Monarchs Pitching Stats & Leaders

Wilber "Bullet" Rogan

You probably know the drill with Negro League stats by now: only certain games have been uncovered, they were not always reported on completely and accurately, etc. I like to think of them as a split; instead of something like a lefty/righty or home/away split, the split is "games researchers have uncovered." So as always, a huge grain of salt is required.

I've tried to total up Monarchs pitching stats found on the new Baseball Reference database to come up with the below leaderboards. Only 28 players have at least 100 discovered innings pitched with the Monarchs. I've limited the rate stat leaderboards to those 28 pitchers.

Happily, a few names show up on the lists that I'm not familiar with. I'll have to look into guys like Alfred Cooper, George Mitchell, and Provine Bradley.

Bullet Rogan...wow. Check out Bullet's hitting numbers in my post on Monarchs hitters, then check out his pitching numbers below. The dude was seriously another Babe Ruth, and it's a shame he isn't better appreciated in KC and in all of baseball. His Wikipedia entry is a reliable primer, and Phil Dixon goes in depth in his book Wilber "Bullet" Rogan and the Kansas City Monarchs. I suggest all residents of Kansas City legally change our first names to Bullet in order to draw attention to him.

Leaders after the jump

One Time Through: April 23-27

Another mediocre turn by the Royal starters with three decent starts and two disasters. But this time, the lineup, defense and bullpen lived up to expectations and turned the last three games into wins. The first turnover in the rotation occurred with Everett Teaford spotting Danny Duffy and his tight elbow. Teaford labored through four innings and was lucky to escape given up only four runs.

The starters have an average game score of 47 after 20 games. Their individual average game scores: Chen - 60, Duffy - 55, Hochevar - 49, Sanchez - 41, and Mendoza - 35.

Here is a look at how the rotations are stacking up in the AL Central so far. The White Sox are playing a different game than the rest of the division, getting a full inning more per start and an ERA half a run lower than anyone else. For KC, the walk rate is awful, while the HR rate is extremely low. Kauffman Stadium can be thanked partly for that, but it also indicates they might be due to start giving up some bombs. Their xFIP bringing up the rear is not encouraging. 

Royals Players Born in Kansas City, MO

Player	From	To	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	BB	SO	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
Kit Pellow	2002	2002	29	73	63	6	15	1	0	1	9	21	1	1	.238	.342	.302	.644	5, 3, DH

	Player	From	To		G	GS	W	L	W-L%	SV	IP	BB	SO	ERA	ERA+
	David Cone	1986	1994		68	57	27	19	.587	0	448.1	181	344	3.29	144
	Steve Mingori	1973	1979		264	2	16	25	.390	27	439.0	143	217	3.05	128
	Steve Shifflett	1992	1992		34	0	1	4	.200	0	52.0	17	25	2.60	158
	Tommy Hottovy	2012	2012		1	0	0	0		0	0.1	0	1	0.00

One Time Through: April 17-22

After a strong first trip through the rotation and a terrible second one, the Royals starting corps settled for a mediocre third trip. These five starts are pretty close to what I expect the rotation to look like on average over the season. One middling start, two decent ones, and two disasters. Every facet of the team bears some of the responsibility for the pitiful 3-12 record so far, but the starters have actually been about what we expected or a tad better. They've put up a positive WPA in eight of the first 15 games--the lineup and bullpen were supposed to be good enough to turn decent starts into wins. Yeah.

Chen and Hochevar had good games. Chen continues to prove his modest success with the Royals over the previous two years is not a fluke. Duffy had his first disappointing start of the year, looking much like he did last year.

One Time Through: April 11-16

Blurg. There was only one way for the starters to go after the first time through. But they didn't have to crash quite this hard. It is entirely possible that we have already seen the best and worst five game stretches from the starters we will see all year. Let's hope it doesn't get any worse than the last five games.

Chen was very Chen-like in the last game in Oakland, allowing 3 runs in 5 innings, and at least giving the offense and bullpen a chance. The offense did their part before Broxton's 12th inning meltdown for the ages. Then at the home opener, disaster struck immediately when Hochevar couldn't locate, Yuni Betancourt and Jarrod Dyson forgot how to field baseballs, Indian check swings were falling in for RBI hits, and suddenly the Indians had seven runs in the first inning. Hoch settled down for three scoreless innings after that before taking a liner off his lower leg, putting his next start in jeopardy. Things did not get better in the next two starts as Sanchez and Mendoza were wild and hit hard. We knew there'd be starts like this from Sanchez. Dude has some of the worst control in the majors. The key will be making disaster starts an exception instead of the rule.

Duffman had the tough task of trying to stop the streak of meltdowns while opposing Vustin Jerlander. Duffy couldn't match the reigning Cy Young and MVP entirely, but he hung right there with him for 6.2. Duffy's curve has been filthy, his fastball hard with life, and he seems to be locating. With seven Ks and one walk, it was about as good of a start as you'll see in which the pitcher gives up two bombs. As pitiful as this go-around of the rotation was, Duffy capped it off with, if not a masterpiece, at least a reminder of what it looks like to see an ace pitch in a Royals uniform.

One Time Through: April 6-10

This is a feature I'll try to keep up throughout the year in which I'll take a look at the Royals starting pitching every five games. The rotation is of course the biggest question mark and potential crux on which this team's fate depends. The lineup, defense and bullpen are all at least solid on paper. The rotation faltering would probably render those elements meaningless, while an average rotation could vault this team into .500 territory, and a couple of breakout performances between Hochevar, Sanchez, Mendoza and Duffy could even mean contention. They are a fascinating group in that they have the potential to be anywhere from absolutely terrible to pretty good.

The first trip through the rotation could hardly have been more encouraging. Like the children of Lake Wobegon, they were all above average. All five hurlers went at least five innings, had a game score over 50 and a positive win probability added. (Royals starters put together game scores over 50 for five consecutive games only twice all last season.) No batters were hit and no dingers were allowed. Even after four solid starts, the best was saved for last with a dynamic performance by Duffman last night.

April Royals Schedule Desktop

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