Royals Rumblings - News for September 13, 2016

Royals Rumblings - News for September 13, 2016

Lee Judge looks at the virtue of swinging early in the count.

Both Hosmer and Morales hit their homers on first-pitch fastballs. Sale has nasty secondary pitches, so swinging at the first good pitch you see isn’t a bad idea; you don’t want to fall behind in the count and have to face his slider. In 2016 opponents hit .313 when they put Sale’s first pitch in play; if they watched that first pitch go by for a strike they hit .182.

Over the last couple seasons the Royals have shown they can be successful by swinging early in the count and Sunday’s win over the White Sox was just one more example.

Patience isn’t always a virtue.

Hunter Samuels at Baseball Prospectus Kansas City likes the Royals finding their aggressiveness on the bases.

Since the break, though, something has changed. They’ve already stolen 49 bases in 51 games this half, which leads the league. Their success rate is pushing 80 percent, and that has emboldened them to be more aggressive, attempting to steal in 9.6 percent of their opportunities.

That mark is up even more in the last two weeks, as they’ve stolen 23 bases in their last 13 games, and they’ve been caught five times. Those 28 stolen base attempts have come in 166 opportunities, for a takeoff rate of 16.9 percent.

The Royals have returned to running like the Royals, and it’s resulted in more runs.

Joakim Soria says he doesn’t need extra rest.

But Soria points out that the rest issue hasn't been a factor in the past. His career ERA on zero rest is 2.66.

"I just think it's a different season," Soria said. "Every season there's something else you can look up in terms of stats.

"But I'll do whatever [Yost] wants me to do. Maybe [Yost] has found something that will help us win. That's all that matters."

Kendrys Morales is named American League Player of the Week, the second time he has received that honor this year.

Danny Duffy pays respects to the Rally Mantis.

The Royals set times and dates for FanFest on January 27-28.

Royals minor league teams had the fourth-worst record in baseball.

Former Royals minor leaguer Cody Decker is excited to represent Israel at World Baseball Classic qualifiers.

Danny Valencia may join Billy Butler in the unemployment line.

Tango Tiger is looking for fan scouting reports.

The Reds rotation, full of former Royals prospects, is full of potential.

A college kid solicits donations via Venmo with his College Game Day sign.

If you make funny faces at a sporting event, you might become a meme.

What is to be learned from the new confessional book from the BTK killer?

Missouri has become one of the fastest growing markets for start-ups.

Kemper Arena is put on the National Register of Historic Places.

What are the problems with “too much good TV”?

Your song of the day is Joy Division with “Transmission.”