Royals Rumblings - News for April 9, 2018
Brandon Maurer took the blame for giving up the game-winning home run on Sunday.
“He just beat me. Must have been a good pitch to hit,” Maurer said. “He put a good swing on it. Anything can happen if you put a good swing on it.”
Maria Torres writes about Justin Grimm gaining the confidence of Ned Yost.
“His breaking ball is a hammer breaking ball,” Royals manager Ned Yost said this week. “I mean his breaking ball reminds me of Don Sutton’s breaking ball. And by that I mean, if you can get to two strikes without using that breaking ball, you’re done.”....
“If you succeed in that opportunity, your leverage situations are going to increase until you get to the point where I set in my mind you’re my eighth-inning guy,” Yost said. “Is he working that way? Yeah.”
Nate Karns threw a side session, but his return is still uncertain.
“He’s getting closer,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “He threw on the side today. We’d like to get that fluid out soon, just get him going. We need to get him going.”
Rustin Dodd considers whether the offense will heat up when the weather does.
The Royals finished Saturday with fewer homers (two) than Angels pitcher/designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (three). Only Duda has an OPS above .675.
“It’s tough,” Butera said. “There’s a combination of things today. The cold weather, the shadows, the wind. It’s no excuse. It’s that same way for everybody.”
Butera believes the bats will heat up with the weather, and that is the hope. There is truth in this, too. No offense excels in cold weather, and the Royals’ early-season schedule has been increasingly brutal. It began with a cold weekend at home. It continued with snow flurries and freezing temperatures in Detroit. It continued this weekend as the cold front enveloped the upper Midwest. The sample size is still just six games.
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe notes scouts are checking out Danny Duffy, and he remains available for “the right package of prospects.”
Patrick Brennan has set up a Slack channel for anyone that wants to talk prospects.
Clubhouse Conversation talks to prospect Ryan O’Hearn.
Royals Farm Report looks at all the different uniforms worn by the Royals.
Eric Boston at Kings of Kauffman profiles Royals prospect Walker Sheller.
After his loss to the Royals, Trevor Bauer complained about pace of play rules.
The Phillies put up 20 runs on the Marlins in one game.
Anthony Rendon and Dave Martinez were victims of an ump show in Washington.
A missed pop-up by Eric Hosmer cost the Padres a win.
Yadier Molina flips out at Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo.
At The Athletic, Ken Rosenthal looks at the managers already in jeopardy.
Inside the making of Shohei Otani.
A history of double-duty players.
A’s third baseman Matt Chapman is becoming a star, and no one is watching him.
A Pirates usher retires after 81 seasons.
There is a new way to project quarterbacks, which may spell trouble for the 2018 NFL draft class.
The NBA told teams to stop tanking and no one listened.
The ability to manipulate video will make fake news more ubiquitous.
The most bizarre items from Russell Crowe’s divorce auction.
The oral history of one of the greatest episodes ever from The Office.
Your song of the day is Urge Overkill with Positive Bleeding.