Well, that was ugly.
The Royals were patching together a not disastrous road trip when the team arrived in Arlington for four games with the Texas Rangers. Royals fans were feeling pretty good on Thursday night, as they watched the club take the lead after falling behind 8-0. (These boys have heart, I tell ya!) Oh, and did we mention Zack Greinke was pitching the following day?
But the Royals' character arc dictates that bad things happen often and suddenly. So the Rangers rallied in the eighth inning, sealing a 13-12 win. The bats went silent -- again! -- for Greinke on Friday, at which point a sweep became inevitable.
Some of the moves manager Trey Hillman made over the weekend were a little puzzling. On
Saturday, the flinty chessmaster made
a series of switches that resulted in a bunch of guys playing out
of position. In the same game, he allowed Gil Meche to throw a 128
pitches.
Seeing Meche go the distance was startling, given that the Royals' most expensive starting pitcher broke down last year after Hillman worked him like a mule. Blogger Rany Jazeryli and others are mortified that Hillman would dare to make the mistake again. "There can be no stronger evidence that Hillman hasn't
learned a thing on the job," Jazayerli wrote yesterday, putting the probability that Hillman will be fired before the trading deadline at 70 percent.
number the Royals skipper wore when he was a student
athlete. Hillman, a second basemen, finished his senior
season in 1985 with a .442 batting average. His mustache was equally impressive.
The least surprising news to come from Hillman's recognition? That he wore No. 1. It's a choice a hot shot would make. And all his God-fearing notwithstanding, Hillman is a hot shot.
Guillen stops to smell the roses: Sam Mellinger wrote a piece for Sunday's paper about José Guillen. The point was that Guillen is misunderstood and likes zoo animals or something.
You want to know something else about José? He incorporates his dickhead tendencies into his home-run trot.
Guillen takes his good ol' sweet time rounding the bases after launching a tater, according to a Web site that tracks such things. Guillen needed 28 seconds to make the circuit after homering on April 11, the fourth slowest time that's been recorded this year.
In baseball, not getting around the bases in an expeditious manner after homering is considered bad form, as is simply being Alex Rodriguez.
In other developments, the Free Kila Ka'aihue movement rejoiced, Yuniesky Betancourt got fined for his nonchalant manner of fielding pop-ups and Alex Gordon went to Omaha to find a new position and see if there's still a chance he can shed the "bust" tag. Good luck, man.
Next up: Cleveland, Chicago White Sox.
Home page image via Flickr: Ekey84
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Did Yuniesky just debute the hotdog popup catch during the game, or did he do it in practice? If he did it in practice, why wasn't he fined or bench (or gasp taught to do it correctly) then?
Since he wasn't, Hillman is obviously derilict in his duties supervising practice. I can handle bad talent, small market and all that, but can't he control how they practice? Guess not.
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