Hosmer’s dong yesterday left the yard in a hurry. Yankee’s Stadium is fairly short in right, but I think it would have gotten out in Kansas City. The one he hit on Wednesday absolutely would have. But to me, what was more impressive was the check-swing double he had later in the game. His bat literally never got through the strike zone. They showed it from the above angle, and if he hadn’t hit the ball, I’m pretty sure the 3rd base umpire wouldn’t have called it a strike on appeal. And yet, he was strong enough to shoot it over the third baseman’s head and up the line for a double. Unbelievable.
You know, when you take into consideration the two stellar defensive plays he made in the game while going 3-for-5, that kid must might have a future in this game.
Butler came out of his mini-slump nicely. I said earlier in the year that if any Royals pitcher has earned the right to go gas can every now and then without the fan base getting excited about it, it was Soria. You know he’s going to be fine. By the same token, Billy is the lone offensive player who has earned the right to have a little slump every now and then without anyone getting excited over it. I’ll admit, this last one has concerned me just a little, because of the extenuating circumstances. Billy has ALWAYS fancied himself as a guy who can play both sides of the game (offense and defense), and he’s always been vocal about his distaste for the DH role. At one point last year, I read a stat that showed his batting average to be some 30+ percentage points higher when he plays first base as opposed to DH.
I think, as Kila was up here floundering, Billy continued to hold out some small glimmer of hope that he might get inserted into the defense for an extended period of time. When the Royals called up Hosmer, it became abundantly clear that this simply isn’t going to happen. Billy looked a little down-trodden for a few days, and his swing reflected it. There’s just something about what goes through his mind when he’s sitting there, thinking about his at bats, rather than having his head in the defensive side of the game. I’m not going to lie—it does concern me a bit. But his four hits yesterday show that the ability is still there, and we still have no right to get all that worried about Billy.
On the other hand, Alex Gordon really hasn’t earned that right. His particular mini-slump is a little concerning to me. You really have to go back to 2008 to see the last time he came out of any kind of slump at all. Well, on the other hand, you kind of have to go back to 2008 to see the last time he ever HIT the ball with authority, too.
May has not been good to Alex at all. Yesterday, he easily could have been the offensive star of the game. He had a 405-foot rocket double that short-hopped the fence in dead center, and took a walk the next time up. But he got a little bit unlucky in his next two at-bats. One was one he hit just off-center on the ball, but still required a decent catch at the top of the wall in right. The other was similar to the earlier 405-foot drive, but a smidge further to the right, which allowed the center fielder to make a running catch on the track. Hopefully a little luck will come back his way again.
Looking at the Detroit series……I get the same feeling I’ve been getting with every series we’ve played so far: Man, how do we match up with these guys on the mound? We can’t. They’re all paper mismatches. I mean, with the number of runs the Royals have scored (they currently lead the league), we should be leading the central. But the starting pitching appears to be the lone anchor holding us down for the time being.
Can I get a little Duffy? I little Montgomery? I’m not picky, I’ll take either. Or both.
No comments:
Post a Comment