The guys who broke the Aoki-Smith trade and that random 2010 draft pick. We left champions in 2015. We’re back in 2024 ready for a good ole’ fashioned revival.
Kansas City, MO
Joined March 2011
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Hey everyone! I’m back!
We have seen this before:
Kansas City off to another slow offensive start.
But what if this isn’t random?
🧵 A data-driven theory on why the Royals (and a few other teams) consistently struggle early in the season:
A lot has been made about Vinnie’s propensity for slow starts, but at this point we have to acknowledge a legitimately concerning issue: bat speed.
2024: 71.7
2025: 72.5 (58th percentile)
2026: 69.7 (19th)
Bat speed only takes a few games to normalize. We are 24 games in.
Using Thomas’s and Jensen’s sprint speeds per Baseball Savant and adjusting for leadoff and acceleration, all things being equal Thomas scores 0.08 seconds faster than Jensen.
Is that worth the trade off to lose the bats later in the game?
#Analytics
A few more characters could have helped. Re: blaming CJ, I’m specifically talking about the performance that day.
Giving more oxygen to the situation/Calling out Jensen (regardless of the question) is not a reason for praise. Vinnie’s response is what made it a national story.
This team has had problems behind the scenes for awhile. Vinnie publicly criticizing Jensen for showing up late. Blaming Jensen for the team’s troubles.
Jensen and Cags joking about it publicly.
Salvy publicly complaining about reason for his day off.