Royal Blue Mediocrity: A Kansas City Royals Franchise (MLB 10)

[jude89]

User: jude89
Platform: PS3
Game: MLB 10: The Show
Rosters: OSFM V4.3
Sliders: Psycho V3.2



"On September 30th, 1992, George Brett recorded his 3,000th hit capping off one of the best careers ever recorded by a Kansas City Royal. Approximately 21 seconds later he was picked off of first base in his jubilation."

This is the story of the 2010 Royal's attempt to rise from the depths of mediocrity.

[jude89]

TEAM PREVIEW

Projected Depth Chart

Kansas City Royals Depth Chart - 2010
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
C	Jason Kendall	Brayan Pena
1B	Billy Butler
2B	Chris Getz	Alberto Callaspo	Josh Fields
3B	Willie Bloomquist	Josh Fields	Alberto Callaspo
SS	Yuniesky Betancourt	Mike Aviles
LF	Scott Podsednik	Jose Guillen
CF	Rick Ankiel	David DeJesus
RF	David DeJesus	Scott Podsednik
DH	Jose Guillen	Alberto Callaspo
SP	Zack Greinke	Luke Hochevar	Brian Bannister	Gil Meche
RP	John Parrish	Robinson Tejeda	Kyle Farnsworth	Roman Colon
CL	Joakim Soria

KANSAS CITY, MO -- The 2010 Kansas City Royals have their work cut out for them. Right off the bat you may notice the absence of A-potential 3B Alex Gordon from the initial depth chart. Gordon will be starting the year at AAA Omaha to try to further assist his development into one of today's young stars. Gordon has seen multiple years at the big league level but has just not become who everyone thought he would be. Yet anyway.

Also returning for the 2010 campaign is the 2009 AL CY Young award winner Zack Greinke. Throughout the years Greinke has always had decent stats but a lack of run support has held him back. With the additions of Rick Ankiel and Scott Podsednik in the off-season look for the offensive output to increase and expect big things from Mr. Greinke again this year.

Grades

Offense: D. The Yankees had a team .362 on-base percentage last season; Butler's .362 OBP led the Royals. Alberto Callaspo, who hit .300 with a team-high 79 runs and had more walks (52) than strikeouts (51) will move to the bench in favor of Chris Getz, a superior defensive player. There is much work to do.

Pitching: C. Even with A-plus guys Greinke and Soria, this unit is a concern. If Gil Meche is healthy, that would be a big plus; he won 23 games with a 3.82 ERA in his first two seasons with K.C. Trying to convert Kyle Farnsworth from a setup man to a reliever is a long shot at this point in his career.

Bench: B. Callaspo should be an offensive asset, assuming the demotion doesn't affect him. Mike Aviles -- when healthy -- can play multiple infield spots as well as Josh Fields.

Manager: C. After the 75-win season and the strong start to the 2009 season, things came crashing down for Trey Hillman. The challenge this season is to not only get off to another strong start, but to learn from the mistakes of last season and maintain it.

Prediction: The Royals have a great young core with Greinke, Butler and Soria, but there aren't many other reasons to expect better than a fourth-place finish in the AL Central.

[jude89]

And So the New Era Begins.....

Royals on right track after big game from Greinke

KANSAS CITY, MO -- I mean what else did you expect? After all, he's the reigning CY Young winner.

Opening Day 2010 was kind to the Royals. In what promised to be a pitching duel between two of the AL's best, the Tigers and the Royals took to the field to kickoff what will undoubtedly be an exciting 2010 campaign. Justin Verlander vs. Zack Greinke was for the most part as advertised. However, the Royals did just enough to pull out the 3-0 shutout of the visiting Tigers. It wasn't until the bottom of the 4th inning that there was any offense to be found in the contest. With one out Billy Butler singled up the middle. Rick Ankiel then hit a ground rule double to right center field to put runners on 2nd and 3rd. Jose Guillen followed that up with a lazy fly ball to right field that was just deep enough for Butler to score. Verlander lost his composure on the very next pitch and threw it to the backstop resulting in Ankiel to come across the plate to make it 2-0 on the wild pitch. In the 7th inning a costly error resulted in the Royals only other run. Greinke was a tad wild at times, walking 1 and hitting 2, but was for the most part dominant over the entire contest. Manager Trey Hillman decided to let Greinke try for the complete game shutout, however, after a lead off walk he was pulled in favor of closer Joakim Soria who struck out 2 of 3 and easily closed the door for his first save of the young season. Jason Kendall had a respectable debut going 3-3 and driving in a run.

