Next Year is here!!!!

Kansas City Royals
Final Analysis
25 Man Roster and Spring Stats

The unofficial, official holiday is upon us. Opening Day hath arrived! I have taken a vacation day from the news business and will be in attendance when the parking lot opens and the game starts…noon and 3:10 respectively.
The feeling coming out of the south is pretty good for the start of the season. Some questions have been answered, some left unanswered and new questions have arrived. Below is the 25 man roster in KC for the time being, along with their spring stats

Opening Day Lineup (batting average/homeruns/RBI/On-base-percentage.)

1.David Dejesus-CF- .321/01/03/.345- missed almost 2 weeks with a stomach virus
2.Mark Grudeizlanek-2nd- .286/00/01/.333- missed about 3 weeks with knee surgery
3.Mark Teahen-RF- .329/04/17.385- looks to have adapted to RF, hit well in spring
4.Mike Sweeney-DH- .277/02/11/.333- missed a 1st week of spring as precaution
5.Alex Gordon-3rd- .317/02/12/.419- earned spot with bat, Rookie of the year?
6.Emil Brown-LF- .302/02/08/.387- will platoon with Gload, has ‘d’ improved?
7.Ryan Shealy-1st- .299/02/10/.373- 1st full season in the majors…had good spring
8.John Buck-C- .297/01/02/.409- will rotate with Jason LaRue
9.Tony Pena Jr.-SS- .130/00/00/.200- terrible spring numbers…is this Berroa??

Pitching Rotation (Wins- Losses/Earned Run Average/ Strikeouts/Walks.)

Gil Meche- 0-3/7.31/11/06- lets hope he does better in the regular season
Odalis Perez- 0-0/4.70/06/07- had some blister problems this spring
Zach Greinke- 1-0/3.00/27/02- excellent spring…let’s hope it carries over!
Jorge De La Rosa- 0-0/4.70/11/05- severe control problems, keep fingers crossed
Brandon Duckworth- 1-0/4.02/17/02- filling in for injured Luke Hudson

Bullpen
Ryan Braun- 0-2/3.48/05/04- long shot to make the team, may earn setup role
Octavio Dotel- 0-1/6.23/15/02- had a great spring…hitting 97mph, closer for now
Jimmy Gobble- 2-1/3.46/10/03- only lefty in the pen so far
Joel Peralta- 0-0/3.86/10/00- no walks this spring
David Riske- 0-0/4.15/11/03- in the setup role, 7th and 8th innings
Joakim Soria- 0-0/3.12/18/03- pitched his way on to roster…will be fun to watch
Todd Wellemeyer- 2-1/6.75/08/04- pitched his way off the staring rotation

It should be a fun couple of days out at the “K” against the Red Sox. I am predicting a series win, taking two from the BoSox. This will be an interesting year for the Royals. A revamped pitching staff and plenty rookies, this season could go either way.

2007 Prediction...Overall Record 73-89…Teahen will hit 25 HR…Gordon Rookie of the Year…Reggie Sanders and Mike Sweeney Traded…Grienke will win 12 games
Royals Fact: The Royals are 19-19 overall on Opening Day and are 0-2 against the Red Sox.

-b

“Royals Baseball in on the Air.”