Royals Rumblings - News for May 1, 2017

Royals Rumblings - News for May 1, 2017

Ned Yost doesn’t question the effort.

“They're playing the game extremely hard,” Ned Yost said. “They're all trying to break out of this slump. We're trying to get them to try easier. We get runners on base and our numbers drop pretty dramatically.”

Alex Gordon thinks the team is better than this.

David Lesky at Baseball Prospectus Kansas City is pretty stumped by this offense.

Personally, it’s too early in the season for me to have lost all hope for a team that I actually really liked coming out of Surprise. I’m looking for something, anything, to hang my hat on with this offense. The problem is that it’s pretty hard to find. They’re not hitting the ball especially hard or especially far. They are hitting into some bad luck, but they’re creating some of their bad luck by not hitting the ball hard or far. So I’m not really sure where to look. The approaches of Whit Merrifield and Jorge Bonifacio have been welcome additions to the lineup. They carry the second and third best OBPs among Royals hitters now, though their sample is much smaller than everyone else’s. So that’s encouraging. Mike Moustakas has looked really good in the early going. I guess I’ll have to stick with knowing that these guys can’t possibly be this bad. All of these players have been no worse than slightly below average in the very recent past. I find it hard to believe that they’ve become garbage big league hitters in the blink of an eye, especially some of the players supposedly in their primes and looking toward big pay days. Yeah, I’ll go with that.

Ned Yost is pleased with how Matt Strahm has looked since he has returned.

"I'm very happy with the results we've gotten from him," manager Ned Yost said. "The period we had to send him down to get back on track really worked.

"We wanted to put him in a low-leverage situation to start out and from that point on it's just been 'put him back in the fire.' He's been very good."

Ahaha, Fox Sports Kansas City.

Clinton Riddle at Minor League Ball profiles Royals prospect Khalil Lee.

Lee can drive the ball to his pull side and hits hard line drives to opposite field as well. Coupled with slightly above-average speed (4.2 to first from the left side) and smart base-running, Lee will rack up his share of extra-base hits.

He doesn't typically get rattled at the plate, and 2-strike counts are no real assurance that he will go down swinging. His ability to square up both fastballs and breaking pitches will continue to put him on base with frequency despite his strikeout totals.

Trevor Beurman of KC Kingdom sees dark days ahead for the Royals.

Sean Thornton of Bleeding Royal Blue has some tongue-in-cheek ideas to wake up the offense.

Lee Judge says cold weather can affect curveballs.

Arizona’s Shelby Miller is having Tommy John surgery.

Nationals outfielder Adam Eaton is out for the year with an ACL injury.

Noah Syndergaard refuses an MRI because he is “in tune” with his body.

Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman calls Milwaukee’s Miller Park a “Little League field.”

The Rockies are the weirdest team in baseball.

Roger Goodell warns players about the dangers of marijuana.

Air Force refuses to waive active duty commitments for a potential pro football player.

United Airlines changes its policy on bumping passengers.

Roseanne is returning for a limited series.

Why American Gods is a gorgeous mess.

Your song of the day is Patti Smith with Nine.