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Yordano Ventura is now throwing fire in Heaven, and I wanted to make a small tribute to his memory. On September 17, 2013, I was able to watch Yordano’s MLB debut on the first base side at the K. The panoramic picture that is on my Twitter header is from that night a few minutes before his first pitch in MLB. The weather was a perfect 70°F at first pitch and clear skies; a great night for baseball.

Yordano pitched 5 scoreless innings until the 6th, when he gave up a few hits an ultimately an earned run. He walked only 2 batters and struck out 3. He was barely 22 years old and threw 6 of 86 pitches for 100 mph or greater, with one hitting 102.6 mph according PITCHf/x.

Kelvin Herrera blew the save in the 7th when 2 runs scored tying the game 3-3. Wade Davis who would eventually take the loss gave up another 2 runs in the 8th. It was a tough loss, but Yordano looked very promising.

On April 8th 2014 he threw 6 scoreless innings with 6 strikeouts, no walks and only allowing 2 hits. At the time, it was widely reported that he had set a rookie record in PITCHf/x throwing 102.9 mph. These parameters and coding of the data are subject to change and when you look them today, he didn’t go over 102.1 mph.

Yordano would finish out the regular season very respectably, a 3.20 ERA in 30 starts and 183 IP and striking out 159 batters. What many will never forget is his Game 6 start of the World Series during what was probably the greatest month of my life in October in 2014.

In a strange set of circumstance and irony; the game Yordano will probably remembered for the most is that Game 6 World Series start. Yordano was mourning his friend Oscar Taveras who had just died 2 days earlier in a similar way that his life would be taken 2 and half years later.

The Royals were done unless they won Game 6. After battling through 5 innings and 1 out in the 6th of Game 2 where the Royals eventually won, he was slated for Game 6. Emotional and equipped with tributes to his friend scribed on his hat and glove he took the mound. He threw 7 full innings of shutout baseball, while the Royals bats packed on 10 runs. Game 7 was forced, and we know the outcome.

But Yordano came back next year, and threw a no-hitter in spring training through 7 innings. On a Sunday, just 7 days later, the Royals signed Yordano to a 5-year deal for 23M. With James Shields gone, he was now the headliner and he would start opening day that following Tuesday. The 2015 season was all over the place for Yordano. He got in Mike Trout’s face in mid-April, and on his next start served justice to Lawrie for the slide on Esky that injured him, and would help ignite a brawl with the White Sox in the end of May. He was becoming the most hated player in Baseball. He quenched some of the fires within his soul, and didn’t pitch the same. He was pitching poorly, and was actually sent to AAA for about 4-5 hrs, before Vargas tore his UCL. He grew up without a father in the Dominican, and many different people took him under their wing, and helped him acclimate to what has to be a very disparate existence. Coming from a very poverty stricken upbringing to becoming one of the biggest young up-and-coming stars in MLB over just a few short years.

Yordano got it together in August of 2015 though, and throughout the rest of the season in 80IP, had a 3.26 ERA with 86 SO. Much of this was attributed to the mentoring by Johnny Cueto, and together with Edinson Volquez they became the Dominican Trio. His 2015 Postseason wasn’t as memorable as his 2014, but he ate innings for the Bullpen, and the Royals would win the first World Series in 30 years.

With a World Series ring on his finger in only his second season, and a contract that would support his family for a long time, he would embark in 2016 season. Yet that fire in his soul couldn’t be contained again, and he ignited another brawl with Manny Machado. He was now the most hated player in MLB for sure. The season had gotten away from him, he threw a 6.59 ERA in May, and though August was better after his suspension for the fight, he didn’t finish well in September.

He was a polarizing figure to both KC and MLB. I will miss his very shy approach to the camera, his innocent huge smile, and yes, his bravado towards some of the best players in MLB. He ran along the edge of the envelop where he was comfortable, and able to do some very special things. His spirit could not be tamed by anyone or anything. My heart aches for his family and his teammates. It only deepens my sadness to think what he could have become. 25 years old.

God got a good one in the last 24 hrs, now it is time to Rest In Peace Yordano. Goodbye. #LetsThrowFire just one last time.

