Needing help with the Royals.

zerozero31 · 04-28-2013, 09:14 AM

Hi,

I'm looking for some help here. I'm in the first month of the season with the Royals and after a decent enough start, we seemed to have begun a race to the bottom - one we're winning handsomely.

In the link you'll find our team page (apologies for the formatting, but you get the idea).

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...9/team_43.html

In short summary we're bottom of the division with a 9-21 record. I'm trying to figure out from the stats what's going wrong exactly. I'm a nOOb, so this may be complete rubbish, but this is what I think:

- at .250 our batting average is too low (we're not hitting the ball enough)
- .. meaning our OBP at .297 might suggest that even if we do hit the ball we're not getting on base
- our starting pitching ERA is very bad ..
- but strangely enough our bullpen is not doing too badly at .394 ...

The fielding stats are here, but i'm not quite sure how to interpret them (likesay, nOOB), can someone point out some alarming things?

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...ing_stats.html

In short, we completely stink. I play as GM, so I don't interfere too much in the lineups. The only change I do make is to force Elliot Johnson into SS because Alcides Escobar is having a shocker. Other than that I'm a bit lost.

I always make changes in May, after having seen the team play, but I've never gotten this far behind so early in the season.

I've not spent a penny so far somy budget is completely available. Should I buy? Should I change the lineup? Should I stick with it and see how it goes?

Thanks!

RoyalsBlue · 04-28-2013, 10:37 AM

First thing I would do is fire Ned Yost..

Shockingly bad start to the season for the boys in blue, particularly when you measure it against real life. Unfortunately, the real life Royals also have an issue with OBP as the team as a whole just doesn't do well enough at drawing walks, with the exception of Gordon and Butler, and Hosmer when he's going well.

As far as what to do at this point, first I'd sit both Cain and Escobar, at least for the next week, just to shake things up. Dyson will take Cain's position in CF since Lorenzo has a nagging injury and Johnson at SS, both toward the bottom of the lineup with Dyson in the 9 hole.

Second, I'd take Mendoza out of the rotation and either plug in Bruce Chen or call up Smith and send Mendoza down to Omaha.

This is the lineup I'd be using primarily for the next week or so:
1.LF Gordon 2. 2B Getz 3. 1B Hosmer 4. DH Butler 5. C Perez 6. RF Francouer 7. 3B Moustakas 8. SS Johnson 9. CF Dyson

Frankly, I'd wait until the end of May before doing anything too drastic, but it's definitely at the point to be concerned, if not completely worried.

zerozero31 · 04-28-2013, 10:40 AM

@royalblue

thanks for your reply. I'll give that a go. I find the fielding screen a bit hard to read, is there anything there that sticks out for you? I'm otherwise very much of the Moneyball "fielding does not matter" mindset.

cheers.

RoyalsBlue · 04-28-2013, 10:57 AM

The only thing that jumps out at me on the fielding is that backup catcher George Kottaras has a start (and entire game it appears) in center field.

Frankly the defense is the least of the concerns with the Royals. If you can get the offense jump-started and settle the starting pitching down, I think you'll be alright.

Good luck!

The Game · 04-28-2013, 08:56 PM

Royals future looks bright for the 1st time since, Dye, Beltran and Damon.

zerozero31 · 04-29-2013, 11:43 AM

... not in my game. After a short rally following @royalsblue's advice we're back to .333. The owner is getting worried as indeed he should be!

loyalroyal · 04-29-2013, 07:04 PM

Try hitting and running, running and hitting, stealing and bunting a lot more than a normal team would. I've found that putting runners in motion for some reason leads to more hits and more timely hitting in this game. I'm finally starting to win by doing those things. You will get thrown out on occasion but you will score a lot more runs. With the Royals speed, this is a very good strategy I think. Just my 2 cents.....

Smokeydubbs · 05-04-2013, 07:48 AM

I had a lot of success till the end of May with this lineup:

Gordon
Escobar
Butler
Perez
Hosmer
Frenchy
Moose
Cain
Getz

It's necessary to note that for this stretch Billy was 1st in the MLB in batting average and OBP. Gordon was top 5 in BAVG and OBP. Escobar was torching the ball. Perez and Moose were cranking homers. Frenchy played well but was hurt for a couple weeks. My pitching was doing well. I had Chen at the 5 spot lighting it up. Wade Davis was my best pitcher with an ERA less than 1. Shields was Shields. Santana was a total wild card every start.

