Back from the Saddle

Its always tough (snicker) leaving the Royals behind for a few days, but I managed. In fact, I even caught (on TV, mind you, not literally) Mark Teahen's first home run of the season on Saturday, a game the Royals eventually lost, of course.

There doesn't seem to be a lot of movement these days. The Royals are playing better (5-7) since Tony Pena's departure, but that merely upgrades their condition from "dead" to "I don't think he's dead", so I don't take much stock in that. The interim skipper is supposedly in the running for the new actual skipper job, among a list of luminaries that includes Art Howe and Terry Collins. I guess they couldn't find Bobby V.'s phone number. Vonage has great rates to Japan, by the way.

Catching up on news you've already heard:

-- Ken Harvey DL'd. I guess he's not a savior after all!

Game 1: 1HR, 4RBI
Games 2 to 10: oHR, 1RBI

-- Leo Nunez is experiencing the joys of opposing batters wondering "Who the hell is this guy?"

8.1 IP, 3H, 0BB, 6K, 0.36 WHIP

I'm waiting for the Andy Sisco Turn:

A. Sisco
April (Mop-Up Man): 17IP, 8H, 6BB, 20K, 0.82 WHIP
May (THE Man): 8.2IP, 9H, 10BB, 11K, 2.19 WHIP

I love the fact that the Royals have some talented young pitchers on their roster. I'm more excited about this crop than any in recent memory. I just think we need to keep reminding ourselves that they're going to struggle mightily for at least 2 years before they become consistent major league pitchers. It took Ben Sheets four years, which is my mental benchmark, so I have no reason to believe these young talents are any different.

-- When I look at Mike Wood's season line, I'm shocked:

26.1 IP, 18H, 3HR, 10BB, 20K, 1.06 WHIP

I can't believe his statistics show that he's doing this well. It seems like everytime I catch his performances live, he stinks.

-- I'll give Jose Lima one thing: he's eating innings. That's the only aspect of his job description he's fulfilling.