Power Pros Forum

hello. looks like a great start so far. I love following Season logs...

just a suggestion:
trade for Chris Snyder. He's a decent hitter and an outstanding defensive catcher. He'll be a lot better than Olivo.

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****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************Opening Day Lineup 2008

The unanticipated moment which did not shock the world is finally upon us. The Royals and Trey Hillman announced their lineup and bullpen for the 2008 season. "We are really excited to get the season underway. I could not ask for a better team to go against today, that being the Boston Red Sox. They have a fundamentally strong team and I feel as if it is a great time to see if Zack Greinke is really all I crack him up to me." Joshua Farley said on the subject of Zack Greinke squaring off against Dice-K Matsuzaka of the Red Sox. And without further a due, the lineup:

Lineup vs. RHP

RHB Brandon Phillips - 2B
LHB David DeJesus - LF
LHB Joey Gathright - CF
LHB Alex Gordon - 1B
LHB Mark Teahen - 3B
RHB Jason LaRue - C
RHB Reggie Sanders - RF
Pitcher
LHB Brad Deutsch - SS

Lineup vs. LHP

RHB Brandon Phillips - 2B
LHB Joey Gathright - CF
LHB Mark Teahen - 3B
LHB Alex Gordon - 1B
LHB David DeJesus - LF
RHB Jason LaRue - C
RHB Emil Brown - RF
Pitcher
LHB Brad Deutsch - SS

Lineup vs. RHP + DH

RHB Brandon Phillips - 2B
RHB Mark Grudzielanek - DH
LHB Mark Teahen - 3B
LHB Alex Gordon - 1B
RHB Jason LaRue - C
LHB David DeJesus - LF
LHB Joey Gathright - CF
RHB Reggie Sanders - RF
LHB Brad Deutsch - SS

Lineup vs. LHP + DH

RHB Brandon Phillips - 2B
RHB Mark Grudzielanek - DH
LHB Mark Teahen - 3B
LHB Alex Gordon - 1B
LHB David DeJesus - LF
LHB Joey Gathright - CF
RHB Reggie Sanders - RF
RHB Jason LaRue - C
LHB Brad Deutsch - SS

As one can see, the Royals are loaded with a ton of talented, athletic left-handed batters. Since the majority of the American League's pitchers are right-handed, they should be able to get lucky a few times and come away with a win, if all goes well and the offense is not sleeping. With that said, there are a few questionable decisions in the lineup. They can be addressed rather easily and fairly. Most fans want Brad Deutsch out of the lineup for the more offensive shortstop on the roster, Esteban German. However, Trey Hillman said that after speaking with the pitching staff and reviewing film from last year, a more defensive shortstop is needed to fill the hole. He said and I quote:



He was probably coerced into saying that by Farley. Regardless, the lineup looks fine. Nobody in particular stands out. Everybody should have a fair shot at putting up good numbers this year. With all things considered, the pitching staff:

Pitching Rotation

RHP Zack Greinke - 1
RHP Gil Meche - 2
RHP Brian Bannister - 3
LHP Odalis Perez - 4
RHP Todd Wellemeyer - 5
LHP Jorge de la Rosa - 6

Your eyes are not decieving you. The Royals are using a six-man starting rotation this year. This, of course, ensures everybody is well-rested and should be able to pitch in tip-top shape for the entire season. Of course, nothing is guaranteed. Injuries are still likely to occur so the rotation is not set in stone, at all.

Relievers / Setup Relievers

RHP Octavio Dotel - Middle Reliever
RHP Joel Peralta - Middle Reliever/Mop-Up Man
LHP John Bale - Setup Reliever
RHP David Riske - Setup Reliever #2/Middle Reliever
RHP Joakim Soria - Closer

The bullpen looks okay. Octavio is really the only known guy in it, and he usually has terrific stuff, but leaves his pitches up in the zone. That's preventing him from being the bridge to Joakim Soria, the closer. Soria did do a wonderful job last year of keeping his ERA under 2.50 and if he can do that again, he'll a lock for the closer role for many more seasons.

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************BREAKING NEWS: BANNISTER BASHES GREINKE
********************************************************************************************************************************************************************

It is a war of words, folks. Brian Bannister was recorded bashing Zack Greinke by a pre-game show camera man. The comments were so obscene and so hurtful, we cannot repeat them. However, it is very, very clear that he is not content with Greinke being the ace of the Royals. In fact, he is outraged. Here's a snippet of what he said:



As reported, this is a war of words. After Greinke got word of Bannister's comments, he fired back with his own:



Greinke sounds a bit more level-headed than his teammate. Everybody is probably happy that's the case and they don't have to worry about any fighting in the locker room.



