Free Agent Signings:
Carlos Santana
Mike Minor
Michael Taylor
Ervin Santana
Top 10 Prospects:
1 Bobby Witt Jr., SS
2 Asa Lacy, LHP
3 Daniel Lynch, LHP
4 Jackson Kowar, RHP
5 Erick Pena, OF
6 Nick Loftin, SS
7 Kyle Isbel, OF
8 Khali Lee, OF
9 Jonathan Bowlan, RHP
10 Carlos Hernedez, RHP [Reply]
Originally Posted by Prison Bitch:
I think you meant: most SBs since 2018 (99), and easily the best baserunning rating on fangraphs. Did you know speed and baserunning contributes to scoring?
One must get on base first.
Don't get me wrong, I think Mondesi is good. He's just not going to be as good as we thought he could be. Because it turns out he can't hit a baseball. I just like to troll Mondesi lovers now. I have a buddy that thinks he was going to win the MVP in 2018, in 2019, in 2020, and now in 2021. [Reply]
The white sox first baseman is looking over his shoulder walking away instead of helping the old man getting pummeled by a couple crazy people. [Reply]
White Sox fans have and always will be complete POS's.
Edit: Present company excluded, if there are any Chiefs fans on Chiefs Planet who also happen to be White Sox fans, although a distinction should be made: If you are a Chiefs fans but not acting as a Chiefs fan and only engaged in actively rooting for the White Sox, then you are in fact, at THAT precise moment in time a POS, until you stop rooting for said White Sox and return rooting for YOUR Kansas City Chiefs, at which time your 'shittyness' can be temporarily put on hiatus till the next spell of 'rooting' for the previously aforementioned team, whose fans, are at all times POS's (with the lone exclusion mentioned previously) [Reply]
Originally Posted by sedated:
Me too, and the best part was the wave of Royals washing over those two crackheads and proceeding to kick the shit out of them.
Rivero at AAA and Melendez at AA (but Rivero is on the 40...so makes sense)
Loften at A+ and McConnell at A
Austin Cox not listed...but kcroyals.com has him at A+
Matias at A+...not at AA? Kinda' surprised me.
Murdock - not assigned.
Triple-A Omaha
Catchers: Nick Dini, Sebastian Rivero, Meiybrs Viloria
Infielders: Gabriel Cancel, Lucius Fox (No. 26), Kelvin Gutierrez, Kevin Merrell, Emmanuel Rivera
Outfielders: Kyle Isbel (No. 5), Erick Meija, Anderson Miller, Edward Olivares, Bubba Starling
Pitchers: Scott Blewett, Ronald Bolaños (No. 24), Kris Bubic, Grant Gavin, Carlos Hernández (No. 11), Jake Kalish, Jackson Kowar (No. 4), Daniel Lynch (No. 2), Jake Newberry, Michael Shawaryn, Andres Sotillet, Gabe Speier, Jace Vines
Outfielders: Tucker Bradley, Darryl Collins (No. 23), Diego Hernandez, Juan Carlos Negret
Pitchers: Adrian Alcantara, Ismael Aquino, AJ Blcok, Delvin Capellan, Christian Cosby, Luis De Avila, Ben Hernandez (No. 15), Rylan Kaufman, Emilio Marquez, Cruz Noriega, Anderson Paulino, Walter Pennington, Patrick Smith, Matthew Stil, Nathan Webb, Marlin Willis [Reply]
A few days ago, A. J. Hinch was asked about Brady Singer, the Royals 24-year-old starter, who had turned in a seven-inning, three-hit performance against the Tigers.
“He’s a good pitcher,” Hinch said. “A good young arm. It looked like his ball was moving pretty late. And he’s got a quick tempo so he jumps at you a little bit. But the stuff is real.”
We’ll have more on “the stuff” later. For now, here’s a statistic: From April 23 to April 28, the Royals posted a 1.43 ERA — the best in baseball. In that span, the Royals’ starters* allowed seven runs in 30 innings (a 2.10 ERA), with 38 strikeouts and five walks.
* Fun fact: The combined cost of the five starters in the Royals rotation for 2021 ($28,143,700) hovers just above the cost of one Trevor Bauer ($28 million). [Reply]
Each Brad Keller outing has been interesting to watch for reasons altogether different. Though there have been loads of positives surrounding the Royals’ rotation and roster, Keller’s performance has been concerning.
He’s walked 11 in 18 innings. He’s given up 18 earned runs. Hitters have an expected batting average of .340 against him, which leaves Keller in the bottom 2 percent in MLB.
Analyzing why he’s struggled is difficult. His average four-seam fastball velocity (94.4 mph) is up from 92.8 mph in 2020. His pitches are breaking similarly. Could some of it be bad luck? Hitters have a .406 BABIP against him, meaning they’ve been fortunate at a rate that makes them all look like 1941 Ted Williams. Or could some of it be Keller regressing toward how the numbers had projected in years past? Keller had an expected FIP of 4.33 in 2020 but posted a 3.43 FIP in actuality. It’s tough to say.
In the bigger picture, Keller did not look good back in spring training. The Royals didn’t sound any alarms. Sometimes it takes more time for young pitchers to get their command on track at the start of a season. But even scouts noticed Keller’s inconsistency; it worried them.
The only tangible difference is his release point. He’s letting go of the ball higher than he ever has, and his release point is more to the right of the rubber than ever. Maybe, if anything, that could be affecting the deception within his arsenal.
There’s also this positive: Keller has a 2.70 ERA against 15 batters the third time through the order. So it’s not as if his stuff is diminishing throughout the game. [Reply]
It’s no secret Mike Minor struggled Wednesday night. He allowed two home runs, six hits and four earned runs in 4 1/3 innings. Overall, he’s posted a 5.26 ERA.
The Royals signed Minor for one thing more than any other: innings.
Minor is the only Royals starter who has pitched 200 innings in a season in his career. He’s yet to have any setbacks from a health perspective, so it’s possible he can still pitch 200 innings this season. That’s what matters most.
Otherwise, Minor has been a bit worse than projected, primarily because hitters have teed off his fastball. They’ve tallied a .727 slugging percentage against Minor’s four-seam, which is a reflection of command or lack thereof. [Reply]
When the Royals broke camp, they did not know what they’d do with the fifth starter spot. Jakob Junis, 28, earned an opportunity and ran with it.
“It’s been really important,” Matheny said. “I’ve been really impressed. You’re talking a wholesale change with the attack mode and with the efficiency. That’s a 180 from the pitcher we had before.”
The difference, of course, is the cutter Junis added this offseason, working alongside his brother, Noah. The pitch registers as a four-seam fastball, per Baseball Savant.
Add that bat-missing pitch to Junis’ slider, which Baseball Savant is recording as a cutter — and which Royals catcher Salvador Perez said Tuesday night “is one of the best sliders I’ve seen in my career” — and you’ll understand why Junis has posted a 3.47 ERA in 23 1/3 innings. [Reply]
Last but not least, let’s shift to Danny Duffy, the starter who has been most effective early this season for the Royals.
In four starts and 23 innings, Duffy has allowed only one earned run. His 0.39 ERA is the third lowest ERA among American League left-handed pitchers through four outings since 1969, per the Royals’ public relations’ Nick Kappel. The only pitchers to do better were Wilbur Wood (0.25 in 1972) and Cliff Lee (0.28 in 2008).
Duffy has 27 strikeouts and only six walks. None of this success can be attributed to luck, either. Hitters have tallied a .298 BABIP against him, which is higher than average. So the question is: What’s allowed Duffy to flourish?
“I’ve been really inconsistent the last few years,” he said recently. “I’ve had good stretches and really bad stretches. What I’m doing right now is throwing everything with maximum intent.”
That has shown. Duffy’s average fastball velocity in 2021 (93.6 mph) is up 1.5 mph from last season. Among qualified pitchers, that’s the 19th-highest jump. Another improved element to his arsenal is his curveball, which is spinning at 2,486 revolutions per minute on average in 2021, as opposed to 2,302 in 2020.
After Sunday’s start, Duffy said he felt better with his curveball than he’s felt since his rookie year in 2011, when the curveball was his go-to pitch. Recently, while playing catch with fellow starter Brad Keller, Duffy found something with the pitch. He started to plant his foot earlier, and the pitch began to move on a different plane. The result: Hitters have whiffed on 42.9 percent of his 37 curveballs.
If we’re going to discuss Duffy’s success, we also need to mention what happens the third time through the order. Over the course of Duffy’s career, he’s been solid against opposing lineups the first and second times around. But when the lineup flips over for a third time, things tend to go south.
Last season, Duffy posted a 1.80 ERA against lineups the first time through. The second- and third-times through, the ERA climbed to 7.55.
Duffy has pitched against an order for the third time in three 2021 games. He’s only faced 19 batters in that situation, but hitters are posting an .839 OPS against him. How often manager Mike Matheny allows Duffy to pitch against hitters for the third time in a game will be an interesting variable to watch. [Reply]
Just bought 6 tickets right behind the dugout in springdale for the may 15 game. My 14 yr old boy knpws who the flock bobby witt is and he's pumped. my girls and parents will find out tomorrow i already have a kickass airbnb and tickets for us and we're packing :-) [Reply]
