Royals Rumblings - News for June 16, 2014

Royals Rumblings  - News for June 16, 2014

As assembled by Royals Review staff:

Dave Schoenfeld of ESPN writes that the punchless Royals can hang in the Central Division.

Where does that leave us? The numbers suggest a few players may show slight improvement; I guess the good news is that nobody is over performing expectations by much and the Royals have still gone 36-32. Overall, the Royals are averaging 4.10 runs per game -- barely higher than last year's 4.0 runs per game.

The problem, just like last year, is there's no go-to guy in this lineup. It's certainly not Hosmer, no matter what may have once been expected of him. Gordon is a nice player but compare him to Miguel Cabrera or Victor Martinez and he doesn't match up. Butler's freefall may not be reversible. It's an underwhelming attack not likely to perform all that much better.

But I suppose the other good news is that it may not have to be better. The Royals' run prevention, while predictably not as good as last year, is still third-best in the AL.

Thanks, I guess?

Lee Judge compared Andre Rienzo with James Shields and concluded - its all about where you are focused.

A pitcher can have a lot of problems; a bad mound, a brutal defense behind him, a great hitter at the plate or an umpire who needs cataract surgery — but there’s only one solution. Get back on the mound, focus on the catcher’s mitt and throw a quality pitch....

In the third inning with two outs and Billy Butler on first base, Rienzo threw what he thought was strike three to Alex Gordon — he didn’t get the call. Rienzo let his frustration show and then threw a curve that came nowhere near the strike zone for ball four. After a coaching visit to the mound — which didn’t seem to help — Rienzo fell behind Salvador Perez 2-1 and then threw a cutter which Perez hit for a home run. No telling for sure what was in Rienzo’s mind — even he might not be able to sort everything out — but after what he thought was a bad call, Rienzo allowed his problems to snowball.

Now look at James Shields in the first inning: Adam Eaton led things off with a triple and then Shields picked him off third base — until the home plate umpire called a balk. Shields went from getting an easy out to giving up a run. To be fair, Shields also let his frustration show, but then he got back on the mound, made pitches and got out of the first with no more damage on the scoreboard.

See, even though they both got frustrated and lost their composure, Shields was able to get out of it because he was focused. Not because he is a superior pitcher in every aspect. Its Soduku puzzles, man.

Jeffrey Flanagan points out the fact that Alcides Escobar is having a terrific season, possibly worthy of Gold Glove or All-Star honors. He credits Omar Infante and fatherhood for Escobar's improved performance.

"It changes you when you're responsible for a child," Yost says. "You have no choice but to grow up. Not that he was immature, but it just changes your approach to life."

That probably explains why I'm knocking the cover off the ball in beer league softball this year.

Bruce Chen will make a fourth rehab start for Omaha. Let's just say the Royals aren't in a hurry to bring him back. Bruce gave up six runs in three inning in his last rehab start on Friday. Ned says Chen will not get his spot back in the rotation Sorry, Bruce, back to telling jokes for a living.

Jose Canseco is traveling around the country, bopping home runs for a living.

Jose Canseco's Home Run Tour will begin next week and run for over two months as he visits 17 cities in Canada and the U.S. covering 16,500 miles in 10 weeks in the CansecoMobile — a 40-foot custom RV. He will be appearing at minor league ballparks and charity events challenging local sluggers as he attempts to break the official world record softball longest home run of 510 feet by Bruce Meade and Babe Ruth's longest baseball home run of 570 feet.

He'll be in Kansas City August 3! Could any Royals even match him?

The San Antonio Spurs are your NBA Champs (do they play the Harlem Globetrotters next for the right to be World Champs???). The gifs in the comment thread of our fellow SB Nation site Pound the Rock celebrate this fact appropriately.

Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there, but you'll never be cool as this dad.

via i.kinja-img.com

Father's Day is not really complete without a compilation of NOT THE FATHER dances from Maury Povich.

Game of Thrones. Whoa. Be sure to use the spoiler function in your comments if you talk about it. Here are the most memorable gifs from Season Four. Here are the best GIFs from last night's episode.

Your song of the day is Ice Cube's "Today was a Good Day" (NSFW).