Royals Rumblings - News for May 4, 2016
Vahe Gregorian writes that the Royals' aggressiveness on the basepaths sometimes leads to recklessness.
Yes, a scouting report informed the decision to pressure Mets first baseman Lucas Duda to make the play. Yet it still came down to this:
"It’s just the way we play the game; we’re aggressive," Hosmer said after the game. "We don’t play the normal style of baseball according to some people. It’s just the way we do it."
That’s exhilarating stuff when it pays off, as it so often has the last few years for the Royals. But it’s still deflating when the aggressiveness seems reduced to recklessness.
Hunter Samuels at Baseball Prospectus Kansas City has noticed the Royals have hit into a lot of double plays.
A lot can happen when runners are on base. Unfortunately for the Royals, their offense has been making bad things happen while the defense is allowing bad things to happen. It’s a bad combination. If there’s an upside here, it’s that a regression to the mean is likely coming. The Royals may still be near the top of the double play rate leaderboard, but their rate shouldn’t remain quite that high. The highest double play rates in the league last year were right around 13 percent.
The baserunners could also help avoid double plays by being a bit more aggressive when a stolen base opportunity arises. Other than Alcides Escobar and Jarrod Dyson, the Royals have been somewhat passive in those situations, and Escobar has only attempted a steal in 23 percent of his chances to do so. Obviously they still have to be smart, but they could stand to test opposing batteries more frequently.
Lee Judge writes that the Royals are too pull-happy with runners on base.
So the Royals aren’t getting that many chances to drive in a run and when they do have the chance, some of them are trying to do too much. When a hitter tries to do too much he usually tries to catch the ball out in front and pull it into the short part of park. Get that ball elevated and bingo; you got a home run.
Lately, when the Royals have a runner in scoring position they’ve been striking out or pulling the ball and those two are related. To pull the ball you have to swing sooner and if you swing sooner you’re more apt to get fooled.
Danny Duffy talks about striking out Bryce Harper in a big at-bat on Monday.
Bryce Harper and the Nationals visited the Negro League Baseball Museum.
Red Sox third baseman Pablo Sandoval will undergo shoulder surgery and is out for the season.
The White Sox part ways with pitcher John Danks.
The Yankees "need to stop the bleeding", says General Manager Brian Cashman.
Orioles shortstop J.J. Hardy is out for six weeks, could Manny Machado fill in at short?
Players suspended for PED use don't typically decline after their suspension.
Bryce Harper signs a ten-year deal with Under Armour, the biggest endorsement deal ever for a baseball player.
You probably haven't heard of Josh Ravin, but the PED he was suspended for is a big deal.
NBA refs admit they blew five calls at the end of the Spurs-Thunder playoff game.
Eurovision is coming to the United States.
A major crossword puzzle publisher admits to plagiarism.
Whatever happened to Worlds of Fun's Zambezi Zinger?
Your song of the day is Radiohead with "Burn the Witch."