Royals Rumblings

Royals Rumblings for January 28, 2015

Does a guy who tossed a shutout in Game 6 of the World Series have the mental toughness to start Opening Day?

By Max Rieper@maxrieper Jan 28, 2015, 8:00am EST

Royals Rumblings for January 28, 2015

Lee Judge questions whether Yordano Ventura should be the Opening Day starter this year because of his performance in the Wild Card game.

According to Star columnist Vahe Gregorian’s recent profile, Yordano cried after that outing and was so despondent that he texted Rene Francisco, the Royals’ vice president for international operations, "Please tell them not to lose confidence in me."

...an opening day starter can assume he’ll face the best pitcher the opposition has to offer. And that means you can pitch great and still lose. If a pitcher is mentally strong that might not matter; he knows what he can control and how well the other guy pitches isn’t on the list. But if a guy isn’t confident it can get in his head; he feels like he’s pitched very well and is still losing.

If only we knew how Yordano Ventura could perform in big-game situations.

Jeffrey Flanagan looks at eight overlooked moments from the Royals magical 2014 post-season run.

WILLINGHAM'S BLOOPER

It was the bottom of the ninth in the unforgettable Wild Card game and the Royals were down by a run. Pinch hitter Josh Willingham started the rally that forced extra innings by serving up a flare down the right-field line that fell safely for a single. Jarrod Dyson pinch-ran, went to second on a bunt (naturally), stole third and scored on Nori Aoki's sacrifice fly. Without Willingham's pop-fly single, we'd never have seen the rest of October's heroics.

Craig Brown at Royals Authority profiles Lorenzo Cain and his breakthrough 2014 season.

He is an exceptional defender at a premium position. The bat showed life last year. He also was relatively healthy for the first time in his career. Is Cain a candidate for a contract extension? I’m skeptical. He turns 29 next April and the Royals control his rights for the next three seasons. That means he won’t hit the free agent market until his age 32 season. While his offense was improved in 2014, he doesn’t have a track record of success with the bat at this level that would warrant a meaningful extension. Plus, I’m doubtful he can repeat his offensive output next year. Or in the next three.

Hunter Dozier gets a mention in Baseball Prospectus' list of third base prospects.

Dozier crushed it in High-A as a 22-year-old in 2014 but found Double-A to be a more daunting challenge. His prodigious natural power wasn’t fully on display, as he hit just nine homers all year, and the disparity in his AVG between Wilmington (.296) and Northwest Arkansas (.209) make it difficult to project that number, too. Unfortunately, the latter more accurately represents Dozier’s hit tool at present, but there’s still the potential for him to hit around .250 with a solid OBP and 20-plus bombs, which is valuable in today’s offensive environment. The upside isn’t huge here, but he could still be the second-best infielding Dozier in the AL Central.

Sung Woo has a message for you.

How are you doing Kansas City & friends? Can't wait to hear Royals chant at K! Baseball should come back soon♥ pic.twitter.com/x6PyqTI0n8
— SungWoo Lee (@Koreanfan_KC) January 28, 2015