The General Manager of the Royals, who is known to favor Greinke, also had something to say. He addressed the press, which most people are agreeing is the worst thing he could have done, but whatever...



Despite the internal fighting, the Royals do have a game today against the Boston Red Sox. It's the first game of the 2008 season and they hope to do well.

Daisuke Matsuzaka gets the call for the Sox, and Greinke gets the call for the Royals. In terms of offense, the Red Sox are expected to win. David Ortiz, Mike Lowell and Manny Ramirez make up the middle of the lineup for the Sox, and they just blow the entire Royals lineup out of the water.

Prediction: Greinke gets hit hard early-on, allowing the Red Sox to put up at least three runs while Matsuzaka shuts out the Royals.

Hold on I missed something. Didn't the red sox start against the royals in 2007 and not 2008. I wonder if there are gonna be any deaths

This is great keep it coming

I would suggest trading Grudzielaniek to the Twins for Adam Everett, or maybe to the Rays for Jason Bartlett, or, if you're lucky, to the Pirates for Jack Wilson.

There won't be any deaths, I promise. And I don't know. My game has the Sox starting against the Royals and vice versa.

@Longball: Mark is one of my favorite players in real life. I'm not saying I won't trade him, but I'm not going to try and get someone to take him just yet. I want to see how things pan out first.

@HitandRun: Thanks.

EDIT: And noticed this, if you take the first two pitches of every at-bat, you wear pitchers down fast. If those first two pitches are balls, or one is a strike and one is a ball, and you keep taking them, you'll wear the pitcher down fast. I got Matsuzaka taken out of the game in the third inning because his pitch count was at 92. This is smart baseball. And this strategy is different for me, I'm usually aggressive and like swinging at the first pitch. However, now that I'm being patient, I'm drawing 6+ walks a game.

I like the log right now! You're setting yourself up for a great log, so now go win some games and keep at it!

*******************************************************************************************************************************************************ROYALS DESTROY BOSTON, 13-0
*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

The Royals did it. They pounded the Red Sox into the ground. Effortlessly. In part, the victory was only manageable because of the great calls by Jason LaRue and Zack Greinke's ability to listen. You see, the Royals took a dangerous approach to the Red Sox lineup. Boston has a lot of people who can hurt you. Their big guns though, David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, were intentionally walked the entire game, except for their first at-bat. Respectively, they each hit the ball to the warning track, but fantastic defense stopped them from making anything of it. Again, if it was not for Zack Greinke and Jason LaRue, this would have been a completely different ballgame.

While the highlight of the game was definitely Zack Greinke's ability to pitch effectively, three hits over seven innings, five bases on balls, and three strikeouts, the other highlight was the offensive strategy which wore down the Red Sox bullpen. They played the count. The always laid off the first two pitches; if they were balls, they laid off the third and if that was a ball, they laid off everything until the count was full or they had two strikes against them. This made Daisuke Matsuzaka throw over ninety pitches in 2.2 innings. Matsuzaka walked five, struck out two, gave up two hits, and had two earned runs against him. The Red Sox had terrible defense. Mike Lowell booted a routine ground ball and threw a ball into the stands. Runs scored each time. The Sox burned through four relievers.

The Royals also won because of their ability to play the running game. Brandon Phillips advanced from first to third two times in the game, bringing his stolen base total to 4. Not one player on the Royals was caught stealing. Jason Varitek has a terrible arm. And they had wonderful defense, too. If they could turn a double play, it was turned. They turned a double play four times in the game, while grounding into none themselves. They were awesome.

Zack Greinke had a few words for the press after his performance:



Trey Hillman spoke about Greinke's performance as well. He sung praises:



Joshua Farley was present at the game, watching it from the owner's box. He was asked about the teams performance, but only wanted to rave about how well Josh Hamilton performed:



Game two of this three game series gets underway tomorrow. RHP Curt Schilling squares off against Gil Meche and then the next day, Josh Beckett takes on Brian Bannister. Three wonderful pitchers and one future hall of famer, it should be a great series. No word yet on whether or not the Royals plan on walking Manny and David again.

So... I guess you're a Josh Hamilton fan?
This really is great, one of the best logs I've seen.

oh by the way did you edit Grudzielaniek? If you didn't he should be a better fielder than Phillips.

