He’s far from a neutral observer, but count Rusty Kuntz among those pushing Royals left fielder David DeJesus for Gold Glove consideration.“Wow, he’s playing as solid a left field as I’ve ever seen anybody play,” gushed Kuntz, who serves as the club’s outfield coach. “He has a better understanding of the importance of positioning — where to move on certain hitters.“What he’s doing now, and it’s tremendous, is he’s starting to adjust and move himself around according to what the pitcher is throwing or what the count is.”DeJesus stretched his streak of errorless games to 136 in Wednesday’s 10-4 loss at Oakland, which includes the final nine games of last year. He has handled 278 chances this season without an error while accumulating 10 assists.Is it a Gold-standard performance? DeJesus squirms at the question.“My job is to make plays out there,” he said. “What I want is that when it’s hit out there that people are confident that I can make the play out there.“As for the rest, if it happens, it happens. I just want to help the pitchers out.”The Royals recently began mounting a campaign in DeJesus’ behalf. The media-relations department now regularly cites his achievements in its daily notes package. On cue, he made two terrific diving catches Wednesday at Oakland.“Look at what Dave’s done all year,” bench coach John Gibbons said. “He’s played as well as any left fielder I’ve seen in the league this year, and he’s done it in a big ballpark.”The biggest hurdle to DeJesus’ Gold Glove candidacy is left fielders rarely win the award. The voting panel, which consists of managers and coaches, isn’t required to distinguish between the three outfield positions.The result is a heavy bias toward center fielders, though Seattle right fielder Ichiro Suzuki is an eight-time winner. The last left fielder to win an American League Gold Glove was Oakland’s Rickey Henderson in 1981.As a point of comparison: Consider how the infield selections might break down if, say, multiple shortstops could be chosen?The new-wave defensive metrics on DeJesus’ credentials are mixed.His range factor (putouts and assists per inning) ranks second to Tampa Bay’s Carl Crawford among AL left fielders who have played at least 80 games, but Crawford also has four errors and just six assists while playing in a smaller home park.DeJesus’ Ultimate Zone Rating — which incorporates other factors against an average mean — places him third to Juan Rivera of the Angels and Crawford. But DeJesus fares far worse in the Bill James’ plus/minus ratings; he has a zero rating, while Crawford is plus-28 and Rivera is plus-20.Greinke’s goalsWhat does Zack Greinke do for an encore Saturday night when he faces the Angels?He pitched the Royals’ first one-hitter in more than 14 years last Sunday in a 3-0 victory in Seattle. That followed his club-record 15 strikeouts in his previous start when he worked eight innings in a 6-2 victory over Cleveland.And next?“Hopefully a win,” he said. “A ‘quality start’ and a win. I want to stay consistent.”Muscling upThird baseman Alex Gordon had a breakout game Wednesday when he went three for four with a double, a homer and five RBIs in Class AAA Omaha’s 17-7 victory over Iowa.Gordon entered Thursday with homers in successive games and was carrying a .302 average and a .436 on-base percentage in 12 games since his Aug. 18 demotion to the minors.Minor details•The Royals traded Class A Wilmington right-hander Danny Gutierrez, a 33rd-round draft pick in 2005, to the Rangers organization for two minor-leaguers — catcher Manny Pina and outfielder Tim Smith. Pina, 22, is a 5-foot-11 right-handed hitter who batted .259 with eight home runs and 42 RBIs for Class AA Frisco. Smith, 23, is a 6-foot-3, 225-pound left-handed hitter who was promoted to Frisco in June after batting .333 with four homers and 19 RBIs in 36 games for high-Class A Bakersfield.•Class A Wilmington has the best seasonlong record in the Carolina League but landed just one player — speedy outfielder Derrick Robinson — on the league’s postseason All-Star team. Robinson, 21, is batting just .245 but has 69 steals in 125 games. The lack of recognition might be due to many of the Blue Rocks’ top players being promoted in recent weeks to Class AA Northwest Arkansas.

