Royals Rumblings

Royals Rumblings - News for June 18, 2018

Are frustrations boiling over?

By Max Rieper@maxrieper Jun 18, 2018, 8:00am EDT

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Royals Rumblings - News for June 18, 2018

Rustin Dodd talks about how the Royals will handle Adalberto Mondesi.

“I’m going to start him out kind of easy, three or four days a week,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “And then kind of go from there.”

To juxtapose how the Royals dealt with Mondesi in the past with how they are handling him now offers a decent helping of cognitive dissonance. When he was barely 21 and had a mixed track record in the minors — when he was still going by Raul — the team pushed him to the big leagues. Now? Not so much.

Dodd also looks at how historically bad the Royals are this year.

When considering the Royals’ runs scored vs. runs allowed, the club has actually played a game or two better than expectations. Yet with a series finale against the Astros on Sunday, and an eight-game road trip to Houston, Milwaukee and Seattle on the horizon later this month, the long-range forecast remains bleak. With 258 runs scored through 70 games, the Royals are on pace to score fewer than 600 runs in a full season for just the third time in franchise history – and the first time since 1972. With just 22 wins in 70 games, the team could become the first in club history to crack 110 losses.

Fun fact about this Royals team

Finding every team's pythagorean winning percentage since 1960, the Royals are the seventh worst team in the modern-era, standing at 32.03%.

This Royals team is bad at a historical level. pic.twitter.com/8gUD4p9IDM
— Patrick Brennan (@paintingcorner) June 17, 2018

Danny Duffy was upset after being ejected in Sunday’s loss.

Danny Duffy on team's run-ins with umpire John Tumpane: “I’m personally getting tired of getting punked by Tumpane. I think we all are. And I think it needs to be looked at. I’m not saying there’s bias there but I’m sure it will go back to whoever it needs to go back to.”
— Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) June 17, 2018

Ned Yost tried to stay upbeat after learning Jorge Soler will miss at least six weeks with a broken toe.

“There’s just not much you can do,” Yost said. “You just keep trying to stay positive, you keep encouraging, keep working. We were struggling when Jon Jay was here and Soler was here, too.”

David Lesky at Baseball Prospectus Kansas City has had about enough of Alcides Escobar.

Alcides Escobar holds a very special place in Royals history. He was ALCS MVP, hit an inside-the-park home run to start the World Series (the scorer didn’t call it an error, so it’s not an error) and was one of the key cogs on the team that brought baseball joy back to Kansas City. He will never lose that. But come on. Let’s end this. He’s now in the midst of either his worst or second worst offensive season, hitting .216/.264/.307 with a .204 TAv. Sure he’s walking more, but he’s somehow hitting less than ever. His defense is no longer a clear positive, and it might actually be a negative.

Reviewing the Brewers looks at trade ideas between the Royals and Brewers.

Royals prospect Seuly Matias smacks home run number 22 on the year.

Sean Thornton at Bleeding Royal Blue writes about the bond between fathers and sons over baseball.

The pitchers succeeding without strikeouts.

A Brewers pitcher vomited twice on the mound, but still finished the inning.

Can teams unlock the clubhouse chemistry that unleashes greatness?

Maybe MLB attendance issues are a result of the standings?

Why a bigger strike zone is a bad idea.

How a professional gambler built one of the preeminent baseball training facilities for pros.

The Yankees are considering buying back the YES Network for $4 billion.

Kawhi Leonard wants out of San Antonio.

The U.S. Open got a little nuts over the weekend.