Royals Rumblings - News for March 21, 2017

Royals Rumblings - News for March 21, 2017

Ned Yost won’t say it, but everyone expects Danny Duffy to be the Opening Day starter.

Even the club’s only other candidate for the honor, right-hander Ian Kennedy, is expecting to see Duffy against the Twins on Opening Day.

“I always just figured Duffy was,” Kennedy said.

Sam Mellinger gives his best guess at the starting lineup.

Anyway. My best guess:

Alex Gordon

Mike Moustakas

Lorenzo Cain

Eric Hosmer

Sal Perez

Brandon Moss

Jorge Soler

Christian Colon

Alcides Escobar

Or, maybe that’s just my best guess because that’s what I think it should be (feel free to sub out Whit Merrifield for Colon, if you’d like). I’m also starting to be a believer that Cheslor Cuthbert will play some at second, and if that happens, then the lineup might shift around a bit.

Peter O’Brien will give the Royals a tough decision.

"It's hard to go by Spring Training numbers, but he's been really, really good," Yost said. "He hasn't shown a huge propensity for swing and miss. He's handled all pitchers, all pitches pretty darn well. He's not a guy that they're just hammering offspeed or jamming him inside. He's had a great spring."

O'Brien doesn't lack confidence. He knows how well he's swinging, and he know he's done everything he can to put himself in the best position possible.

"It has been my best spring so far, for sure," O'Brien said. "I'm just trying to go out there and keep things simple and have fun. I think I've been rewarded for that, so I'm going to keep building on that and stay with that mentality and hopefully keep moving forward from here."

Clint Scoles at Baseball Prospectus Kansas City takes a look at Omaha’s potential rotation.

Winter quickly flew through the midwest this year leaving near 80-degree temperatures this past weekend. Things don’t look like they will cool down anytime soon for the Storm Chasers who could present quite the rotation for the Triple-A Royals squad. With an excellent spring to date, Josh Staumont may have locked down a spot in the Chasers alongside Jake Junis and Luke Farrell. The Royals could also use Kyle Zimmer in that rotation for Omaha with lefties Eric Skoglund or Jon Dziedzic filling out the fifth spot.

A top two of Zimmer, who is currently assigned to NW Arkansas, and Staumont would give Omaha their best twosome since June of 2013 when Danny Duffy and Yordano Ventura were fronting a rotation that would eventually win a PCL title.

Minor leaguer Donnie Dewees is impressing Royals brass.

Peter Moylan talks about his bid for a bullpen spot.

Terrance Gore wants to be more than a gimmick.

The Royals rank ninth in positional power at catcher, according to Fangraphs.

Former Royals outfielder Jonny Gomes will be doing studio work for the Athletics.

Royals prospect Khalil Lee wowed scouts this week.

Danny Duffy joins Snapchat.

The death of Yordano Ventura has prompted some to call for change in the Dominican.

Jarrod Dyson makes a list of home run-robbing catches.

The thought process behind Kevin Kiermaier’s deal with the Rays.

Tim Anderson could be getting a big contract from the White Sox.

Tim Tebow is assigned to low A ball.

Japanese star Shohei Otani has a complex path to Major League Baseball.

Brady Anderson’s role with the Baltimore Orioles is causing friction.

Mars might have had one big moon rather than two smaller moons.

How Netflix took over stand-up comedy.

Here is the happy, alternate ending to Rogue One.

Your song of the day is The Outfield with Your Love.