Things turned sour though. I was 8 games over .500 when Escobar got hurt and half my team slumped. Guthrie tore is labrum. Shields was out for a couple weeks. Herrera slumped and seemed to get thrown in the game every time the lead was close enough to lose. Brought Mendoza into the rotation and he really stunk it up. Hosmer and Moose were hitting in the .230 and under range. Just so much fail at once.

I was able to fix the sinking well enough with bringing Falu up, starting Dyson in center more often, and having Lough play for an injured Frenchy. All three of them played REALLY well. I also got a 1 for 1 trade with Chen for Andrew Cashner. TOTAL STEAL. Cashner is totally dominate as a starter and was a good #1 when Shields was hurt. I also DFA'd Hochevar and Gutierrez. Brought up Donnie Joseph. Also was offered a trade with Washington; Danny Espinoza for Kottaras and Starling. Starling doesn't wow me in real life and he was doing poorly in game, so it was a pretty easy choice. Ditch Getz for a guy with similar D but better bat.

So after all that and falling under .500 by a pretty big margin. I'm now 4 games away from the ASB sitting at 45-45. Duffy came back and had a 30 day rehab. He started off terribly but seems to do a lot better now. I have Paulino rehabbing, he's doing poorly though. Santana is still iffy every start. But our pitching is strong overall. After a stint of Billy and Alex coming back to earth, they are back to their solid hitting. Hosmer is crushing everything he sees, was the AL's top hitter in June (.351, 8 HRs, 31 RBIs .425 OBS in the month, .290/.350/.524 16HR on the season). Escobar is hitting well after coming off the DL. Just in time too, because Falu started to slump and I sent him back down. Too bad Johnson is out of options or I would have Falu as my main utility. But I gotta say, having Hayes as my backup catcher sucks. Kottaras was such a good bat...

I am mainly just the GM but I set the lineups. Yost handles everything in games. He does pretty well but I have a high CS%. I blame people like Frenchy trying to steal. Also Perez is sucking at throwing people out. Oh well.

04-28-2013, 10:37 AM	#2
RoyalsBlue Major Leagues Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Section 406, Row A, Seat 1 Posts: 375	First thing I would do is fire Ned Yost.. Shockingly bad start to the season for the boys in blue, particularly when you measure it against real life. Unfortunately, the real life Royals also have an issue with OBP as the team as a whole just doesn't do well enough at drawing walks, with the exception of Gordon and Butler, and Hosmer when he's going well. As far as what to do at this point, first I'd sit both Cain and Escobar, at least for the next week, just to shake things up. Dyson will take Cain's position in CF since Lorenzo has a nagging injury and Johnson at SS, both toward the bottom of the lineup with Dyson in the 9 hole. Second, I'd take Mendoza out of the rotation and either plug in Bruce Chen or call up Smith and send Mendoza down to Omaha. This is the lineup I'd be using primarily for the next week or so: 1.LF Gordon 2. 2B Getz 3. 1B Hosmer 4. DH Butler 5. C Perez 6. RF Francouer 7. 3B Moustakas 8. SS Johnson 9. CF Dyson Frankly, I'd wait until the end of May before doing anything too drastic, but it's definitely at the point to be concerned, if not completely worried. __________________ A bad day at the ballpark is still better than the best day in the office!

04-28-2013, 10:57 AM	#4
RoyalsBlue Major Leagues Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Section 406, Row A, Seat 1 Posts: 375	The only thing that jumps out at me on the fielding is that backup catcher George Kottaras has a start (and entire game it appears) in center field. Frankly the defense is the least of the concerns with the Royals. If you can get the offense jump-started and settle the starting pitching down, I think you'll be alright. Good luck! __________________ A bad day at the ballpark is still better than the best day in the office!

04-29-2013, 11:43 AM	#6
zerozero31 Minors (Single A) Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Netherlands Posts: 59	Needing help with the Royals. ... not in my game. After a short rally following @royalsblue's advice we're back to .333. The owner is getting worried as indeed he should be!

