The Royals

[mocat]

slucat good grief. 

he isn't wrong bud. unfortunately, billy has earned a demotion of some sort. also unfortunately, so has hos.

even more unfortunately, we don't have viable replacements.

i thought slucat was a female cat 

[Cartierfor3]

I mean, Wacky is running circles around slucat today ITT. Wacky.

[slimz]

who said there was 40 hr hitter sitting in AAA?

just try someone else. he is embarrassing.

Look, maybe this is just frustration with Billy, which it totally warranted. I'm frustrated, Billy's frustrated, even Dayton and Ned are probably frustrated. Billy's getting dropped in the order, which is a pretty big deal, given the situation.

But it's not as easy as saying "try someone else." You know when you "try someone else"? When you're out of the pennant race, in late August or September or whenever it happens. Or when you head into a year knowing you're not going to contend.

That's not this year. This is a year the Royals intended to (and are) contending. And Billy was the $8 million cornerstone of that. And still is. The Royals are still well within the mix, thanks to some other guys stepping up and having better years than anticipated. That's what happens in baseball.

Another thing that happens in baseball is that, overall, guys tend to play to their averages. Sometimes, if you look at 10 games, they look terrible. Sometimes they look terrible for even half a season. But often, they then have a hot stretch that brings them back within that average, and the team benefits. If you write them off after a slump, then you're gonna miss that benefit.

The averages play even more when there's a track record. And Billy has a track record. Not as good as the one we'd hoped for, but good enough that if he plays in the second half sufficient to get anywhere close to his averages/projections, then he'll have a very productive second half.

You know what doesn't happen very often? A guy with a solid track record just completely losing it at age 28. But you know what happens much less? A guy at 42 who has a .266 SLG and .511 OPS on the season finding a miracle cure and turning into a productive hitter again. And that's what you've got right now with Ibanez.

Colon may wind up being a decent hitter, despite some concerns, but he's still not going to provide the production you need out of the DH spot. I would bet the odds of Billy outproducing Colon the rest of the season are still pretty good.

It's frustrating, but this is really a case where you put together the best hand you could before the season, and Billy was one of the face cards in that hand, and the hand is still looking okay, but looking for other options now is like discarding that in hopes that you can hit on that 2-3-4-5-6 straight.

[j-dub]

i mean look at 2012 Billy and not get a massive royals rager:

first off he played in 161 games. 614 AB, .313/.373/.510, 29 HR, 107 RBI

Even in 2012 our dumbass fans complained about him "clogging up the bases"

billy is the antithesis of the classic royals player in basically every way. i think that had a lot to do with it.

that and i think it's difficult for people to appreciate refined skills as much as pure athleticism when watching pro ballplayers.

[j-dub]

slucat good grief. 

he isn't wrong bud. unfortunately, billy has earned a demotion of some sort. also unfortunately, so has hos.

even more unfortunately, we don't have viable replacements.

i thought slucat was a female cat 

low slucat iq over here. slucat can you confirm, man or woman?

[j-dub]

yeah Tom Brady can hit that big touchdown pass but what does he do while the rest of the team is sprinting to the end zone to celebrate? he hobbles down the field like an idiot. 

but oh man does he party hard with gronk when he finally gets there 

[Cartierfor3]

i mean look at 2012 Billy and not get a massive royals rager:

first off he played in 161 games. 614 AB, .313/.373/.510, 29 HR, 107 RBI

Even in 2012 our dumbass fans complained about him "clogging up the bases"

billy is the antithesis of the classic royals player in basically every way. i think that had a lot to do with it.

that and i think it's difficult for people to appreciate refined skills as much as pure athleticism when watching pro ballplayers.

you sound like every 55 year old who calls into BITB and says the Royals need to steal more bases like we did in the old days with AO and Willie Wilson

[mocat]

who said there was 40 hr hitter sitting in AAA?

just try someone else. he is embarrassing.

Look, maybe this is just frustration with Billy, which it totally warranted. I'm frustrated, Billy's frustrated, even Dayton and Ned are probably frustrated. Billy's getting dropped in the order, which is a pretty big deal, given the situation.

But it's not as easy as saying "try someone else." You know when you "try someone else"? When you're out of the pennant race, in late August or September or whenever it happens. Or when you head into a year knowing you're not going to contend.

