Discussion Question

by John Sickels on May 20, 2008 4:10 PM EDT Comment 20 comments

I had planned on a resumption of normal blogging today and some pictures from you from last night's Burlington/Kane County games. However, I've lost 7 hours of working time trying to find a usable internet connection. Windows Vista is a complete piece of donkey excrement which apparently is incompatable with most of the public internet connections in Burlington. I finally found a usable one but it's late in the day now and I have other things I have to accomplish before tonight's doubleheader. I am going to dump Vista and downgrade to XP on the laptop ASAP.

A couple of brief comments
*Yesterday, at least, it looked like Mike Moustakas could play shortstop.
*Dan Duffy's fastball ranges from 85 to 93 MPH. Everything he throws moves.
*Craig Italiano was throwing 90-92 and is apparently working on his curveball a lot.

A Discussion Question for you: When a team has a guy like Mike Moustakas, how long should they leave him at the more difficult defensive position? Should they let him "play off" the position, or should they just stick him at where they think his final destination will be right off the bat?

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I think the Royals thought he could play SS so if you factor that into the question, then I think you should allow him to play there until it’s clear he can’t. I guess it just really depends on how confident you are in what you saw of his abilities. I haven’t seen him so I can’t really take a guess.

Now if it was like say Gamel or Braun or someone who has shown they can’t handle the position, I think it’s best to get them into their new position as quick as possible. Every position has aspects they need to learn and get used to. A lot of people were under the assumption that anyone could play 2B a few years ago but I don’t think that is the case anymore. Some people still feel the same way about 1B and LF. Maybe that is true but there are still certain situations they need to be familiar with and learning by doing is the best way.

by jfish26101 on May 20, 2008 4:31 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Gamel

I have never seen Gamel play 3b and I admit he has been…real bad… but he is showing some signs of getting better. In a box score the other day he started 2 double plays, which bad 3b usually cant do and his RF has been around 2.9 this season, which is real good. Unlike Braun, i think he has the reactions for the position but is still erratic over there. I have a feeling he can stay there and become at least as good as say, Aramis Ramirez, over there but i might change my mind if I saw him play in person. He’s getting better though.

by casejud on May 21, 2008 2:55 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Keep him at short as long as he shows he could handle the role – that is, if his defense is at least adequate and it doesn’t seem to be hampering his hitting.

by ofsticksandbats on May 20, 2008 4:41 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Vista to XP

that’s not a downgrade, that’s an upgrade!

by AucklandGM on May 20, 2008 7:01 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Italiano just at 90-92?

Didn’t he come out of high school throwing in the mid-90’s? I hope this is just due to the lack of innings he threw last year instead of it being a permanent problem.

by speedchaser9 on May 20, 2008 7:30 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

many

if not most pitchers lose velo when they become pros.
Part of it is pitching alot more (both in terms of less rest between starts and more innings per year) and pitchers are often coached to reduce their velo to gain some command. In HS plenty of pitchers just rear back, throw as hard as they can and that is good enough. In the pros that isn’t going to cut it, you need command… plus you don’t want a pitcher to be throwing max effort on every fastball if he is a starter

And Italiano has added injury things going on too.

by nms on May 20, 2008 8:35 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Moustakas

I think the Royals have to see how his SS play works out. I would let him play off the position and make a decision if it’s necessary. It’s not like the Royals have another premier SS in the system that he would block.

by count sutton on May 20, 2008 7:37 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I would think

you’d give the prospect exposure at the position he’ll eventually play for you in the big leagues. I’d certainly try to play him in his projected spot, even if it is on a limited basis.

Just make sense.

by batonball on May 20, 2008 9:28 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

With a young guy like Moustakas, I say you let him play off the position.

He has a comfort level at SS with it being his prep position and his value is strongest there. If he can’t make it in the field, the Royals will move him soon enough. With a strong arm, he has some potential in other areas. KC might also wait to see who they pick up in June draft. If Tim Beckham is a Royal, then Moustakas can be moved sooner. With Gordon at 3B and Jason Taylor a high pick, catcher or OF might be the way to go.

by daveyork on May 20, 2008 11:44 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

shortstop until he drops

The Royals should leave him at SS until he really can’t play the position. If his bat is even close to what it’s hyped to be by the time he’s a rookie, then it will be worth below-average performance at short.

