I'm attempting to project our pitching rotation/bullpen for this season. I recently read an article on the Royals website that mentioned that Hochevar could begin the season in the bullpen. I'm not sure where there is room for him, but it you think he's ready you obviously have to make room for him. Plus, with the addition of Yasuhiko Yabuta, Brett Tomko, and Ron Mahay the Royals are faced with something I haven't seen in quite some time, too much pitching. Of course, that is a good thing. Well this is how I see things panning out as our opening day pitching situation:
Starting Rotation 1. Gil Meche R 2. Brian Bannister R 3. Zack Grienke R 4. Brett Tomko L 5. Jorge De La Rosa L
Setup Yasuhiko Yabuta R
Closer 1. Joakim Soria R
Bullpen Ron Mahay L Joel Peralta R Jimmy Gobble L Luke Hochevar R
That gives us 11, I suspect we will carry 12 and the 12th slot up for grabs between: John Bale L Leo Nunez R-who I think the Royals want to make a starter still Luke Hudson R Kyle Davies R-should be developing in the minors as a starter Ryan Braun R
I would predict all kinds of movement between these 5 through out the season with Bale, being the only lefty of the group, making the opening roster.
Royals Spring Training update: Mike Maroth and John Bale's names have been thrown in the mix as being the possible lefties at the end of the rotation. From what I understand, the Royals are looking to replace De La Rosa in the rotation if possible due to lack of performance and high pitch counts.
The biggest hope for me is that Hochevar can establish that his brief run in the rotation last year was sustainable. I'm not sold that any of the Lefties can hold down a spot for more than a handful of starts, but the bullpen is so LHP heavy that at least one of them is going to have to fill a starter role. No way we head into the season with 5 LHP in the pen.
Tavish wrote:The biggest hope for me is that Hochevar can establish that his brief run in the rotation last year was sustainable. I'm not sold that any of the Lefties can hold down a spot for more than a handful of starts, but the bullpen is so LHP heavy that at least one of them is going to have to fill a starter role. No way we head into the season with 5 LHP in the pen.
I don't think he'll be in the rotation unless it's late in the season or we have injury problems. There is no way we have 5 LHP in the pen. Yabuta, Hochevar, and Soria are all Righties and that is 3 gauranteed spots in the pen. The question is which lefties make the team and which ones are pitching in the minors.
Tavish wrote:The biggest hope for me is that Hochevar can establish that his brief run in the rotation last year was sustainable. I'm not sold that any of the Lefties can hold down a spot for more than a handful of starts, but the bullpen is so LHP heavy that at least one of them is going to have to fill a starter role. No way we head into the season with 5 LHP in the pen.
I don't think he'll be in the rotation unless it's late in the season or we have injury problems. There is no way we have 5 LHP in the pen. Yabuta, Hochevar, and Soria are all Righties and that is 3 gauranteed spots in the pen. The question is which lefties make the team and which ones are pitching in the minors.
If Hochevar shows the same type of dominance in the Spring Training that he had in his starts last season I don't think there is any way they can keep the kid out of the rotation. I also don't see Tomko as a lock for the rotation even with the $3 million contract, both Tomko and the Royals talked about his success in limited time as a reliever and he would be comfortable in the role. If he is bumped to the pen for Davies, Hudson, or maybe even someone like Lawerence you are looking at Tomko, Mahay, Bale, and Gobble as LH relievers. That would have to push De La Rosa to the minors.
Tavish wrote:The biggest hope for me is that Hochevar can establish that his brief run in the rotation last year was sustainable. I'm not sold that any of the Lefties can hold down a spot for more than a handful of starts, but the bullpen is so LHP heavy that at least one of them is going to have to fill a starter role. No way we head into the season with 5 LHP in the pen.
I don't think he'll be in the rotation unless it's late in the season or we have injury problems. There is no way we have 5 LHP in the pen. Yabuta, Hochevar, and Soria are all Righties and that is 3 gauranteed spots in the pen. The question is which lefties make the team and which ones are pitching in the minors.
If Hochevar shows the same type of dominance in the Spring Training that he had in his starts last season I don't think there is any way they can keep the kid out of the rotation. I also don't see Tomko as a lock for the rotation even with the $3 million contract, both Tomko and the Royals talked about his success in limited time as a reliever and he would be comfortable in the role. If he is bumped to the pen for Davies, Hudson, or maybe even someone like Lawerence you are looking at Tomko, Mahay, Bale, and Gobble as LH relievers. That would have to push De La Rosa to the minors.
You might be right about Hochevar. Judging by spring training performance thus far I would put him in the starting rotation too. Tomko got lit up today and I just don't see how we would benefit from having him in the rotation. I'm still not keen on him being on the team but if Bale doesn't make the starting rotation who else would you make the lefty? I would love to see Luke Hudson back to pitching as well as he did 2 years ago but I'm not sure if he will. I'm not as sold on the end of our rotation yet and I wish somebody would emerge that would give me some confidence.
kretz330 wrote:You might be right about Hochevar. Judging by spring training performance thus far I would put him in the starting rotation too. Tomko got lit up today and I just don't see how we would benefit from having him in the rotation. I'm still not keen on him being on the team but if Bale doesn't make the starting rotation who else would you make the lefty? I would love to see Luke Hudson back to pitching as well as he did 2 years ago but I'm not sure if he will. I'm not as sold on the end of our rotation yet and I wish somebody would emerge that would give me some confidence.
I'm really at that point right now where I don't even care if we carry a lefty in the rotation. We have plenty that we could use to spot start if there was a team that just loaded with RH hitters. I would rather see them have the best 5 RHP with no LHP in the rotation than to drop one of them out to carry another season of De La Rosa-type performance. If the club feels forced to carry one in the rotation I would most like to see Bale get a shot.
I couldn't agree more that the 4-5 spot in the rotation is really scary. That is really why I think Hochevar has a good shot at filling one of those spots. Even if he never becomes an ace he certainly has the ability to be very good #3 type pitcher.
Rotation is set: Meche, Bannister, Grienke, Tomko, Bale
SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Left-hander Jorge De La Rosa was designated for assignment by the Royals on Wednesday and right-hander Kyle Davies was optioned to Triple-A Omaha.
That evidently means that Brett Tomko has won the No. 5 starting job and confirms John Bale's spot as the No. 4 starter.
Manager Trey Hillman was not immediately available for comment.
The Royals also obtained right-handed reliever Ramon Ramirez in a trade with the Colorado Rockies for a player to be named.
In addition, the Royals reassigned right-hander Chin-hui Tsao to Minor League camp and right-hander Roman Colon to Double-A Northwest Arkansas. Both were non-roster players.
Non-roster catcher Ken Huckaby also was reassigned to the Minors.
Ramirez will be placed on the 40-man roster. Last season, he was 2-2 with an 8.81 in 22 games for the Rockies and was hampered by an elbow injury. He was their Rookie of the Year in 2006, when he was 4-3 with a 3.46 ERA.
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by kretz330 » Mon Feb 18, 2008 6:59 pm 
