Weekend Rumblings - News for July 1, 2017

Weekend Rumblings - News for July 1, 2017

Ned Yost is leaning towards having Travis Wood replace Matt Strahm in the rotation.

“He’s been right back to (throwing) strikes. Been very efficient; been very effective,” Yost said. “Let’s give it a shot and see what we got.”

After posting a 9.31 ERA in his initial 18 games, Wood has completed seven straight scoreless outings, spanning 9 1/3 innings. He has walked just one over that time frame.

“It’s going to be a long weekend, and (after) that last game, the bullpen is probably going to be pretty shot, so hopefully I can go out there and go as deep as they’ll let me,” Wood said.

Danny Duffy will return Tuesday.

"[Duffy] can go 90-95 pitches [Tuesday]," Yost said. "We'll make that determination in the next day or two. We're leaning that way. He got to 70 pitches last night and said he could have gone three more innings."

Luke Farrell will have his father watching his MLB debut tonight.

It doesn’t look like the Royals have any intention of being sellers.

“What I feel is what I feel every year,” Moore said. “At this time of year, as we make honest evaluations of our team, we’ll evaluate what the landscape looks like and opportunities to improve for this year and beyond.”

For now, Moore remains noncommittal about how aggressive the Royals might be in looking for help on the trade market. Like any team, they have corners of the roster that could be upgraded.

The injuries to Danny Duffy and Nathan Karns have thinned the rotation and exposed the unit’s depth. If designated hitter Brandon Moss — and for that matter, outfielder Jorge Soler — continue to struggle at the plate, the club use a veteran bat to bolster the lowest-scoring offense in the league. To become buyers, the Royals would likely need to add to their club-record payroll or part with pieces from an already thin farm system. The former would take belief from owner David Glass. The latter could harm the organization’s future.

“We’ll see what’s available to us,” Moore said. “Who knows what players are going to be available?”

Vahe Gregorian writes that the Royals’ faith in themselves is being rewarded.

But if we’ve learned anything the last few years, it’s that the convergence of this leadership team — from Moore to manager Ned Yost and their numerous colleagues and assistants — and this particular core of players have a way of flouting the odds and creating their own reality.

So, maybe this is a Pollyanna view.

Maybe trying to have it both ways will ultimately backfire over the last 81 games, and on into the future.

And, yep, you’d sure rather have Davis and Morales along for this part of it.

Just the same, this road less traveled — both forks and all — has led to one worth seeing through.

Jesse Newell looks at why Eric Hosmer has gone from first-to-third so infrequently.

My guess was that Hosmer might have just been playing it conservatively too often. Maybe he didn’t trust his speed while trying to avoid mistakes on the basepaths.

It’s why what I saw was surprising. Hosmer, in those 12 clips, didn’t have much of a chance to get to third.

And that was mostly because of his teammate Perez.

No one is expecting Mike Moustakas to be part of the Home Run Derby.

And no one at ESPN projects him to make the All-Star team.

Royals minor league catcher Mark Sanchez is suspended 80 games for a banned substance.

Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs gives a primer of the July 2 international signing period.

June saw the most home runs in MLB history.

The Red Sox release Allen Craig.

Beyond the Boxscore does a re-draft of the 1993 expansion draft for the Marlins and Rockies.

An oral history of A League of Their Own on its 25th anniversary.

Paul George is headed to Oklahoma City.

An incredibly awful story of a college football player’s kidnapping and torture.

The organizer of the Fyre Festival debacles is arrested on wire fraud charges.

Mahershala Ali may headline the next season of True Detective.

Your song of the day is Clifford Brown with Jordu.