A Minor Complaint
As I alluded to in yesterday’s entry, the Royals did a darned fine job of, for the most part, maximizing the talent of their 25-man roster. However, I still don’t understand the logic behind Denny Bautista being the fifth starter when a serviceable pitcher like Mike Wood would’ve happily assumed the job in the short-term, allowing Bautista to clean up his control in the minor leagues. Additionally, I really don’t like the Royals carrying 12 pitchers on the roster because of the tactical limitations it gives Tony Pena when the time comes to send a pinch-hitter to the plate or a defensive replacement to the field.
As it stands now, Pena will have four guys on his bench when the season begins on Monday in Detroit: catcher Alberto Castillo, utilityman Tony Graffanino, and outfielders Emil Brown and Eli Marrero. Castillo’s your classic backup catcher (meaning he can’t hit). Graffanino, while being a fine infielder, sports a career OPS of just .718. Brown’s only struggled in his prior experiences against Major League pitching, and Marrero, coming off his career season, is a sure bet to see his production take a turn for the worse. If disaster strikes and two infielders go down with injuries in one game, I’m curious as to what the Royals’ backup plan is, as Graffanino’s the only guy on the roster capable of playing third, short, or second.
As much as it pains me to say this, if I was given the option of having Nate Field as the 12th man on the pitching staff or carrying Joe McEwing or Denny Hocking as infield insurance policies, I’d take the latter in an instant. There just isn’t a need here for 12 pitchers, and Pena’s ability to manipulate matchups is going to suffer as a result.
American Idol Update
It seems very, very wrong to me that a talented vocalist in Jessica Sierra was sent home last night, while an untalented, overweight, and generally terrible singer like Scott Savol gets to torture Idol viewers with his off-key tunes for another week. I can’t figure out who’d vote for that guy or why.
At any rate, KRB favorite Carrie Underwood’s still in the competition, and that’s only a great thing.
Springfield Cardinals Roster Set
The Springfield Cardinals set the roster they’ll use to begin the season on Saturday against The Fighting LaRussas, which, aside from guys I’ve followed in the past like pitcher Nick Stocks and outfielder Shaun Boyd, is comprised of a bunch of guys I’ve never heard of before. One of those guys, 20-year-old pitcher Stuart Pomeranz, has surprisingly good control for a pitcher who’s listed at 6-7 and 220 pounds, so he might be one to watch this summer.