"Okay, I wanna see what happens, next week. Go 'La La La', please." Then this happens while I sing the last minute of this with my eyes closed, fingers in ears. It's a little ritual that keeps our family running smoothly. A similar tradition (in tone if not practice) happens at movie theaters. After the Jodeci retreads have played and we've answered the trivia cards, the lights come down, the green rating s ...

Follow Derek on Twitter @derekjohannsen The Royals have officially hit the slide.  The offense isn’t hitting, the pitching isn’t quite what it had been and since “the pull” of James Shields against Chicago on May 6 the Royals are 4-12 and have dropped to 21-22 on the year.  I was at the game on May 6.  Then and there we were discussing the asinine decision to pull Shields.  Lo and behold, two weeks later th ...

If you're looking for sunshine, you've come to the wrong place.  If you're in search of optimism, you won't find that here either.  If you want a dose of reality, and maybe a few laughs, then you're in the right spot. Ladies and gentlemen, our Royals have fallen on hard times.  Yes, they're currently sitting at .500, with a 21-21 record.  Yes, that's reasonably close to expectations.  Yes, it is still somew ...

OK, let’s get the good stuff out of the way first. The Royals are still around .500 and still within striking distance in the AL Central. The schedule softens up a little this week and again after next weekend. So all is not lost. However. If this offense does not improve, and do so quickly, this team is in a lot of trouble. Through Monday’s games, the Royals are actually almost league average in runs per g ...

Kelvin Herrera has one of the best fastballs in the big leagues, one that gets up to 100 MPH on a regular basis. He should be really really good, and in 2012, he was, keeping the ball on the ground, in the park, and not walking many batters (and most importantly, not giving up many runs). However, this year, Herrera's groundball rate has evaporated, and he has given up more homers than walks (an insane 9.88 ...

Like so many of you, I learned to love baseball in general and the Royals in particular through the radio. I was blessed that Grandma Watson, and Grandpa Smith on Mom’s side, were big Royals fans. So no matter which grandparents’ house I was at, if it was baseball season, the Royals were on. Of course, in the early ‘80s, very few games were on TV--the Royals would show one home game on their network, usuall ...

I'm not going to beat around the bush, over the last week the Royals Fan Anxiety Index has been elevated to BLUE.  In that time, the Royals salvaged a win in the Baltimore Orioles series, only to come home and get swept by the New York Yankees in front of droves of Overland Park, KS Yankees "fans".  So far, in Anaheim, the Royals have split the first two games of the series versus the Angels.  2-4 in the la ...

So far this year, Ervin Santana has been really good for the Royals, striking out 20 percent of batters, and walking just 3.1 % of them. Even his home run rate is manageable, 1.12 per 9 innings (after a season in which he nearly gave up 2 homers per 9 innings). He is also getting more grounders than ever, which helps that home run rate. His release point hasn't changed significantly from 2012 to 2013, so we ...

A lot was made about Dayton Moore's qualifications regarding scouting and player development when he was signed away from the Braves. And the situation he was inheriting was, to put it kindly, a mess. In 2007, at the beginning of his first full season, he was inheriting a club that had gone 62-100, closing out a string of three 100-loss seasons (and four in their last five). The farm system was essentially ...

Gather ‘round, kids. You may not understand why us older Royals fans hate the Yankees so much. Or you may think it boils down to jealousy, or the Royals’ 43-105 record against them since 1994. While those are a part of it, take it from me, it goes much deeper. See, many years ago, the Royals and Yankees were bitter rivals. Had ESPN as we now know it existed in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Royals-Yankees ...

Early Season Hitters Report (prior to May 7th, 2013) Wilmington Blue Rocks (13-17) 3B Cheslor Cuthbert     11/16/1992   R/R    .250/.305/.343       Home to 1st: 4.51, 4.59, 4.55 Outlook: limited range at 3B; has trouble with balls hit to his right/ down the line; above average arm; below avg runner; high maintenance body now and for the future; Future 60 arm/50 glove Hitting: flashes good discipline and sol ...

What in the world is going on?  The Royals are 17-12, in 2nd place in the AL Central, and I'm hearing talk about Ned Yost being on the "hotseat".  This does not compute.  Yost is the least of the Royals problems right now.  The Royals are 3-2 since the last installment of the State of the Royals was written (Mother Nature won a game during that time as well, robbing the Royals of a game vs. the Tampa Bay Ra ...

It is trendy to talk about "two strike approach" these days, perhaps because of the rise of strikeouts in the Major Leagues. MLB league average with two strikes is .177/.246/.271. The Royals are hitting .199/.246/.287 with two strikes, meaning that they walk a little less, though are hitting for a little bit better average (same OBP), and a touch more power than an average MLB team with two strikes. So the ...

Today is a good day, folks.  I was fully prepared to talk a significant portion of our Royals fan base off a ledge today.  Actually, I was fully prepared to mock a significant portion of our Royals fan base relentlessly, and then talk them off the ledge.  Thanks to last night's win over the Tampa Bay Rays, I don't have to either of those things.  Note, I said I didn't have to.  I'm still going to, only to a ...

There's a space somewhere, an equilibrium for a frame of mind that treats each instance or occurrence, regardless of its process, within a certain context of justification. When applied to a field, it should result in a Boolean return: true/false, right/wrong, win/loss. But the world doesn't work that way, in that no two instances of any singular event are created equal. It's foolhardy to believe in such in ...

The last installment of State of the Royals left off right as the Royals were beginning a big 8-game road trip, and they had just dropped their first game of the road trip to the Atlanta Braves.  The next day, the Royals split the two game series, thanks to an absolute gem by Wade Davis. [Side Note: Wade Davis pitched so well, I was prompted to share, via Twitter, some little known facts about Davis.  If yo ...

Tonight, the Royals (10-7) travel to Comerica Park to square off against the Detroit Tigers (9-9) in what has shaped up to be the most important series of this young season. Taking two of three from the Tigers would keep the Royals in first place and would set them up very nicely for a ten-game home stand against the Indians, Rays (presumably pre-Myers), and the White Sox. Sweeping the Tigers would put good ...

The Royals scored once in the eighth and once in the ninth for a thrilling 6-5 win over Toronto in Royals Stadium. The hero was Kevin McReynolds, who singled with two outs in the ninth to bring home Greg Gagne. Gagne began the inning with a bloop single and stole second after Felix Jose failed to bunt him over and Brian McRae struck out. The Blue Jays intentionally walked George Brett to face McReynolds, wh ...

The Twins scored in the eighth to complete a comeback 5-4 win over the Royals in Minnesota. The Twins actually had a 3-0 lead after two innings, thanks to home runs by Joe Mauer and Jacque Jones off KC starter Jose Lima. Down three runs to Johan Santana was not normally a recipe for success, but the Royals rallied in the third. With two outs, singles by Joe McEwing, David DeJesus, and Tony Graffanino scored ...

John Lamb Height: 6’4” Weight: 205 Arm Slot: slightly above ¾ slot release Mechanics: stands tall and has good posture on mound; slow momentum to the plate; free and easy delivery; slight crossfire creates some deception; arm looks very stiff still; works from 1B side; plus pitch ability Fastball Velocity: 83-87 MPH; mostly 85-86 MPH Command: plus command both sides of the plate Movement: some arm side run ...