Royals Rumblings - News for September 26, 2017

Royals Rumblings - News for September 26, 2017

Ned Yost reflects on this season.

“It was a good run, but obviously it’s not enough,” Moustakas said. “These teams are doing pretty good right now.”....

“There were times where we just couldn’t score enough runs to win ballgames,” Yost said. “We just couldn’t beat teams we were supposed to beat. If you’re going to be a playoff contender, there’s certain teams you’re supposed to be able to beat. We just couldn’t do it.”

The Royals may rest some starters, but not Alcides Escobar.

“He’s going to play 162,” Yost said plainly.

Escobar’s streak of consecutive starts represents the longest in Royals history and the longest active streak in baseball. His last day off came on Sept. 25, 2015, in the month before his team claimed the World Series championship. Barring injury, Escobar will be the first Royal to play 162 games in three seasons. No other Royal has done it more than once.

“He lives for this,” Yost said.“He’s going to play 162,” Yost said plainly.

Darin Watson at Baseball Prospectus assesses what we should have expected from these Royals.

We were told once that the Royals had “the best farm system in the history of whatever.” And yes, we got two World Series appearances and one World Series title from that. But is it fair to be disappointed that we didn’t get more?

I don’t think it’s greedy to have expected more. Certainly this year and last are disappointments, and I don’t think anyone would argue that. On the other hand, the 2012 season was a learning experience for that group, and expecting that many youngsters to win that soon is not realistic. It can happen, but usually it doesn’t. And 2013 was a different kind of learning experience for them—remember, they went 8-20 in May of that year, then 64-46 the rest of the season, and that bad month cost them a playoff spot.

Jeff Todd at MLBTradeRumors looks at whether the Royals will keep any free agents.

The Rangers may already be coveting Lorenzo Cain.

Lee Judge likes Royals hitters beating the shift.

Peter Moylan gets a prestigious honor.

What is at stake in this final week of the regular season?

Grant Brisbee stands up for Bruce Maxwell, who kneeled during the anthem.

Aaron Judge is having a rookie season for the ages.

The Dodgers bench Yasiel Puig for arriving late to a workout.

What if the Yankees traded Derek Jeter in 1996?

Here is Jayson Werth as Jon Snow and Bryce Harper as a direwolf.

Richard Bergstrom at Hardball Times writes about his experiences asking for players’ autographs.

Nerds fail horribly at football questions on Jeopardy.

The Buckeyes run a play where players high-five each other.

China blocks WhatsApp.

Just how bad is Chipotle’s queso?

Young Sheldon isn’t anything like The Big Bang Theory.

Your song of the day is Weezer with Island in the Sun.