Royals Rumblings

Royals Rumblings - News for July 12, 2016

TONIGHT IT COUNTS

By Max Rieper@maxrieper Jul 12, 2016, 8:00am EDT

Royals Rumblings - News for July 12, 2016

Kevin Haskin of the Topeka Capitol-Journal doubts the Royals can return to the World Series.

"Any time you lose the guys we have, it’s tough," Eibner said, before adding: "We’re not going to just give in and roll over." That much we expect from the Royals now. Still, a concerted push will require more consistency from starters. That group features just one pitcher, Danny Duffy (4-1), with a winning record. Win-loss records are sometimes misleading, but in this case worth noting since Sunday marked the 23rd time a KC starter failed to pitch at least five innings. That taxes a bullpen, which is missing injured All-Star closer Wade Davis and has not been lights-out dominant. At this point, a third consecutive World Series berth looks improbable. Doing so, of course, is hard. Yet the Royals often played their best the past two years when things looked most difficult.

Salvador Perez is guiding Eric Hosmer through his first All-Star game experience.

"Yeah," Hosmer said of Perez being with him the whole way. "He’s going to show me the way, show me the ropes, show me how to do it."

And Perez, well, he’s got a few things to show Hosmer this week in San Diego, site of Tuesday’s All-Star Game. "Everything. Chicas," Perez’s voice faded and became laughter. "See man, I got your back. Don’t worry."

Ned Yost talks about Royals fandom on Speak for Yourself (warning Jason Whitlock).

"Are you aware of the impact Royals success has had on that city?" @WhitlockJason asks KC Royals Manager Ned Yost.https://t.co/vLaPdSX8md
— Speak For Yourself (@SFY) July 11, 2016

Hosmer wants to party with Lee Judge.

TV reporter asked Eric Hosmer who he'd want to hang with for a night in San Diego.

Hosmer: "Pretty much the whole Kansas City Star staff."
— Rustin Dodd (@rustindodd) July 11, 2016

Hunter Dozier has completely turned around his career to become a legitimate prospect.

So what changed? The factors are many, but in simple terms, Dozier says he ditched the constant tinkering, the non-stop analysis of his swing. He started over with an old formula.

"I’m just kind of doing what I was doing before last year," Dozier says. "It’s what I was doing in college, when I first got drafted. I’m just trying to keep it simple, not trying to do too much, and just really enjoying the game of baseball again."

Fangraphs ranks Salvador Perez #44 in their trade value column.

The Royals’ star catcher is one of the most dynamic backstops in the game, playing basically every day, and getting a lot of credit for the team’s success over the last few years. But this year, he’s also made some changes to his offensive game, swinging for the fences more often and eschewing ground balls, allowing him to add real power to his skillset. With a more productive level of offense, a sterling defensive reputation, and absurd durability given his workload, Perez has emerged as a tremendously valuable player. And even after the Royals re-worked his contract in order to reward him for his performance, he remains wildly underpaid, as his 2017 salary is in line with what a broken middle reliever gets in free agency. Perez might not age that well, given his size and what the Royals have asked him to do early in his career, but for the next few years, he’s a terrific player making peanuts.

Lee Judge on why you should pay close attention to the next 16 games for the Royals.

Fox Sports Kansas City will air a Royals marathon on Thursday.

Royals sign RHP Paul Young out of Mississippi State. He made just nine appearances this spring and was arrested for assault last year.

The Royals sign a pair of international free agents - outfielders Daytan Biegel from Curacao and Randor Vargas from the Dominican Republic.

Bo Jackson's Royals jersey is one of the top retro jersey sellers.

Grant Brisbee picks his mid-season awards.

Why would the Dodgers want to trade Yasiel Puig?

Chris Sale says Tony Gwynn's death from cancer got him to quit chewing tobacco.

The evolution of MLB jersey colors over the last 50 years.

Tim Duncan is retiring, here are the best Onion stories parodying him.

Larry Brown's resignation from SMU ends a bizarre chapter.

UFC gets sold to WWE for $4 billion.