Royals Rumblings - News for November 2, 2016
Hunter Samuels at Baseball Prospectus Kansas City looks at Danny Duffy’s late season swoon.
There are a couple of things that immediately jump out. First, you see a shift of the concentration of pitches, from up in the zone to down. You’ll hear a lot of commentators talk about pitchers wanting to keep the ball down, but a pitcher like Duffy doesn’t really want to live down in the zone. His fastball is most effective at the top of the zone and just above it, where he can induce popups and medium-depth fly balls. With so many players in today’s game having swings tailored to attack the lower third, Duffy needs to elevate his heater to exploit their weaknesses. As the season wore on, Duffy was not able to spot his fastball up quite as well. As a result, batters crushed the pitches in their nitro zone.
Royals scouting director Lonnie Goldberg does not fare well in an analysis by Hardball Times (h/t Shaun Newkirk).
Lonnie Goldberg’s name appears as an outlier on the graph, with low bWAR+ and players-per-year totals. However, it’s worth noting that Goldberg’s work has been amassed since 2011, and many of his draftees have plenty of time to reach and contribute at the major league level. He may also continue to reside in that quadrant as the 2011-2016 draftees make their way up the chain, but it felt a little unfair to single him out given that his recent drafts haven’t fully taken shape.
Pete Grathoff at the Star takes a look back at last year’s championship.
Royals pitchers Josh Staumont and Andrew Edwards are among the minor leaguers who can hit triple digits on the radar gun.
Royals Vice President Mike Swanson has been busy working at the World Series.
Why are players suspended for domestic violence allowed to play in the post-season?
How Jason Heyward and the Cubs have coped with his terrible season.
Ben Lindbergh at The Ringer says strong TV ratings are masking some troubling pace of play trends from this post-season.
Fivethirtyeight takes a look at the relative strength of MLB franchises throughout history.
The White Sox have a new logo for Guaranteed Rate Field.
Former Royals second baseman Mark Grudzielanek is named AAA manager for the White Sox.
Wichita is moving closer to a new ballpark along the river.
NFL trades are rare, but they have paid off this season.
Amazon has been profitable lately, but don’t expect that to last.
Doctor Strange has the most inventive CGI of the superhero era.
The wildest fan theories about the CBS sitcom Kevin Can Wait.
Your song of the day is Modest Mouse with Bukowski.