solo homerun to tie the game at 1-1.

The Royals had runners on base in every inning, but the second, against Red Sox starter Daisuke Matsuzaka. When Dice-K exited, the Royals put together back-to-back singles with one out against Clayton Mortensen, which prompted a pitching change. Vicente Padilla entered and induced an inning-ending double play from Salvador Perez.

The Royals went down quietly in the 9th inning against Andrew Bailey.

Meanwhile, Luke Hochevar wasn’t as great as he was in his last start in Tampa, but he gave them eight innings (a complete game). He allowed two doubles and a homerun among his eight hits allowed. It could have been worse for him, but Dyson made the nice grab and Alex Gordon picked up an outfield assist in Boston’s two-run 3rd inning. Even Johnny Giavotella made a nice play at second base (he also went 2-for-3 at the plate).

*Before the game, reliever Jeremy Jeffress was sent to Double-A NW Arkansas. Vin Mazzaro was promoted to the big leagues to take his place.

**Now the Royals will return home to face the Detroit Tigers, who are already in KC awaiting them. Oh and Justin Verlander is waiting to start the first game on Tuesday.

Baseball America‘s Best Tools issue has come out and there is a bit of a KC Royals feel to it. None of the Royals players were on top of any of the American League categories, but there were a few who cracked the top three.

Outfielder Jarrod Dyson was ranked the AL’s third fastest baserunner. He finished behind LA Angels outfielders Mike Trout and Peter Bourjos.

Mike Moustakas working on some second base.

The Royals corner infielders were also ranked third in terms of defense in the AL. Mike Moustakas was ranked third among AL third baseman (behind Texas’ Adrian Beltre and Tampa Bay’s Evan Longoria). Eric Hosmer, despite all the struggles on offense, was named the third best defensive first baseman in the AL. He ranked behind NY’s Mark Teixeira and Boston’s Adrian Gonzalez.

Another of the Royals infielders was honored, shortstop Alcides Escobar. He is considered to have the third best infield arm in the AL, behind Beltre and Oakland’s Cliff Pennington.

After almost winning a Gold Glove in 2011, outfielder Jeff Francoeur is considered to have the third best outfield arm in the AL. He ranks behind Toronto’s Jose Bautista and Cleveland’s Shin-Soo Choo.

The Royals weren’t so lucky in the minor leagues (their four full season affiliates). Uber prospect Wil Myers is considered to be the best power prospect in the Pacific Coast League (with Triple-A Omaha). That was a no-brainer, as he has a total of 34 homeruns, 21 in Triple-A.

Pitcher Jake Odorizzi was considered as one of the best pitching prospects in the PCL, but Reno’s Trevor Bauer (Arizona) won that honor. Another starter, Yordano Ventura, was also considered for the best pitching prospect in the Carolina League, but ultimately, Dylan Bundy won that honor (Baltimore).

*There were no best tools given out to Royals affiliates in the Texas League (NW Arkansas), Carolina League (Wilmington), or Midwest League (Kane County).

It wasn’t a bad week for the KC Royals. They swept Cleveland to start the week at home, pushing the Indians closer to last place than first place. However they couldn’t continue that winning streak, as they lost two of three to Texas. Overall, they went 4-2 last week to improve to 45-62, good for last place in the American League Central (12.5 games back).

On the upside, the Royals are only four games worse than Philadelphia (who some think can creep back into the playoff picture). It doesn’t get any easier though, as they head out on the road to face first-place Chicago and then to Baltimore.

Omaha is in the midst of a three-game losing streak (after a four-game winning streak) to go 4-3 last week. Overall, they are 68-48, still sitting atop the American Northern Division in the Pacific Coast League with a 16 game lead. The Storm Chasers still have three more games in their homestand against Colorado Springs.

NW Arkansas also went 4-3 this past week, but are still in last place in the North Division of the Texas League. The Naturals are 13-30 in the second half, 16.5 games back. They even have a playoff elimination number of 12 already. They finish up their road trip against Arkansas tonight.

Wilmington went 2-4 last week, but stayed a 1/2 game back in the Northern Division of the Carolina League (everyone in the division is 4-6 in their last ten games). The Blue Rocks have off today, as they begin a six-game homestand on Tuesday against Winston-Salem.

Kane County went 3-4 this past week. The Cougars are 21-21 in the second half, good for a tie for third place in the Midwest League’s Western Division (five games back). They continue their home series against Cedar Rapids tonight.

 Hitters of the Week

Majors: The centerfield duo of Jarrod Dyson and Lorenzo Cain has been hot. Dyson is hitting .526 and Cain is hitting .400 and both have scored three runs. They are a combined 20-for-44 (.455) with five RBIs and eight stolen bases.

