Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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Second half of the program begins right now. Sam McDowell from the Kansas City Star joins us here on what has turned out to be a pretty nice day. Cloudy, no sun, but temperature not too bad. Nice and cool. Sam's appearance brought to you by our friends at All Weathered X. Kansas City's best when it comes to building your outdoor living spaces. All Weathered X.
And relax, you can find them online at allweatherdecks.net, 24-time winner of the Angie Super Service Award, A-plus rating with the Better Business Bureau, and only six or seven weeks away from getting your project started. What are you waiting for? Go to allweatherdecks.net and relax. Sam, how are you? I'm doing all right. How are you doing? Doing very good.
Are you ready to believe that your Kansas City Royals have turned the corner?
Just after three wins?
Uh-huh. Four out of five.
Four out of five, three wins. I mean... They're playing better than they were. Pounding the baseball.
Are they playing better? If we count some of the defense and base running errors?
I think Cole Reagan's start was very promising, considering he hasn't been able to find the strike zone, which... I'd asked Matt Quattro about ahead of that start. And he said, you know, he's got to trust his stuff. And I realize that that's a cliche to say, but that's like more applicable to Cole Reagans than just about anybody on that staff because he gets swing and miss in the zone.
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Chapter 2: What insights does Sam McDowell share about the Kansas City Royals' recent performance?
But it's really not a neat fit to do that for that reason because this team does have talent. This team has expectations too. And I think that's part of it, that this year's story is how does a team deal with expectations? Because, you know, I mean, it's not like it's the first time that this team has struggled out of the gate either. I mean, last year they struggled out of the gate too.
And as much as, you know, it's ā They rebounded and you could point to the fact that they played better as the season progressed last year. You look back on it and you could actually say pretty easily that the reason they didn't make the playoffs wasn't because of how they finished. It was because of how they started.
And you only missed the playoffs by five games and you're in the mix in September. they could have looked a whole lot differently if you had played better in April.
Yeah. And so they need to get going. They head out on a road trip. We had the question in Frank Opinions basically like, what do we think they're going to be, 3-3, 4-2, 4-2 or better, 3-3 or 2-4 or worse? What would be your expectations?
Yeah, I haven't seen the actual pitching matchups because that, of course, goes so much into that. You got them handy where you can throw me?
I can give it to you. Tonight it's Bubich versus... I'm scrolling, scrolling.
Oh, it's Aaron Savali.
Yeah, Bubich versus Savali. Tomorrow is... Walker Severino.
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Chapter 3: How is Cole Reagans' pitching impacting the Royals' rotation?
Then you've got to face Springs. You face Brian Wu for the Mariners. You face Emerson Hancock, who's been really good this year. And then you face their typical ace with Luis Castillo, but he's really gotten off to a tough start.
He sucks. He's on my team. Let me just tell you, he has not gotten off to a tough start. He wasn't that good last year, and he sucks now. I think, was he that bad last year? His ERA was pushing towards 4, and his whip was 1-3 change. 3-5-4 ERA last year with a 1-1-8 whip. It was not good in the second half, I'm going to tell you. Because I took the bullet.
I had to keep him because he was on a multi-year contract. And I took him just because I could get Jack Caglione cheap. And I was like, oh, how bad can he be when he comes back this next year? He'll get it all figured out in the offseason. No. Strikeouts are trending down. The walks are trending up. He sucks.
I mean, 249 career starts, 3-6-1 ERA.
What is he this year?
As I said, he's gotten off to a rough start. But I called it uncharacteristic. You think it seems to fit.
No, I think it's the trend of where he's going. I think he sucks. I think he's done. I think it's a disaster. I think Dennis Clowder hoodwinked me.
Now we're getting to where. I was happy to get Caglione. I'd say 3-3 sounds about right.
3-3? Yeah.
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Chapter 4: What challenges do the Royals face with their young players?
And so start pushing some of those guys in there. Well, yeah, I mean, they got to get... You got to have at least one down there ready to go for if somebody drops. And right now, Burgert's on the shelf. Yeah. I think Avila's a reliever. I don't want to see him back. I've... He's the guy I'm talking about, though. Someone like that, where you're starting him.
But to me, for me, that's been part of the plan all along. Part of my bullpen plan was that they would bring him up and he would assume the 7th or 8th inning. So the longer he's not doing that, the further they are from being the bullpen I think they can be. But, I mean, I think the question is, do they have to go with a Colich or a, you know, I don't think it's going to be Berger.