That's not this year. This is a year the Royals intended to (and are) contending. And Billy was the $8 million cornerstone of that. And still is. The Royals are still well within the mix, thanks to some other guys stepping up and having better years than anticipated. That's what happens in baseball.

Another thing that happens in baseball is that, overall, guys tend to play to their averages. Sometimes, if you look at 10 games, they look terrible. Sometimes they look terrible for even half a season. But often, they then have a hot stretch that brings them back within that average, and the team benefits. If you write them off after a slump, then you're gonna miss that benefit.

The averages play even more when there's a track record. And Billy has a track record. Not as good as the one we'd hoped for, but good enough that if he plays in the second half sufficient to get anywhere close to his averages/projections, then he'll have a very productive second half.

You know what doesn't happen very often? A guy with a solid track record just completely losing it at age 28. But you know what happens much less? A guy at 42 who has a .266 SLG and .511 OPS on the season finding a miracle cure and turning into a productive hitter again. And that's what you've got right now with Ibanez.

Colon may wind up being a decent hitter, despite some concerns, but he's still not going to provide the production you need out of the DH spot. I would bet the odds of Billy outproducing Colon the rest of the season are still pretty good.

It's frustrating, but this is really a case where you put together the best hand you could before the season, and Billy was one of the face cards in that hand, and the hand is still looking okay, but looking for other options now is like discarding that in hopes that you can hit on that 2-3-4-5-6 straight.

Cartier, get my man slimz over here an Ortiz bomb gif

[Cartierfor3]

@slimz:

[j-dub]

man slimz killed it

[j-dub]

i mean look at 2012 Billy and not get a massive royals rager:

first off he played in 161 games. 614 AB, .313/.373/.510, 29 HR, 107 RBI

Even in 2012 our dumbass fans complained about him "clogging up the bases"

billy is the antithesis of the classic royals player in basically every way. i think that had a lot to do with it.

that and i think it's difficult for people to appreciate refined skills as much as pure athleticism when watching pro ballplayers.

you sound like every 55 year old who calls into BITB and says the Royals need to steal more bases like we did in the old days with AO and Willie Wilson

you rough ridin' dumbass. quote the entire post and change your response to "yes j-dub, you nailed the royals fanbase to a T"

[mocat]

that gif 

[Cartierfor3]

i mean look at 2012 Billy and not get a massive royals rager:

first off he played in 161 games. 614 AB, .313/.373/.510, 29 HR, 107 RBI

Even in 2012 our dumbass fans complained about him "clogging up the bases"

billy is the antithesis of the classic royals player in basically every way. i think that had a lot to do with it.

that and i think it's difficult for people to appreciate refined skills as much as pure athleticism when watching pro ballplayers.

you sound like every 55 year old who calls into BITB and says the Royals need to steal more bases like we did in the old days with AO and Willie Wilson

you rough ridin' dumbass. quote the entire post and change your response to "yes j-dub, you nailed the royals fanbase to a T"

 

sorry J-dub didn't really mean it like that. old timey royals fans are pretty stupid is more what i was getting at 


old timey royals fans:

we need a guy like Freddy Patek.

[j-dub]

slimz, the only point i slightly disagree with you on is that it's not at all surprising that billy is declining faster (much faster) than the average player. he's got a "bad body" in scout's terms, is the *2nd slowest player in mlb (*some fangraphs article i think) and is in the bottom 3 players in all of mlb in pure athleticism. he was never going to age gracefully. it would have been nice if he could have held out a little longer though.

[j-dub]

i mean look at 2012 Billy and not get a massive royals rager:

first off he played in 161 games. 614 AB, .313/.373/.510, 29 HR, 107 RBI

Even in 2012 our dumbass fans complained about him "clogging up the bases"

billy is the antithesis of the classic royals player in basically every way. i think that had a lot to do with it.

that and i think it's difficult for people to appreciate refined skills as much as pure athleticism when watching pro ballplayers.

you sound like every 55 year old who calls into BITB and says the Royals need to steal more bases like we did in the old days with AO and Willie Wilson

you rough ridin' dumbass. quote the entire post and change your response to "yes j-dub, you nailed the royals fanbase to a T"

 

sorry J-dub didn't really mean it like that. old timey royals fans are pretty stupid is more what i was getting at 


old timey royals fans:

we need a guy like Freddy Patek.

  man i got a little fired up for a second there bud!

