Royals Rumblings - News for March 23, 2016
Lee Judge talks about Paulo Orlando's arm.
The other day Royals right fielder Paulo Orlando made a throw that was less than impressive. But he was moving away from the base he was throwing to, fielded the ball on his glove-side and had to make a complete spin to get lined up with his target. Those two things are momentum-killers, and weak throws are often the result.
Professional players’ skills are rated on a scale of 2 to 8 or 20 to 80. If your organization is satisfied with seven different rankings, it uses 2 to 8; if your organization wants to further refine things, it uses 20 to 80 — then it can rank someone a 45 or 55. Fifty is major-league average, and I’ve been told Orlando’s arm is considered a 50. So if you see a bad throw, consider the situation: if Orlando is moving forward toward his target, fields the ball on his throwing-arm side and then makes a weak throw, you have cause for concern.
Alcides Escobar says he vows to remain aggressive at the plate.
Given his success at swinging at the first pitch of a game during last year’s playoffs, will Escobar repeat that formula in the regular season? "Not every time," Escobar said. "But I’ll continue to be aggressive. If they continue to throw me a pitch for a strike, I’m going to swing the bat."
It worked like a charm a year ago. Escobar batted .257 in 2015, but when he was the first batter of a game, his average climbed to .281. When Escobar swung at the first pitch of the game, that jumped to .364.
Ned Yost likes what he sees from Ian Kennedy so far.
"I don't really need to see anything else. He looks great to me right now," Yost said. "I've been really pleased with what I've seen from him. He was a little frustrated with his command in the first but his command got better and better as he went along. I thought he had great life on the fastball. "He's a refined strike thrower and his command has been off a little bit. But you see it getting polished up every time out."
Fangraphs ranks the Royals tenth at first base depth.
On one hand, you might view Hosmer, one-time super-prospect, as something of a disappointment. He’s been an actual disappointment in two of his five major-league seasons, and even last year’s career year resulted in "just" 18 homers and 3.5 WAR. That’s a fine season, but it’s not quite the bat we’d thought we might see after Hosmer ran a .303 ISO in Double-A and was named the Best Power Prospect in the Carolina League by Baseball America in 2010. But if your standards for top prospects are "superstar or bust," then you need to readjust your expectations, because Hosmer’s a quality starter on a championship team, and from an outsider’s perspective, it seems like he adds unquantifiable value to his team with his leadership and presence. If Brandon Belt was a really poor man’s Paul Goldschmidt, then Eric Hosmer is Brandon Belt with less power. How far can we keep this going?
Clint Scoles at Baseball Prospectus Kansas City looks at which prospects might be a breakout performer for the Royals.
Chase Vallot – After checking in with the experts, history and spring results, the final choices will be made by my good old gut. At just 18, Vallot held his own at Low-A last year despite being on average 4 years younger than the competition. A repeat of Single A should lead to better overall hitting numbers with less strikeouts while he continues to fine tune the defense and leave the yard plenty. A SALLY league home run title could definitely be in the cards for Vallot after finishing 13th in the league despite playing just 80 games.
Should we be concerned about Wade Davis?
Keep an eye on Wade Davis's velocity. Down 3 mph from 2015.
— Jeff Zimmerman (@jeffwzimmerman) March 22, 2016
2015 Average: 95.9
3/9/16: 94.6
3/12/16: 94.1
3/18/16: 92.9
The Royals are interested in playing the Storm Chasers in a pre-season exhibition game in Omaha.
Mike Moustakas says the dress code with the Royals isn't as relaxed as it is with the Cubs.
The Royals set a spring training team attendance record last night.
Former Royals reliever Louis Coleman has had a strong spring with the Dodgers.
Louis Coleman surprised at his release by Royals in Feb: "I wanted to be the middle reliever Derek Jeter that stayed with them for 20 years"
— Eric Stephen (@truebluela) March 23, 2016
Baseball is what Americans share with the Cuban people, writes Rodger Sherman.
Jacob deGrom is not concerned about his low velocity.
Jonah Keri writes why Goose Gossage and everyone else needs to lay off millennials.
The High Desert Mavericks, a former Royals affiliate, are getting evicted.
Should the NBA age requirement be changed?
Is the Longhorn Network killing the Big 12?
Science explains why we root for underdogs.
What in the world is happening with Jupiter's north pole?
What Daredevil gets right that Walking Dead and Game of Thrones got wrong.
Your song of the day is The Ramones with "Havana Affair."