I don't think they're going to mess around with him. Not if he's even pitching anymore this year. But... But otherwise, there's one other guy, I forget his name, it's kind of a recent, been striking guys out, that's in AAA. Otherwise, you're asking somebody to come clear from AA, which happens.
I mean, well, Trey Yusevich is going to start tonight for the Blue Jays, and he started last year in A ball and then was striking out 12 guys in a playoff game as a starter, not even as a reliever. So guys can come from a ways. There can be some guys we're not thinking about. I don't think it's going to be Shields or Churrio, but, you know, Maybe there'll be some more help.
Where do you sit on the manager should be questioned?
In what aspect? We get many people saying it's time to fire him. The Royals could do a lot, lot worse than Matt Quattro as the manager. No, I think that's reactionary to just a couple of bad weeks.
I think that's about the kindest way you could put it. It would still be accurate, even if you thought it should be stronger. Our reaction is more like, duh. I think the foolishness of calling for firing Matt Cotrero now. Now, that being said.
I think you haven't watched many other teams play if you think he's a bad man. I agree. Just past teams play.
I also would say, though, that the group that does think that got some ammunition when the Red Sox and Phillies fired their managers.
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Chapter 5: What are the expectations for the Royals' upcoming road trip?
Yeah. I mean, there were people that thought Schwarber was going to be as much of an average hitter as a power hitter when he first came up. And, I mean, he just very evidently decided to be a specific type of hitter.
What do you think of Jensen behind the dish?
I always think it's going to be tough for a young catcher that's never caught this group before at the major league level that is just learning the ins and outs of just ā I mean, there's not minor league guys that have Cole Reagan stuff, for example. He's harder to catch for that reason. His pitch moves more ā it moves later than other pitchers.
I just think it's going to take some getting used to. I mean, I will say from, like, the reports I hear, it's different than, like ā When MJ Melendez first came up, as much as they had raved about his defense in the minors, behind the scenes you knew there was some concern. I don't hear that yet. So I think it's just going to take some time.
I get your point about Reagans, but who was it? Who were his past balls? Who was he catching when?
One was Erseg in the ninth inning Sunday.
Yeah.
And who was the other one? Who did you say it was? I think it was Alex Lang. I remember a ā I think it was like Yadier Molina's like second or third year. And he was obviously brought up specifically because of his defense where he was like leading the league in pass balls. And like there was concern of like this guy just drops the ball all the time. And you mentioned Bobby Witt.
I think that's a great point to bring up because ā They were playing him at third base. And he was making mistakes at third, and then he was making mistakes at short once he was playing there. And there was talk about, couldn't he play shortstop for the long term? And he's developed into the best defensive shortstop in the American League.
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Chapter 6: How does the Chiefs' draft class impact their future?
I like the way you put it, that the process was sound, right? So I don't think we're ever going to ā but the idea that he's going to be the everyday left fielder for six years I think is unlikely.
Yeah. Yeah, I agree. I mean, I think at the very least it obviously remains to be seen. That's my point is like just one year is not enough. for us to go on and say, hey, this guy's going to figure it out. And he hasn't been terrible. No, he's got 346 on base. Yeah, I mean, he walks.
I mean, that was part of the process that we're talking about is that they were looking for guys who at least got on base more at the bottom of the order to ā give the top of the order more RBI opportunities.
I mean, their best four hitters last year, which is their top four hitters, still their top four hitters this year in terms of the order, they all ranked in like the top 40 of hitting with the bases empty last year. The bottom of the order just did not get on base enough. So, I mean, it would be great if Collins actually hit his way on base with more regularity, extra base hits.
He only has one double all year. But they keyed in on his on base. That was the attraction, and that's the part that made a lot of sense.
He's on pace for 59 walks. Which would mean that Carter Jensen's on pace for 59 walks. He's got more than that, right? He's got 10. Isaac Collins has got 10. Carter Jensen's got 10. In 28 games. They haven't played 28, but that's how many the Royals have played, assuming that they're deployed the same way they're deployed.
But there is then Lane Thomas with 11, Michael Garcia with 12, 14 for Bobby Witt, and 15 for Vinny Pascantino. This will be, by far, the most walks that a Royals team has had in quite some time.
Yeah, I mean, so on the face of it, that's a good thing. But I also think that part of what the Royals have gone through in the first month of the season, they need to be asking themselves if they're just taking pitches for the sake of taking pitches. Yes, agreed. Or if they're taking the right pitches.
My hope is that, yes, they've had problems and they've taken too many pitches along the way here, but that they'll find the happy medium.
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