For those wondering why pitchers aren’t just throwing nothing but sliders to Sal, that’s why. During this stretch he is simply not swinging at those pitches early in the count anymore.
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4-pitch walk to Salvy. �� They're too scared to pitch to him now.
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Sadler wanted nothing to do with Sal, lol.


Can’t blame em at this point with how this series has gone for him.
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Damn it Dozier, why do you suck so much.
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Impressive run the last few weeks. What does this mean for the future?
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You have to be very excited about the future of our starting pitcher (Lynch, Hernandez with Kowar on the way). If Singer or Bubic can at least perform as a consistent #4 starter our rotation is going to be in fantastic shape. I'm still not sold on Eldred. But GMDM will at least have an argument that Hernandez and Lynch's development can be credited to him (as concerning as Singer and Keller's regressions have been - but GMDM could also argue that Singer is just a stubborn red ass).

Bradshaw has seemed to have a similar impact on Sal that Seitzer had on Alex Gordon's later offensive emergence. As exciting as our run has been, our hitters in the minors have to be just as exciting. With Pratto, Melendez, and Bobby Witt waiting in the wings, we have the core to a very, very exciting team in the near future. Secondary pieces (as Duncan mentioned) like Pasquatino and Michael Massey give the Royals a depth to their system that makes our farms #3 ranking make complete sense (especially compared to our fringe Top 10 rating at the beginning of the year). Lopez' emergence has blunted the disappointment that has been Mondesi's lost 2021 season. Lopez is absolutely a bat and glove you want on a contending Royals' team.

Add in our young bullpen pieces such as Barlow, Staumont, Brentz, Lovelady and Zimmer (if they can stay healthy) and we have the bones to a team that can absolutely make noise in the future. The real wild card will be if Mondesi can get healthy (even GMDM has cast doubt on this). Or if Lacy, Isbel or Olivares as a CF emerge, suddenly we're looking at a young core that has the potential to rival our core from 2014-2015.

I said before the year that 2021 was all about the future (similar to 2011-2012 were for our last core) and that by the end of the year we should see some real flashes from our prospects, with the performance of Pratto, Melendez, and Lynch, I have to say this year has exceeded my expectations (I expected Witt to be a BAMF). My quibbles with Matheny are small in the grand scope of things, and can be course corrected like Yost corrected his bullpen strategy in the latter part of 2014. I think I'd prefer we get a new pitching coach who has more of a track record of mentoring young arms as they arrive into the league, but again - this doesn't really dampen my excitement for the big picture.

There are a lot of ifs still there, of course (as there always are with teams heavy on prospects), but from the perspective of our overall system, one should be very, very happy about the developments in our 2021 season.
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Good summary. The emergence of Pratto and Melendez as legit top-tier prospects is absolutely huge for the future of this organization.
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Could Salvy get to 45 HRs for a catcher and tie Bench or surpass him with 46. 33 games left and he needs 8 to tie, 9 for the record?
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Sure. Currently, he is averaging basically a HR every 3.5 games. That would set him up to break the record midway through game 161, roughly. But that's with him playing every day and continuing that pace. I'm sure if he can get to 42/43 with a weekend to go, he'll be in there no matter what. He will smoke the AL record by 5-6 at a minimum you would think. Would have a legit MVP argument if not for better Babe Ruth out in LA.


EDIT: That last line is kinda dramatic, but you get it.
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Thanks for that. I haven’t been able to follow closely lately, particularly what’s happening in the minors.

I’d love to see playoff baseball in KC again. The runs in ‘14 and ‘15 might be my favorite sports memories. What a surreal experience to see a team that had done nothing right throughout my lifetime suddenly do everything right. And the crowds (especially the WC game) were as electric as I’ve seen in any sport.
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This winning streak is cool and all, but all its gonna do is keep Matheny and Dayton here even longer. I'd much rather us lose.
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How many GMs do you think could get KC to back to back WS?
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More today than 20 years ago. There are small markets that are managing to be in it every year now. Alot of smart people running teams these days.
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Passing Fisk is a pretty big deal for the AL record which was set in 1985. No other catcher is even close to him this year. Best in the game.

If Salvy plays 8 more years, stays healthy he could pass Piazza for the Catcher Home run record. This would seal his place in the HOF.

Just passing Bench this year would have him knocking on the door.
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Unless something crazy happens, Salvy won’t break Soler’s record…but I really wish he would.

I love that Soler gave us a respectable single season record (finally), but I wish Salvy owned that one.
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