The Jays try to build on their momentum from a fine series against Seattle as they travel to the Harry S. Truman Sports Complex for a weekend showdown with the Royals. The Royals feature an impatient lineup, but two of their three starting pitchers are coming off dominant performances and there are some lively arms in the 'pen. It should make for some interesting baseball, and Lilly vs. Greinke could be a nice matchup on Sunday.
* General: The Royals are coming off back-to-back splits of four-game sets against the Tigers and Tribe ... Because of a brawl in Detroit (more on that in a second), Buddy Bell has been suspended for tonight's game ... K.C. has been a vaguely more respectable 21-24 under new manager Bell ... The Jays hold a razor-thin 152-151 all-time edge in the series between the clubs. Unfortunately, that record is 3-4 in the postseason ... The Royals traded Tony Graffanino to Boston in mid-week for minor leaguers Juan Cedeno and Chip Ambres. Ambres is now with the big club ... When Ambres got into a ballgame this week, he became the tenth Royal to make his big league debut this season ... Rookie Donnie Murphy, hitting .313 in AA Wichita, was called up this week and hit his first big-league homer ... The Royals have high hopes for the 22-year-old Cedeno, who has tremendous stuff but has yet to harness it ... Saturday is George Brett Powder Blue T-Shirt Night! ... For a young, toolsy team, the Royals are terrible on the basepaths. They have just 30 steals in 55 attempts ... GM Allard Baird will have to be impressed to trade Jeremy Affeldt or Mike MacDougal, and has no interest in swapping Ambiorix Burgos or Andy Sisco. Baird: "I think we have one of the better power bullpens in the game. I really don't want to break that up" ... Brian Anderson underwent Tommy John surgery yesterday and will not be back until sometime into next season ... Highly-touted first baseman Justin Huber will be promoted to AAA Omaha this weekend ...
* Runelvys Hernandez: Cruising along with a two-hit shutout on Sunday, Hernandez peeved the Tigers by beaning two players. Then he angered them by brushing back Carlos Guillen. But he really enraged them by nailing Carlos Guillen in the head for a third hit batter, sparking a wild brawl ... Hernandez: "I feel sorry about that...But I didn't hit him on purpose" ... Hernandez was given a ten-game suspension, but thanks to the good ol' appeals process, he'll take the mound tonight ... Throws a straight change that he needs to spot well, because he occasionally tips it off ... He relies on that change heavily and often throws it with two strikes ... Two-seam fastball doesn't move too much ... Throws a sneaky low-80s slider with late movement ...
* Mike Sweeney: Having a nice July at .328/.369/.607 ... Excellent plate coverage and can drive pitches on the outer half of the plate for power ... Very fluid weight transfer out of a menacing crouch ... Can be induced to chase away ... Sometimes jumps on less-than-ideal pitches early in the count ... Sweeney welcomed a new addition to his family, McKara, today. His daughter was born on his birthday ...
* Mark Teahen: Inside-out swing with gap power ... Good low-ball hitter ... Very good fastball hitter with good bat speed ... Does not like pitches on the inside corner and will lay off even strikes there ... Chases up and away on fastballs, which he sits on ...
* Emil Brown: The 30-year-old has already easily surpassed his career high in games played ... Legitimate power; his slugging percentage isn't fantastic, but he's hit some long home runs, especially on fastballs ... His head goes flying off sliders away, where he can be fooled ... Pulls off pitches sometimes. It's best to work him away ...
* Mike MacDougal: Throwing the ball well, but he continues to be haunted by patches of wildness ... Always pitches from a hunched-over stretch position, and his arm action appears to be rather strenuous ... His high-80s slider is not a strong pitch when it's left up in the zone ... Neither is his low-80s curve ... But when he starts his slider thigh-high, it's very tough and it's thrown hard enough to deceive hitters ...
* David DeJesus: Enters play tonight riding a 12-game hitting streak (.396) ... Shared AL Player of the Week honours last week with Gary Sheffield ... Lovely-looking swing from the left side ... Prefers the ball on the inner half ... Doesn't like the ball up ... Will chase down and out of the zone if he's thinking breaking ball ...
