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Royals Rumblings - News for April 15, 2015
In Twitter Tuesday, Sam Mellinger answers whether the Royals are RESPECTING THE GAME.
I do think there’s some resentment toward the Royals from other teams around baseball. Some of that is that the Royals are a good team now, and a certain amount of this is going to come with the territory. Some of it, too, is that the Royals are a bit of a showy group, with guys coming out of the dugout for elaborate high-fives to celebrate home runs in the fifth inning.
I’ve said this since before I had the platform to say it to anyone other than my friends: baseball needs more of this, not less, and the culture of treating emotion like it’s some kind of weakness is tired and (a small) part of what’s keeping baseball from marketing itself better.
Particularly with these Royals, I think it works because it’s genuine. This is a group that hangs out with each other outside the clubhouse and outside the season. They have memories not just of an epic Wild Card game and big tab at McFadden’s but of bus trips around the Texas League together. Sal Perez hopping over the dugout railing to celebrate Eric Hosmer’s home run isn’t an act. It would be an act if Perez didn’t do that.
Andy McCullough also talked about whether the Royals are drawing ire from their opponents in a recent chat session.
There may be some of that going on, because the Royals are a brash bunch that plays with an incredible amount of energy. Watch what happens after a home run. Players vault over the dugout. They meet the hitter before he even reaches the steps. They complete elaborate high-five routines. This is not exactly the norm.
But I’m not sure how that actually effects competition between the lines. The Royals have been hit a lot by pitchers lately because they’ve faced a lot of crummy relievers who can’t seem to command the baseball arm-side when they slide step*.
*-said in a Lee Judge voice
Andy McCullough also has a nice piece up about how a few years ago Lorenzo Cain still needed help learning how to do a very basic activity.
Cain did not begin playing the game until he was 15, and his unorthodox baseball upbringing wrought a playing style that strained his body. He took unnecessary risks on the field. He ran in a fashion that placed undue stress on his legs. A series of muscle tears sidelined him. After playing 61 games in 2012, Cain asked trainer Nick Kenney for help.
"I’m willing to do," he told Kenney, "whatever I have to do." Kenney placed him in contact with Overman. Before he became a breakout face of the 2014 playoffs, before ESPN celebrated his astounding athleticism in a "Sports Science" segment, before his jersey flew off the racks as Kansas City’s best-selling garment, Lorenzo Cain needed to master an athlete’s most basic act.
"I distinctly remember his first day," Overman said. "He was like, ‘Nobody ever taught me how to run.’"
The Detroit Free-Press is impressed with the Tigers hot start, but wonders if the Royals might be better.
Let's go deeper into the numbers. According to FanGraphs, the Tigers now have a 66.4% chance of reaching the postseason. The Royals have a 63.2% chance. That's nearly a 20% boost from before the season! With more than five months of regular-season baseball to go, one thing is certain: The days of an easy AL Central division are over. Even if the Indians and White Sox don't pan out, the Royals are here with the Tigers and it's going to be one, exciting summer of competitive baseball.
Anthony Castrovince givesseven reasons to love the Royals.
The guy who once seemingly could do no right is still riding a streak in which he can do no wrong. Moustakas at No. 2, Alcides Escobar (.300 career OBP) at leadoff, sacrifice bunting in the first inning. Whatever. Yost can do anything he wants these days. His friends on his hunting team (they call themselves "The World Famous Thump Monkeys," even though nobody outside the Georgia backwoods has ever heard of them) have always known Yost to be a winner. Now, the baseball world knows.
BREAKING NEWS: The Royals are good at defense.
Ranking the MLB teams by how good they've been at making @FieldingBible Good Plays, Avoiding Misplays & Errors so far pic.twitter.com/vnldMBEILu
— Mark Simon (@msimonespn) April 14, 2015
The Royals are getting stadium renovations. No, not to the K, to their facility in Surprise.
As Shaun mentioned yesterday, Scout.com has their mock draft up with the Royals taking college pitcher Phil Bickford.
John Sickels takes a look at former Royals farmhand and perennial trade bait, Clint Robinson.
Lessons to learn from the lengthy career of Rockies reliever LaTroy Hawkins.
Baseball is too fun, so Yasiel Puig is cutting down on his bat-flips.
Baseball games have been eight minutes shorter this season, have you noticed?
The "hidden ball trick" works in this minor league game and the announcers are mystified.
Dennis Quaid flips out on set.
Newspaper reporter is ranked the "worst job of 2015."
How did pink become a "girly" color?
Twitter is launching a Twitter for non-Twitter users.
Your song of the day is Johnny Paycheck with "Me and the IRS".