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Royals Rumblings - News for February 24, 2015
ESPN the Magazine groups sports teams on their use of analytics, and puts the Royals in the category of "believers." (h/t RF2000)
Moore's men might be the best-educated young crew in baseball: Mike Groopman (Columbia grad), John Williams (Yale, MIT) and Daniel Mack (Notre Dame, Columbia, Vanderbilt) jointly share the title of director of baseball analytics. Systems architect Guy Stevens co-authored a paper on player forecasting that appeared in the "Journal of Quantitative Analysis in Sports" while he was still pitching for Pomona.
The machine learning techniques used in Stevens' paper are beyond what most club analysts are familiar with. But not Mack, as his Ph.D. work focused on machine learning. Mack gives the Royals' outfit rigor that most other teams simply don't have, and together they have carved out space to work on weighty long-term projects. In this fast-paced, competitive industry, that kind of commitment by an organization takes foresight.
The piece also cites two pieces of "the finest internet vitriol" coming from this very site! Royals Review, your home for the finest internet vitriol!
"Granite Camaro!" won't continue this year as Jeremy Guthrie will decline to lead post-game celebrations as he did last year.
Guthrie volunteered to lead the ceremonies. The momentum built as the Royals stormed into October for the first time since 1985. The team still has possession of the fog machine and the deer sign. But the players are unsure if they will attempt to replicate last season’s formula.
Guthrie declined to designate himself the leader for the coming year. He believes that role will fall to players like Eric Hosmer and Salvador Perez. He is unsure if the postgame celebrations will continue. They must be organic, he said. He learned that lesson last season.
Really good stuff in that article about the clubhouse atmosphere, so read it when you get a chance.
Danny Duffy wants to replace "We Ready" in the clubhouse with something from Bob Marley.
The Royals still think first-round pick Bubba Starling can turn the proverbial corner.
The Royals force themselves to take the long view with Starling. Team officials insist they still believe in his talent. They still envision his five tools flourishing in the outfield of Kauffman Stadium. Dayton Moore has repeatedly said Starling could play defense in the majors at this juncture.
But he will not. Instead, Starling could spend the beginning of 2015 still in Wilmington, assistant general manager J.J. Picollo said. Picollo did not cast this possibility as a judgment on the dubiousness of Starling’s developmental path.
Jeremy Guthrie wants a taste of more big time games.
"For me, one of the great highlights was pitching that game in Chicago," he said. "With the magical run we had after that, that game kind of gets lost, which it should.
"But to me, that was a playoff game in the utmost sense of the word. I'd never pitched in a game in my career that really mattered as much as that." When it was over, Guthrie made sure to keep as many mementos as he could.
"I kept everything from that game," he said, smiling. "I kept the dirt off my spikes, my spikes, my hat. Everything. That game meant a lot to me."
Jeffrey Flanagan writes this is a critical spring training for reliever Louis Coleman, who is out of options.
Pitcher Kris Medlen expects to be ready to go in June, after recovery from Tommy John surgery.
Alcides Escobar and Kendrys Morales are the only two notable players not yet at camp, but they're expected to be on time.
Ned Yost is not concerned about Omar Infante's bum elbow.
Alex Gordon played catch yesterday and will take some dry swings today.
Royals top prospect Raul Mondesi has added fourteen pounds over the winter.
19-year old prospect Raul Mondesi adding muscle. 125 lbs when signed. Up to 178 last year. Now 192 pic.twitter.com/s4RaWGYxvV
— Joel Goldberg (@goldbergkc) February 23, 2015
Cool moment with Dayton Moore throwing batting practice to his son.
Moments like this last a lifetime. #Royals GM Dayton Moore having a little BP time with his son. #ForeverRoyal pic.twitter.com/6GaNwYtAFh
— Darrius Smith (@iamDSMITH86) February 24, 2015
Kids needs to work on laying down bunts though.
Old friend Elliot Johnson has signed with the Rangers.
Farmhand wants to remind you that your MLB TV subscription renews automatically this time of year whether you want it to or not.
MLB knows its fans love the game of baseball so much, they're thinking of reducing the amount of baseball to 154 games.
A-Rod arrives at Yankees camp early. Typical A-Rod, only thinking about himself.
The White Sox spring training facility has a scorpion problem. Couldn't happen to a nicer team.
Madison Bumgarner dressed as a lumberjack.
Your coverage of the NFL Combine, which is just college-aged gentlemen running fast and lifting things I believe.
Oh good, mobile drones can make it easier to target you with ads.
An oral history of the creation and evolution of "Parks and Recreation."
How did Fivethirtyeight do in their Oscar predictions? This article is funnier than Neil Patrick Harris' "predictions" bit at the Oscars.
Forget Joan Rivers, she wasn't much of a film actress anyway, but "That Guy" Taylor Negron was snubbed in the Oscars "In Memoriam" segment.