Royals Rumblings - News for August 12, 2015

Royals Rumblings - News for August 12, 2015

Yordano Ventura felt like he had his good stuff last night.

"He said he thought his breaking ball was good," said Jeremy Guthrie, who translated for Ventura. "He was trying really hard to establish his hard stuff inside, his fastball. For the most part, he thought he was able to do that."

Vahe Gregorian says the Ventura rollercoaster is going up.

With a super-sized lead in the American League Central, beyond not losing players to injuries or just burning anyone out, there’s nothing more important down the stretch than twisting and turning the psychological Rubik’s cube to get Ventura aligned right. To some, it appeared the best way to do that was to make good on that Omaha trip. If nothing else, it would have provided a little jolt to the system for Ventura. But somewhere in the last few weeks, the Royals determined that option would be fruitless. And when you really think about it, well, they’re right. Especially at this late stage of the season.

"If you have a great night in Triple-A," general manager Dayton Moore said Friday, "I don’t know what that means for Yordano." He added, "This is the Major Leagues, and this is where the best competition in the world exists. And if you’re going to be able to improve and get better, you need to be able to do it up here."

Hunter Samuels at Pine Tar Press thinks Yordano's struggles were merely mechanical this year.

Throwing more fastballs in the middle of the strike zone – even fastballs with a vapor trail on them – isn’t a great way to find success against big league hitters. I’m guessing Ventura isn’t trying to throw a bunch of pipeshots with men on base, so this does seem to indicate he’s lost his command, perhaps from that altered delivery.

I also wonder if Ventura’s been losing some deceptiveness from the stretch. He has a quick delivery to home – whether with a sidestep or not – but without much of a trunk twist, he can’t hide the ball as well. It could be that batters are picking up the ball sooner, and that’s allowing them to make better contact.

Rob Neyer looks at who should be benched on contending teams, and sees a couple underachievers with the Royals.

What about Omar Infante and Alex Rios and the Royals, though? Both have been dreadful this season ... and it just so happens the Royals just traded for Ben Zobrist, who'€™s well-known for playing Infante'€™s and Rios'€™ positions --€“ second base and right field --€“ quite adroitly. But with the Royals a mortal lock to win the American League Central, is there any reason to make real changes now? Maybe not. But once Alex Gordon'€™s off the disabled list, the Royals will look even better if Zobrist is playing practically every day. Which should mean fewer starts for Infante and/or Rios. And it'€™ll be good for Ned Yost's noggin if he'€™s got a good plan in place before October.

Salvy is day-to-day after leaving last night's contest.

Salvy Perez day to day w/inflammation in left wrist. Been sore a few days from being hit in hand by foul balls, bat swing, tag at plate

— Joel Goldberg (@goldbergkc) August 12, 2015

Clark Fosler at Royals Authority looks at some Royals shutout trivia after Cueto's gem on Monday.

Now, you think a year between complete game shutouts is a long? The Royals went over two seasons without one before Greinke’s first in April of 2009. In September of 2006, and it’s okay if you did not see or remember, because it was September of 2006, Mark Redman threw a five hitter against Minnesota. That was just THREE days after Runelvys Hernandez scattered seven hits in a 2-0 shutout of the Blue Jays. Oh, those were the days, my friend....

Did you know that Luis Aquino (3) had more shutouts than Jose Rosado (2)? Or that Darrell May and Chris Haney each had three as Royals? How about the fact that Dan Reichert, Jay Witasick and Mac Suzuki each managed to accomplish the feat? Or that Jim Colborn’s no-hitter was his only shutout in a Kansas City uniform.

The Royals got to meet their favorite rapper, Fetty Wap, before the game.

Brewers General Manager Doug Melvin steps down. Dayton Moore is now the fifth-longest tenured GM in baseball.

Twins catcher Kurt Suzuki is wary of advanced defensive metrics.

Robert Paige talks about his dad, legendary Hall of Fame pitcher Leroy "Satchel" Paige.

Grant Brisbee looks at what would be the storylines of the season if the first half had never happened.

Jeff Sullivan believes in the Jays, who project to be the best team in the league going forward.

A baseball official scorer talks about his profession.

Writer Jeff Pearlman laments the end of the Sports Illustrated library.

Jets quarterback Geno Smith will miss 6-10 weeks with a fractured jaw after he was sucker-punched by a teammate.

Why is American mass transit so terrible?

Kim Kardashian's Instagram got a drug company in trouble with the FDA.

Columbia House finally files for bankruptcy, as it turns out giving away 13 CDs for just a penny wasn't a sound business strategy.

The universe is slowly dying, man.

Your song of the day is Electric Guest with "Waves."