#royals

Get Yo Ass to the K for Detroit

I can never sleep after being at a close game. Despite my frustration about Ned not using Strahm instead of Alexander, you have to have faith. The Royals this season are not for the faithless. You know it is past the witching hour of Sept. 1. which I proclaimed was my drop dead date, where I went all in or folded in hopes for the Royals. They are not dead, but it is close. This Detroit series says a lot. I will be there Friday, and tweeting shade to Ty Cobb's account. If you love this team still, come out to the K, and here's why.

I was really disappointed in attendance. The run they have been on, and a great weather night for baseball, pretty sad to see little support fanwise. Tix are damn cheap...Yank's bring the highest tier of pricing, and they were half was face value was on StubHub. My father grew up a Yankees fan in Nebraska in the late 1940's before the A's were here. I had a great time with him, and that is the thing for me. My father taught me tonight that Mickey Mantle has the fastest home to first time ever recorded. 3.1 seconds. I called bullshit because I don't think Usain Bolt in full stride could do it, but that generational thing is what makes baseball. Do it for the game and your kids.

Duffy is Dominant

It was probably the hottest night game I have ever been to. Read 92°F on my buddies truck on the way home at 10PM. The Royals rated as one of the historically worst offensive lineups tonight ever since 1998 by MGL, one of the top Sabermetric guys, and one who co-authored 'The Book'. But we won. Duffy was enigmatic on the mound and dominant. When was the last time a Royal pitched a complete game? Cueto in the postseason last year I heard, and that is my best guess. But Royals fans are used to a bullpen, not talented starters finishing. Hosmer knocked in the winning run. It was playoff atmosphere at the K, and everyone was miserable. We may not be in this long, but this isn't up to us, it is up to those guys, and they are turning it on. Time to watch and see what happens.

They Partied too much

Got a response in my fb group....sorry but no.

Maybe they did party too much last night. Personally, I hope they had a good time, they deserved it. Papelbon is not some average closer, and that Nats team has been predicted to win the World Series twice since the Royals core as it is known now was formed in 2011. I am not ready to throw the Royals out to pasture after they won the World Series. Non-competitive...this is Major League Baseball. People used to say this shit about the NFL at its prime, I always balked at it, but now it is pointed because their talent pool is dwindling. Every MLB team has 4-levels of minor league guys to bring up, tell me another sport which has that. If you want to refer to run differential, that honestly doesn't mean much. A 162 games is a grind. Medlen was not throwing strikes today...at one point he was almost 50% Balls to total pitches in the first inning. The one issue I was going to address prior to last nights game was injury acquired players. Medlen is not cutting it. As much as he was good in 2013, it is time to bring Kyle Zimmer up, his shoulder injuries are an issue, and we will see what happens this year. The loss of Manaea was sharp to our starting pitching development for Cueto, but Cueto was worth it...and if you think he wasn't who else locked down 2 postseason games on the mound. Now the errors today...could be a hangover, but it could be age as well. I personally saw Omar's bad grab, and Dyson's fumbling. But developmental players are coming. Bubba Starling will play in September...he is defensively equivalent to Gordon in my eyes coming out of the minor leagues. He doesn't have his bat but he has an 80 rated arm, and glove. Colon is the next piece for 2nd base, and I take it, because scouts have rated Mondesi at the same tool-level as Correa and Lindor when Escy leaves after 2017 I believe. Sorry for the word load,Like · Reply · 23 mins

Royals: Making Baseball Fun Again

Best win of the year. Every offensive piece played a part. Unbelievable. I was getting ready to write a downward trend piece, nothing exhaustive, but something headed that way. It was pointing to pitching, but you know what, when the Royals win, it happens on those crazy hitting parades. Wildcard 2014. Game 4 ALDS 2015, and now May 3rd. Prior to the 9th inning, I was very worried about the injury-acquisitions, they haven't been lock down, and they don't have to be. Pretty awesome game to watch. These guys don't quit, they are hungry even after their names were written in the MLB history book.