Minors: Tony Abreu, Omaha. There is a reason that he was promoted when Yuni was designated (and it’s not his defense). Over the last week, Abreu was 11-for-24 (.458) with three doubles, six runs scored, and 12 RBIs. His seven-game hitting streak came to an end on Friday.

Honorable Mention: Abreu’s teammate in Omaha, Johnny Giavotella. He was 8-for-28 (.286) with four runs scored and seven RBIs.

Pitchers of the Week

Majors: Over the last week, the bullpen has been used alot. Three relievers have thrown at least four scoreless innings. Greg Holland has pitched much better of late since being named the closer. Over four innings, he allowed three hits and two walks while striking out three. He picked up the victory on Sunday with their walk-off win in extra innings.

Kelvin Herrera has also not allowed a run over 4.1 innings. He allowed two hits and one walk while striking out six. He did not allow an inherited run to score over those two outings.

Lefty Tim Collins did not allow a run over three outings last week (4.2 innings). He allowed just one hit and two walks while striking out three.

Minors: This week, I have broken this award into two categories. First is the starting pitcher of the week, which goes to Wilmington’s Andy Ferguson. In two road starts, he allowed three runs on 12 hits and three walks over 13.2 innings. He struck out 15, but did not pick up a win.

The reliever of the week is a tie between Kane County‘s Jason Mitchell and NW Arkansas‘ Ethan Hollingsworth.

In two long relief outings, Mitchell threw a combined six shutout innings. He allowed just three hits and two walks while striking out two.

Hollingsworth also pitched twice and picked up the victory on August 3rd with two hitless innings of relief. Combined, he did not allow a run over 8.1 innings. He allowed four hits and two walks while striking out four. Oh an he was just named Texas League Pitcher of the week.

The KC Royals went just 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position as they lost another game to Texas, 4-2.

Meanwhile, the top of the Rangers order, Ian Kinsler and Elvis Andrus, were on base 50% of the time (5-for-10). They both scored on Josh Hamilton‘s single with one out in the top of the 3rd inning off Royals starter Will Smith.

The Royals got to Rangers starter Scott Feldman in the 5th inning on two RBI ground outs. That cut the deficit to 3-2.

Problem is, Smith gave one of those runs right back on a Mike Olt two out, RBI single in the top of the 6th inning. Olt, the rookie first baseman, picked up his first two RBIs of his young career (he was called up earlier in the week).

The Royals had runners on base in the 8th and 9th innings, but a DP ended the threat in the 9th inning against Alexi Ogando.

Lorenzo Cain, Eric Hosmer, and Jarrod Dyson each collected two hits in the loss. Only Hosmer scored a run.

The three-game series concludes on Sunday at Kauffman Stadium as Luke Hochevar will match up with Derek Holland.

*Prior to the game on Saturday, manager Ned Yost fired first base coach Doug Sisson. He had also been the outfield coach and base running coach. Yeah, this move will solve all the Royals‘ problems. Rusty Kuntz was brought back (he held Sisson’s job prior to Sisson getting the job).

Luis Mendoza

Luis Mendoza put together a solid start, as the KC Royals beat Cleveland, 5-2. The Royals have beaten the Indians for the second time in two games.

Mendoza allowed two runs (one scored after he exited the game) on four hits and one walk over 7.1 innings. After allowing a Carlos Santana homerun in the 4th inning, Mendoza retired eight in a row before walking Santana to lead off the 7th inning. He induced a double play ground ball and got out of that inning.

The Royals offense jumped on Indians starter Zach McAllister in the very first inning. With runners at first and second and one out, the Royals pulled off a double steal. Catcher Santana‘s throw was off and a run scored. Billy Butler followed with an RBI ground out.

In the 2nd inning, the Royals scored two more runs. With two outs, Chris Getz walked and stole second base. Jarrod Dyson followed with an RBI single and then he stole second base. Alex Gordon doubled him in before McAllister could get out of the inning.

*Reliever Jeremy Jeffress was recalled to take Jonathan Broxton’s roster spot.

A day after Jonathan Sanchez could not get out of the 2nd inning, his trade mate from the SF Giants (and fellow left-hander), Ryan Verdugo, lasted just 1.2 innings. The KC Royals yet again lost to the Seattle Mariners, 9-6.

Ryan Verdugo via Minda Haas/Royal Blues

It wasn’t a great Major League debut for Verdugo, was was acquired by the Royals from the Giants for outfielder Melky Cabrera this offseason. I can’t say I was surprised by the performance. After his first callup (in which he did not pitch), Verdugo was moved to the bullpen in Triple-A (except for one start on July 5th). He pitched an inning of relief just two days ago (July 14th) for Omaha.

