Royals Rumblings - News for February 27, 2015

Royals Rumblings - News for February 27, 2015

Wade Davis talks about how he became the best middle reliever in the game.

"I just started changing everything about my mindset," Davis said. "I started thinking, ‘When I go into a game, this is what I’m going to do and nobody is going to stop it.’ "If I work hard enough and put in the preparation then that’s what’s going to happen. Instead of the mindset ‘all I have to do is work hard enough,’ all I have to do is go out and make pitches. It’s like inducing your will on every individual pitch." That’s a more difficult task for a starter.

"You have to be OK with failure more as a starter because you’re going to give up runs every game," Davis said. "As a reliever, you have a smaller sample size."

Craig Brown at Royals Authority doubts Mike Moustakas' plan to bunt more against the shift will improve his numbers much.

Moustakas hits the ball so rarely to the left on the ground, if he starts showing bunt, the third baseman can play in and the shortstop can move to the hole between first and second. He pulls the ball so much, and makes such weak contact, the second baseman can just cheat closer to the first base side which could even cause opposing defenses to eschew the shift altogether. Therein lies the real problem with Moustakas: He rarely makes quality contact. His grounders are easy to defend because they lack punch.

The Royals have abandoned the idea of once hot prospect Chris Dwyer becoming a starting pitcher.

Dwyer has shifted full-time to relief after a torturous season in 2014. He was once a highly touted prospect, and he earned a big-league callup in 2013. But he suffered a recurrence of a thyroid issue that sapped strength from his system and caused him to lose fastball velocity. The team converted him to the bullpen, but his results with Class AAA Omaha remained discouraging: A 5.52 ERA with a 1.577 WHIP in 23 relief appearances.

"It’s just his command," manager Ned Yost said. "It was spotty at times. You get to the position we’re at now, and that’s the last thing you can afford, is spotty command. You’ve got to have guys that we can put in the game and trust are going to throw strikes."

The Royals miss Billy Butler more than ever.

"Yesterday, we had a couple of extra ultimate cheeseburgers from Jack in the Box," manager Ned Yost said on Thursday. "I said, 'Anyone want one?' They all looked at me like I was nuts. 'We can't go deep into the season eatin' no cheeseburgers. We gotta eat healthy, skip.'

"Hoz [Eric Hosmer], [Jarrod] Dyson, [Lorenzo] Cain -- they all looked at me like I was nuts. 'Can't stay strong eatin' cheeseburgers, skip.' I mean, it's a cheeseburger. But their mindset is they got to eat healthy to stay strong."

Ned Yost talks about his love of NASCAR.

Ned Earnhardt, Jr?

It probably shouldn't surprise anyone that Ned Yost drives a golf cart around camp like its Nascar

— Joel Goldberg (@goldbergkc) February 26, 2015

Cheslor Cuthbert is working out at second base to increase his utility as a bench player.

Omar Infante finally feels healthy in Royals camp.

"The Bachelor" Juan Pablo Galavis visited Royals camp because he's friends with fellow Venezuelan Salvador Perez.

Royals single-game tickets (excluding Opening Day) go on sale tomorrow.

The Yankees really don't want to pay Alex Rodriguez.

I miss our annual "Jeff Francoeur is working on adjusting his swing" articles.

Bryan Curtis at Grantland has an interesting piece about the next battle over analytics, dubbed "Moneyball II" including some quotes from Royals beat writer Andy McCullough.

Matthew Murphy at Hardball Times looks at whether groundball pitchers are overrated.

Blue Jays outfielder Michael Saunders will miss half the season with a knee injury. Toronto also signed former Cy Young winner Johan Santana to a minor league deal.

Sports Twitter had fun with the llamas on the loose in Arizona yesterday, including Royals Review.

Adrian Peterson is back in the NFL.

WHAT COLOR IS THIS DRESS??????

Lawrence, Kansas is the ninth coolest city in America.

There is a show called "Sex Box", where people have sex. In a box.

The FCC approves net neutrality.

Your song of the day is "Ruby's Surprise Party" by Ruby & The Party Gang.