Weekend Rumblings - News for September 17, 2016

Go Storm Chasers!

By Max Rieper@maxrieper Sep 17, 2016, 10:00am EDT

Weekend Rumblings - News for September 17, 2016

Brandon Warne at Today’s Knuckleball looks at Danny Duffy’s transition to dominant starter.

A fair amount of this theory shows up in Duffy’s whiff rates as well. He was between 19-25 percent in whiff rates — read: elite — for not only his slider, which is to be expected, but also his four-seamer and sinker. That’s absolutely bananas for two pitches like that. What we’ve seen on his four-seamer and sinker in the rotation — 12.1 percent and 6.9 percent, respectively — are far more indicative of rates we’d expect from a really good starter with swing-and-miss stuff. The change has gone through the roof — from 7.1 percent to 15.7 percent, which perhaps speaks to him using it as a “use-it-or-lose-it” pitch as a reliever.

Brett Eibner was totally surprised the Royals traded him this summer.

So on a day in late July, Eibner fielded an unexpected call from Royals general manager Dayton Moore. He was being sent to Oakland after seven years in the organization. The moment stunned him, he says, but he holds no ill will toward the team that drafted him, signed him and stuck by him during a slew of injury-plagued years in the minor leagues.

“As far as Dayton giving me a call personally, and telling me, I thought that was pretty special,” Eibner said. “It’s just kind of the organization and how they are.

Lee Judge looks at the pros and cons of a stubborn manager like Ned Yost.

In this age of counting how many times a ball spins on its way to home plate and measuring the efficiency of an outfielder’s route, gut instinct has gotten a bad name. If you believe following gut instinct is a bad idea, go read “Blink,” Malcolm Gladwell’s book on the subject — I’ll wait here.

OK, I’m guessing that you didn’t actually go read the book, so I’ll give you the short version: if you have sufficient expertise in a subject, gut instinct is your subconscious speaking to you. Refuse to listen to that gut instinct and you’re probably about to make a mistake.

Darin Watson at Baseball Prospectus Kansas City look at the 1989 Topps card for Bo Jackson.

Royals fans thank the Royals for a terrific run.

Former Royals reliever Joel Peralta calls it quits.

Jon Heyman previews what the top 30 free agents might get this winter.

The BBWAA really messed up the vote for American League MVP.

Did the Padres get off easy for withholding medical information?

Ryan Howard nears the end of the road with the Phillies.

Nobody wants to run the Minnesota Twins.

Theo Epstein wears a fake mustache to sit in the Wrigley Field bleachers.

RIP W.P. Kinsella, who wrote Shoeless Joe, the book that became the film Field of Dreams.

Meet the only female General Manager in the independent Atlantic League.

BYU might became a “football-only” invite to the Big 12.