Anyway, back to his debut.

It started out so well. He recorded the first two outs before allowing a single to Casper Wells. Jesus Montero followed with an RBI double and Justin Smoak followed with a two-run homerun. Verdugo then walked Kyle Seager and gave up a single to Miguel Olivo before escaping the first inning.

Verdugo picked up his first big league strikeout by getting Brendan Ryan on five pitches leading off the 2nd inning. Dustin Ackley and Ichiro followed with back-to-back singles. After striking out Wells, Montero delivered an RBI single. After a coaching visit, Smoak walked to load the bases before Seager drove in two with a double. That ended Verdugo’s debut.

Verdugo threw 55 pitches, 31 for strikes. His final line looks like this: 1.2IP, 8H, 6R, 2BB, 2K.

» Continue reading “Another Day, Another Royals Start of Less Than 2 Innings”

The KC Royals won a five hour, 15 inning marathon over the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-3. The win gave the Royals their second straight series victory.

Yuni via Keith Allison/Flickr

It could have been over after 14 innings if Royals closer Jonathan Broxton could close out a game. Yuniesky Betancourt, who came on for the injured Chris Getz back in the first inning, doubled in Alex Gordon (who walked to lead off the inning) with nobody out. But in the bottom of the inning, Broxton walked the leadoff man (Allen Craig), who came around to score on Yadier Molina‘s pinch-hit RBI single.

Eduardo Sanchez went back out for the 15th inning for the Cardinals and got right back into trouble. Jarrod Dyson singled to lead off the inning and was sacrificed to second base. After Sanchez got Gordon to fly out, Betancourt struck again. This time he gave the Royals a two run lead with a two-run homerun.

Apparently, something clicked with Broxton when he went back out for the bottom of the 15th inning. He struck out two (including Carlos Beltran) before getting Rafael Furcal to ground out to end the game. He threw just ten pitches.

The reason the game went into extra innings was because Billy Butler came off the bench and hit a homerun with two outs off Cardinals closer Jaosn Motte in the 9th inning. That tied the game at 2-2.

The marathon makes you forget how well the two teams’ starters pitched. Luis Mendoza made two mistakes over six innings, as he allowed back-to-back solo homeruns to Matt Holliday and Craig in the 6th inning. For the Cardinals, Adam Wainwright allowed one run on five hits over seven innings. He struck out eight.

The Royals bullpen was OUTSTANDING. Until Broxton gave up the 14th inning run, six pitchers combined to allow just three hits and two walks over seven shutout innings. Tim Collins pitched three scoreless innings while striking out three.

The Royals had 13 hits. Mike Moustakas had three of them, while Yuni and Dyson had two each. They had plenty of chances to score in extra innings, but overall went just 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position. Bruce Chen pinch-hit in the 13th inning and picked up a single.

For more on the Cardinals, check out Aaron Miles’ Fastball. 

*The Royals now travel to Houston to continue Interleague Play for three games. Maybe there will be a roster move for a fresh arm? They used their entire bullpen.

**With the Getz injury, Johnny Giavotella was pulled from his game with Omaha.

There was a crazy ending, but the KC Royals held on for the 3-2 win over St. Louis.

With pinch-hitter Rafel Furcal at the plate and two outs, Tyler Greene (who had singled) stole second base. The throw from catcher Humberto Quintero hit Greene as he was sliding and kicked into the outfield. Greene jumped up and took off for third base. Chris Getz picked up the ball and threw wide of third base. Greene then headed for home. Mike Moustakas hustled after the ball and made a perfect throw home to get Greene to end the game.

That crazy ending gave Jonathan Broxton his 16th save of the season. It also made a winner of Vin Mazzaro, who was spotless over six innings. He allowed just five hits and a walk while striking out four.

The Royals bullpen got smacked around a bit in the bottom of the 7th inning. Newly added to the roster Roman Colon (he’s baaack) allowed a leadoff single to David Freese and a one out RBI double to Matt Adams. After striking out Greene, Colon allowed a pinch-hit RBI single to Shane Robinson to cut the Royals lead to 3-2.

Aaron Crow got into trouble in the 8th inning, as he allowed two hits, but induced a double play ground out from Freese to end the threat.

So how did the Royals score their runs you ask?

Jarrod Dyson delivered a two out RBI single in the 2nd inning against Cardinals starter Kyle Lohse. Jeff Francoeur drove in a run with a single in the 3rd inning. Frenchy drove in another with a sac fly in the 7th inning.

Alex Gordon, Getz, and Dyson each had two hits.

*For more on the Cardinals, check out Aaron Miles’ Fastball.