Royals Rumblings - News for August 23, 2016

Royals Rumblings - News for August 23, 2016

Sam Mellinger thinks the Royals chances of making the playoffs are rather slim.

The math is simple enough. Ninety wins is a good guess on what will be required for a wild-card spot. To get there, the Royals would need to win 26 of their final 38 games. They have not won 26 of 38 this year, which is probably self-evident, but even a year ago, when they won more games than anyone in the league, they did not have a stretch of 26-12.

The Royals won 26 of 38 during their finishing kick of 2014, but actually, combined with what they’ve done in the last two weeks this would be a 37-13 finish. The Royals have not won 37 of 50 since 1980, when George Brett was batting .400. In the last five years, only the 2013 Dodgers and 2015 Blue Jays have been that good over 50 games.

Darin Watson at Baseball Prospectus Kansas City breaks down what is ahead for the Royals.

So what do the numbers say?

The Royals’ remaining opponents have a weighted winning percentage of .496, and a weighted third-order wins percentage of .500. Sounds pretty easy, right? Unfortunately, Detroit’s opponents come in at .487 in both categories. Seattle’s opponents are at .488/.470. At least the Royals have a chance to handle Detroit on their own. At the other end of the spectrum are Baltimore (.515/.547) and New York (.528/.548). The Orioles were already slipping a bit; their tough schedule the rest of the way may finish them off.

The Royals bullpen really stepped it up once Wade Davis went down.

In the month of August, the Royals bullpen has allowed just 10 earned runs in 55 1/3 innings, helping the team storm back into contention. As the Royals (64-60) prepared to open a three-game series against the Miami Marlins on Tuesday night, the Kansas City relief corps owned a 29-inning scoreless streak....

“I don’t think it was a feeling (that we needed to step up),” Moylan said. “It’s more of a necessity. When you lose somebody like Wade and Hoch, for most teams that would be the end of the season, but these guys — Strahmy, C.Y., Wanger — the guys you wouldn’t have read about to start the year, they’ve stepped up and had a good run.”

Jason Vargas had his first rehab start for Omaha last night.

The Red Sox may be interested in former Royals closer Greg Holland.

Rally Mantis gets featured on NPR’s Morning Edition.

John Viril at Kings of Kauffman recalls the time former Royals outfielder Lonnie Smith wanted to shoot General Manager John Schuerholz.

Stephen Strasburg lands on the disabled list with an elbow injury.

The Pirates sign David Freese to a two-year extension.

The Dodgers are trying to give away Yasiel Puig, but no one wants him.

Tony LaRussa defends the Diamondbacks front office against charges of incompetence.

The California League will contract two teams, including a former Royals affiliate in High Desert.

Darryl Strawberry is trying to save the life of Dwight Gooden, who is struggling with drug addiction.

Here is your 2016 College Football Preview.

Are millennials the reason why NBC’s ratings tanked for the Olympics?

Why are so many airport stores branded for news networks?

A bunch of partying Americans accidentally floated to Canada.

Your guide to every sci-fi and fantasy show on TV this fall.

Your song of the day is Franz Ferdinand with “Darts of Pleasure.”