Game of the Week: May 1: KC @ HOU

[Erick RockiesGM]

Kansas City Royals (9-15) @ Houston Astros (7-17)

KC: Jason Hammel (0-2, 5.63)
HOU: Dallas Keuchel (2-3, 2.91)



The Kansas City Royals and Houston Astros were expected to compete for an AL Central title. Instead, they're competing to avoid the AL Central basement.

The Astros have had a frustrating month. Botched paperwork, disappointing acquisitions, nagging injuries, and poor play have marred their first week in the American League Central. Despite Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve having strong seasons, the Astros are last in runs scored. Yulieski Gurriel is the highest profile disappointment. He has the third worst batting average in the league at .162. He does have four home runs, but his big uppercut swing has led to him having the second worst BABIP in baseball. Alex Bregman has been another disappointment. He has a .204 average and an OPS of just .575, and poor defense and both positions on the left side of the infield. 

Injuries have led the Astros to shake up their lineup though. With Josh Reddick and Nori Aoki hurt, Preston Tucker has been called on to play left field, where he hit .118 last week. Carlos Beltran moved to Right Field, where he produced a -1.3 Zone Rating and strained his back. Carlos Correa was moved to DH to help with a sore elbow, but Bregman has been a disappointment defensively at shortstop, with a -1.8 Zone Rating last week. Guriel was moved to third base, and A.J. Reed was called up to play first. However, Reed hit just .200 his first week.

In short, the Astros position players are struggling. Good thing they have Keuchel on the hill tonight. Keuchel pitched a five-hit shutout against the Royals last week, walking nobody and striking out six. The extreme ground ball pitcher has walked only six batters all season in 34 innings. Despite only a 5.6 K/9 rate, Keuchel's ability to get hitters to pound the ball into the ground helps snuff out rallies. The 6 double plays he's produced are tied for tops in the league.

This seems like it would be a decent matchup for a Kansas City Royals offense that's the best in avoiding strikeouts. However, the Royals walk the least and have a horrendous .282 OBP. Their main speedsters have declined as hitters. Lorenzo Cain is hitting only .257, Alcides Escobar is hitting .192, and the team doesn't have the sluggers to make up for it.

Their bullpen has also struggled, especially late. Kelvin Herrera has a 7.50 ERA and a 1.75 WHIP, saving only two games in six opportunities. Peter Moylan has struggled in middle relief, with an ERA 6.75 and three early losses. Their starter tonight, Jason Hammel, hasn't provided much help. Hammel has a 5.63 ERA in five starts. Home runs have been his biggest bugaboo. He's allowed five this year, in only 24 innings. Last week against the Astros, Bregman and Jake Marisnick took him deep in a 7-0 Astros win.


Questions for the GM's:


For Doug Brink, your team hasn't been able to hit enough to take advantage of the strategy of swinging early and often. Do you feel like your roster is good enough to win with that approach?

Matt Strahm in your pen throws four pitches reasonably well. Do you have any desire to try to turn him into a starter?

Alex Gordon has really struggled with a .211 average. Any thoughts on dropping him in the order?

For Todd Read, you've made a number of moves to keep your team solid with all the injuries, however, your defense is the worst in the league now. Will you make further moves to rectify that?

You called up A.J. Reed and Preston Tucker. What is their future for the rest of the season?

Carlos Beltran is still a strong hitter, but hurt is back playing the field last week. Will he be a fixture in the outfield this year?

[Deleted]

For T.B. Diggity, you've made a number of moves to keep your team solid with all the injuries, however, your defense is the worst in the league now. Will you make further moves to rectify that?

Right now, we are trying to get through this rough patch.  When Carlos went down, we asked Alex to move over to his natural position, and he performed admirably.  I think the stats are based on a small sample size, and they are not the best indicator for the value of having someone like Alex who can step in and take over like he did. 

Of course, we do have to shape up a little better on the defensive part of the game.  I think Gurriel may see a little more time at third base, and Reed does help us a little defensively at first base.  When he can catch up to ABL pitching, he will really be able to help us on a day-to-day basis.  Also, MarGo is so versatile and solid at many positions, we have a backup plan for almost anything. 

You called up A.J. Reed and Preston Tucker. What is their future for the rest of the season?

Preston gives us depth at the corner outfield position, and he provides a little pop from the left side.  When healthy, our outfield is crowded, so his opportunities may come and go this season, but he will definitely be here in September to help us down the stretch.  We think Reed can be the future at first base.  He has been working on his swing in Fresno, and he showed off some power in his short time here.  He will be able to give us more consistent quality at-bats as he gets used to the pitching at this level.  Once he does that, he will be a major piece of this team. 

Carlos Beltran is still a strong hitter, but hurt is back playing the field last week. Will he be a fixture in the outfield this year?

