Royals Rumblings - News for July 1, 2015

Royals Rumblings - News for July 1, 2015

Sam Mellinger addresses Matt Lamar's concerns over Eric Hosmer.

We can play the fun-with-endpoints game and see that since May 16 he is hitting .244/.291/.305 with 11 RBIs and 27 strikeouts in 36 games, but if we do that we should probably also note that in the 36 games before that he was hitting .333/.410/.574 with 29 RBIs.

There is an adjustment he needs to make, clearly, but even with his season sort of split in two he has the highest adjusted OPS of his career, and can help win games on the base paths and especially on defense.The Royals need him to get out of his slump, sure, but there is also a ton of confidence around the team that they are winning at this pace without everything going right. I think you’re much more likely to hear about being encouraged at what it will all look like when Hosmer starts hitting than you are anything about his slump causing trouble. These types of issues and adjustments are much easier made when things are going good.

Jarrod Dyson is nursing a sore groin, although Rex Hudler called him out for "dogging it" the other night.

Dyson believes that by Wednesday his worries about his groin will have passed, and he’ll be able to run with less caution. By then, the tempest about Dyson’s perceived lack of hustle probably will have passed.

"I’ve got one person to answer to, and that’s not Twitter," Dyson said. "That’s my manager."

Buster Olney has the hot take from this week.

The Astros are the dominant force in the American League right now, and after the events of the last two days, it's not really debatable.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 1, 2015

Anonymous scout is back giving his expert opinions.

One rival scout on #Royals' Joe Blanton: "He had better stuff tonight than last time out. Got squeezed a lot. He is the real deal."

— Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) June 30, 2015

In his chat session, Andy McCullough says Brandon Finnegan might become trade bait.

The Royals signed some undrafted free agents out of college, including a third baseman who hit 94 mph off the mound in a tryout.

Sports Illustrated says Lorenzo Cain, Kendrys Morales, and Eric Hosmer are the most deserving players at their position who have never been All-Stars before.

Dave Cameron at Fangraphs tries to flesh out what an American League All-Star roster should look like.

Mike Trout is still Mike Trout, and then flanking him, we find a number of elite defenders having strong offensive seasons. Cain continues to improve at the plate while playing ridiculous defense in center field, and is establishing himself as a true star at this point. Gardner, interestingly enough, has a higher wRC+ than Bautista, and has developed into a legitimate offensive threat even while his defense has regressed as he’s gotten older. Gordon is having his typical Alex Gordon season, while Kiermaier is doing a pretty good Lorenzo Cain impersonation. If there aren’t enough home runs in this group for your liking, you could easily argue for Yoenis Cespedes, George Springer, or J.D. Martinez, but I’ll take the more well-rounded guys.

Zack Greinke is not best friends with Yasiel Puig.

In 2014, during the Dodgers' annual trip to Chicago, the team bus stopped downtown to allow rookies undergoing hazing to walk into a pizza place and emerge with food for the veterans. Some Dodgers players, not wanting to wait, skipped off the bus. When the bus was ready to leave, Puig was outside, looking for his luggage inside of the bay underneath the bus. After Puig ignored multiple requests to close the luggage bay, Greinke hopped off the bus, grabbed the suitcase in front of Puig and chucked it onto Michigan Avenue. Puig stepped toward Greinke and was restrained by reliever J.P. Howell.

The Astros mascot riding an ostrich.

Grant Brisbee looks at the best and worst of the Ruben Amaro era in Philadelphia.

Huston Street would rather retire than have undefined bullpen roles.

Former big league catcher John Baker says baseball is ready to accept an openly gay player.

The baseball stadium in Eugene, Oregon - which once housed an affiliate for the Royals - has sadly burned to the ground.

The U.S. Women's Soccer team advances to the World Cup Finals with a 2-0 win over Germany.

Brett Favre says he could still play.

Former Texas Tech football coach Tommy Tuberville says its hard for a Big 12 team to ever make the college playoff.

Bold predictions for the top 50 NBA free agents.

Is the premise of a meritocracy immoral?

Jim Carrey is not the medical expert we previously thought.

The five best TV shows airing this summer the internet is not talking about.

Did inaccurate Nielsen ratings kill some radio stations?

How composer Koji Kondo came up with the "Game Over" theme for "Super Mario Brothers."

Your song of the day is Saint Motel with "My Type."