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Maria Torres from the Kansas City Star profiled Burch Smith after his first MLB start in five years.
“A year ago today, I didn’t think that I would be able to throw a baseball without breaking my arm,” Smith said on Tuesday.
Also for the Star, Blair Kerkhoff talks Royals TV ratings:
Through games of July 8, the Royals averaged a 4.7 household rating on Fox Sports Kansas City, according to Nielsen Media Research. That’s the percentage of Kansas City’s approximately 900,000 TV households. At the same time a year ago, the Royals averaged a 7.7 household rating...
What’s interesting is the Royals remain in the top five among 29 baseball teams in local market ratings (except Toronto, because Nielsen doesn’t track Canadian viewership trends).
In yesterday’s Rumblings, OMD linked to an article about “Papa John” and his troubles. The Star’s Pete Grathoff mentions both MLB and the Royals have suspended their promotions with the company.
There was also a Lee Judge article about... ok, you got me. You know I’m not going to post that.
BPKC’s Clint Scoles put out his Top 30 Royals Prospects list now that the draft is over. I’ll give you the top 5 but you need to go read his article to see the rest (and his notes):
1. Khalil Lee
2. Jackson Kowar
3. MJ Melendez
4. Seuly Matias
5. Brady Singer
Three Royals articles from three different sites on the FanSided network:
- Tyler Dierking at KOK is “Checking in on the Royals first 8 picks”.
- Leigh Oleszczak at KC Kingdom posits the “Kansas City Royals don’t have to trade Whit Merrifield”.
- Patrick Green at Call to the Pen claims “The Kansas City Royals probably won the 2017 Rule 5 draft”.
Alex Duvall at Royals Farm Report takes MLB and MiLB to task for awful marketing:
Baseball teams, do us ALL a favor, instead of taunting the people who weren’t taught to love your game, draw them in with some kind of reasonable promotion (ya know, by being good at your job) and show them how awesome this game is once they’re in the stadium.
I guess this is the week to look at the early return on Eric Hosmer signing with the Padres here at Hosmer Review (TM). Here’s Dan Szymborski’s (Szymborski! Szymborski!) article at Fangraphs:
Is it time for the Padres to panic about Hosmer? That’s definitely a bit too far for me, but there has to be serious cause for concern with this funk in which Hosmer finds himself. It may be unreasonable for him to become some deity of launch angles or anything, but I have to believe that, at this point, some change in his approach and swing could have an effect; despite his longstanding reputation as line-drive hitter, he’s only been about league-average at hitting liners over the course of his career. I still think there’s significant upside left in Hosmer, because he’s had some excellent seasons even with this approach at the plate.
For tanking teams looking at next year’s draft, Eric Longenhagen has his “Early 2019-21 Draft Rankings”.
#PlayBadlyForAdley, however, is a FanGraphs-approved tanking hashtag.
In his daily prospect notes, he looks at Carlos Hernandez down in Lexington
Hernandez has a golden arm that produces plus-plus velocity and riding life, but he also has several traits that will likely push him to the bullpen. His secondaries are inconsistent, as is his fastball command, and Hernandez is a relatively stiff short-strider. It’s possible that some of these things improve, just probably not enough for Hernandez to be an efficient starter. Not much has to improve for him to be a bullpen piece, though — and potentially a very good one.
Maybe it’s promising that CBS Sports is looking at contending teams and making shopping lists. The list for the Indians, Brewers, and Red Sox all include Whit Merrifield. Mike Moustakas is also on the list for the Indians.
MLB is trying new ways to get you into the park:
MLB and CLEAR have teamed up to implement biometric ticketing at select stadiums across the country that will allow fans to use their fingerprints — and eventually facial recognition — to enter the stadium on game day, eliminating the need for printed tickets at all. The program will begin at select ballparks later this season, with its full rollout launching next year at stadiums that already use CLEAR and Tickets.com.
Apparently Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh racked up huge bills on home improvements and Nats playoff tickets.
He ran up between $60,000 and $200,000 in debt split among three cards and a personal loan. According to filings reported by the Post, the credit card debts were paid off in 2017. Well that, or they were low enough to not have to be reported.
That’s a lot of money for a franchise that still hasn’t won a playoff series since moving from Montreal.
Finally, for a random non-sports story: “There Will Only Be 1 Blockbuster in America Soon”.
Due to a project at work this week (and next), I didn’t have time for one of my usual missives. But it is Friday the 13th and I wanted something fitting. I’m don’t play a lot of horror games, but I thought the first level of the iconic Doom was a worthy selection. This particular track is called “At Doom’s Gate” and it’s interesting how many tracks from the game are synthesized versions of popular hard rock and metal riffs.