Royals Rumblings - News for August 3, 2017

Jeffrey Flanagan pens the annual defense of Eric Hosmer’s defense in spite of advanced metrics speaking to its poorness:

The Royals see similar type plays from Hosmer all the time, so they mostly just wave off the unfavorable advanced defensive metrics on him. Hosmer doesn't seem to care about those statistics, either.

"That's for all you guys to figure out," Hosmer said, smiling. "I'm just trying to win games and do whatever I can to help this team."

Former Royals Review overlord Craig Brown tries to wash the taste of this Baltimore series out of his mouth:

Speaking of which, here is a story idea: Try to pinpoint the exact moment when Eric Hosmer goes into one of his worm burning slumps. No one on this Royals team runs hot or cold quite like their first baseman. The idea is something like being a weatherman… Create an early warning slump system so the Royals can take shelter. Anyway, here are Hosmer’s last five plate appearances:

Double play ground out to second.

Ground ball single to the pitcher.

Ground out to second.

Ground out to second.

Ground out to shortstop.

. . .

The idea truly stems more from a worry that if Hosmer goes into one of his offensive funks at any point during the regular season’s final two months, that would be some awful timing. The Royals are back in the hunt because his bat has anchored the middle of the order. The Royals need him and the production he can bring.

Baseball America’s Jim Callis ranks the prospects dealt at the deadline, saying the following about A.J. Puckett:

27. A.J. Puckett, RHP, White Sox (Royals): The former Pepperdine star hasn't had sharp stuff as a pro, so the White Sox are banking on his athleticism to help him rediscover the firmness he had with the Waves.

Callis also talks about Esteury Ruiz.

Eric Boston at Kings of Kauffman chats with a Cleveland counterpart about what they did at the deadline.

The Star’s Rustin Dodd caught up with one-time Royals Review scribe (and White House Press Secretary) Josh Earnest [a video you’ll want to watch].

At the Hardball Times, Paul Moehringer lays out his Pyramid Rating System as it applies to the Royals franchise over time.

Some Royals Reviewers and other Royals Twitter peeps played kickball. Here are some highlights.

Mike Petriello reports that teams—led by the Astros and Dodgers—are increasingly pulling their starting pitchers after their second time through the order.

Ken Woolmus at Beyond the Boxscore gives you the straight dope on revocable waivers, which you’ll hear a lot about over the next month until the waivers trade deadline passes.

Apparently Masahiro Tanaka is the anti-Banny.

Might the Dodgers break the all-time single-season win record?

Climate change will bring crazy humid heatwaves.

A first look at Bruce Willis as classic Bruce Willis in the Death Wish remake.

Bon Iver have announced a destination festival in Mexico.

Ian Ziering’s base salary for Sharknado 5 is greater than Gal Gadot’s for Wonder Woman because that makes sense.

The song of the day is “Me to Me” the single that bears the title from Quin Galavis’s album The Battery Line but does not appear on the record.