* Terrence Long: T-Long remains an aggressive, somewhat impatient hitter ... Loves the ball down in the zone and goes with the pitch well ... Can be backdoored by two-seam fastballs ... Lays off anything around the belt as too high for him ... Not a good throwing arm in left, and his lefthandedness means he has to take an extra step to plant and throw ...
* D.J. Carrasco: Keeps the ball in play, but generally in the park ... Sinker-slider guy who throws strikes and lets 'em hit it ... Slings the ball from a three-quarters angle, and his pitches have Quantrill-like movement ... His best pitch is his low-80s slider, which runs away from righthanded hitters ... Runs his sinker in on righties ... Had his last start delayed due to tightness in his shoulder, but he says he's pain-free and ready to go ...
* Angel Berroa: Another struggling ex-Rookie Of The Year ... Long swing gives him some pop but makes him very strikeout-prone ... Can reach the outside strike and prefers the ball out over the plate ... Chases badly on breaking stuff down and away ... Speedy baserunner but a bit nonchalant at times ... Smooth fielder at short ...
* John Buck: Very long swing and not a lot of plate discipline ... Consistently fails to lay off breaking stuff out of the zone ... Doesn't stand quite as upright as he did earlier in the season ... Can sting the ball if it's on the inner half ... Does not seem balanced at the plate ...
* Zack Greinke: Has strung together two straight wins after starting the season 1-11 ... Had his best stuff in months on Tuesday night, tossing seven scoreless innings at Jacobs Field while allowing only four singles ... Smooth, easy delivery ... He gets into trouble with his mid-80s two-seam fastball. He can't leave it up or away from righthanded hitters and get away with it ... Likes to run his two-seamer in on righties' fists, where it's effective ... Good low-90s four-seam riding fastball that seems quicker relative to his wide variety of breaking stuff ... Credits his improved pitching to using his "best stuff"; in other words, he had been easing back on his velocity during his slump for fear of tiring out ...
* Matt Stairs: The pride of New Brunswick still punishes hanging breaking stuff if it's a righty who threw it ... Stays down on breaking stuff very well ... Sits on offspeed stuff, even with two strikes on him ... Does not pick up lefthanded breaking stuff well and is vulnerable to LOOGYs (.200/.310/.440) ...
This will be my last Advance Scout column for a little while, as I head off on vacation. But fear not, Bauxites -- Lucas, Rob and Pepper Moffatt will all contribute pinch-hit Scout reports with their usual aplomb over the next four series. It won't skip a beat.
Today's Scout features a brawlin' (but appealin') righty, a proud papa and a young ace starting to trust his stuff again.
On to the Advance Scout!* General: The Royals are coming off back-to-back splits of four-game sets against the Tigers and Tribe ... Because of a brawl in Detroit (more on that in a second), Buddy Bell has been suspended for tonight's game ... K.C. has been a vaguely more respectable 21-24 under new manager Bell ... The Jays hold a razor-thin 152-151 all-time edge in the series between the clubs. Unfortunately, that record is 3-4 in the postseason ... The Royals traded Tony Graffanino to Boston in mid-week for minor leaguers Juan Cedeno and Chip Ambres. Ambres is now with the big club ... When Ambres got into a ballgame this week, he became the tenth Royal to make his big league debut this season ... Rookie Donnie Murphy, hitting .313 in AA Wichita, was called up this week and hit his first big-league homer ... The Royals have high hopes for the 22-year-old Cedeno, who has tremendous stuff but has yet to harness it ... Saturday is George Brett Powder Blue T-Shirt Night! ... For a young, toolsy team, the Royals are terrible on the basepaths. They have just 30 steals in 55 attempts ... GM Allard Baird will have to be impressed to trade Jeremy Affeldt or Mike MacDougal, and has no interest in swapping Ambiorix Burgos or Andy Sisco. Baird: "I think we have one of the better power bullpens in the game. I really don't want to break that up" ... Brian Anderson underwent Tommy John surgery yesterday and will not be back until sometime into next season ... Highly-touted first baseman Justin Huber will be promoted to AAA Omaha this weekend ...
