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Weekend Rumblings - News for May 16, 2015
Looks like Paulo Orlando has a following in his hometown in Brazil at a local restaurant.
Dan Silva, the 26-year-old who owns the Captain, played with Orlando in 2000 on Nikkey Santo Amaro, one of several recreational clubs in Sao Paulo, the closest thing Brazil has to a proper baseball league. The Captain is Silva’s first restaurant, and this year he’s made Royals baseball its centerpiece.
In February he bought a subscription to MLB.TV. On the five days of the week that he’s open, he shows customers every out of every Royals game live. Before the first live pitch, he shows the prior day’s game recorded.
He made the decision during spring training. Seeing Orlando play "brought us happiness, whether he made the team or not."
Alex Rodriguez is a fan of Eric Hosmer.
Yet few inside the game question Rodriguez's baseball acumen. He delivered an extended, nuanced depiction of Hosmer's talents, one that squared with the scouting reports proclaimed by Royals executives over the years.
"A lot of people don't know that he throws mid-90s from the bump," Rodriguez said. "He's got a perfect body for baseball. I think he's going to be a guy that can consistently hit 30 home runs. It wouldn't surprise me if he hit 40. Plus, plus, plus defender. Very athletic. I mean, for me, he covers every check-box that I like in ball players. And he's a phenomenal kid."
John Viril of Kings of Kauffman is a huge fan of Moore's offseason moves, and is somewhat stunned by how good he's been recently.
Former Royals Review Fearless Leader Craig Brown writes about why Alcides Escobar shouldn't be a long-term answer as the leadoff hitter.
The Royals employ several smart people who have computers and crunch numbers. I bet if we polled all of them, they would acknowledge the fallacy of basing a key decision on such a small sample size. I also bet the answer would be unanimous that Escobar does not belong in the leadoff spot.
Escobar’s current numbers are impressive. He owns a slash line of .305/.345/.419 with an OPS+ of 110. If the season ended today, all of those numbers would be career highs. It’s an impressive start and the Royals have certainly benefitted with his bat at the top of the order. However, the evidence of his approach at the plate suggests his success is going to be short-lived. The Royals have gotten lucky so far. They should be thinking of a “Plan B” as his regression is going to be rather painful and noticeable at the top of the order.
Other items of interest
Blues musician BB King has died. Rest in peace, Mr. King.
Help support troops by donating to a cool fund drive aiming to send soldiers much needed entertainment in the form of video games.
I've been trying to wrap my head around my opinion of The Avengers and Marvel in general. While this article doesn't exactly explain how I feel, it does a very good job trying to do so.
Should Adrian Beltre be inducted into the Hall of Fame? Two Five Thirty Eight writers do.
Here's everything you should know about global warming.
Weekend classic
In honor of Pitch Perfect 2's acapella goodness, here's a beautiful choral piece by Russian composer Pavel Chesnokov called Salvation is Created.
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