It was never our plan to use Carlos in the field a whole lot this season, but after Springer, Aoki, and Reddick all went down, we had little choice.  Now that Springer is healthy and Aoki is close to returning, Carlos will be able to get back in the DH role the majority of the time.  He is still a capable defender, but we need his bat every day.  We have a great defense in the outfield with Springer, Aoki, and Jake Marisnick, so Carlos will not need to put in a ton of time in the field.

[ablroyals]

For Doug Brink, your team hasn't been able to hit enough to take advantage of the strategy of swinging early and often. Do you feel like your roster is good enough to win with that approach?

Sadly that is not really my approach that I like to use and I'm still trying to figure this team out.  We have a lot of money coming of the book at the end of the year (not picking up any team options) and this will give me a chance to shape this team.


Matt Strahm in your pen throws four pitches reasonably well. Do you have any desire to try to turn him into a starter?

The problem with Matt is that he has NO stamina.  I may move him into a starter role later this year, but I hate SPs that can only go 5 innings.


Alex Gordon has really struggled with a .211 average. Any thoughts on dropping him in the order?

I really don't have much better to replace him with. I like the RLR with Cain at top.

[Erick RockiesGM]

Astros 9 Royals 2


W: Dallas Kuechel
L: Jason Hammel


With the Astros season sputtering, Dallas Keuchel stepped on the mound against the Kansas City Royals and tossed a complete game gem to try to right the ship. That sentence was as true last week as it was last night.


Keuchel allowed only two runs, going the distance in a 9-2 comfortable Houston Astros win. It was the second straight game Keuchel went 9 innings against Kansas City, with two wins to show for it. Keuchel only struck out five, but he only walked one, and induced three double plays to help get through the game. Keuchel has now walked only seven batters on the season, and induced nine double plays. He allowed only two extra base hits, a double to Alden Carrithers in the 3rd, for his first major league hit and RBI, plus a Lorenzo Cain double in the 8th.

Keuchel succeeded by coaxing a whopping 15 ground ball outs. The Royals did get some singles with that approach, but keeping the ball on the ground limited the Royals' ability to get extra base hits. Outside of Carrithers' double, the Royals only had two fly balls that reached the outfield, both leading to outs. 

They allowed some fly balls though.

George Springer led off the game for the Astros with a home run. A.J. Reed followed with a line drive double, and Carlos Correa brought him home with a home run of his own. After Carrithers' doubled in a run for Kansas City, he scored on a wild pitch to bring the Royals to within one. They'd get no further.

Alex Bregman doubled in two in the bottom of the third to make the game 5-2. Kansas City held firm, but after two walks and a double in the eighth, Mike Minor was left in to face Preston Tucker. Tucker was pinch hit for Carlos Beltran---who will play less in the field as Astros' outfielders return to health---and Beltran did what Beltran does best, depositing a 1-1 fastball 428 feet for a game-breaking Grand Slam. That made the game 9-2, which ended up as the final deficit.


Questions for the GMs:

For Doug Brink, Alden Carrithers made his big league debut and showed a nice swing. What's the plan for him moving forward?

You mentioned in the pregame interview about how the Royals' roster construction lends itself to a strategy you don't support. What would be your ideal strategy in shaping the roster?

You might face Dallas Keuchel a few more times this year. Would you do anything differently against him in the future?

For Todd Read, you have George Springer batting leadoff. It paid off with a home run. Why do you have him in that spot in the order?

With Yulieksi Gurriel struggling, you gave Marwin Gonzalez a start at third. It may be moot with his abdominal injury, but is he going to play more third base or was this just a routine day off? I know Gurriel did come in later.

With the offensive explosion, which hitter were you most pleased with and why?

[Deleted]

For Todd Read, you have George Springer batting leadoff. It paid off with a home run. Why do you have him in that spot in the order?

Springer has the speed to help manufacture runs at the top of the order, and his power forces pitchers to try to nibble at the strike zone. He has improved himself as a patient hitter, so he will be on base a lot for us this year. He creates RBI opportunities for Altuve and Correa, and they protect him somewhat, allowing him to sit on pitches. It just makes sense to have him there.

With Yulieksi Gurriel struggling, you gave Marwin Gonzalez a start at third. It may be moot with his abdominal injury, but is he going to play more third base or was this just a routine day off? I know Gurriel did come in later.

I wanted Correa to get another day off from throwing, so Bregman played shortstop. Facing a righty, I felt that an extra lefty in the line-up was a good thing. Now that Carlos is fully healthy, I will have to figure out effective ways to get Yuli and Marwin in the line-up.


With the offensive explosion, which hitter were you most pleased with and why?

The easy answer is Correa, or Altuve, or Springer, but maybe they have spoiled me. I just expect them to produce all of the time. Jake Marisnick was supposed to be a defensive guy late and someone who could give guys a day off occasionally. When Reddick went down, Jake stepped up. He has been working hard in the cage, and it is paying off. A.J. Reed is also figuring out how to be a big-league hitter. If he continues to grow as a hitter, he can really add a lot to this line-up.