* Runelvys Hernandez: Cruising along with a two-hit shutout on Sunday, Hernandez peeved the Tigers by beaning two players. Then he angered them by brushing back Carlos Guillen. But he really enraged them by nailing Carlos Guillen in the head for a third hit batter, sparking a wild brawl ... Hernandez: "I feel sorry about that...But I didn't hit him on purpose" ... Hernandez was given a ten-game suspension, but thanks to the good ol' appeals process, he'll take the mound tonight ... Throws a straight change that he needs to spot well, because he occasionally tips it off ... He relies on that change heavily and often throws it with two strikes ... Two-seam fastball doesn't move too much ... Throws a sneaky low-80s slider with late movement ...
* Mike Sweeney: Having a nice July at .328/.369/.607 ... Excellent plate coverage and can drive pitches on the outer half of the plate for power ... Very fluid weight transfer out of a menacing crouch ... Can be induced to chase away ... Sometimes jumps on less-than-ideal pitches early in the count ... Sweeney welcomed a new addition to his family, McKara, today. His daughter was born on his birthday ...
* Mark Teahen: Inside-out swing with gap power ... Good low-ball hitter ... Very good fastball hitter with good bat speed ... Does not like pitches on the inside corner and will lay off even strikes there ... Chases up and away on fastballs, which he sits on ...
* Emil Brown: The 30-year-old has already easily surpassed his career high in games played ... Legitimate power; his slugging percentage isn't fantastic, but he's hit some long home runs, especially on fastballs ... His head goes flying off sliders away, where he can be fooled ... Pulls off pitches sometimes. It's best to work him away ...
* Mike MacDougal: Throwing the ball well, but he continues to be haunted by patches of wildness ... Always pitches from a hunched-over stretch position, and his arm action appears to be rather strenuous ... His high-80s slider is not a strong pitch when it's left up in the zone ... Neither is his low-80s curve ... But when he starts his slider thigh-high, it's very tough and it's thrown hard enough to deceive hitters ...
* David DeJesus: Enters play tonight riding a 12-game hitting streak (.396) ... Shared AL Player of the Week honours last week with Gary Sheffield ... Lovely-looking swing from the left side ... Prefers the ball on the inner half ... Doesn't like the ball up ... Will chase down and out of the zone if he's thinking breaking ball ...
* Terrence Long: T-Long remains an aggressive, somewhat impatient hitter ... Loves the ball down in the zone and goes with the pitch well ... Can be backdoored by two-seam fastballs ... Lays off anything around the belt as too high for him ... Not a good throwing arm in left, and his lefthandedness means he has to take an extra step to plant and throw ...
* D.J. Carrasco: Keeps the ball in play, but generally in the park ... Sinker-slider guy who throws strikes and lets 'em hit it ... Slings the ball from a three-quarters angle, and his pitches have Quantrill-like movement ... His best pitch is his low-80s slider, which runs away from righthanded hitters ... Runs his sinker in on righties ... Had his last start delayed due to tightness in his shoulder, but he says he's pain-free and ready to go ...
* Angel Berroa: Another struggling ex-Rookie Of The Year ... Long swing gives him some pop but makes him very strikeout-prone ... Can reach the outside strike and prefers the ball out over the plate ... Chases badly on breaking stuff down and away ... Speedy baserunner but a bit nonchalant at times ... Smooth fielder at short ...
* John Buck: Very long swing and not a lot of plate discipline ... Consistently fails to lay off breaking stuff out of the zone ... Doesn't stand quite as upright as he did earlier in the season ... Can sting the ball if it's on the inner half ... Does not seem balanced at the plate ...
* Zack Greinke: Has strung together two straight wins after starting the season 1-11 ... Had his best stuff in months on Tuesday night, tossing seven scoreless innings at Jacobs Field while allowing only four singles ... Smooth, easy delivery ... He gets into trouble with his mid-80s two-seam fastball. He can't leave it up or away from righthanded hitters and get away with it ... Likes to run his two-seamer in on righties' fists, where it's effective ... Good low-90s four-seam riding fastball that seems quicker relative to his wide variety of breaking stuff ... Credits his improved pitching to using his "best stuff"; in other words, he had been easing back on his velocity during his slump for fear of tiring out ...
* Matt Stairs: The pride of New Brunswick still punishes hanging breaking stuff if it's a righty who threw it ... Stays down on breaking stuff very well ... Sits on offspeed stuff, even with two strikes on him ... Does not pick up lefthanded breaking stuff well and is vulnerable to LOOGYs (.200/.310/.440) ...