It’s only two games. It’s early in the season. It’s Chicago cold and damp compared to the hot, dry air of Arizona. Yes, there’s reasons to not worry about the Royals 0-2 start. But It’s the way they’ve lost those two games which cause concern, even this early in the season.

Opening Day in Chicago. James Shields pitched well, striking out six and giving up eight hits and a home run over six innings, a performance worthy of an ace starter. But Chicago White Sox starter Chris Sale was that much better, striking out seven, giving up seven hits over 7.2 scoreless innings, keeping a faltering Royals offense in check on the way to a 1-0 Chicago victory.

The hot Royals Spring Training offense cooled off with seven hits, all singles. They drew three walks and had nine strikeouts. There was a glimmer of hope in the Royals ninth, with Eric Hosmer at second with two outs. But the free-swinging Jeff Francoeur hacked at the first pitched offered, a weak groundout to the shortstop to end the game. It’s only one game and 2008 was the last time the Royals won on Opening Day. But the way they lost was troubling, because it was like the way they’ve lost before. But there’s always the next game.

Game two Royals starter Ervin Santana gave up a league leading 39 home runs last season. He has a habit of giving up home runs, but it was another cold day in Chicago, so the long ball shouldn’t be a factor for Santana.

In the second game, Santana pitched six innings, giving up five hits and four earned runs, striking out eight and issuing a walk. Not a bad outing. Oh, I forgot to mention three of the four earned runs were home runs. Maybe it wasn’t such a good outing.

White Sox starter Jake Peavy pitched six innings, giving up four hits, two runs, striking out six and didn’t walk anyone. The Sox bullpen kept the Royals scoreless, giving the Sox a 5-2 victory.

The Royals offense had five hits this time, one of them a double. But the team only walked once and struck out seven times, with a .182 team batting average. Once again, Francoeur was the last Royal to bat in the ninth, but this time he took a called strike before grounding out to the pitcher to end the game. At least Francoeur took a pitch before swinging.

There was a bright spot in both games. In four innings of work, the Royals bullpen struck out three and gave up two walks and a run. By the way, the run was a home run gave up by Luke Hochevar. At least he didn’t give up four or five runs like he usually does, so there’s the bright spot.

It’s only two games in early April. The weather will warm up and so will the Royals. But the same old pattern of losing by not walking, not scoring runs and having the pitching staff give up home runs will test an already frustrated fan base. It makes it too easy to say “It’s the same old Royals.” And last April’s 12 game losing streak is still fresh in fan’s minds. If the Royals win Thursday’s game and play well in Philadelphia, these first two games won’t matter. But if the 2013 Royals play like the 2012 Royals, it’s going to be a long season.

ALL-STAR GAME MLB.COM FINAL VOTE SPONSORED BY FIRESTONE ENDS
Freese, Darvish outlast contenders to win roster spots on All-Star Teams; First-ever Twitter vote attracts strong fan support, trending topics during final hours

NEW YORK, July 5, 2012 – David Freese of the St. Louis Cardinals and Yu Darvish of the Texas Rangers were chosen by fans as the winners of the 2012 All-Star Game MLB.com Final Vote Sponsored by Firestone in online voting on MLB.com, the official website of Major League Baseball, the individual Club websites and Twitter, where designated player hashtags counted during the final four hours of balloting today.

The National League winner, Freese, topped all vote-getters with 8.4 million votes and was followed by Michael Bourn of the Atlanta Braves; Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals; and Aaron Hill of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Braves third baseman Chipper Jones was removed from the ballot after being named to the NL All-Star team.

On the American League ballot, Darvish will make his All-Star debut after holding off a furious final day charge from Jake Peavy of the Chicago White Sox with a final tally of 7.3 million votes. Darvish, the third rookie to win the All-Star Game Final Vote, and Peavy were followed by Jason Hammel of the Baltimore Orioles; Jonathan Broxton of the Midsummer Classic host Kansas City Royals and Ernesto Frieri of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.

The All-Star Game MLB.com Final Vote Sponsored by Firestone concluded this year’s program with the first-ever Twitter vote as tweets with a player’s designated hashtag counted in his overall total. This effort drew a sustained average of more than 2,500 tweets per minute, highlighted by a peak of 8,881 at 3:59 p.m. EDT, and accounted for nine percent of the total votes cast during the four-hour window. The leading Twitter vote-getter was #VoteBourn, followed by #FreesePlease, #VoteYu, #TakeJake and #BryceIn12 in the top five. All of the leading contenders had their hashtags trending in the U.S. and worldwide and all nine candidates trended in their local markets, ultimately leading to 50 million total votes cast.

