After a number of moves in their pitching staff, the Royals seem to be ready to etch their starting pitcher rotation in stone. The obvious 3 choices entering camp (Gil Meche, Brian Bannister, and Zack Grienke) to fill the first 3 pitching positions in the rotation have all proven their worth, and kept their value, according to the Royals, earning their spots respectively. The last 2 spots are the question, and Kansas City seems to have made that decision. With the moves of Kyle Davies, Roman Colon, Chin-hui Tsao, to either options or minor leagues, they seem to have left-hander John Bale, and right hander Brett Tomko, pegged to slide into those spots.
Most of the opinions that I have found about this decision to get rid of de la Rosa, in favor of Tomko, has been negative overall. Tomko’s numbers seem to worry the critics, and rightfully so. De la Rosa (on paper) has a better looking portfolio, and a much better chance of a bright future. This is, of course, the reason we have sports writers, and so called “professionals.” We all have our own opinions, and ideas, as to the direction this team should take in order to turn things around. I will admit, the money that they threw at Tomko was a little shocking, but it shows the Royal’s commitment to change, and winning. However, the American League Central has no room for errors, if you want to be competitive. The Tigers, Indians, Twins, and White Sox, have enough talent throughout their organization to exploit weaknesses in any ball club in baseball, let alone a struggling one in the Royals.
Regardless of whether you agree or not to their decisions, the Royals have a starting pitching rotation. The chance of success can only be measured once the season starts and those guys get on the mound. Unfortunately, in Kansas City, bad showings are all to common, and will be noticed early in the season. The pitching staff will be pitching in the most talented division in baseball, and a weakness in the rotation is going to show, not only in numbers, but also the record that the Royals show after the first month. Traditionally, the Royals have been running themselves out of the race by then, and this is what the club wants to avoid. The amount of young potential talent behind the plate, may take some time to catch fire, and if their pitching staff can keep them close, there is no reason why the Royals can’t make this interesting.
Let’s face it: Every year they play the spoiler better than any other club in baseball, either knocking teams out of first place, or driving teams out of the playoff hunt all-together. With a “nothing to lose” attitude toward the end of the season they seem to thrive. Let’s just hope that they can translate that attitude to the whole regular season. Maybe I should say…”let’s pray.”