Royals Rumblings

Royals Rumblings - News for August 9, 2016

Many people are saying Royals Review is your best source of Royals news.

By Max Rieper@maxrieper Aug 9, 2016, 8:00am EDT

If you buy something from an SB Nation link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

Royals Rumblings - News for August 9, 2016

Evan Davis of Today’s Knuckleball writes that the Royals have a strikeout problem.

While everyone in the Royals lineup is adding strikeouts, it is clear that Hosmer, Gordon and Morales are most affected by them. They are all doing so a little differently than the others. It’s tough to find a common explanation, then, especially since none of them is selling out for extra walks or power. If they were staying more patient and squaring up the ball, then the strikeouts would be the cost of doing business. The Royals don’t preach power and patience. They live and die by high contact and low Ks. If those two metrics turn south, the team will suffer.

The emergence of Cheslor Cuthbert creates a dilemma for the Royals at third base.

"Those are baseball decisions that we’ll have to make and analyze," Royals general manager Dayton Moore said. "We’re fortunate that all of those guys are athletic enough to play multiple positions. Of course, we have the DH slot in the American League.

"There are ways to utilize those players in an effective way. But you can never have too many good players."

The Royals believe Cuthbert has the athleticism to handle multiple positions, including second base, should the scenario present itself. It could also be tempting to use the designated hitter role as a way to keep both Moustakas and Cuthbert involved.

Clark Fosler at Baseball Prospectus Kansas City looks at how Dayton Moore built a tradition of great bullpens.

It was a journey for Dayton Moore to get to a super pen. It was equal parts saavy (Holland, Soria the first time, Herrera, Madson) and luck (Hochevar, Crow and Davis), but the results are undeniable. With this strong base, it is difficult to foresee Kansas City falling back to mediocre bullpens anytime soon and I think we can give Dayton Moore his due on this one.

Starting pitcher Jake Junis is promoted from AA Northwest Arkansas.