The Royals

[sys]

did you all see the report about cueto signaling his pitches vs. toronto?  - "hey, toronto, these signs are for salvy, stop stealing them".

[joda]

Was it Verducci? He was really playing that one up. The drip drip drip was very dramatic.

It was Reynolds IIRC

It definitely wasn't Reynolds or Buck, so probably Verducci

[sys]

http://www.mattclearylive.com/

i like his "the moose, mike moustakes, the great man" stuff.

[Mrs. Gooch]

There will never be another binge christmas like it.

This is the second time in 14 hours that I have heard this term, although I had never heard it before that.

[mocat]

http://www.mattclearylive.com/

i like his "the moose, mike moustakes, the great man" stuff.

it's Kendrys Morales, beard of Robocop had the robot cop thing grown one, a square affair with a bit chopped out for his gob.

Quite lovely fountains here at The K, if you like that sort of thing, and who doesn't? Got to love a fountain. They're under-rated fountains. But they do nobody any harm. Top stuff, fountains.

And Big Sal Perez walks out to the mound to say, Okay. That's not flash, Champion. But you remain good at pitching. So. Let's see it.

[420seriouscat69]

 

[kso_FAN]

It has been quite a ride. I was fortunate to go to 7 regular season games this year and see 6 wins and now 3 postseason games and 3 more wins. I've got to see Cueto pitch 17 postseason innings and give up 3 runs and 4 hits. This team never quits and I'm trying not to take for granted being a fan of the best team in baseball. I'm hopeful we'll finish this thing off in NY, but honestly my mindset is similar to Toronto and making sure we get at least 1 win there. 14 of the last 15 and nearly 80% of teams win after being up 2-0 and I think we'll fall into the positive side of that statistic with the way we are playing, but you never know with baseball.

Enjoy this guys, go Roys.

[sys]

i don't buy the road as the reason cueto has sucked.  that's just a convenient narrative for people to rationalize hope. he's sucked plenty at home for kc too.  he's just been a bad pitcher for the last three months.  if it was me, i don't think i'd start him at all.

K

i'm gonna firm up on that opinion.  maybe had more to with telling the blue jays what he was planning to throw than stadium location.

Over footage from that ALCS meltdown in Toronto, Verducci pointed to Cueto’s struggles with the signs relayed by Perez in that game. After multiple botched connections, the camera picked up Cueto trying to subtly signal pitch choices himself. The result was a remedial version of Sign-Stealing 101, with the Jays clearly able to identify what was coming, and in several cases whack those predictable pitches.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/world-series-wrap-cuetos-game-2-gem/

https://twitter.com/MissFit_/status/659531899057152000/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc^tfw

[slobber]

Best case scenario: after winning Friday night, the commissioner of baseball says, "hey NY, everyone knows you don't have a chance to win this thing, so game 4 has been moved back to KC."


Gonna win 'em all!

[mocat]

i don't buy the road as the reason cueto has sucked.  that's just a convenient narrative for people to rationalize hope. he's sucked plenty at home for kc too.  he's just been a bad pitcher for the last three months.  if it was me, i don't think i'd start him at all.

K

i'm gonna firm up on that opinion.  maybe had more to with telling the blue jays what he was planning to throw than stadium location.

Over footage from that ALCS meltdown in Toronto, Verducci pointed to Cueto’s struggles with the signs relayed by Perez in that game. After multiple botched connections, the camera picked up Cueto trying to subtly signal pitch choices himself. The result was a remedial version of Sign-Stealing 101, with the Jays clearly able to identify what was coming, and in several cases whack those predictable pitches.

http://grantland.com/the-triangle/world-series-wrap-cuetos-game-2-gem/

https://twitter.com/MissFit_/status/659531899057152000/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc^tfw

so you wouldn't start him at all?
these are all of Cueto's home starts, going into last night:

9 IP, 0 ER
8 IP, 1 ER
5 IP, 6 ER
6 IP, 4 ER
3 IP, 5 ER
7 IP, 3 ER
6 IP, 4 ER
8 IP, 2 ER

^ according to sys, those numbers belong to a guy you don't start at all

[sys]

maybe i wasn't clear.  i was reaffirming my lack of conviction in the road/home hypothesis.  if getting the crap hit out of him in toronto has a clear explanation that is incredibly easy to fix, then i would be more likely to start him in game 6.

pitching well yesterday also helps with that decision, obviously.  i still don't trust him though.

[sys]

btw, i cannot believe you focused on hypothetically starting him again or not vs the incredible revelation that he was apparently signalling his pitches directly at the toronto hitters.  holy crap, that is crazy pills country (and if true, interesting).

[mocat]

to me the signs thing is all rolled up into the away stadium thing. worrying about sign stealing is just another thing that apparently rattles him on the road. the mets crowd (although boring AF) are not stupid enough to not chant CUETO CUETO CUETO the entire time, which clearly rattles him, and has since before he was a Royal.  i think it's a no brainer to start him at home and not on the road.

[kso_FAN]

The revelation of him signalling his own pitches to Salvy is pretty ridiculous and definitely contributed to his terrible outing. The Blue Jays didn't even need to steal anything really, they just had to be paying attention.

Also, at this point not wanting to start Cueto at home in a potential game 6 is really crazy; his last 2 outings at the K have been 2 of the best postseason starts in Royals history.

[cfbandyman]

The revelation of him signalling his own pitches to Salvy is pretty ridiculous and definitely contributed to his terrible outing. The Blue Jays didn't even need to steal anything really, they just had to be paying attention.

Also, at this point not wanting to start Cueto at home in a potential game 6 is really crazy; his last 2 outings at the K have been 2 of the best postseason starts in Royals history.

Not even gEing here, but if it hadn't been for Moose's slightly botched throws in both of those games, we'd be talking about basically two 1 hitter games and 2 shutouts. Actually the ALDS game would've been a perfect game. 

[kso_FAN]

I still can't believe Cain got left off the GG list.

[pissclams]

how did j cuets not know that the count was 3-2 last night?  drugs?

[mocat]

I still can't believe Cain got left off the GG list.

 

[sys]

I still can't believe Cain got left off the GG list.

he should have won last year.  he doesn't deserve to win this year, but he should probably be on the list.  trout being on it is stupid

[kso_FAN]

From the Met's perspective (good stuff)

DeGrom had just begun the fifth inning by walking the leadoff man; against this relentless Kansas City Royals team that’s like sticking your finger in a wood chipper

The Royals are like that persistent dog that chews and chews and chews, and eventually your couch has no legs to stand on. You get two strikes on them and your pain has only begun. They begin hacking and fouling off a half-dozen pitches and whacking seeing eye ground balls for base hits. As their center fielder Lorenzo Cain put it, “We shorten up and lock in.”

New Yorkers being New Yorkers, the quality of the Royals registered as a thunder strike of revelation for them. As the Royals kept ratcheting open the game, eventually to a 7-1 lead, my fellow provincials began to type disbelieving words.

“So … it turns out the Royals are good,” one New Yorker wrote to me.

[mocat]

i just can't believe that the worst team in the NL playoffs made it to the WS 

[AppleJack]

Sometimes I like to think about winning the World Series and how fun that would be.

[AppleJack]

Tomorrow will be the 9th straight (!) game our Royals will be underdogs in. It could be more but I can't remember Game 5 of the LDS.

[Kat Kid]

I still can't believe Cain got left off the GG list.

he should have won last year.  he doesn't deserve to win this year, but he should probably be on the list.  trout being on it is stupid

trout had excellent defensive numbers in previous years, has that tailed off?  Agree Cain should be on the list.

[kso_FAN]

Just a really good, fun read.