If Moustakas gets to that point (of not being able to play SS) earlier, then the Royals should think about moving Alex Gordon to short so that Moustakas can play third. Gordon got some time at short last year and did OK. His bat should light up considerably in the next year or two as well, and maybe that would be good enough to make up for his defense at short, too.

I’m a Callaspo fan, and I hope he proves himself worthy of winning the starting SS job sometime this season. I’m sick of no-hit TPJ.

by Stat Ninja on May 21, 2008 1:24 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

uh

Gordon played 2/3 of one game at short last year.
Thats it.

He is not an MLB shortstop and never will be.

by nms on May 21, 2008 8:29 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Re: Moustakas

They should definitely let him play shortstop and challenge him, much like the Red Sox did with Jed Lowrie. The Royals need a SS, to boot.

http://www.drivelinemechanics.com - An unconventional look at baseball video analysis.

by Driveline Mechanics on May 21, 2008 5:35 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Hi John,

I have Vista as well on my laptop and I agree it is donkey dung but I have never had connection problems with any high speed server and I have hooked up all over the world including third world. Low speed landlines can give you problems if you are constantly on DSL or WiFi. I always run a new connection whereever I am. I rely on no preexisting connections even if it is a repeat trip.

As an aside, do you think Adam Miller is ready to move up to the Tribe, even as just a reliever?

by sdtribefan on May 21, 2008 7:34 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

vista

I am having all kinds of compatability problems with vista….incompatable with our 3 year old printer for example, no driver available, buy a new printer they say! No freaking way.

The hotel tech was having a lot of problems with his new laptop and he finally called their internet provider who admitted to him that their equipment was “Not completely compatable” with Vista. He is switching internet providers but that won’t take effect until Monday. At least I know the next time I come back here it should work.

I couldn’t connect properly at the local McDonalds’ wifi either…4-5 minute page loading time. finally found this nice coffee shop in downtown burlington where it works great.

by John Sickels on May 21, 2008 1:46 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Vista

Hmm. Sounds like one (or both) ends aren’t complying to standards. In theory, networks should just work, regardless of OS. But theory and practice can be two different things :)

Perhaps there are some open source options for your printer? I don’t run Windows on my home computers, but I’ll suggest LockerGnome.com as a starting point.

Or you can just ditch Vista, which doesn’t sound like a bad option :)

by kosmo99 on May 21, 2008 2:04 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Nick Hagadone

I don’t mean to hijack the thread and I didn’t want to start a diary but does anyone know what’s up with Nick Hagadone? Last I heard he was going to see Dr. Andrews at the end of April.

I heard Tim Lincecum will win 1 Cy Young & 11 Tim Lincecums. Question is, how many Cole Hamels will he win?

by the pinstripes on May 21, 2008 12:48 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Response

Tommy John surgery for Hagadone.

by mrkupe on May 21, 2008 10:11 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

THIS is how you handle Moustakas

Take whatever the Devil Rays (yes i can say Devil Rays, its a historical reference) did with BJ Upton 3 or 4 years ago .....and do the TOTAL opposite lol

by AtlBr on May 21, 2008 4:51 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

doesn't seem

like that has affected BJ Upton’s development

by nms on May 21, 2008 8:31 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Re: doesnt seem

Are you kidding? BJ went mentally nuts for 2 years because he was A) mishandled and B) so extremely bad at SS when he first came up in 01. He made more errors than he had hits as a result of being out of position at SS when he came up in 2001-2003 and by mid 2002 it had ruined his offensive approach and sapped his numbers. It took a position change to 2nd base after being tried at 3rd and CF before he settled in as a pro, 4 years after originally called up, and then again moved to CF where hes finally found a home. Just because at 25 hes a stud doesnt mean he was handled properly coming up.

by AtlBr on May 22, 2008 12:40 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs