Royals Rumblings - News for August 22, 2017

Royals Rumblings - News for August 22, 2017

Ned Yost is still optimistic the Royals can make a run.

“We’re a good week away from being in first place is the way I look at it,” Yost said, before being reminded of his team’s place, still 7 1/2 games out on Sunday morning.

“We’re a good week away from being a half-game out of the division,” he corrected. “So my mindset is always on the division.”

There is time to make up ground, but the math does not play in their favor. To win the division, the Royals would need to play seven games better than the Indians over the course of 39 games. It would likely require a historic finish from the Royals or an epic collapse from Cleveland. Yet the wild-card race represents what Yost terms as a decent “fall-back plan.”

David Lesky at Baseball Prospectus Kansas City doesn’t see the Royals having much of a shot at the division.

The Indians are now on pace for 90 wins, which I’ve kind of believed for awhile would take the AL Central. I still do because either the Indians get to that and win the division by eight or nine games or the Royals get there and have to beat the Indians enough in the final seven games between the two teams that Cleveland falls off that pace. So let’s say 90 is enough for the division. In the final 39 games, the Royals would have to go 28-11. Their best 39-game stretch this season is 26-13. They’ve accomplished that three times, but they were all part of the same general winning stretch. So yeah, that’ll be tough, though if they go something crazy like 6-1 against the Indians the rest of the way, 88 wins might take the division.

Bradford Doolittle at ESPN considers the potential falling of Steve Balboni’s home run record.

Every franchise except Kansas City has had at least three 36-homer seasons. The Yankees have had 44.

Four players -- Bonds, McGwire, Reggie Jackson and Chris Davis, have had seasons in which they reached 37 homers by the All-Star break.

Joe Posnanski recalls when he wanted Dean Palmer to break Balboni’s record.

Old friend Greg Holland returns to Kansas City this week.

Danny Duffy and his mother share some laughs.

Ian Kennedy does something special for service members.

Bubba Starling lands on the disabled list for Omaha.

Eric Skoglund changes uniform numbers.

Can scouts and Statcast co-exist?

Andrew Miller exits after facing just one hitter.

The Pirates and Cardinals playing in the Little League Classic was a huge success.

Bartolo Colon has now defeated every team in baseball.

The Giants have already been eliminated from winning their division.

Terry Collins may not be returning to the Mets next year.

Is Miguel Sano getting too big for his britches?

Dodgers personnel traveled to Japan to scout Shohei Otani.

Your 2017 college football preview.

What we learned about 2017 Summer Slam.

Universities are beginning to phase out luxury dorms.

So, about those plot twists and pacing in Game of Thrones.

The iconic film that best represents each state.

Your song of the day is REM with Man on the Moon.