Here is the complete list of previous winners: Paul Konerko (AL, 2011); Shane Victorino (NL, 2011); Nick Swisher (AL, 2010); Joey Votto (NL, 2010); Brandon Inge (AL, 2009), Victorino (NL, 2009); Evan Longoria (AL, 2008); Corey Hart (NL, 2008); Hideki Okajima (AL, 2007); Chris Young (NL, 2007); A.J. Pierzynski (AL, 2006); Nomar Garciaparra (NL, 2006); Scott Podsednik (AL, 2005); Roy Oswalt (NL, 2005); Matsui (AL, 2004); Bobby Abreu (NL, 2004); Jason Varitek (AL, 2003); Geoff Jenkins (NL, 2003); Johnny Damon (AL, 2002); and Andruw Jones (NL, 2002).

The 83rd All-Star Game will be televised nationally by FOX Sports; in Canada by Rogers Sportsnet and RDS; and worldwide by partners in more than 200 countries via MLB International’s independent feed.  Pregame ceremonies will begin at 7:30 p.m. (EDT)/6:30 p.m. (CDT).  ESPN Radio and ESPN Radio Deportes will provide exclusive national radio coverage of the All-Star Game.  MLB Network, MLB.com and Sirius XM also will provide comprehensive All-Star Week coverage.  For more information, please visit allstargame.com or royals.com/asg.

Everyone expects improvement from the 2012 Kansas City Royals, but just how much improvement to expect is a point of debate. Will 4-5 players make “the leap” at the same time vaulting the Royals into 90+ win territory? Will this season be a springboard to 2013, around 81 wins and a lot of incremental individual improvement? While much of the answer may lie in the Royals clubhouse, I think a good portion may also be determined in Cleveland, Detroit, Minnesota and Chicago. The unbalanced schedule means that the Royals will play 72 of their 162 games against the Central Division. Just how good (or bad) the division is may have as much to do with how successful the 2012 Royals are as anything.

Another way to say this is, the Royals need some help in 2012 to contend…and thankfully they are already starting to get it. What, you say? We’re still a month away from Spring Training, how can the Royals already be getting help? Let’s take a look at the off season news from the AL Central:

The Minnesota Twins and Chicago White Sox did not really contend last year and may have actually gotten worse heading into 2012. The Twins lost Michael Cuddyer, Joe Nathan and Jason Kubel to free agency and their additions were not impressive. Justin Morneau is still recovering from concussion issues while Joe Mauer is supposed to be completely recovered from his tired legs. The White Sox, on the other hand, seem to be trying to rebuild while maintaining a $100 million dollar payroll thanks to anchors of contracts still owed to the likes of Adam Dunn, Alex Rios and Jake Peavy. They lost Ozzie Guillen and traded away Carlos Quentin, Sergio Santos, and Jason Frasor for young pitching. My honest appraisal is, if the Royals make even the slightest of progress, these two teams should not be much of a concern.

That brings us to the Cleveland Indians, the team thought to be on the same path as the Royals, if not a step or two ahead. It is easy to forget how dominant the Indians were early last season after their collapse. Their biggest acquisition? It could be Derek Lowe if he turns back the clock, or Kevin Slowey…and that’s about it. The lack of acquisitions are not even the biggest problem for the Tribe, it is the question marks surrounding Fausto Carmona right now. The 28 year old opening day starter is actually 31, and facing charges in the Dominican Republic for lying about his identity. No one has any idea how serious this is, but there is no way it is a positive for the Indians.

It would be pretty easy to argue that the three teams above have no bearing on the Royals division chances. The Tigers are the favorite and it is not really close. They have the best pitcher in the division (baseball?), Justin Verlander, and arguably the best hitter in Miguel Cabrera. Thankfully for the Royals, the Tigers have added virtually nothing to last year’s squad and just this month lost DH Victor Martinez to an ACL injury that could sideline him for 2012. Sure, there are options available for the Tigers to replace Martinez, but none of them come without question marks. Losing Martinez also hurts Cabrera, who needs the protection in the lineup.

All this being said, it is still on the Royals to go out and win the division. The AL Central has been a weak division for some time and just as the Royals seem to be poised to improve, the rest of the division is regressing. Does that mean it is a prime opportunity to add a started like Roy Oswalt? Only time will tell.

In today’s age of advanced statistics, in-depth comparisons no longer need to rely simply on batting average, fielding percentage, slugging percentage, and on base percentage. In this breakdown, the Royals and the White Sox players will be analyzed using Wins Above Replacement (WAR) according to fangraphs.com.

WAR takes into count the myriad statistics and variables in baseball and compiles them into one simple stat: How many more victories is a player worth than an average replacement who can be found on waivers or at the Triple A level. This is a great statistic because you truly understand how good a player is compared to other guys at his respective position.