Luke Hochevar will take the mound opposite Rick Porcello in Wednesday's matchup.

Tigers at Royals - Kauffman Stadium
Apr 5, 7:10 PM	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Detroit (0-1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	1
Kansas City (1-0)	0	0	0	2	0	0	1	0	x	3	9	0
W: Zack Greinke L: Justin Verlander S: Joakim Soria

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			DET	KAN
	4th	Guillen sac fly to right, Butler scores	0	1
	4th	Verlander wild pitch, Ankiel scores	0	2
	7th	Kendall singles to right, Betancourt scores	0	3

Detroit Tigers
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
Jackson, CF	3	0	0	0	0	1	.000
Damon, LF	4	0	1	0	0	3	.250
Ordonez, RF	4	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Cabrera, 1B	3	0	1	0	0	0	.333
Boesch, DH	4	0	1	0	0	1	.250
Santiago, 2B	3	0	0	0	0	1	.000
Diaz, C	4	0	1	0	0	1	.250
Inge, 3B	3	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Everett, SS	3	0	1	0	0	0	.333
TOTALS	31	0	5	0	1	7
BATTING 2B: M. Cabrera (1) HBP: R. Santiago, A. Jackson GIDP: B. Inge
FIELDING E: R. Santiago (1)

Detroit Tigers
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
J. Verlander (L, 0-1)	6.0	8	3	2	0	4	3.00
P. Coke	2.0	1	0	0	0	2	0.00
TOTALS	8.0	9	3	2	0	6

Kansas City Royals
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
DeJesus, RF	4	0	0	0	0	1	.000
Podsednik, LF	4	0	1	0	0	1	.250
Butler, 1B	4	1	1	0	0	0	.250
Ankiel, CF	4	1	2	0	0	2	.500
Guillen, DH	3	0	1	1	0	0	.333
Bloomquist, 3B	3	0	0	0	0	2	.000
Betancourt, SS	3	1	0	0	0	0	.000
Kendall, C	3	0	3	1	0	0	1.000
Getz, 2B	3	0	1	0	0	0	.333
TOTALS	31	3	9	2	0	6
BATTING 2B: R. Ankiel (1), J. Guillen (1) RBI: J. Guillen (1), J. Kendall (1) SF: J. Guillen

Kansas City Royals
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
Z. Greinke (W, 1-0)	8.0	5	0	0	1	5	0.00
J. Soria (S, 1)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0.00
TOTALS	9.0	5	0	0	1	7

[jude89]

Farnsworth Implodes

Royals blow early lead, lose in 9th

KANSAS CITY, MO -- The former #1 overall pick, Luke Hochevar, showed signs of brilliance through the first 5 innings but just ran out of gas in the 6th as his pitch count approached the upper 90s. Manager Trey Hillman was quoted as saying "I should have taken him out after that leadoff triple, that's on me, but I wanted to see what the kid had and if he could work out of a jam. He limited the damage but just didn't have anything left in the tank."

The scoring began in the bottom half of the 2nd when Jose Guillen deposited a hanging Rick Porcello curveball into the let field bullpen for a 1-0 lead. Porcello was fairly inconsistent on this day as his strike to ball ratio was lower than 2:1. In the following frame Chris Getz got a ball into the gap in right center for a stand up triple. He was brought home on a David DeJesus single up the middle. After that, the Royals offense would go stagnant and they were not able to get anything going the rest of the game. The Tigers would strike for 2 runs to tie the game in the 6th. After a leadoff triple by rookie Austin Jackson and two straight infield pop ups, an intentional walk was issued to slugger Miguel Cabrera. Hochevar was in good shape to get out of the jam but gave up two straight singles to Brennan Boesch and Ramon Santiago before getting that elusive third out. With some good bullpen work by Robinson Tejeda, the contest was still tied going into the 9th when Kyle Farnsworth came on. After striking out Boesch, Farnsworth hit Santiago on an 0-2 count. Carlos Guillen came on to pinch hit and swiftly spanked a ball into the gap for an RBI triple. Brandon Inge then put the icing on the cake by crushing a Farnsworth fastball over the left field bullpen to make it 5-2 in favor of Detroit. The Royals went down quietly in the bottom half as closer Jose Valverde picked up the save. Detroit's bullpen struck out 4 of the final 6 Royals' hitters.

Brian Bannister will make his season debut tomorrow against newly acquired Tiger, Max Scherzer. The Royals look to take the rubber match in the series finale before hosting the Boston Red Sox for 3 games.

