I'm not judging here. Think on it ok? TJ is approaching 100 at bats. Say he's hitting 0.160 after 100 at bats. That's not very good in my opinion for a major leaguer at any position. That may be just me. I have nothing against the guy. That's 16 hits in 100 at bats. Do the Royals want a SS that bats 0.200? So if TJ gets 500 at bats this year, which may be a little too many since he bats 9th most of the time. But it makes the math easier. To bat 0.200 for the season, you know...the Mendoza Line... he'll have to go 84 for 400 which is 0.210 the rest of the year. To bat 0.220 he'll have to go 94 for 400. To bat 0.250 for the season he'll have to go 109 for 400 the rest of the year, that's a 0.273 clip. Can a major league team be a winner with a shortstop that bats less then 0.250 for the year? Well yeah ...maybe. Can the Royals? Well...no. He makes some great plays. He already has three errors. I've seen his awesome plays in the field. Wow! I've seen his lame errors too. Yikes! The kid can't even bunt! He's not learning. Maybe he can. He hasn't yet. Choke up. Put the ball in play. Have you seen his swing? He covers a lot of ground at SS. Can the Royals win with him at shortstop? They got that guy in AAA...and I don't mean Berroa! Peace all and Go Royals.
I think your talking about Mike Aviles. His Omaha stats are incredible, especially 14 dbls, 6 hr's and 26 rbi's in 121 at bats.
I'm pretty sure that Hillman continues to play Pena for his defensive range and arm which is among the best in baseball. Plus, Pena did show he could hit some last year and he is getting every chance to find his stroke. Remember, this is still a year that all Royals players are being evaluated during a rebuilding process.
Its my humble opinion that if Pena continues to swing for the moon every pitch, then its time for a change. I would be ok with either Aviles or Callaspo getting their turn.
I think your talking about Mike Aviles. His Omaha stats are incredible, especially 14 dbls, 6 hr's and 26 rbi's in 121 at bats.
There's that #3 or #4 bat in the order that the Royals so desperately need. Those are numbers none of the Royals are close to approaching. The pitching has been good enough to keep us in most of the games this year. It was so good to see Meche have such a dominant start and Leo Gomez showed signs that he's back on track yesterday. And how about Soria? Over a month into the season and still with a 0.00 ERA. Hochever looked really solid Saturday night. If we can get an outing similar to that 2 out of every 3 starts, then I'd have to say the Royals rotation is solid 1 through 4 which most all major league teams can't say they have.
If you compare where the Royals are though from the 2006 version things look so much better. Dayton Moore inheritied a team that couldn't hit, pitch or field. We're now nearing the 1/4 mark into 2008 and the Royals have one of the better defenses in the league, we're in the top half of the league in team pitching and the hitting still sucks. But to look at things realistically the improvement in defense and pitching have made us strong enough to keep pace with the big boys in the division, and if the bats get going before the Royals fall 6-8 games out of first, who knows...we may be able to watch some games with meaning in late August and September THIS season.
Frank White, who coached Aviles at double and triple A was speaking about him on a radio show this weekend. White mentioned that the Royals organization has never viewed Mike Aviles as a regular, everyday player... particularly at short. He made the comparison to Esteban German.
Shortstop is a serious position of need in our system at every level. At the majors we have a completely overpowered Tony Pena Jr who is unable to do the "little" things at the plate, makes exceptional plays in the field but has made mistakes on some routine plays.... in the minors we have the afore mentioned Aviles, Angel Berroa (who we know a lot about already), Sanchez who has not developed and first round draft pick Mike Moustakas who is struggling at low A to stay above the Mendoza line and who's future is more than likely not at shortstop.
How using the DH for TJ when Grienke starts, or most of the pitchers for that matter. At least the pichers can get a bunt down from time to time. They may end up with about the same avg., but the pitchers will hit for a lot more power. Seems pretty extreme, and the baseball purists will frown upon it, but the Royals have decided they need TJ's glove in the field, so why not give it a try?
i like the way you're thinking on the greinke for tj at bats, vestal, its way out there as far as mainstream thinking but maybe the Royals need to break the mold and take some chances, Rick Ankiel, Mike Hampton, and Carlos Zambrano are just a few players who would have your back, im sure we all remember zacks home run, and i believe he was a former shortstop and arguably the best athlete on this royals team, two problems with this theory though, one, with greinkes history, maybe he is better left alone with the way he is pitching this season, and two, if hes injured running the bases or being hit with a pitch, the royals will have a major hole to fill in the rotation, but mad props for suggesting innovative ideas
if im not mistaken, a designated hitter can be used for the pitcher only, and must be decided prior to the start of the game, american league teams ( in american league vs american league) can elect to allow their pitcher to hit, forfeiting their right to use a dh, but once this decision is made, all pitchers entering the game for this team must do their own hitting, therefore, nice thought, but completely illegal
The DH can be used for any player. This must be made before the start of the game. You only forfiet the DH if he plays the field. All AL teams hit for the pitcher because the pitcher is almost always going to be the worst hitter in the lineup. It also helps reduce the possibility of an injury. Not many teams would alow a player to remain in the lineup who hits as weak as TJ does. We do not get enough out of his defense to make up for his offense. I say either give someone else a shot at short, or start thinking out of the box.
The DH is for pitchers only. Bummer.
Pena is a huge liability at the plate. He does save a coulpe runs a week with his glove though.
It's a tough call, he probably costs them more runs with his weak offense than he saves with his amazing plays in the field. He already has one "save" this season with a sweet defensive play. As much as I hope he improves, hope doesn;t win games.
They need to make a move. Heck, throw Beroa in for a week, and if he looks good, trade him for a legit prospect at short.
