Royals Rumblings - News for October 24, 2016

Royals Rumblings - News for October 24, 2016

David Lesky at Baseball Prospectus Kansas City worries about the rising strikeout rate with Royals hitters.

There were 22 total Royals who accumulated at least 200 plate appearances in 2015 or 2016. 10 of the 12 lowest strikeout rates belonged to the 2015 Royals players. Of the eight players with 200+ PA for both versions of the Royals, only Dyson’s strikeout rate actually dropped from 2015 to 2016. Some might look at that and say there’s a good chance that reverts, but this is also a team that’s getting older and presumably slower. The biggest culprits were Alex Gordon (+7.4 percent) and Salvador Perez (+7 percent). I feel like Perez made a conscious change in approach, but Gordon concerns me. If his wrist is healthy, I think he probably gets closer to his 21.8 percent mark in 2015, but you never know. To me, getting Mike Moustakas back along with Eric Hosmer and Lorenzo Cain cutting down on the strikeouts will be the key to getting that under control in 2017.

Royals Hall of Famer Bret Saberhagen talks about his career and reaching the World Series in 1985.

But I was 20, and [1984 ALCS start] wasn't a win-or-go-home game, so I wasn't nervous. The next year -- Game 7 of the World Series -- that was the most nervous I have ever been. If we win, we're champions. If we don't, we all go home and the Cardinals are champions. And if that happens, I feel like I let my teammates down, our fans down, the front office down. There was a lot of pressure on that, so I think with Urias and myself, being that young and that not being a closeout game, you still have butterflies and anxiety, but once you throw a few pitches and get into the flow of the game, you do what you are suppose to do -- try to keep your team in the ballgame.

Royals fans are pretty happy with the Cubs winning the pennant.

Royals reliever Peter Moylan shows who he is rooting for.

The Cubs open as heavy favorites.

Kyle Schwarber, out all year with a knee injury, may return for the World Series.

Meet Dorothy Farrell, the 90-year old Cubs fan celebrating with Jagermeister.

Dexter Fowler will become the first African-American Cubs player in World Series history.

Jeff Sullivan at Fangraphs says the best team in baseball is still playing.

What’s next for the Dodgers?

The Tigers could be dealing Justin Upton this winter.

Donald Trump once tried to buy the Cleveland Indians.

International players are balking at a proposed draft for MLB.

John Sickels finds the scouting report for fictional Indians pitcher Ricky Vaughn.

Is Mizzou football at rock bottom after giving up 50 in a loss to Middle Tennessee State?

Kansas City native Jack Sock falls in the finals of the Stockholm Open.

AT&T wants to buy Time Warner, HBO, and CNN for $80 billion.

How a bunch of hacked DVR machines took down Twitter and Reddit.

The Rocky Horror reboot on FOX last week bombed because it was bad.

Your song of the day is The Holophonics with Let’s Do the Time Warp Again.