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Royals Rumblings - News for September 24, 2018
Ned Yost believes in his young starting pitchers.
“They’ve had their ups and downs,” Yost said. “But the thing that is impressive is they can go out and pitch a Major League game. What I mean by that is they can go out and pitch into the seventh inning, keep us in the game, control the pitch count, field the position, throw strikes. They’ve all done that, multiple times. That’s pretty impressive.
”They all have had their stinkers, too. But they’re building consistency. The games they have given us a chance to win far outnumber their stinkers.”
Rustin Dodd writes about the future for Eric Skoglund.
In three appearances, including two starts, Skoglund has permitted two runs in 13 innings, finishing a trying season on a positive note. He credits a more joyous approach to the game.
“I’m just not putting as much stress on myself,” Skoglund said. “I think I was trying to do too much instead of just having fun.
“I mean, I’m in the major leagues right now, and I just want to embrace every day I’m up here. And when I first came up, I was trying to do too much, and it wasn’t who I am.”
John Sickels highlights the Royals as one of the most improved farm systems this year.
Simply put, it couldn’t get worse. The Royals were ranked No. 30 but our own John Sickels in his preseason farm rankings. A solid draft and some nice 2018 performances will see them make a jump come 2019.
Brady Singer, Jackson Kowar, Daniel Lynch (who was recently profiled on Minor League Ball), and Kris Bubic give the Royals system four college-prepped, near major-league ready arms, all of which have more positives than negatives.
Offensively, Khalil Lee continues to be an exciting toolsy prospect, though still very raw. The 20-year-old Seuly Matias had a power-breakout to remember with 31 blasts before getting hurt. Nick Pratto had an exciting full-season for the South Atlantic League champion Lexington Legends, showing nice contact skills, gap power, over-the-fence pop despite some strikeout issues.
The Orioles hired away Royals scout Rich Amaral.
Two interesting things here: Baltimore will have the No. 1 pick ahead of the Royals (who’ll likely pick second) and just hired Bobby Witt Jr.’s uncle. Amaral was also a KC area scout who signed Pratto and A.J. Puckett. https://t.co/IQRCXLjxFP
— Rustin Dodd (@rustindodd) September 21, 2018
Joel Penfield at Royals Farm Report talks to Royals draft pick Jon Heasley.
The Braves clinch a playoff spot for the first time in five years.
Hawk Harrelson works his final game for the White Sox.
Manager Buck Showalter may be out in Baltimore.
Who are the candidates to replace Jeff Banister in Texas?
The Mariners extend the longest post-season drought in North American sports.
Could the Diamondbacks move Paul Goldschmidt this off-season?
Bill James tries to identify “five-tool” players.
Who has the better NL MVP case - Christian Yelich or Javier Baez?
The walk-off ending to the 2001 World Series gets the SB Nation Rewinder treatment.
Clay Matthews keeps getting screwed by the roughing-the-passer rule.
An investigation finds a toxic work environment with the Dallas Mavericks.
A new report says that robots will do more work than humans within the next decade.
Why Tesla can’t get rid of Elon Musk.
Chevy Chase wants to work, but no one wants to work with him.
Your song of the day is The Supremes with Reflections.