Royals Rumblings - News for August 12, 2016

Royals Rumblings - News for August 12, 2016

Sam Mellinger writes about Alex Gordon’s terrible, horrible, no-good season.

And each of them can be explained, at least in part, by another theory: He’s not fully recovered from the broken scaphoid bone in his right hand. Hand and wrist injuries are the worst for hitters, and why coaches and executives cringe when they see a star slide headfirst.

Hitting is about timing, and strength, and speed. Nothing wrecks the whole thing quite like a major hand or wrist injury. You can hit with a bad ankle, or a sore knee. But with an injured hand or wrist you lose power, speed, flexibility. You compensate with bigger muscles, but then the swing is stiff, and full of holes for pitchers to exploit.

Again, there are some in and around the club who also believe Gordon is playing with pain or diminished strength. If he truly is at full strength then there is a bigger problem here, but that’s different than saying his struggles can be explained simply by the injury.

Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com highlights Royals pitcher A.J. Puckett as a 2016 draft pick off to a hot start.

Two things that stand out for the Pepperdine product are his innings -- 41 and counting -- and the fact that he's reached full-season ball already. Along the way, Puckett has posted a 2.85 combined ERA, walked just two per nine innings and held hitters to a .233 batting average against. It might not take him long to make his way to Kansas City.

David Schoenfield lists the most underrated players for each team.

Danny Duffy, P. Not really a good candidate, but Duffy is having a season that should be recognized. After moving briefly to the bullpen, he returned to working full time from the stretch, which has seemed to help him develop more consistent mechanics, which in turn has helped alleviate some of the control problems that plagued him in the past.

A closer look at Salvador Perez's pitch-framing.

This is still a major area for improvement, though. StatCorner’s framing data goes back to 2007, and in that time, Perez’s five seasons all rank in the bottom seven among Royals catchers, with this season ranking as his worst. Perez doesn’t have to become Posey, but a bit more work on his receiving skills could only help a Royals staff that could benefit by getting one or two more called strikes a game.

Lee Judge argues the Royals have an advantage in extra-inning games.

The August 28 game in Boston has been moved to a night game for ESPN Sunday Night Baseball.

The Royals renew their agreement with the Idaho Falls Chukars through 2018.

Visually impaired kids get a unique tour of Kauffman Stadium.

MLB television viewership is up again.

Mets manager Terry Collins goes on a rant.

Is Joe Girardi mistreating Alex Rodriguez by not starting him during his last week?

Steroids probably aren't behind the spike in home runs this year.

An ode to Prince Fielder and his violent swing.

Jeff Zimmerman writes about watching 56 hours of baseball in one weekend at the NBC tournament in Wichita.

Patrick Roy quits the Colorado Avalanche in a huff.

Your complete Premier League preview.

The latest episode of "Pretty Good" is about the terrible conditions of the marathon at the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis.

What went wrong with the second season of Mr. Robot?

The official trailer for Rogue One, the newest Star Wars movie, was unveiled last night.

Your song of the day is Matt & Kim with "Daylight."