Weekend Rumblings - News for April 9, 2016

Weekend Rumblings - News for April 9, 2016

Omar Infante feels healthier and is ready for a better offensive season.

For the last two years, as Infante continued his career in Kansas City, the injections became an undesirable part of life. His shoulder barked for much of the 2014 season, sapping his arm strength. His elbow throbbed in 2015, eroding his production at the plate. Still, he battled through the pain, requiring routine painkillers to stay on the field...

"Now I feel good," Infante said. "My knees feel good. That’s why I can move better. I feel more healthy, I feel (like I have) more and more power."

Jarrod Dyson leaves for Omaha this weekend for a rehab assignment.

Dyson faced right-hander Kris Medlen, who was throwing a simulated game on an off day. As coaches and trainers kept watch, Medlen unleashed a curveball. Dyson was fooled, swinging and missing. But the absence of pain in his abdomen marked another hurdle cleared.

"If I had any pain," Dyson said, "I would have felt it right then and there. But I didn’t. That’s a great sign."

Ian Kennedy makes his Royals debut tonight, and Hunter Samuels at Baseball Prospectus Kansas City looks at his strike zone domination.

In every year, Kennedy has gotten a whiff on at least 16 percent of opponent swings in the strike zone. That may not seem like a large number, but remember, major-league players tend to be good at hitting baseballs, particularly those thrown in the strike zone. Plenty of pitchers allow a whole lot of contact in the zone, and yet, Kennedy has done as well as just about anyone in baseball at avoiding that. In fact, there are only three pitchers who have allowed a lower Z-Contact rate than Kennedy in each of the last four seasons: Marco Estrada, Max Scherzer, and R.A. Dickey.

That’s…an interesting collection of pitchers.

Lee Judge talks to Mike Moustakas about his successes and failures.

When Moustakas first got called up to the Royals in 2011, he was required to take the first pitch of his first at-bat. It was a mindset that emphasized seeing more pitches. But if you’re only going to get one good pitch per at-bat — and in the big leagues you might not even get one — is watching that good pitch go by frustrating? You better believe it is.

"Yeah, 100 percent," Moustakas said. "You might get one good pitch — maybe. After that, it’s cutters, sliders, sinkers: stuff you don’t want to hit. But if I get a first-pitch heater and hit a home run, I’m 1-for-1 and we’re on the board. Now pitchers are going to throw me something soft my next at-bat.

Kauffman Stadium is in the Deadspin Stadium Poll Elite Eight.

Bow down to Trevor Story, our new overlord.

Cubs outfielder Kyle Schwarber is out for the year after breaking his leg on a nasty outfield collision.

Another game ends on an "illegal slide" at second base, this time in the Astros-Brewers game.

Bill Maher thinks Bryce Harper is too arrogant.

The city of Adelanto is trying to get rid of the High Desert Mavericks, a former Royals affiliate.

Former KU football player Brandon Bourbon was tragically found dead from suicide after being reported missing for several days.

Louisiana Tech women's basketball coach Tyler Summitt, the 25-year old son of college basketball legend Pat Summit, resigns after admitting to an inappropriate relationship with a player.

How the New Jersey Nets almost changed their name to the "Swamp Dragons."

People aren't sharing as much as they used to on Facebook, and the company wants to change that.

SpaceX landed a rocket ship on a drone.

A Russian filmmaker made a first-person point-of-view shooter film that nearly killed his stuntmen.

Your song of the day is Sonny Rollins with "St. Thomas."