Royals Rumblings - News for September 19, 2017

Royals Rumblings - News for September 19, 2017

Craig Brown at Baseball Prospectus Kansas City is about ready to close the book on the Royals this year.

This may seem harsh, but the reality is one of the flaws plaguing the Royals is a lack of general good health. The team said on Saturday that they would give their walking wounded (Mike Moustakas and Salvador Perez, along with Lorenzo Cain) the day off on Sunday so with the team traveling on Monday, they would have the benefit of a full 48 hours of rest. Then, they would turn them loose for the final two weeks of the season. Moustakas himself admitted he could use “three or four or five days” to help his ailing knee.

Was anyone really surprised when Ned Yost summoned Moustakas for a pinch hit attempt in the eighth inning?

It’s the 2017 Royals in a nutshell. They know they shouldn’t do something. They announce their intentions. The intentions make a ton of sense. Yet, in the end, they just can’t help themselves.

Stephen Loftus at Fangraphs raves about Mike Minor and his new slider.

The results bear out the deadliness of this new slider. Batters now chase the pitch more readily, and Minor has been leveraging this willingness to chase, recording nearly as many whiffs as balls in play. When opponents do get a hold of the pitch, they do (little) damage to the tune of a .063 ISO on 13.8% line drives. And Minor, with reason, now trusts the slider quite a bit, more than doubling its use, nearly to the same amount as his fastball.

Nicholas Sullivan at Kings of Kauffman wonders if the Royals hadn’t traded Wade Davis.

The Royals set their Instructional League roster, with 2017 top pick Nick Pratto and top prospects Chase Vallot and Khalil Lee on the team.

Baseball America names Lee the top Royals minor league player of the year.

"We're really happy with what he did this year," assistant general manager J.J. Picollo said. "He gives you that feeling that Hos (Eric Hosmer), Moose (Mike Moustakas) and Wil Myers gave you as a young player. Hey, this guy can do damage. He's going to be a run-producer for us. He's a very gifted guy.

Beat writer Paul Boyd wraps up the Northwest Arkansas Naturals season.

Jeopardy had a nice local clue yesterday.

Jeff Passan still wants to see a seven-way tie for the Wild Card.

Major League Baseball will likely break the league-wide record for home runs in a season tonight.

Is Bob Geren the next Mets manager?

Technology threatens scouts, but it could also set them free.

Caps on international signings are causing teams to sign players at younger ages.

A proposed stadium for the Athletics has support from the business community.

Does Joe Mauer compare more to Don Mattingly when looking at his Hall of Fame case?

The 90s sitcom Friends is a huge hit among baseball players, particularly those trying to learn English.

Tragically, another young baseball player has been killed in a car collision in the Dominican Republic, this time Orioles minor leaguer Miguel Gonzalez.

Fox Sports has lost nearly 90% of its web traffic since its pivot to video.

The Minnesota Vikings hired a teen consultant to teach them how to be cool.

A judge with a ridiculous scorecard from the Alvarez/Golovkin fight last weekend is disciplined.

Should some tiny area suburbs merge with Kansas City?

RIP Stanislav Petrov, a Soviet officer who quietly saved the world from nuclear annihilation during the Cold War.

How the Emmy Awards put Hulu on the map.

Your song of the day is Steve Winwood with Higher Love.