[Cartierfor3]

Guys we either sit around here arguing, or we can think of something inspiring for me to tell Billy at his AM workout tomorrow.

[mocat]

i don't think his slowness or bad body should all of a sudden eliminate his hand-eye awesomeness at age 28. AGE 28 j-dub.

[j-dub]

Guys we either sit around here arguing, or we can think of something inspiring for me to tell Billy at his AM workout tomorrow.

free pastries for life if he leads the royals to the *promised land.

*2nd wild card spot where we are summarily eliminated in the 1 game playoff 

[mocat]

Guys we either sit around here arguing, or we can think of something inspiring for me to tell Billy at his AM workout tomorrow.

you should wish Billy happy 26th birthday and have him watch The Avengers while listening to Somebody That I Used to Know and tell him sorry about Trayvon

[Cartierfor3]

Guys we either sit around here arguing, or we can think of something inspiring for me to tell Billy at his AM workout tomorrow.

free pastries for life if he leads the royals to the *promised land.

*2nd wild card spot where we are summarily eliminated in the 1 game playoff 

bro free pastries for life? take a good hard look into the crystal ball and ask yourself what Billy's post baseball life looks like. That would be millions of pastries. maybe billions.

[Cartierfor3]

Guys we either sit around here arguing, or we can think of something inspiring for me to tell Billy at his AM workout tomorrow.

you should wish Billy happy 26th birthday and have him watch The Avengers while listening to Somebody That I Used to Know and tell him sorry about Trayvon

now we're talkin!

"Hey Billy, are you pumped the Redskins drafted RGIII?"

[j-dub]

i don't think his slowness or bad body should all of a sudden eliminate his hand-eye awesomeness at age 28. AGE 28 j-dub.

ballplayers peak at age 27 bud, according to some rany blog/tweet. He started tailing off significantly the 2nd half of last season. and has only gotten worse this year. we've seen the best of billy. but man, if he could just put together a couple of months for old time sake.. 

[mocat]

Guys we either sit around here arguing, or we can think of something inspiring for me to tell Billy at his AM workout tomorrow.

you should wish Billy happy 26th birthday and have him watch The Avengers while listening to Somebody That I Used to Know and tell him sorry about Trayvon

now we're talkin!

"Hey Billy, are you pumped the Redskins drafted RGIII?"

woohoo! the mayans were wrong! now go hit a rough ridin' home run billy! 

[j-dub]

Guys we either sit around here arguing, or we can think of something inspiring for me to tell Billy at his AM workout tomorrow.

you should wish Billy happy 26th birthday and have him watch The Avengers while listening to Somebody That I Used to Know and tell him sorry about Trayvon

now we're talkin!

"Hey Billy, are you pumped the Redskins drafted RGIII?"

woohoo! the mayans were wrong! now go hit a rough ridin' home run billy! 

billy's dad = rocket scientist tho guys. he won't let us jedi mind trick his billy. 

just get the man a truckload of effing donuts and hope for the best.

[Cartierfor3]

i don't think his slowness or bad body should all of a sudden eliminate his hand-eye awesomeness at age 28. AGE 28 j-dub.

ballplayers peak at age 27 bud, according to some rany blog/tweet. He started tailing off significantly the 2nd half of last season. and has only gotten worse this year. we've seen the best of billy. but man, if he could just put together a couple of months for old time sake.. 

I did a quick google and found this:

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=9933

Billy should still be strong enough and coordinated enough to hit home runs at age 28. He's in better shape physically than he was at age 25, and should be the most knowledgeable, disciplined hitter within the franchise. Yeah he's not athletic, but still. Its perplexing. 

The table reveals that player skills peak at different times, often quite far apart from each other. Hitters peak in batting and slugging average at 28 while continuing to improve in their home-run hitting and walking abilities until 30 and 32, respectively. Home runs rising beyond the peak for doubles and triples indicates that foot-speed on the basepaths fades before hitting power. In addition, batters may be using veteran knowledge to better manage the strike-zone-or possibly becoming more friendly with umpires-to walk more and hit with power as they age.