05-04-2013, 07:48 AM	#8
Smokeydubbs Bat Boy Join Date: Apr 2013 Posts: 3	I had a lot of success till the end of May with this lineup: Gordon Escobar Butler Perez Hosmer Frenchy Moose Cain Getz It's necessary to note that for this stretch Billy was 1st in the MLB in batting average and OBP. Gordon was top 5 in BAVG and OBP. Escobar was torching the ball. Perez and Moose were cranking homers. Frenchy played well but was hurt for a couple weeks. My pitching was doing well. I had Chen at the 5 spot lighting it up. Wade Davis was my best pitcher with an ERA less than 1. Shields was Shields. Santana was a total wild card every start. Things turned sour though. I was 8 games over .500 when Escobar got hurt and half my team slumped. Guthrie tore is labrum. Shields was out for a couple weeks. Herrera slumped and seemed to get thrown in the game every time the lead was close enough to lose. Brought Mendoza into the rotation and he really stunk it up. Hosmer and Moose were hitting in the .230 and under range. Just so much fail at once. I was able to fix the sinking well enough with bringing Falu up, starting Dyson in center more often, and having Lough play for an injured Frenchy. All three of them played REALLY well. I also got a 1 for 1 trade with Chen for Andrew Cashner. TOTAL STEAL. Cashner is totally dominate as a starter and was a good #1 when Shields was hurt. I also DFA'd Hochevar and Gutierrez. Brought up Donnie Joseph. Also was offered a trade with Washington; Danny Espinoza for Kottaras and Starling. Starling doesn't wow me in real life and he was doing poorly in game, so it was a pretty easy choice. Ditch Getz for a guy with similar D but better bat. So after all that and falling under .500 by a pretty big margin. I'm now 4 games away from the ASB sitting at 45-45. Duffy came back and had a 30 day rehab. He started off terribly but seems to do a lot better now. I have Paulino rehabbing, he's doing poorly though. Santana is still iffy every start. But our pitching is strong overall. After a stint of Billy and Alex coming back to earth, they are back to their solid hitting. Hosmer is crushing everything he sees, was the AL's top hitter in June (.351, 8 HRs, 31 RBIs .425 OBS in the month, .290/.350/.524 16HR on the season). Escobar is hitting well after coming off the DL. Just in time too, because Falu started to slump and I sent him back down. Too bad Johnson is out of options or I would have Falu as my main utility. But I gotta say, having Hayes as my backup catcher sucks. Kottaras was such a good bat... I am mainly just the GM but I set the lineups. Yost handles everything in games. He does pretty well but I have a high CS%. I blame people like Frenchy trying to steal. Also Perez is sucking at throwing people out. Oh well. Last edited by Smokeydubbs; 05-04-2013 at 07:51 AM.

04-28-2013, 09:14 AM	#1
zerozero31 Minors (Single A) Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Netherlands Posts: 59	Needing help with the Royals. Hi, I'm looking for some help here. I'm in the first month of the season with the Royals and after a decent enough start, we seemed to have begun a race to the bottom - one we're winning handsomely. In the link you'll find our team page (apologies for the formatting, but you get the idea). https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...9/team_43.html In short summary we're bottom of the division with a 9-21 record. I'm trying to figure out from the stats what's going wrong exactly. I'm a nOOb, so this may be complete rubbish, but this is what I think: - at .250 our batting average is too low (we're not hitting the ball enough) - .. meaning our OBP at .297 might suggest that even if we do hit the ball we're not getting on base - our starting pitching ERA is very bad .. - but strangely enough our bullpen is not doing too badly at .394 ... The fielding stats are here, but i'm not quite sure how to interpret them (likesay, nOOB), can someone point out some alarming things? https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...ing_stats.html In short, we completely stink. I play as GM, so I don't interfere too much in the lineups. The only change I do make is to force Elliot Johnson into SS because Alcides Escobar is having a shocker. Other than that I'm a bit lost. I always make changes in May, after having seen the team play, but I've never gotten this far behind so early in the season. I've not spent a penny so far somy budget is completely available. Should I buy? Should I change the lineup? Should I stick with it and see how it goes? Thanks!

04-28-2013, 10:40 AM	#3
zerozero31 Minors (Single A) Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Netherlands Posts: 59	@royalblue thanks for your reply. I'll give that a go. I find the fielding screen a bit hard to read, is there anything there that sticks out for you? I'm otherwise very much of the Moneyball "fielding does not matter" mindset. cheers.

04-28-2013, 08:56 PM	#5
The Game Hall Of Famer Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Inside The Game Posts: 30,937	Royals future looks bright for the 1st time since, Dye, Beltran and Damon.

04-29-2013, 07:04 PM	#7
loyalroyal Minors (Double A) Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 141	Try hitting and running, running and hitting, stealing and bunting a lot more than a normal team would. I've found that putting runners in motion for some reason leads to more hits and more timely hitting in this game. I'm finally starting to win by doing those things. You will get thrown out on occasion but you will score a lot more runs. With the Royals speed, this is a very good strategy I think. Just my 2 cents.....