Bloop Hits

Another great website, The Hardball Times, keeps track of a stat called Line Drive Percentage (LD%).

It's early in the season, but already, you can see just how much better the pitching has been for Kansas City versus the hitting.

KC pitching ranks 2nd in the American League with a LD% of .099. That's 35% below league average. Granted, the numbers will level out as the year progresses, but the fact that less than one in ten balls are being hit hard off Royal pitchers is something to be excited about.

Bradford Doolittle at The KC Star's "Stat Guy" has more in-depth analysis about the Royals pitching at his blog.

Unfortunately, KC hitting ranks last in the AL with a LD% of .102, 33% below league average.

It's time to place your bets. Will the offense or the defense regress to the mean faster? Whoever wins will probably determine how close to (and which side of) .500 this team can get.