Royals Rumblings - News for June 1, 2016

Royals Rumblings - News for June 1, 2016

Brett Eibner suffered a left lateral ankle sprain last night, and more will be known today after an MRI.

Eibner probably is headed for the disabled list, manager Ned Yost said, but the severity of the injury is still unknown. Eibner is slated to undergo an MRI in the next 24 hours. "It’s early in the process," Yost said. "I don’t have any idea where we’re at, but we’re hoping it’s a sprain. But the MRI will tell us more tomorrow."

David Lesky at Baseball Prospectus Kansas City writes that injuries will allow the Royals to do some player evaluation.

Now, though, the Royals have the chance to evaluate these young players. Maybe it turns out that Eibner is more than good enough to handle right field for the 2017 season and beyond. Maybe it doesn’t, but now they will know. Maybe they will see that Merrifield could play second every day next season and let Mondesi continue to play shortstop in Triple-A to prepare for replacing Escobar in 2018. Maybe we will see that Cuthbert can’t hack it, but Dozier can. The Royals can find this out.

And this allows the Royals to plan their offseason better than they’ve been able to at any point before. Knowing you have a young player who can step in allows the Royals to have that spot filled. That then gives them potentially more money to spend on an area of need, so they can actually sign a better player than before.

Mike Minor visited the Royals and said he is experiencing some shoulder fatigue.

Royals manager Ned Yost stressed the issue was not serious — and not necessarily a setback — but club officials wished to have head trainer Nick Kenney evaluate Minor as the Omaha Storm Chasers opened a four-game series at Colorado Springs on Tuesday....

"We brought him back for Nick to look at," Yost said. "It’s nothing serious; he’s just trying to get back into the swing of things."

Rustin Dodd answers some reader questions, such as why Hunter Dozier has taken off this year.

According to scouts, Dozier has become more disciplined at the plate. He has stopped chasing off-speed pitches. He has already equaled his 17 walks from a season ago. His timeline to the big leagues, though, is still somewhat fluid. He has only had 83 at-bats at Omaha, and he will need more polish at that level. He could be in line for a September callup, but barring an injury, he will probably not see Kansas City before that.

Joe Beimel, who signed over the weekend, is ready for action.

Reliever Joe Beimel has passed his physical with #royals and will join AAA Omaha this weekend. He has a July 1 opt-out.

— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) June 1, 2016

The Royals have caught fire since being written off by the Washington Post.

Lee Judge warns against leaving Royals games early.

Royals fans are tuning in to see Royals baseball.

Must-see TV. @Royals got a whopping 17.1 rating on @FSKansasCity on Memorial Day--2nd-highest rating in 2016, 3rd-highest ever on FSKC

— Richard Justice (@richardjustice) May 31, 2016

White Sox GM won't publicly question Robin Ventura's moves.

The Mariners destroy James Shields.

The Giants are asking for tax breaks on their stadium because they think it has declined in value.

What are the legal implications of baseball players wearing biometric data devices on the field?

Sources say the Big 12 is not expanding anytime soon.

The world's greatest "Crying Jordan" artist.

Should we keep large mammals in zoos?

The untold story of America's 41-year old debt secret with Saudi Arabia.

Are Hollywood sequels starting to wear thin with the public?

Your song of the day is Guided by Voices with "Vote for Me Dummy".