#MLB Royals

Few thoughts on Jack Soria. #Royals First off this he hasn’t played in front of a big crowd is utter bullshit. He was acquired as a setup piece at the trade deadline to Melancon in Pittsburgh last year in what numerically by ERA was the best bullpen in baseball. Just perusing results and schedules in baseball reference, Soria got the save August 2, 2015 at PNC park in front of 39,596 fans. He also pitched in the NL wildcard game October 7, 2015 in front of 40,889 fans. So what happened last night? Shown in the pic is Jack. 4 years ago in spring training he tore his UCL (Tommy John), we didn’t reup his contract, he went Dallas to Detroit. For the most part, Jack is back to his normal healthy self after 2 Tommy Johns (he had his first one 13 years ago). Was it nerves? Maybe. What I equate last night to was the time lapse of 4ish years since these guys played together, and 4ish years since they saw balls being put into play off of Jack. Travis Swichek wrote a pretty good book about the shift “Big Data Baseball”, and how Pittsburgh was the first to really hone in on the shift. Houston obviously multiplied what the Pirates did by two, but the importance of what hitters do in terms of how they put balls into play is just as important as how balls are put into play off of pitchers. We all know that Dayton Moore isn’t employing 10’s of analysts like the Red Sox, but I guarantee you the Analytics Department of Royals are woefully aware of the BABIP (Batting Average on Balls in Play) off of the Royals pitchers. Look at the acquisitions on pitchers recently. CY had a .209 BABIP last year (minimum 100 IP), the lowest in MLB. From 2014-2015, the lowest BABIP put out by pitchers was .238 by 1.) Cueto (who incidentally has some strange Vladimir Putin obsession with riding horses without shirts now), and 2. CY. Jack had a .263 BABIP in 2015...MLB average is usually .280-.290 The defensive positioning will get realigned, Salvy will help. Our bullpen is stronger with Jack.

#Royals MLB

The misinterpretation of Salvy

A few nights ago I watched @SalvadorPerez15 being rated number 8 by 'the shredder' on MLB network's Top 10 catchers. I was immediately like WTF, but Bill James jumped in after it was on the board and said, 'I don't think you guys would know a great catcher if you saw one'. Bill James, the father of sabermetrics (and the owner of 3 WS rings from the Red Sox) rated Salvy the No. 2 catcher behind Posey. Buster if you haven't followed his offensive numbers; he could become one of the best hitting catchers of all-time.

I was pissed. Salvy is 25 years old. He hit 21 hr's a career best last year, contains the running game (rated 8th at throwing players out at 2nd), won the fucking World Series MVP, and kept us alive at the bottom of the 12th in the 2014 Wildcard with a shot past 2015 AL MVP Josh Donaldson at 3rd base to break us into the deep postseason for the first time in 29 years, and some stupid algorithm says he is above average.

Here is why I go against sabermetrics in algorithms; it doesn't encapsulate TEAM results. PECOTA, ZiPS, etc, most MLB Royals fans have seen these...we are winning what 76 games this year and falling in last place this year in the AL Central? Come on....that is bullshit Ned hangs on the wall in the locker room. Not to go for other teams, but the Red Sox will blow out the Rays this year also.

Anyways, we are in the midst of something. Or Captain is back...and if you follow offensive numbers, this guy from Lincoln,NE keeps getting better every year. Lets review this in July...not even August...July...‪#‎heavybullpen‬.

#mlb #kc royals #pecota #world series

It is played everywhere, in parks, and prison yards, in back alleys and farmer’s fields, by small children and old men, raw amateurs and millionaire professionals, it is a leisurely game that demands blinding speed, the only game in which the defense has the ball. It follows the seasons beginning each year with the fond expectancy of springtime. And ending with the hard facts of autumn. It is a haunted game in which every player is measured against a player who has gone before. Most of all it is about time and timelessness, speed and grace, failure and loss. Imperishable hope and coming home.

Ken Burns Baseball PBS (1994) 9th Inning “Home”

#mlb

A preemptive goodbye

#Royals #AlexGordon About a year ago all I could talk about was how did this team with average starting pitching, an offense with 4.02 runs per game just below the league average (4.07 runs per game) get 90 ft away from tying Game 7 of the World Series in the 9th inning with 2 outs? I came up with several plausible answers, but none as pertinent as this. We drafted some of the best position players America had to offer last decade. What we couldn’t get here we procured in our Latin American Academies. What we couldn’t get there we traded for. Then they were thrown together on fields without crowds in cities many of us have never heard of, and they won. They won the AA championship in 2010, and in pieces won back-to-back AAA championships. Though the scouting of the highest drafted players we acquired has yet to measure up to the national baseball media’s standards and sabermetrics, they were a team, and they took that fellowship back into 2015 and conquered the World Series. Something many Royals fans never saw or remembered. I only have glimpses of the 1985 World Series, but my memories of the 2014 & 2015 postseasons can never be erased. The Captain of both of those post-season squads did so not through words but actions. He was the truest ballplayer I ever saw. With a groin tore from bone, he walked out on the field of Kauffman Stadium to be honored as an All-Star at the last home game before the break. Today we lost a 5-tool player. We can reminisce about the fantastic plays he made, but after the decades pass and we are old; he will be remembered as a quiet and humble man, with a cannon for an arm and a body cast from of stone. Goodbye Alex Gordon.

