Royals Rumblings - News for June 15, 2016

Royals Rumblings - News for June 15, 2016

Though the Royals have been getting hits, they aren't scoring many runs when they do so.

It seemed to me that this has been a fairly regularly occurrence this season, so I decided to check. I looked through the team’s game logs to find games in which the Royals had 10 hits or more (above their per game average), while scoring three runs or fewer.

There have been 29 games this season in which the team had double-digit hits. That’s pretty good! Of those 29, seven have resulted in three runs or fewer being scored. That’s pretty bad! Almost a quarter of the Royals’ best hit-collecting performances have not led to an above-average scoring output.

Sam Mellinger talks about Whit Merrifield's long journey to the big leagues, how he fits in, and his future.

Merrifield isn’t working against an Avilesian gust. The Royals’ scouts have long liked him, but he never had a huge minor-league season until 2014, and by then the big-league roster was mostly set with others ahead of him in the queue.

Still, baseball people in general are an optimistic bunch who bring out their skepticism for 27-year-old rookies. There are no perfect baseball swings, and big-league pitchers have a way of identifying and exploiting weaknesses. The game has proven to be calibrated in a way that might allow for a hot start, but that’s it.

The important thing isn’t the instant success. Respect is earned after the league adjusts, and then adjusts again, targeting the softest part of a man’s game and forcing him to swim or drown.

That’s the test that awaits Merrifield in the coming weeks and months.

Mike Moustakas doesn't have any regret about the play that ended his season.

"I play the game hard just like everybody else in this clubhouse does. That’s why we’re as good as we are. We play the game hard every pitch, and we don’t take pitches off," Moustakas said, later adding, "Alex plays harder than anybody else on this team. For him to go after that ball and for me to go after that ball, it was just something that we always do.

"I wouldn’t have done anything different. I would’ve gone after that ball as hard as I did, and I’m sure he would’ve done the same thing."

Other items of interest

Take a look at the newly revealed Rio Olympic and Paralympic medals.

You probably should be running the 5K instead of the marathon.

Here's a very detailed map of House Targaryen in Game of Thrones. As someone who doesn't watch Game of Thrones, I just assume it all says 'Hodor,' but I could be wrong.

There's a VR experience for the new Final Fantasy, and it does not feel quite right.

IUDs have had a huge impact on teen pregnancy, but can they succeed in the Bible Belt?

Song of the day

The world could use some more love, and certainly needs more a capella choral pieces. Here's two of those things together in a impeccable arrangement and performance by Voctave.