Comments on Rany on the Royals: The Future of Pitching vs. The Past.

Interesting stuff, Rany, but I would point out tha...

2009-05-13T09:40:00.000-05:00

Interesting stuff, Rany, but I would point out that in Pedro's magical 2000, his ERA actually stood at something above 1.00 after five of his first seven starts, whereas Greinke's current 0.51 after seven starts is the highest it's been all season.

BTW, pitchers have had only twelve official plate ...

2009-05-12T17:58:00.000-05:00

BTW, pitchers have had only twelve official plate appearances against Santana this year in seven starts. There are a couple of walks and a couple of sacrifices in there as well. But a bunch of 0-fers overstates it. In most of the games, by the third at bat, the pitcher is being hit for.

I was wondering about the possibility of, when Gor...

2009-05-12T17:37:00.000-05:00

I was wondering about the possibility of, when Gordon comes back, maybe trying to work out a trade of Teahen and either Bannister or Hochevar to the Rangers for Michael Young and some prospect like Max Ramirez. It might be worth looking into. Teahen's versatility makes him an asset though.

The Experience is a perfect nickname

2009-05-12T16:43:00.000-05:00

The Experience is a perfect nickname

Great stuff on Greinke. I love your in depth anal...

2009-05-12T15:49:00.000-05:00

Great stuff on Greinke. I love your in depth analysis and comparison.

So when will we see you wearing the new Zack Greinke shirt at Kauffman?

Here it is in case you haven't seen it:
http://sportscrack.com/tees_zackattack.html

That's not the biggest difference, Devon. The big...

2009-05-12T13:11:00.000-05:00

That's not the biggest difference, Devon. The biggest difference is 4 at-bats against Johan get to come against pitchers or some bench player pinch hitting and not Thome, Ortiz, or any other American League DH.

Watch out for Johan Santana, he's got a 0.78 ERA n...

2009-05-12T12:48:00.000-05:00

Watch out for Johan Santana, he's got a 0.78 ERA now after 7 starts....only .26 behind Greinke in the same amount of starts. Biggest difference between them seems to be Santana has no SHO's or CG's. In fact, Johan

I take that back...I see that Meche is scheduled t...

2009-05-12T11:12:00.000-05:00

I take that back...I see that Meche is scheduled to pitch Thursday, Greinke Friday.

If you can get MLB Network, they have the Orioles/...

2009-05-12T11:07:00.000-05:00

If you can get MLB Network, they have the Orioles/Royals game scheduled for this Thursday (I believe that's a Greinke start).

Interesting piece Rany. My question is, when are ...

2009-05-11T23:04:00.000-05:00

Interesting piece Rany. My question is, when are we going to get some of these Greinke starts on TV? I would love to see some of them, but I cannot justify spending the money on mlb.tv just to see him.

Are the Royals going to have a Saturday Fox game or Sunday night ESPN game at some point this season? When is the last time that happened?

I love the idea of signing Pedro to close (not kno...

2009-05-11T21:39:00.000-05:00

I love the idea of signing Pedro to close (not knowing how long Soria may actually be out).

I 2nd "The Experience" as a nickname. Kind of a Ra...

2009-05-11T20:03:00.000-05:00

I 2nd "The Experience" as a nickname. Kind of a Rany/Simmons collaboration. Rany, you know you're going to be on the podcast before long since Simmons loves the Royals so much this year.

whomever just anonymously suggested we sign pedro ...

2009-05-11T19:25:00.000-05:00

whomever just anonymously suggested we sign pedro is awesome. right now KC has five starting pitchers throwing well: greinke, meche, davies, banny and reportedly hochevar. this represents absolutely the best case scenario any one could have hoped for coming out of spring training.and if there's any silver lining to the soria shoulder soreness, it's that it led to hochevar replacing the fat prince

My grade school years (1960-1964) were spent in Bl...

