Royals Rumblings - News for April 13, 2016

Royals Rumblings - News for April 13, 2016

Rustin Dodd writes how Yordano Ventura tweaked his delivery recently.

Specifically, Ventura had added an unusual start to his windup, stepping forward off the rubber with his left foot instead of back. The step was small and the rest of the windup appeared quiet and simple, but Eiland says it led to consistent mechanical issues. Ventura battled an inconsistent release point in 2015, posting a 4.08 ERA in 163 1/3 innings.

"He was stepping forward," Eiland said. "But what that did, that threw his weight forward, so he’d always be late. He’d drift through his balance point and his arm would get to his slot late."

Chien-Ming Wang is glad to be back in the big leagues, writes Jeffrey Flanagan.

Wang, 36, said it finally hit him last weekend that he actually is back in the big leagues. "The first time I pitched in the ninth inning [Saturday] it hit me," he said. "Before that [in Spring Training] it felt kind of fake." After spending the past two years in the Minors, Wang got just one call of interest this offseason -- from the Royals. Without that call, he may have retired.

"If the Royals don't call me in the offseason," he said, "maybe [I would've played] in Taiwan or something."

Kyle Zimmer is turning the corner.

Kyle Zimmer expected to start throwing sides again this Friday. #Royals

— Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) April 13, 2016

Hunter Samuels at Baseball Prospectus Kansas City points out the starting rotation is racking up strikeouts.

Overall, the Royals’ rotation appears to have a much higher strikeout ceiling than the last several versions, and their top three starters each have shown the kind of ability it takes to miss bats on a more frequent basis. In the history of the Royals franchise, there’s never been a season in which two starting pitchers threw 100 innings and surpassed 8 K/9. This year, they have a chance to do just that, and possibly add another starter in there for good measure.

Scott Dillon at KC Kingdom thinks the Brandon Belt contract extension may pave the way for an Eric Hosmer contract.

A six-year contract for Eric Hosmer using the Brandon Belt model would look like $87.6 million at $14.6 millon per year. Go ahead and round up to 90 million and Royals fans should still be happy given the estimated $20 million savings.

While it seems unlikely that Eric Hosmer won’t test the free-agent market given his agent is Scott Boras, this contract helped set a precedent for Hosmer’s worth. If he signs for that much it won’t be considered a hometown discount but rather a fair contract for both parties. It will also make Eric Hosmer ‘Forever Royal’.

The Royals will wear their gold-lettered uniforms for every Friday home game.

Here is video of Paul Rudd's appearance on the Rich Eisen Show in full Royals uniform.

Keith Law has his Top 50 draft prospects (INSIDER) with local prep pitcher Riley Pint ranked fifth.

The Rays are becoming baseball's most aggressive team.

In this video, Barry Bonds explains the fundamentals of hitting.

A battle of Kevins: who is the better defender - Pillar or Kiermaier?

Which teams are in most need for an upgrade?

Just eliminate kickoffs already, NFL.

CBS/Turner will pay $8.8 billion to keep the NCAA tournament through 2032.

How could we end up traveling to Alpha Centauri, the second-closest star to Earth? Freakin' lasers.

One British newspaper researched its comments section and found some disturbing results.

The impact of the books of Beverly Cleary, who turned 100 yesterday.

Your song of the day is Arcade Fire with "The Suburbs."