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Royals Rumblings - News for August 16, 2018

Now with more beets

By Josh Duggan

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MLB: Toronto Blue Jays at Kansas City Royals Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Jeffrey Flanagan points out that Salvador Pérez became just the fifth Royal to have four consecutive 20-dong seasons:

Perez joins John Mayberry, Steve Balboni, Bo Jackson and Mike Sweeney as the only Royals to hit 20 or more homers four straight years.

”It means a lot to me,” Perez said. “It means I’m growing and can help the team.”

At the Athletic (subscribe here and give me ten clams in Amazon monies), Rustin Dodd weighs this Royals squad against the previous low-water mark for the franchise, 2005:

The Big Young Pitcher With Promise

2005: This is hard to believe now, but reliever Andy Sisco, a 22-year-old Rule 5 draft pick, was second on the team with 2.3 WAR, according to Baseball-Reference. He had a 3.11 ERA with 76 strikeouts in 75 1/3 innings. And he never matched that early success. He posted a 7.11 ERA in 2006 and lasted just one more year in the majors, later undergoing Tommy John surgery.

2018: Thirteen years later, the Royals have another Rule 5 pick who is second on the team in WAR: Brad Keller, who turned 23 in July, has a 3.40 ERA in 95 1/3 innings. He’s 4-4 with a 3.82 ERA since joining the starting rotation.

Worse: 2005

Former RR overlord Craig Brown urges Dayton Moore to forget the past and look to the future at BP KC:

With around a quarter of the season remaining, now is the time for the Royals to jettison the veteran bats and unleash the kids. The process is already underway as we’ve seen with the trades for Brett Phillips and Brian Goodwin, the waiver claim of Rosell Herrera and the return from suspension of Jorge Bonifacio. This trio, along with Mondesi, needs to be in the lineup everyday. That means there’s no room for Lucas Duda, Escobar, and as much as it pains me to write it, Alex Gordon. Duda should have some value somewhere as a left-handed platoon option. Either trade him for an organizational guy or let him walk. Gordon has a contract that makes him untradeable, so he’s not going anywhere but the bench. Escobar has no value whatsoever and needs to be released outright.

The remainder of the season will be ugly, but not any uglier than we’ve already seen. Play an outfield of Herrera, Phillips and Bonifacio every day. Mix in Goodwin when he returns from the disabled list. Move them around on the field and in the lineup and find their optimal roles where they could maximize their potential in the future. And light a candle for Jorge Soler.

On the infield, let Hunter Dozier bounce back and forth between first and third. I don’t believe he’s a big leaguer by any stretch, but we have nothing but time, so let’s double check that assessment. Give Ryan O’Hearn a few reps at first and keep a first baseman’s mitt warm for Salvador Perez. Why not? We know Whit Merrifield can play just about anywhere, so there’s really no need to move him around, so let him get some reps up the middle with his double play partner Mondesi. Add the possibility of Herrera at third just for fun.

At the Players Tribune, Willie Mays Aikens pens a letter to his younger self.

The Royals sent Terrance Gore to the North Side for money.

At Kings of Kauffman, Morgan Vogels writes of Blaine Boyer’s release.

At FanGraphs:

At Baseball Prospectus:

Also at the Athletic, Jake Kaplan writes of the story behind Dallas Keuchel’s Player’s Weekend jersey choice honoring the Astros clubhouse attendant.

Things are not looking so hot for MoviePass.

James Gunn ain’t coming back for the third Guardians of the Galaxy flick.

You’ll never guess what America’s hottest export is.

Why are Vaseline jars showing up at a Calgary intersection?

Your song of the day is “You Just Want” by King Creosote:

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