Royals Rumblings - News for August 22, 2018

Royals Rumblings - News for August 22, 2018

Ryan O’Hearn was proud of hitting a home run off a lefty last night.

“To get that knock today is just confidence-building,” said O’Hearn, who batted .271 with a .471 slugging percentage against left-handed pitchers at Class AAA Omaha this year. “Lets me know I can still hit left-handed pitching.”

Beginning to think there may not be a post-season for the Royals this year.

In his Mellinger Minutes, Sam talks about Ned Yost’s lineup juggling.

I have no issues with how he’s managing, in part because I very literally could not care less whether the Royals win or lose. That is immaterial at this point other than draft position and bonus pool, so in some ways, Ned should be managing to lose even if the Royals will never operate like that.

The point right now isn’t to win games. It’s to figure out who can play, which necessitates some lineup juggling....

If you’re talking about Mondesi, his last 10 starts have been at shortstop, and he’s started in 10 of the last 12. I know I’m in the minority, but I believe with all my heart the Royals have done the right thing in bringing him along somewhat slowly.

Alex Gordon gives his evaluation of Brett Phillips’ defense so far.

Gordon, who could win his sixth Gold Glove this season, has played alongside two elite defensive center fielders in Lorenzo Cain and Jarrod Dyson during his 12 years with the Royals. He is hesitant to put Phillips even close to that category at this point. Yet the overall tools have been impressive, he said. The arm action is violent but accurate. The result is often eye-opening.

“He’s got work to do to catch up to Lo-Cain or even Dyson,” Gordon said, “but he’s still young and he’s still learning. The one thing about Phillips is he asks a million questions. He wants to get better, and he’s trying to learn.”

Drew Osborne at Royals Farm Report still believes in prospect Foster Griffin.

Is this season for Griffin the product of bad luck or better contact? Well, it’s kind of both. He is pitching almost identical to last season in terms of projected results but with his stuff down a tick for most of the season, he is giving up more base runners and as a result, runs. If it was a stat that was kept he would probably be leading the Texas League in fluke hits.

I think Griffin is figuring out how to make things work at NWA and has learned some valuable lessons about adjustments and failure along the way. Griffin still has a decent future in the Royals organization and could end up being in a major league rotation.

Tyler Dierking at Kings of Kauffman thinks Nolan Watson is turning things around.

David Lesky at Baseball Prospectus Kansas City looks at what the 2021 Royals might look like.

The Nats start unloading players, like Daniel Murphy to the Cubs and Matt Adams to the Cardinals.

Cubs pitcher Yu Darvish is out for the year.

Grant Brisbee writes that baseball fights are stupid, awful, and very watchable.

Giancarlo Stanton still wants to see the Marlins improve.

The Mariners are in a playoff hunt, despite a negative run differential.

How Tony LaRussa’s 1993 Athletics predicted modern reliever usage.

How the Indians built a dominant rotation with players they acquired in trades.

The physics and timing of the outfield bounce throw.

Twelve hidden images in sports logos.

Columbus losing their MLS team sucks for everyone.

J.P. Morgan Chase will soon allow you to trade stocks for free.

Facebook is reportedly rating users based on trustworthiness when they report fake news.

A Veronica Mars revival is in the works.

Your song of the day is Jade Bird with Uh Huh.