AL vs NL

buddy bell just lost one of his favorite weapons for good, thank God! todd wellemeyer was claimed off of waivers by the st. louis cardinals. This is really a blessing for us Royals fans, because wellemeyer would have inevitably been called up again in the year (probably sooner than later) and would have continued his sheer dominance of AL hitters with his 10+ era (note the sarcasm). Now bell can't use him... as opposed to using him at every opportunity like before - 'what, the guy's got an era above 7, I use him every night, and he can't get a full three outs without giving up a run? WHY THE HELL ISN"T HE IN THERE NOW?!?!?!?' I'm pretty sure that's a direct quote by bell in the dugout during a game... and he wasn't being sarcastic. Anyway, this should be the true litmus test of AL vs NL. If he goes over to st. louis and pitches at all well then it COMPLETELY and without a doubt proves that the AL is the better league. We shall see.

On a side note, I'm seeing some positives in the Royals' play recently. For one, Riske is finding his groove again, and pitching great! If he can keep that up, that makes our bullpen a little more stable, and could help turn it into a decent 'pen. De la Rosa is showing what the Royals were hoping he would... control. He's turned into our legit number 2 and that's great, because he's young, and we have a lot of young pitching talent waiting to blossom... we have the potential to have one of the best rotations in the bigs in a couple of years. You all know my feelings on Teahen. Gordon has been hitting the ball hard lately, which tells me he'll start getting his hits before long. German is still a hitting machine - for real, WHO IS THIS GUY? Pena has been hitting pretty well lately, which is a bonus. John Buck has stayed on fire... his average may have dropped a little, but he's still up around .300 and he leads the team in homers with 7, let's hope he can keep it up. Shealy should be returning from the DL, if he can start where he left off then we've got a strong rbi threat again. Even though Sweeney hasn't been real patient at the plate he's hitting the ball pretty hard for the most part - again meaning his hits will come (as long as he gets some patience). Greinke has pitched with authority out of the 'pen, if he can translate that to the rotation then he's going to be scary. Bannister has been quietly effective in each of his starts; I like this kid... he's got moxy and he's going to be a strong starter for us for a long time. Soria has obviously been a stud; he's not afraid of anyone and he goes after them. He's gonna blow a few saves and lose a few games that way, but I'd take that any day from our pitchers as long as they're going after people. And of course, Gil Meche has pitched like a Cy Young candidate, even though he won't be considered because he's not going to win enough games (because our offense won't kick in early enough in the game) and he's with the Royals instead of a big market, est coast, west coast team. I see losts to hope for and be excited about... GO ROYALS!!!!

brandx (the AL is better, by the way)