Advance Scout: Royals, April 25-27

Friday, April 25 2003 @ 12:18 PM EDT

Contributed by: Mike D

Or should I say, "The Secret Super-Agents Who Have Abducted, And Are Posing As, The Royals?"

In all seriousness, KC has been feasting on bad and/or slumping teams en route to their wholly unforeseeable 16-3 start. They've been pitching well, fielding well and taking good approaches to at-bats, but they've also been the beneficiaries of errors and startling mental breakdowns by opponent after opponent. (Hello, Blue Jays...) It'll be interesting to see how the brimming-with-confidence Royals fare against the big boys. Having said that, they still have an awful lot of games against Detroit and Cleveland on the schedule..

We all "know" that they're not as good as their record, but consider this: Of all the teams to start 16-3 since 1940, all have made the playoffs except the '87 Brewers, who went on a 12-game losing streak in May. Even those Brewers, however, won 91 games.

Not only would 91 wins be an absolutely superlative achievement for Allard Baird and Tony Pena, but that would mean that the state of Missouri would, at the very least, see meaningful AL baseball for the first time in a long, long time. Remember, no playoffs since Sundberg...But who are we kidding? The '03 Kansas City Royals can't win 90, right? Right???

On to the Advance Scout!

* Pixie dust? They've got the spirit, yeah ... Tony Pena described the Royals clubhouse thusly: "[E]veryone is jumping around like little kids" ...
* Needless to say, this is the best start in Royals history ... Attendance at Kauffman Stadium is way up ... Incredibly, the Royals are the lone undefeated home team in baseball at 10-0! ... The '11 Tigers have the home-cooking record, starting 12-0 ... The last team to start 10-0 at home was the '87 Yankees.
* The Royals are thirteen games above .500 for the first time since the very day of the 1994 strike ...
* Pixie dust? ... The Royals were particularly ebullient after struggling rookie Ken Harvey's walk-off bomb on Friday night ... Harvey described the Royals' attitude as one of "quiet confidence" during games ...
* Darrell May was decent against the Tigers on Friday, but Pena offered reassurance: "He gave us what we asked for...He kept us in the ballgame" ...
* Jeremy Affeldt, not pitching particularly well this year anyway, suffered a blister on the index finger of his pitching hand on Saturday and is on the 15-day DL ... The Leiter-like Affeldt missed two months last season with blister problems ... Righty Jeremy Hill has been called up and placed in the bullpen ...
* Pixie dust? ... Albie Lopez picked Affeldt up with five innings of shutout relief ... Pena particularly liked Lopez' penchant for first-pitch strikes in his outstanding outing ...
* Pixie dust? ... Alan Trammell was shocked that Desi Relaford, of all people, hit one out of the park on a 3-2 pitch on Saturday ...
* Joe Randa left Saturday's game early with a tight hamstring, but has not missed a start since ...
* Pixie dust? ... In spite of feeling too sore to play, the line-drivey Randa homered in his first at-bat on Sunday ... Randa's a very solid 328/408/623 ... Randa isn't so thrilled with hitting second, indicating that he likes having opportunities to drive in runs ... He's delivered a ton of key hits during the Royals' winning streak ...
* Pixie dust? ... Later in the game, Randa dropped a bunt in the bottom of the ninth to advance Relaford to third; Carlos Pena's throw hit him in the back and skipped into right field, allowing Relaford to score the winning run ...
* Ken Harvey bruised his left knee in a first-base collision with Detroit's Omar Infante on Sunday and left the game, but he's OK ...
* On Tuesday, the Royals overcame ten walks allowed -- Runelvys Hernandez the primary culprit -- by surrendering only four hits ...
* Mike MacDougal on his one-hit, two-walk, two-run save on Tuesday night: "I definitely made it interesting...Luckily I got out of it. My control wasn't as sharp. I need to clean that up a bit" ... In 11 IP, MacDougal has allowed only 5 hits, but has walked 9 while striking out 9 ...
* Pixie dust? ... Brent Mayne has thrown out an outstanding six out of ten would-be basestealers ... Taking advantage of Mike DiFelice's spot start, Michael Cuddyer tried running on the Royals last night -- and got caught ...
* Angel Berroa and Carlos Febles have been predictably impersonating Punch and Judy at the plate. But they've been impersonating Tinker and Evers in the field so far ...
* Scary thought: Mike Sweeney had been slumping prior to his home run in yesterday's matinee ...
* Wednesday's rainout will prevent RHP Kyle Snyder from making his major league debut against the Jays ...
* First-round RHP Zack Greinke is toying with A-ball. 21 IP, one earned run. 20 K's, two walks ...
* Pixie dust? ... Kansas City Star columnist Joe Posnanski: "What is it about playing the Royals this year that turns opposing baserunners into Rob from the old 'Dick Van Dyke Show?' They're falling over ottomans, smashing into walls, getting doubled up on loopers to second" ...
* Things could get even better! Carlos Beltran, arguably the Royals' best player, is 0 for his first 16 ... Why the slump? All together now: "He's on Mike D's roto team" ...

Probable Batting Order

vs. RH

9 Tucker
5 Randa
8 Beltran
3 Sweeney
7 Ibanez
DH Harvey
2 Mayne/DiFelice
6 Berroa
4 Febles/Relaford

Pitching Probables
*Note: Contrary to most web reports, Kyle Snyder will not get the start tonight. He'll pitch for Omaha instead.

Friday: LH May vs. Halladay
Saturday: RH Asencio vs. Lidle
Sunday: RH Hernandez vs. Walker

Bullpen Usage

Long: Hill R
Short: Carrasco R, Wilson R
Setup: Grimsley R, Bukvich R
Closer: MacDougal R

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