On Par

Well, it looks like the Ol' Ball Club is on its way to a mini-sweep at the hands of the Twins. I was pretty impressed with the way the Royals hung in there yesterday, and Mike Sweeney's shot against Johan will be one of the few highlights of this dreadful season. Yet again, of course, the Royals hurt themselves late in the game with unforced errors - Field's wild pitch, McEwing's non-error error, etc., allowing the Twins to escape with a 5-4 victory. Kevin has a more comprehensive wrap from the Royal perspective, while AG sees things behind enemy lines.

Today, we're seeing the signs of a truly bad team. The Royals jumped all over Gassner, scoring 5 runs in less than 2 innings and sending him to the commode. Predictably, Brian Anderson just can't stand prosperity, and a 5-3 lead has quickly melted into a 7-5 deficit. Mike Wood is on to seal our fate. And, two errors thus far by the Royals. If the rest of the game holds to form, the Twins' long reliever will hold the Royals scoreless for the next 5 innings while Minnesota piles on.

Oh, Calvin.

0-2, 2K.

I cannot foresee any plausible scenario in which Pickering stays on the ballclub through the end of May. It just seems like the league has The Book on him and Calvin is simply unable to adjust. I can completely understand how Tony Pena or any other major league manager would HATE to have Pickering on his team. He can't move, he can't field, he can't run the bases - and right now, he can't hit. It has to be very frustrating to tie up a roster spot with a .5 dimensional player who isn't even providing that .5 dimension. As I said before, Pickering is a true test of faith in objective analysis of what contributes to wins and losses in major league baseball. But Pickering is making the looming decision to jettison him very easy.

The Sports Economist posted his thoughts about the unique Royals ownership structure. Amazingly, the topic didn't generate much interest. But I was happy to see that he took my suggestion and acted on it almost immediately. Thanks for that.