Royals Rumblings - News for May 5, 2015

Royals Rumblings - News for May 5, 2015

Craig Goldstein of Fox Sports writes how PECOTA projections may have limitations that won't capture the Royals' success.

First and foremost, PECOTA has a long memory, and penalizes players who might have struggled for a few seasons but appear to be breaking out in a smaller sample (see: Moustakas, Mike). It also penalizes players with substantially different track records than their projected roles. For example, PECOTA didn’t like Danny Duffy as a starter, because his track record in the rotation prior to 2014 was rather spotty, and he’s yet to toss more than 150 innings in a single season, which means relying on quality innings beyond that point is a riskier proposition - which isn’t to say it can’t work out well. As it so happens - the Royals had a lot of these types.

Craig Brown at Royals Authority does a great job breaking down the Kelvin Herrera strike out of Miguel Cabrera on Friday night.

When you go inside on any hitter with the kind of gas Herrera throws, it’s a difficult adjustment to get the barrel out in front to reach the pitch on the outer half of the plate. Herrera’s 10th pitch wasn’t thrown any harder. Nor did it have more lateral movement. It was simply a perfectly located pitch after the previous three were down and in.

The final pitch wasn’t just perfectly located given the previous sequence. It was perfectly located for Cabrera to swing and miss. Cabrera is one of the best hitters of the game. He’s off to an incredible start in 2015. Like all hitters, he has a weakness. His weakness is pitches on the upper and outer half of the zone.

The Royals are doing some of their best work with two outs, writes Jeffrey Flanagan.

That can explain why Kansas City leads the Major Leagues in two-out hits with 90, and it is tied for first with two-out RBIs with Boston with 55. The Royals also have the best batting average with two outs and runners in scoring position (.330). "

It's maturity and confidence and a belief that the guy behind you will keep it going, too," manager Ned Yost said.

But center fielder Lorenzo Cain believes he knows exactly where the roots of this new mind-set originated.

"It all started with the Wild Card Game," Cain said. "If you can come back like that against a pitcher like [Jon] Lester, you can do anything. That's the confidence we have now.

Kris Medlen expects to spend a month in Arizona rehabbing from Tommy John surgery until he begins pitching in minor league games.

George Brett sees a different approach for Royals hitters.

"What I’ve seen is they’ve finally realized that if you’re down two or three in the bottom of the seventh and nobody is on, you don’t have to hit a home run," Brett said.

"You’d see guys (before) swinging for the fences. "Now they realize, ‘All I need is a single,’ and the next guy can get a single and the next guy might get a double and the night guy might get a single. That’s how you get three runs."

No surprise, that the Royals have the biggest bump in attendance so far this season.

The Royals are second in ESPN's power rankings this week.

The Northwest Arkansas Naturals won their ninth consecutive game, a franchise record since moving to Springdale.

The Brewers hired gritty former infielder Craig Counsell to be their manager.

Fivethirtyeight thinks Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina has forgotten how to frame pitches.

The White Sox have stunk so far this year, how long before they become sellers?

Do left-handed pitchers out-perform their FIP more than right-handers?

Brandon McCarthy tweeted after surgery, and he was probably still a bit out of it.

Kansas City native and top NBA prospect Willie Cauley-Stein legally changed his middle name to "Trill."

Boston Marathon runner kisses handsome stranger, oops, he's married.

When you have to work and missed the fight, but plan to watch it on DVR, and Scarlett Johansson ruins the ending for you.

You think Floyd Mayweather treats reporters terribly? He's got nothing compared to how Qatar treats journalists working on stories about the World Cup.

Coverage of last night's James Beard Awards.

Beards are possibly as dirty as poop, DANNY DUFFY.

What classic literary story deserves a comeback in sci-fi and fantasy?

There could be a Star Wars anthology movie coming about the origins of Boba Fett.

Your song of the day is Lyle Lovett with "I've Been to Memphis."