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Royals Rumblings - News for October 26, 2015

What did you eat for breakfast? A breakfast of champions.

By Max Rieper
Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Royals Rumblings - News for October 26, 2015

Ned Yost is keeping mum on the rotation, but Edinson Volquez will probably open things up on Tuesday.

Yost knows his team will face Matt Harvey in Game 1 on Tuesday. He also knows who will start for the Royals. But he won’t reveal his rotation until Monday’s Media Day.

"I’m just being a little bit of a punk," Yost cracked after repeated inquiries about his pitching schedule. Even so, the setup of the rotation is not difficult to discern. The alignment will likely begin with Edinson Volquez on Tuesday followed by Johnny Cueto in Game 2, Yordano Ventura in Game 3 and Chris Young in Game 4. Volquez would pitch Game 5, followed by Cueto in Game 6 and Ventura in Game 7.

Vahe Gregorian writes that the Royals run has redeemed owner David Glass.

"Didn’t quite finish; hopefully we can do a little better this year," he said, adding that he really wants "one of those trophies with the little flags on it, the round As he inhaled the moment and allowed as how it felt "a little bit unreal," as if on cue a moment later along came one-man swarm Mike Sweeney, the exuberant Royals Hall of Famer whose rotten luck it was to play here during the tortured years. "I’ve got to give him a hug!" Sweeney said as he closed in.

"Mr. Glass, yeah, buddy! Woo-hoo-hoo-hoo! Congratulations. I wouldn’t have missed this for the world." Considering the celebration around them on the field and in the stands, Sweeney added, "Look at all this! That’s because of you and what you’ve done here. Thank you!"

All of this would have seemed a preposterous vision not long ago.

Jeff Sullivan at Fangraphs writes about how the Royals seem to confound expectations.

The Royals put me in a weird position. It’s not because their two consecutive pennants make skeptical and critical analysts look stupid — we went over that a year ago, and previously, we went over the same stuff with the Giants. If anything, that part of this is just funny. No, the Royals put me in a weird position, because they make it tempting to believe in ideas that run contrary to what I’ve been taught. I’m not supposed to believe in a team’s vibe. I’m not supposed to believe in a team’s unkillability. I’m not really supposed to believe in powerful and particular things, because baseball is intensely competitive, and it doesn’t make sense that one team would ever have a secret. I’m not supposed to believe the Royals are more special than any other team. Than, say, the Blue Jays. And I’m not saying I do believe in the Royals’ magic. They’re just pretty good at sucking me in. It’s a baseball team that makes me think twice about assumptions I have about baseball teams.

Lee Judge writes that Mike Jirschele did his homework, and it helped the Royals defeat the Blue Jays.

This is what Mike Jirschele had noticed earlier in the series: with a runner on first heading to third on a single, Bautista would throw the ball to second base. He’s done it once before in this series, but the runner coming into third was Kendrys Morales and Mike couldn’t take advantage of Bautista’s mistake — Kendrys isn’t fast enough. So Jirsch puts that play in his back pocket and thinks: "If Bautista does that again when I have a fast runner coming into third, I’m going to send the runner and burn him."

Rob Neyer doesn't think Jose Bautista's throw cost the Blue Jays the game.

Which is why I don'€™t really understand are the suggestions that Bautista should have thrown toward first base rather than second. Throwing toward first base would essentially have been conceding the double, and Bautista's just not programmed to do that, there. What'€™s more, while it'€™s true that Cain would have stopped at third if Bautista hadn'€™t thrown to second, he still probably would have scored eventually. After all, Osuna'€™s a fine pitcher but the Royals are a bunch of contact hitters, and they get runners home from third base when nobody'€™s out; there was something like a 75-percent chance that Cain was going to score, one way or another. And the Royals' chance of ultimately winning was even higher than that.

Jerry Crasnick at ESPN looks at how the Royals were built.

While the Royals aren't known as hardcore number crunchers, Moore said he never makes a personnel decision without seeking input from Mike Groopman and the team's analytics department. Moore also has plenty of room in the tent for different viewpoints. Years ago, Snyder counseled him on the importance of surrounding himself with "gray-haired men" -- seasoned baseball people who could bring perspective and allow him to take a deep breath during chaotic times. Art Stewart, Donnie Williams, Bill Fischer and Mike Arbuckle all fit that description in Kansas City.

Grant Brisbee writes the Royals are back in the World Series by a matter of inches.

Pete Grathoff gives five reasons why the Royals will beat the Mets.

Bo knows!

The K looks gorgeous.

Governor Jay Nixon makes his World Series bet with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo putting Kansas City BBQ up against New York bagels.

Now its the New York Public Library in a Twitter war with Kansas City.

The Ellen Degeneres Show will be in Lawrence today for something World Series-related.

One-time Royals outfielder Tom Goodwin, now a Mets coach, shares the tragic story of his son's suicide.

Former Phillies GM Ruben Amaro has landed a job with the Red Sox as....first base coach?

Former Royals pitcher Tom Gordon has emerged as a managerial candidate in San Diego despite no coaching experience.

Pete Rose has become a meme.

Sporting Kansas City wins a do-or-die game to make the playoffs, defeating the L.A. Galaxy 2-1.

They also announced plans to field a minor league team in Kansas City, the Swope Park Rangers.

Timberwolves coach Flip Saunders dies of Hodgkin's lymphoma at the age of 60.

Drivers don't pay the true costs of driving.

Are school textbooks a thing of the past?

Nathan Fielder is the Walter White of comedy.

Your song of the day is Mark Ronson featuring Mystikal with "Feel Right."

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