2009-05-11T17:14:00.000-05:00

My grade school years (1960-1964) were spent in Bloomington, MN. I was there for the last year of the Miller's and then the first four summers of the Twins. I lived less than a mile from Metropolitan Stadium. I loved Camilo Pascual and that is who Zack reminds of. Camilo came to the Senators, who were terrible, at age 20. His breakout year was at age 25. He was a strike out pitcher (leading the

Thanks for an inspired piece of baseball writing. ...

2009-05-11T14:00:00.000-05:00

Thanks for an inspired piece of baseball writing. Thinking back to Pedro's heyday (if only someone would give him a chance this year!) reminded me of so much that is glorious about the game. Hopefully new generation players like Greinke, Longoria and others will bring a bit of the magic back.

Tim - That gladiator and lion analogy is so fantas...

2009-05-11T13:52:00.000-05:00

Tim - That gladiator and lion analogy is so fantastic that I think I'm going to have to steal it the next time he gives up a run when my roommate and I are watching him pitch. I'll probably add more cursing to it though (ie - "just waiting for the lion to turn and bite his effing head off").

with soria now on the dl and who knows what the re...

2009-05-11T12:33:00.000-05:00

with soria now on the dl and who knows what the real problem may be, how about signing pedro to be a late inning reliever/closer and perhaps set up soria when he gets healthy

Funny thing, I was there that middle start on that...

2009-05-11T11:30:00.000-05:00

Funny thing, I was there that middle start on that cold wednesday night, and let me tell you the atmosphere was electric.
Every fan in the stadium knew we were going to win, every fan knew that Greinke was going to dominant, and really him surrendering his first run just upped the excitement.
It was literally like a gladiator just scratched a lion with his sword, you were just waiting

I agree with Curtis. He clearly didn't have his be...

2009-05-11T11:25:00.000-05:00

I agree with Curtis. He clearly didn't have his best stuff, but he only gave up 1 run. He's a terrific pitcher right now.

I agree with Curtis. Greinke was struggling Saturd...

2009-05-11T11:23:00.000-05:00

I agree with Curtis. Greinke was struggling Saturday--for him--but for a lot of pitchers, that could've been the best game of the year.

I think I was more impressed by his loss than a co...

2009-05-11T09:13:00.000-05:00

I think I was more impressed by his loss than a couple of his victories. He seemed to be behind in the count a whole lot, and he was not getting nearly as many swings and misses as usual, and several balls were hit pretty hard. He was fortunate that the defense made several nice plays. So the whole time I was sitting there thinking he didn't have his best stuff.

And then at the end of

If he keeps pitching this well the games will get ...

2009-05-11T08:36:00.000-05:00

If he keeps pitching this well the games will get so crowded no one will go (tribute to the great Yog).

I've attended three Greinke starts so far. He never seemed in danger (and one of those starts was the sloppy 5 inning 107 pitch game against Cleveland on a frigid night).

The Monday game against the Sox was the most gratifying. Though he gave up six hits I thought he

Perhaps you can convince Sam to move on from his o...

2009-05-11T06:59:00.000-05:00

Perhaps you can convince Sam to move on from his obsession with the ballpark name and concentrate on what he actually does best, write about the Royals.

I haven't looked up the stats or anything, but on...

2009-05-11T05:01:00.000-05:00

I haven't looked up the stats or anything, but on a gut level Zack reminds me more of Steve Carlton than any other pitcher I've seen

Sam Mellinger over at Ball Star has been looking f...

2009-05-11T03:00:00.000-05:00

Sam Mellinger over at Ball Star has been looking for a nickname for Greinke for a couple weeks now...and while ProZack, The Burrito, The Sandman (ZZZZ) and (my favorite) The Lawnmower Man are clever...and while the explanation of the Baseball Jonah had me convinced at first...Rany, I think you've nailed it.
Zack Greinke - The Experience...are you Experienced?

Consider: As noted,