Royals Rumblings - News for March 22, 2017

Royals Rumblings - News for March 22, 2017

Matt Strahm dismisses his rough outing against the Reds.

"It means absolutely nothing down here," Yost said. "Just a bunch of jam shots, broken-bat hits. It happens."

Strahm, too, conceded the unluckiness of the inning.

"But that's baseball," Strahm said. "Sometimes they hit a seed to the center fielder and you get an out.

Alcides Escobar is back in camp after Venezuela loses in the World Baseball Classic.

Brian Flynn has begun throwing for the first time since suffering broken ribs.

David Lesky at Baseball Prospectus Kansas City looks at the candidates to lead off for the Royals.

My gut at this moment is the Royals end up leading off with Gordon and then following him with Moose, Cain and Hosmer before the rest of the lineup falls into place. There will be discussion about whether or not Yost would have three lefties in the first four spots and while I think that’s a valid question, I also think he sees those particular lefties as less susceptible to platoon issues, right or wrong. That said, handedness could give Colon, Merrifield, Mondesi or, gulp, Escobar an opening to take that top spot and run with it. We’ll know more in just a couple weeks.

Jonah Keri drops Salvador Perez from his trade value rankings from last year.

Perez’s strong defensive reputation in media circles isn’t matched by what many in the game say about him (several talent evaluators I spoke to rated him as one of the worst defensive catchers in the majors) or by pitch-framing metrics (Perez finished dead-last in all of MLB last year in that category). One of the most prolific hackers in the league, Perez’s on-base percentages over the past three seasons have been .289, .280 and .288. He’s still a plus player, but those drawbacks overshadow his power and durability enough to knock him out of the top 50.

A.J. Puckett talks about his first professional season.

“I thought I could have pitched better, but it was just a fun atmosphere,” Puckett said. “It was an eye-opening experience. It was just going out there and getting the whole new experience of facing professional ball players.”

A pretty detailed account of Travis Wood growing up in Arkansas.

Many Royals are featured on the list of players who could get traded this summer.

The Royals rank 17th at positional power rankings at first base and 13th at third base, according to Fangraphs.

The White Sox sign shortstop Tim Anderson to a six-year, $25 million deal.

Former Royals pitcher Will Smith has UCL damage.

The World Baseball Classic has been an education for American players.

Sports Illustrated has their pre-season predictions with the Dodgers beating the Indians in the World Series and no post-season for the Royals.

Terry Francona has been a terrific communicator.

Baseball’s broadcast booths are pretty white.

David Ross’ debut on Dancing with the Stars was full of butt-bumps.

A complete timeline of Tom Brady’s missing uniform.

Two fake strongmen fool a bunch of morning news shows.

Google Fiber is cancelling hundreds of installations in Kansas City.

Smaller cable channels are dying off.

Dave Chappelle is back with a stand-up special for Netflix.

Your song of the day is Elvis Costello with Sour Milk Cow Blues.