Tigers at Royals - Kauffman Stadium
Apr 7, 2010	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Detroit (1-1)	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	3	5	9	0
Kansas City (1-1)	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	5	0
W: Phil Coke L: Kyle Farnsworth S: Jose Valverde

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			DET	KAN
	2nd	Guillen homered to left (397 feet)	0	1
	3rd	Dejesus single up the middle, Getz scores	0	2
	6th	Boesch singles to left, Jackson scores	1	2
	6th	Santiago singles up middle, Cabrera scores	2	2
	9th	C. Guillen triples to right center, Santiago scores	3	2
	9th	Inge homers to left (403 feet), Guillen scores	5	2

Detroit Tigers
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
Jackson, CF	4	1	2	0	1	0	.286
Damon, LF	5	0	1	0	0	0	.222
Ordonez, RF	4	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Cabrera, 1B	3	1	2	0	1	0	.500
Boesch, DH	4	0	1	1	0	2	.250
Santiago, 2B	3	1	1	1	0	0	.167
Diaz, C	3	0	0	0	0	1	.143
A-Guillen, PH	1	1	1	1	0	0	1.000
Laird, C	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Inge, 3B	4	1	1	2	0	1	.143
Everett, SS	4	0	0	0	0	1	.143
TOTALS	35	5	9	5	2	5
BATTING 3B: C. Guillen (1), A. Jackson (1) HR: B. Inge (1) RBI: R. Santiago (1), C. Guillen (1), B. Inge 2 (2), B. Boesch (1) HBP: R. Santiago GIDP: R. Santiago

Detroit Tigers
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
R. Porcello	7.0	5	2	2	1	4	2.57
P. Coke (W, 1-0)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0.00
J. Valverde (S, 1)	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0.00
TOTALS	9.0	5	2	2	1	8
PITCHING WP: R. Porcello (1)

Kansas City Royals
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
DeJesus, RF	4	0	2	1	0	0	.250
Podsednik, LF	4	0	0	0	0	1	.125
Butler, 1B	4	0	0	0	0	2	.125
Ankiel, CF	3	0	0	0	1	0	.286
Guillen, DH	4	1	1	1	0	1	.286
Bloomquist, 3B	4	0	0	0	0	3	.000
Betancourt, SS	3	0	1	0	0	0	.167
Kendall, C	3	0	0	0	0	1	.500
Getz, 2B	3	1	1	0	0	0	.333
TOTALS	32	2	5	2	1	8
BATTING 3B: C. Getz (1) HR: J. Guillen (1) RBI: D. DeJesus (1), J. Guillen (2)
BASERUNNING SB: D. DeJesus (1), Y. Betancourt (1)

Kansas City Royals
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
L. Hochevar	6.0	7	2	2	1	3	3.00
R. Tejeda	2.0	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
K. Farnsworth (L, 0-1)	1.0	2	3	3	1	2	27.00
TOTALS	9.0	9	5	5	2	5

[jude89]

More 9th Inning Magic

Callaspo has pinch hit single with 2 outs in the 9th to seal victory

KANSAS CITY, MO -- For the second consecutive day, the contest was decided in the 9th inning. This one, however, went in favor of the hometown Royals. Alberto Callaspo, in his first at bat of the season, was the hero of the game for the Royals. "I just saw a slider breaking in towards me and pulled the trigger and yanked it right down the line. It's good way to start the season" said a smiling Callaspo after the game.

For the third straight game a Royals starter has lasted through 6 innings (7 in this case) and come away with a solid performance. Brian Bannister looked calm, cool and collected out on the mound the entire time he was in the game. Bannister scattered 6 hits (1 for extra bases) and struck out 5 on his way to an undeserving no decision. The Tigers got their lone run of the game in the top half of the 3rd when Austin Jackson laid down a perfect bunt single and Johnny Damon followed it up with a double in the gap. If it was anyone but the speedy Jackson, that run probably wouldn't have scored. It is also safe to say that the Damon double was the most well hit ball of the contest for the Tigers, one of the few to even leave the infield. Detroit's offense really struggled in this one. The Royals were not able to get to Detroit starter Max Scherzer until the 6th. Scott Podsednik singled up the middle to start the rally. Rick Ankiel was next up and after working the count to 2-2 manager Trey Hillman put on the hit and run. It worked to perfection as Ankiel found the gap of the covering 2nd baseman and Podsednik was able to make it all the way to 3rd on the single. Jose Guillen then brought Podsednik home on a single through the left side. Guillen was a solid 3-4 on the day, all singles however. Bannister was pulled after 7, even though he was mowing Tigers down and doing just fine. "Just trying to avoid an episode like yesterday, it's early in the season" said Hillman. The Royals got more solid bullpen work from relievers Juan Cruz and Roman Colon going a combined 2 innings with 1 hit and 0 runs. The 9th inning began with Ankiel singling up the middle, however, after 2 quick outs things looked bleak. Yuniesky Betancourt then hit one of the weakest seeing eye singles you'll ever see just over the head of 1B Miguel Cabrera and just out of reach of RF Brennan Boesch that landed right on the right field line. Ankiel was heads up on the base paths as he was able to just make it safely into third on the play. Jason Kendall was struggling at the plate since the first game so Hillman made the switch to Callaspo with the game on the line. The rest is history they say.