No, I did not edit Mark. I realize he is a better fielder than Phillips, but Phillips is faster. I value a fast middle infielder, because it allows him to reach balls that are up the middle and potentially field them more cleanly than say someone who took years to get there and just barely beats out the ball. With Brandon, I know he is capable of beating the ball to the ground and fielding it well enough to get an out. I will miss the gold glove defense of Mark though, but he is thirty-seven, so I don't want to take the risk, play and injure him, then lose a great pinch/designated hitter.



Josh Hamilton is a great guy and an even better player. He deserves to be praised. He turned his life around and has pretty much established himself in the MLB as an above average outfielder with decent pop. He's always on my fantasy teams. Oh and thanks, comments like that mean a lot to me.

Olivio wasn't the starting catcher for the Royals in 2007, hence he is not on my team. He was the catcher for the Marlins, though.



And Apple likes my log. I must be doing something right.

you're doing alot of things right. getting down to the games, being realistic and not getting Albert Pujols for German and etc, great designs too, and you make things easy to understand and so we know whats going on at all times

***********************************************************************************************************************

Dave Winfield: I, Dave Winfield, Major League Baseball Hall of Famer, would like to thank you for tuning into this special edition of Baseball Tonight on ESPN tonight. I'm here with Royals' Manager Trey Hillman to discuss their strategy earlier today against the Red Sox.

Trey Hillman: Hello Dave, it's an honor to actually meet you. You were always one of my favorites to watch while I was growing up. Regardless, we didn't actually have a set strategy going into the game. Greinke answered that after the game.

Dave Winfield: Trust me Trey, we all know you didn't come up with it. It was a genius plan. Anyway, what are your thoughts exactly on the way Greinke handled Ramirez and Ortiz? We never actually heard any official from you or Farley.

Trey Hillman: Well... to be honest, I didn't expect Greinke to do as well as he did. I thought he was going to get shelled by the Sox. Literally, I was sitting by the bullpen phone the entire game waiting to have to call over and ask to warm up Dotel or someone.

Dave Winfield: Sounds like you don't have a lot of confidence in your ace. Is there a reason why?

*Zack Greinke walks into the Baseball Tonight studio, dressed up in a nice suit with a tie. He was certainly dressed for the occasian.*

Zack Greinke: I can tell you why Hillman and most of the Royals roster doesn't trust me being the ace. It's because I've had a few problems in the past. Not with drugs or alcohol, but with some mental problems. However, my therapist has cleared me to pitch. He says I'm fine, so I plan on doing well this season. I plan on doing my best ever. As you can see, I'm working with some great, great guys like Jason LaRue. I've worked with him many times during Spring Training to work on a set strategy when I pitch to make sure my numbers stay nice and pretty, and you saw it with the, uh, Ramirez-Ortiz intentional walking thingymobobber.

Dave Winfield: Interesting. Now, Zack all of us here at ESPN wish you the best of luck this season. You know that. Now, earlier, you told a local reporter that you did not plan on walking Ortiz and Ramirez. What's with the sudden change?

Trey Hillman: Yeah, why are you changing your story, Zack?

Zack Greinke: We had the strategy in place, actually. LaRue was like, 'Pitch to them once. If they get some good pop on the ball, walk them.' And that's what I did. Manny Ramirez almost hit a home run to left field, but David DeJesus, a wonderful left fielder and one of my best friends, was able to rob him of it. And we all know that David Ortiz ripped that ball almost straight over center field, but Gathright was playing back and combined with his speed, he was able to track and catch it. So basically, the defense of the team saved me today.

Dave Winfield: That makes a lot of sense. I'm 100% sure that a lot of pitchers would have been more successful in their careers or in certain games, if they had just walked me when I was up. Things would have been much easier on them.

Trey Hillman: Yeah, but we can't inflate a player’s OBP just because we don't know how to pitch to him. That only hurts everyone. Besides, what if one of their less dangerous hitters is having a good day and keeps driving that guy in? Then what?

Dave Winfield: That's actually a great question. Do you have an answer Zack?

Zack Greinke: No I do not. I actually have somewhere to be tonight and I'd like to be on time for once. I do appreciate the air time I have gotten, but I really have to go.

Dave Winfield and Trey Hillman: Bye.

Dave Winfield: Now Trey, how do you plan on playing out the rest of the series?

Trey Hillman: I'll let the players play. My job is to manage, not dictate. Anyway, like Zack, I have somewhere I have to be. Bye.

Dave Winfield: I think this is the first time the guests of Baseball Tonight have actually left themselves... wow. Anyway, thanks for tuning in everybody.

Is Zack edited and if so to what