Posted on Thu, Sep. 03, 2009 11:11 PM

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Royals notebook: Club officials promoting DeJesus for Gold Glove

By BOB DUTTON

The Kansas City Star

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He’s far from a neutral observer, but count Rusty Kuntz among those pushing Royals left fielder David DeJesus for Gold Glove consideration.

“Wow, he’s playing as solid a left field as I’ve ever seen anybody play,” gushed Kuntz, who serves as the club’s outfield coach. “He has a better understanding of the importance of positioning — where to move on certain hitters.

“What he’s doing now, and it’s tremendous, is he’s starting to adjust and move himself around according to what the pitcher is throwing or what the count is.”

DeJesus stretched his streak of errorless games to 136 in Wednesday’s 10-4 loss at Oakland, which includes the final nine games of last year. He has handled 278 chances this season without an error while accumulating 10 assists.

Is it a Gold-standard performance? DeJesus squirms at the question.

“My job is to make plays out there,” he said. “What I want is that when it’s hit out there that people are confident that I can make the play out there.

“As for the rest, if it happens, it happens. I just want to help the pitchers out.”

The Royals recently began mounting a campaign in DeJesus’ behalf. The media-relations department now regularly cites his achievements in its daily notes package. On cue, he made two terrific diving catches Wednesday at Oakland.

“Look at what Dave’s done all year,” bench coach John Gibbons said. “He’s played as well as any left fielder I’ve seen in the league this year, and he’s done it in a big ballpark.”

The biggest hurdle to DeJesus’ Gold Glove candidacy is left fielders rarely win the award. The voting panel, which consists of managers and coaches, isn’t required to distinguish between the three outfield positions.

The result is a heavy bias toward center fielders, though Seattle right fielder Ichiro Suzuki is an eight-time winner. The last left fielder to win an American League Gold Glove was Oakland’s Rickey Henderson in 1981.

As a point of comparison: Consider how the infield selections might break down if, say, multiple shortstops could be chosen?

The new-wave defensive metrics on DeJesus’ credentials are mixed.

His range factor (putouts and assists per inning) ranks second to Tampa Bay’s Carl Crawford among AL left fielders who have played at least 80 games, but Crawford also has four errors and just six assists while playing in a smaller home park.

DeJesus’ Ultimate Zone Rating — which incorporates other factors against an average mean — places him third to Juan Rivera of the Angels and Crawford.

But DeJesus fares far worse in the Bill James’ plus/minus ratings; he has a zero rating, while Crawford is plus-28 and Rivera is plus-20.

Greinke’s goals

What does Zack Greinke do for an encore Saturday night when he faces the Angels?

He pitched the Royals’ first one-hitter in more than 14 years last Sunday in a 3-0 victory in Seattle. That followed his club-record 15 strikeouts in his previous start when he worked eight innings in a 6-2 victory over Cleveland.

And next?

“Hopefully a win,” he said. “A ‘quality start’ and a win. I want to stay consistent.”

Muscling up

Third baseman Alex Gordon had a breakout game Wednesday when he went three for four with a double, a homer and five RBIs in Class AAA Omaha’s 17-7 victory over Iowa.

Gordon entered Thursday with homers in successive games and was carrying a .302 average and a .436 on-base percentage in 12 games since his Aug. 18 demotion to the minors.

Minor details

•The Royals traded Class A Wilmington right-hander Danny Gutierrez, a 33rd-round draft pick in 2005, to the Rangers organization for two minor-leaguers — catcher Manny Pina and outfielder Tim Smith.

Pina, 22, is a 5-foot-11 right-handed hitter who batted .259 with eight home runs and 42 RBIs for Class AA Frisco. Smith, 23, is a 6-foot-3, 225-pound left-handed hitter who was promoted to Frisco in June after batting .333 with four homers and 19 RBIs in 36 games for high-Class A Bakersfield.

•Class A Wilmington has the best seasonlong record in the Carolina League but landed just one player — speedy outfielder Derrick Robinson — on the league’s postseason All-Star team. Robinson, 21, is batting just .245 but has 69 steals in 125 games. The lack of recognition might be due to many of the Blue Rocks’ top players being promoted in recent weeks to Class AA Northwest Arkansas.

Posted on Thu, Sep. 03, 2009 11:11 PM

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