#kc royals #alex gordon #world series #mlb2015 #mlb

One year ago today, we started the World Series. Here was my fb post.

Regardless of what happens tonight and the rest of the World Series, I just want to thank the Kansas City Royals for what I consider to be the most exciting MLB postseason I have ever seen. It has made me proud of the Royals organization I have rooted for most of my life, and more specifically this core team of 10-12 guys I have been following very intensely since I moved back to KC in 2011. It has also made me proud of my community of friends who as fans have probably suffered longer than I, but also of the city. The entire KC metro has shown me something I will never forget. With that being said I would like to close in the immortal words of Lou Brown, “All right people, we got 10 minutes 'till game time, let's all gather 'round. I'm not much for giving inspirational addresses, but I'd just like to point out that every newspaper in the country has picked us to finish last. The local press seems to think that we'd save everyone the time and trouble if we just went out and shot ourselves. Me, I'm for wasting sportswriters' time. So I figured we ought to hang around for a while and see if we can give 'em all a nice big shitburger to eat!”

#major league #kc royals

An emblematic win in #ALDS for the #Royals. The electricity in the air at the K started with Rios doubling, and Esky bunting down the first base line and stamping our place in the playoffs with New York's approval after the review. The home field advantage was much more apparent tonight. Houston is not a simple adversary. They in many ways copy us with youth and base running and especially defense. All roads at this time go through Texas. Houston and then Dallas with the Rangers. I will be interested to see if Toronto can crank home runs in Arlington the way they have traditionally throughout the summer months. I woke up yesterday worried, tonight I think we have a shot.

#kc royals #alds #mlb

Yordano Ventura’s Spin

This has turned out to be one of the more interesting things I have seen on Yordano. Watching the first inning of yesterday’s game and seeing the in-game thrown velocities and how the ball was moving across the plate was amazing. However, the true answer to this will require more digging and will be an offseason task. The reason the answer is difficult to pin down is Yordano puts different amounts of spin on his curve, fourseam fastball and 2-seam fastball especially. When you see StatCast’s values on the average spin rate, I think it is pretty surprising they don’t show standard deviations associated with those averages...because the variance in those reported and ranked values can be very high in my opinion.

As an example Koji Uehara has a reported spin rate of 2460 rpm (as of May 17, 2015) on his fourseam fastball (FF), and at that time was the highest spin rate of all MLB pitchers on the FF. When I look at one of his games, July 31, 2015 this year, I get 2260 rpm on his FF which is close for me to 2460 rpm, but the standard deviation is 285 rpm on 11 pitches. Granted with more data, we would obtain a better value for what Koji is spinning at, but a 10% variation as we have is completely reasonable. His max spin on his FF that night was 2793 rpm and his low spin was 1889 rpm. Koji normally averages 88 MPH on his fastball also.

Yesterday afternoon Yordano closed out his 1st strikeout in the bottom of the 1st inning with a FF traveling 99.6 MPH, and a spin rate of 3971 rpm! It was definitely a whiff too. But that is just the beginning, his average spin on his curve was 1065 +/- 437 rpm (data reported as plus or minus one standard deviation) with a high spin of 2836 rpm, and low of 377 rpm for 34 curves.

The variation there on just his curve is insane. It is only slightly less on his FF. He averaged a spin rate of 2273 +/- 726 rpm on 26 FF’s. The max was 3971 rpm, and low was 1165 rpm. The coefficient of variance was 32% on his FF’s, and 41% on his curves. Koji’s coefficient of variance was only 12.6%. Say what you will about sample size, Yordano is going to be messing with batters in Game 1 of ALDS, and I can’t wait to watch it!

#mlb #kc royals

Losing the supreme homefield advantage.

Even if the Royals don't hammer out the end of the season and secure supreme homefield advantage, I am ok with that...because we might get Colby Lewis in Dallas, just lofting up Homeruns. It hasn't been an easy transition, and everyone is a little down, but it isn't over.