The Royals hit .245 as a team in the series with only 7 total runs scored and just 4 extra base hits, only 1 of which was the long ball variety. 3B Willie Bloomquist has yet to record a hit and will most likely be replaced by Callaspo in the Boston series. "Just trying to get a feel for the team. I think this early its good to make subtle changes and try to give the club the best opportunity to win" replied the skipper. The shining star of the Royals so far has been the starting pitching. All 3 starters have recorded quality starts and combined gave up just 3 runs over 21 IP while striking out 13. The Boston Red Sox will come to town sporting an unusual 0-3 record for a 3 game set before the Royals hit the first road trip of the season. Friday's matchup pits Gil Meche against John Lackey.

Tigers at Royals - Kauffman Stadium
Apr 8, 2010	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Detroit (1-2)	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	7	0
Kansas City (2-1)	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	2	10	0
W: Roman Colon L: Phil Coke

Scoring Summary
SCORING DETAILS			DET	KAN
	3rd	Damon doubles to right center, Jackson scores	1	0
	6th	Guillen singles up the middle, Podsednik scores	1	1
	9th	Callaspo singles to left, Ankiel scores	1	2

Detroit Tigers
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
Jackson, CF	4	1	1	0	0	0	.273
Damon, LF	4	0	1	1	0	1	.231
Ordonez, RF	4	0	0	0	0	0	.000
Cabrera, 1B	4	0	0	0	0	1	.300
Boesch, DH	4	0	2	0	0	2	.333
Santiago, 2B	4	0	1	0	0	0	.200
Diaz, C	3	0	1	0	0	1	.200
Inge, 3B	3	0	0	0	0	0	.100
Everett, SS	2	0	1	0	0	1	.222
A-Guillen, PH-SS	1	0	0	0	0	0	.500
BATTING 2B: J. Damon (1) RBI: J. Damon (1) GIDP: B. Inge

Detroit Tigers
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
M. Scherzer	6.0	7	1	1	0	5	1.50
P. Coke (L, 1-1)	2.2	3	1	1	0	1	1.59
TOTALS	8.2	10	2	2	0	6
PITCHING WP: M. Scherzer 2 (2)

Kansas City Royals
HITTERS	AB	R	H	BI	BB	SO	AVG
DeJesus, RF	4	0	1	0	0	0	.250
Podsednik, LF	4	1	1	0	0	0	.167
Butler, 1B	4	0	1	0	0	1	.167
Ankiel, CF	4	1	2	0	0	1	.364
Guillen, DH	4	0	3	1	0	1	.455
Bloomquist, 3B	4	0	0	0	0	1	.000
Betancourt, SS	4	0	1	0	0	1	.200
Kendall, C	3	0	0	0	0	0	.333
A-Callaspo, PH	1	0	1	1	0	0	1.000
Getz, 2B	3	0	0	0	0	1	.222
TOTALS	35	2	10	2	0	6
BATTING RBI: J. Guillen (3), A. Callaspo (1) GIDP: J. Kendall

Kansas City Royals
PITCHERS	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	ERA
B. Bannister	7.0	6	1	1	0	5	1.29
J. Cruz	1.2	1	0	0	0	1	0.00
R. Colon (W, 1-0)	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
TOTALS	9.0	7	1	1	0	6

[ncksmth10]

this looks really good so far, keep it up

[jude89]

Quote: Originally Posted by ncksmth10

this looks really good so far, keep it up

Thanks man. I haven't franchised/dynastied in a long time but I got the bug so I figured I'd fire one up. The Royals offense is so bad haha. Even IRL they only hit like 101 HR in 2010.

I've got the boxscores saved for the next 4 games, just gotta do some write ups for them when I find some time.