Royals Rumblings

Royals Rumblings - News for June 3, 2016

Let's hold off on the comparisons of Drew Butera to Salvador Perez

By Max Rieper@maxrieper Jun 3, 2016, 8:00am EDT

Royals Rumblings - News for June 3, 2016

Jon Heyman gives an update on former Royals closer Greg Holland.

It appears former closer Greg Holland may wait until he’s throwing before signing with a new team for next year. He could take the mound as early as August. The Royals and Braves are among many teams with interest, some of whom made creative offers.

Hunter Samuels at Baseball Prospectus Kansas City explains Whit Merrifield's early magnificence.

This tells us Merrifield isn’t simply hitting the ball off the plate in every at-bat. He’s getting the ball in the air more than half the time, including a line drive rate of 30.6 percent, which puts him in the 86th percentile of AL batters with at least 40 plate appearances. He is hitting some ground balls (44.4 percent ground ball rate) but even his grounders are averaging 92.4 mph off the bat, with a launch angle of just -2 degrees. His ground balls have traveled an average of more than 155 feet, which is the second-highest average distance among all batters with at least 10 grounders recorded. In other words, his ground balls are still being hit hard, and they aren’t going directly down.

Merrifield is hitting the ball hard, even on ground balls, so it doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to see how he’s been able to have so much success thus far. His BABIP may be elevated, but it’s not due to a bunch of duck snorts and flares. His excellent results have been a result of excellent contact.

See ya next year, Moose.

Mike Moustakas had surgery on his left ACL in Florida today. Dr. James Andrew was the doc. No other damage found. Expected ready for 2017
— Joel Goldberg (@goldbergkc) June 2, 2016

Peter Gammons doubts the Royals make a big move this summer, despite contending.

Do the Royals need a starting pitcher and a position player or two? Yes. But the residue of going for it last year—and, remember, because Hosmer and Moustakas are Scott Boras clients their window of opportunity won’t be open long—it will be hard to make this year’s big deal. "I don’t think there are going to be many major trades for awhile," says Moore. "We’ll keep playing and see what happens. We’re playing well. These are special people." With Ned Yost the right manager of the culture, with the right coaches.

Sure, James Shields is tough, he is available, and he’s owed over $20M each of the next two years. Boston needs a veteran, but Shields is 2-9, 5.42 at Fenway. "Shields’ velocity is down," says an NL GM. "Unless the Padres eat most of the money, they can’t expect a prospect in return."

Lee Judge says fundamental baseball is contagious.

This is what the scouts were talking about. The Royals use all the tricks in the book, and you better know how to execute a hit-and-run, a safety squeeze or get a bunt down if you want to play for Kansas City. If you can’t do those things, you better hit the heck out of the baseball ... and if you don’t do that, you’re not going to be around for long.

When Eric Hosmer turns what should have been a routine single into a hustle double, it sends a message to the new kids: This is how we play, and we expect you to show the same kind of effort.

And that’s how a good team forces you to play good baseball.

Paulo Orlando and Ian Kennedy were named May Royals Player and Pitcher of the Month.

Mike Minor will reset his rehab time after a setback.

Mike Minor traveled with the Royals to Cleveland. Working through shoulder fatigue. His 30-day rehab clock will reset when he goes back out.
— Rustin Dodd (@rustindodd) June 2, 2016