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Weekend Rumblings - News for September 19, 2015
Andy McCullough's weekly mailbag at the Kansas City Star yields information about Jonny Gomes:
@sleith9806 - What's the scoop with Gomes? Doesn't seem like he's being used much. More for postseason?
Andy - Jonny Gomes did not receive many at-bats this week, mostly because the Royals did not face many left-handed pitchers. One figures Gomes could get a shot on Saturday afternoon against Tigers southpaw Matt Boyd.
But otherwise, he figures to be an option to hit off the bench. He’s not a lock for the playoff roster, but he’s a good bet.
The Omar Infante game was great, says Craig Brown, who addresses some other things like Yordano Ventura and Alex Rios:
Just like two good weeks at leadoff last September meant we saw “Alcides Escobar, Leadoff Hitter” for the next year, nine good games have secured the starting spot of one Alex Rios for the next month-plus. Hopefully, he can continue to produce. I’m not asking (or looking) for too much. How about just around a major league average right fielder? That would be an improvement over what we’ve seen the previous five months. It seems like every October success has a contribution from an unexpected source. For the Royals last year, maybe that was Mike Moustakas’ power output. (I know… He’s supposed to hit for power. But check his monthly splits. He rarely hit as many as five home runs in a single month.) Maybe this year, Rios stays at least lukewarm through the playoffs. That would be a good thing.
David Lesky at Pine Tar Press ponders a number of things, including the future of the American League Central:
Boy am I glad the Royals chose to have the season they’re having this year because the American League Central has a chance to be very, very tough in the coming years. Of course, we thought the same thing about this season and we’ve seen how that has gone. But seriously, look at some of the young talent in the division. The Twins have Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano already to go along with quite a few others. The Indians have Francisco Lindor and the potential to have a world beating pitching staff. Even the Tigers have the money to make a run at just about any free agent they want to just reload rather than rebuild. And hey, the White Sox have a legit ace, a legit number two and a top prospect who could be a legit ace soon enough to go along with a great young first baseman and money to spend. I’m not saying that the Royals can’t win the division again in the near future, but there’s an influx of young talent that might only get more daunting for the Royals soon.
Greg Holland remains positive after last night's terrible blown save, which is good, but it may not matter.
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