The Confidence of Winning the AL Central

7-13 in September tells everyone you are on the way out for the season. I disagree based on one simple reason. Injuries. Omar is out, our closer recently disclosed to the world that he is the toughest SOB ever after pitching with a torn UCL for more than a calendar year. His velocity indicates that he might have torn it in July of last year. Everyone including me with my criticism of the Royals choice to replace Rios or Infante with Zobrist was clearly tabled when Omar’s injury came to light. Rios in his own light has pulled more than his weight in September and is now hitting .270

So why am I not worried? The heat has not been turned on yet. Should it be turned on now...yes. Could the heat not being turned on now hurt the Royals. Yes. Can I turn the heat on through twitter or the internet...NO.

These guys respond to pressure. Look at Yordano...he was gone, and now is legitimately in competition for the Ace role next year. Cueto is fixed. Zoby and the infield need to go out into the Kanza and do some peyote and find themselves, but it will come. Our bench is loaded and Jonny Gomes with the opportunity can hit dingers.

Can I play the Aaron Rodgers R-E-L-A-X soundcloud for yah?

#mlb

I think it is highly probable Greg Holland told the #Royals Doctors this!

How the Oakland Athletics completely misused Ben Zobrist.

The table above shows the #DRS (defensive runs saved) for the #Royals. The DRS values for Zobrist and Butera are not included in what is understood as the KC Royals current DRS. The Oakland Athletics did not play him in his “natural” position(s). He has 4500 innings logged at 2B with a +46 net DRS http://www.fangraphs.com/statss.aspx?playerid=7435&position=2B/OF (see advanced fielding). That is god-like, Omar Infante is a net +6 DRS with 8300 innings logged. Don’t trample on Omar’s +3 DRS this year, it has looked pretty, and fit well with the team. Benny’s natural outfield position is Right Field. He has put in 2300 innings and has a +28 DRS. Basically we are protected in the offseason to put in for 2B and RF. The A’s didn’t see it that way. He was a plugged play for Cespedes in LF after they made their run last year to the AL Wildcard.

The perfect utility player if you have looked at his FanGraphs stats. That is what Ned wants. The Glove in Zobrist, the Speed in Dyson, and the “Bat” in Rios for RF. Gordo is coming back. We got the ultimate UTL player.

#kc royals #drs

@RoyalsReview Let me start this post by saying I like @McCulloughStar . Andy is a good journalist, and I like many of his stories. However his analysis of Yordano Ventura appears to be flawed (see Twitter Q&A pic). I mention PITCHf/x (BrooksBaseball.net) quite a bit, and they have a neat feature where you can map the pitches based on vertical and horizontal movement. This gives you a relative idea of the position of the ball when it passes over (or gets near) the plate. The first grayed-outline figure that says 10/28/2014 are all of Yordano’s pitches during Game 6 of the World Series. He was pretty good that game 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 4 SO, 5 BB, with 58% of his 100 pitches being strikes. Not perfect but he blanked the Giants. The second grayed-outline figure that says 07/20/2015 was his performance from last night against the Pirates. Yordano had 4.0 IP, 10 H, 6 ER, 7 SO, 1 BB, with 65% of his 92 pitches being strikes. Note how in the two groupings of dots they are closer together in the game from yesterday vs Game 6. This is indicative of having a better consistency in the movement (and we are extrapolating here, but the placement) of your pitches. Yordano changed a lot since 2014 Postseason. We didn’t see him let loose with 100 MPH until his 3rd start this year. He was throwing 100 MPH almost 1 out of 10 pitches in the majority of the games post-All Star game 2014. I knew he was working with Volquez to save that fire, which is great. His nondescript UCL symptoms worried me with his time on the DL. The next two images show the average movement of each type of pitch. Looking at both of these plots, it is difficult to extrapolate much change in the positioning from then until now. Now you are probably asking, well what do you think is wrong with Yordano? Honestly I am just a scientist, but I would say that our defense is not used to fielding balls off of Yordano’s pitches. This is only his 2nd game pitched in since the middle of June. After Escy was 3 ft too far right twice in one inning for 2 hits, I saw Ned and Eiland talking to Wak…this is my assumption that they saw this. I don’t think there is much wrong with Ventura other than getting behind in the count. He is sure striking more people out. I am not a pitcher or a pitching instructor, but the analysis I am seeing through PITCHf/x suggest that Yordano is just as consistent at delivering the ball in tight areas of similar movement as before.

#mlb #kc royals

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