For a little perspective, here are the top 5 in WAR last year:

1. Josh Hamilton – 8.0
2. Joey Votto – 7.4
3. Albert Pujols – 7.3
4. Ryan Zimmerman – 7.2
5. Adrian Beltre – 7.1

Here are the top 5 projected leaders for 2011:

1. Albert Pujols – 8.4
2. Jason Heyward – 7.9
3. Evan Longoria – 7.4
4. Chase Utley – 6.9
5. Troy Tulowitzki – 6.9

Now, let’s examine how the Royals and White Sox stack up, according to WAR:

Starting Pitching

Royals Sox

Luke Hochevar: 1.7 Mark Buehrle: 3.8

Kyle Davies: 2.0 John Danks: 4.3

Vin Mazzaro: 0 Jake Peavy: 1.8

Sean O’Sullivan: -0.2 Gavin Floyd: 4.3

Jeff Francis: 1.9 Edwin Jackson: 3.8

The advantage in pitching clearly goes to the White Sox, even with the recent addition of Jeff Francis. Its rotation is dangerous and arguably the best in the division. The return of Jake Peavy to the Sox will be key on whether or not they can contend with the Tigers and Twins. If Peavy returns healthy and stays that way the entire season, don’t be surprised to see the White Sox go deep into the playoffs.

Catcher

Royals Sox

Jason Kendall: 6.2 A.J. Pierzynski: 1.8

The advantage goes to Kendall, but I can’t imagine him registering a 6.2 in 2011. They both possess an intangible leadership factor, but it’s no secret they’re not getting any younger. Kendall has two years on Pierzynski in terms of age, but this could be their last year behind the plate.

First Base

Royals Sox

Kila Ka’aihue: .3 Paul Konerko: 4.2

The advantage at first base goes to Konerko and the Sox. It should be mentioned both players are at opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of their careers. Ka’aihue could be an emerging star in this game, yet Konerko appears to be a fading one. That being said, Konerko will more than likely have a better year than Ka’aihue.

Second Base

Royals Sox

Chris Getz: -.1 Gordon Beckham: .9

The advantage goes to Beckham and the Sox – he’s a clear cut winner in this instance. I expect his WAR to be above 3 this year, and only continue to rise in subsequent years.

Third Base

Royals Sox

Mike Aviles: 1.5 Brent Morel: 0

Going into the season, it appears as though Aviles has the advantage in this category. Morel is still very young, so his ceiling is much higher than Aviles’. I’ll call this one a wash given what we’ve seen from Morel last year when he was called up and what the Royals can expect from Aviles.

Short Stop

Royals Sox

Alcides Escobar: .6 Alexei Ramirez: 3.8

The advantage goes to Ramirez and the Sox. Escobar isn’t likely to beat out Ramirez this year in WAR, but does provide the Royals with a solid short stop for years to come. Look for Escobar’s WAR to be somewhere near Ramirez’s in about two years.

Left Field

Royals Sox

Alex Gordon: -.2 Juan Pierre: 2.2

Going into the 2011 season, Pierre and the Sox have an advantage in left field. However, as the season progresses, I would expect this to be a wash. Pierre is getting older and slowing down a bit, which hinders his offensive production. Additionally, one would reasonably expect Gordon to only grow from his current -.2 status.

Center Field

Royals Sox

Melky Cabrera: 1.2 Alex Rios: 3.7

Lorenzo Cain: 0

The advantage in Center Field goes to Rios and the Sox. Melky Cabrera had an abysmal season last year with the Atlanta Braves, so there’s no reason to believe he will improve with the Royals. In addition, Lorenzo Cain will probably push Cabrera for his job later in the season, which is why he is mentioned. Rios is a solid player for the Sox, and will probably match his production from last year.

Right Field

Royals Sox

Jeff Francoeur: .5 Carlos Quentin: 0

The advantage barely goes to Francoeur for the right field position. Quentin is highly overpaid and has yet to show Sox fans anything for the salary he is receiving. If Francoeur is going to resurrect his career and prove his hyped prospect status, he’ll have to do so by posting a higher .5 WAR in 2011.

Designated Hitter

Royals Sox

Billy Butler: 3.4 Adam Dunn: 3.9

Save the most compelling argument for last. Both of these players will be splitting time at first base when their respective teams need them. For the sake of this article, they are designated hitters. Billy Butler is the best hitter the Royals have. The same could be said for Dunn and the Sox. I’m going to give the advantage to Butler for the 2011 season because I believe his upside is stronger than Dunn’s. Dunn strikes out way too often still, and Butler can hit for average. It’s my opinion that getting on base, driving in runners when they’re in scoring position, and hitting for average always outweighs the occasional home run when you’re striking out every 2.8 at bats like Dunn. Dunn is a boom or bust type of player and Butler provides a sense of consistency. Expect Dunn’s WAR to reach low 3’s, and Butler’s to reach high 3’s. Both will be valuable to their teams in 2011, but since Butler is the best hitting talent on the Royals, he’ll get the nod in this category.

Summary

The overall advantage goes to the White Sox. Its pitching will keep them in contention for the division in 2011. While the hitting and defense don’t necessarily match those of the American League East division, the White Sox could be primed for a division title and a deep playoff run. Royals fans should expect another 100-loss season, unless its minor league talent matures earlier than expected.

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