Royals Rumblings - News for June 17, 2014

Royals Rumblings - News for June 17, 2014

As assembled by Royals Review staff:

Dayton Moore says he has the approval to increase payroll this year if its needed to make the team more competitive for a pennant push.

"We’re not in the business of losing money," Moore said. "And it’s not my job to do anything to hurt this franchise long-term. But Mr. Glass has always been very supportive. It’s not about the money. It’s about who the players are."...

He stressed his team would favor internal options over making an addition via trade. But they will keep their options open. "There’s a directive from Mr. Glass to make sure we’re doing everything we can each day to find ways to improve our team," he said. "So that’s what we’ll continue to strive to do."

I don't see a whole lot of internal options that would improve this club, but my guess is this team makes a minor move to add a million or two to the payroll for this year, but not much more beyond that. What do you think?

So Dan Szymborski, what was your analysis of Justin Verlander last night?

Don't have any data at the moment, but the Royals really looked like they were just laughing at his fastball and hitting the hell out of it.

— Dan Szymborski (@DSzymborski) June 17, 2014

Well that feels good.

Jeffrey Flanagan has some insight on the difference in approach between Pedro Grifol and new hitting instructor Dale Sveum:

Grifol instructed more of a body approach to hitting, using the lower body as leverage to create more power. That teaching was instrumental in Eric Hosmer turning his season around in 2013, when he hit 16 of his 17 homers under Grifol.

Sveum, too, understands the necessity of lower-body leverage, but while he emphasizes the hands and head, that doesn't make him a "hands" instructor (sorry, Rex Hudler). When Sveum talks about the hands, he is talking about having them in a proper position at the start of the swing so they are in the right launch mode. Using the bigger muscles in the swing (legs, hips, chest) is still the key to consistent hitting. The smaller muscles (like those in the hands) twitch easier and get hitters out of position. Sveum also emphasizes that the position of the head stay level throughout the swing (no bobbing).

Dale Sveum is a goddamn genius.

In case you missed it, Royals third base prospect Hunter Dozier was promoted to AA Northwest Arkansas. Dozier was hitting .295/.397/.429 with 4 HR 39 RBI at High A Wilmington.

Jason Kendall is not the only coming out with a baseball book. Long-time Royals scout Art Stewart has written a book with Sam Mellinger, due out in a few weeks. I wonder how much the book discusses Chris Lubanski.

Remember former Royal (briefly) Quintin Berry? Well, he's in the minor leagues now and I guess he's kinda mad about it. Rather than leave the field peacefully after getting ejected, he decided to run the bases and slide into home. Wheee! He's like a kid on Sunday Fun Day!

USA Soccer had a big win in the World Cup last night with a 2-1 victory over Ghana in group play. Clint Dempsey got the American on the board in the first 30 second of the game, but it was Sporting Kansas City's Graham Zusi with the corner kick that John Brooks headed in for the game-winner in the 86th minute. Kansas City native and Sporting Kansas City defender Matt Besler had to leave the game at halftime with a hamstring injury. Her are some video reactions to the game (mostly from Kansas City's Power and Light District!)

Baseball legend Tony Gwynn has passed away. Despite interleague play being implemented towards the end of his career, Royals fans never got to see Gwynn play in person. Here's a nice tribute to Gwynn from SB Nation's Jon Bois. ESPN's Jayson Stark takes a look at some of the insane numbers Gwynn put up in his career. When you have a minute, take a look at his Baseball-Reference page. His numbers are truly one-of-a-kind, the likes of which we may never see again.

Predicting when George R.R. Martin will come out with his next "Game of Thrones" book. I hear ten year plans sometimes turn into no plan.

The new Paddington Bear movie looks terrifying.

Your song of the day is dedicated to the Detroit Tigers. Its "One Way or Another" by Blondie: