:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65929496/47962529383_049c8be566_k.0.jpg)
Sounds like Humberto Arteaga and Erick Mejia will come back for 2020:
The Royals typically don’t announce non-roster Spring Training invitees until late January, but expect Erick Mejia and Humberto Arteaga will be on that list. Both are expected to be re-signed and that perhaps will be announced today.
— Jeffrey Flanagan (@FlannyMLB) December 17, 2019
Jordan Foote at Kings of Kauffman continues the site’s ‘12 Days of KC Royals’ by hoping for a better 2020 from Brad Keller:
The key to improvement in 2019 for Keller may simply be developing his changeup pitch. He threw it a minuscule 1.4 percent of the time in 2019 (38 of 2,711 pitches), surrendering a .250 batting average and a whopping .625 slugging percentage. In order to make the leap to stardom in 2020, he’ll need to throw his changeup with more consistency.
Friend of the site Clint Scoles gave us his Royals top 10.
BA will put out their rankings tomorrow so I'll drop my Top 10 today. I've adjusted after thinking more about it.
— Clint Scoles (@ClintScoles) December 17, 2019
1. Jackson Kowar
2. Daniel Lynch
3. Bobby Witt Jr.
4. Kris Bubic
5. Kyle Isbel
6. Brady Singer
7. Carlos Hernandez
8. Nick Heath
9. Khalil Lee
10. MJ Melendez
Mike Bell, son of former Royals manager Buddy Bell, will be a bench coach for the Twins.
Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow mentioned widespread food insecurity in his acceptance speech, and so football fans have donated almost $400,000 to food banks where he grew up.
A whole lot of Chiefs made the Pro Bowl:
Hill, Mahomes, Kelce, Chris Jones, Frank Clark and Hardman are Chiefs Pro Bowlers
— Adam Teicher (@adamteicher) December 18, 2019
I can’t stop thinking about this story Anne Helen Petersen reported about a North Carolina Baptist church that focuses on debt repayment.
Gizmodo listed out the most disappointing gadgets of the decade.
Terry Gross, host of the NPR show Fresh Air, played a clip from Adam Driver’s new movie while interviewing Driver. The actor has repeatedly said hearing/seeing his own clips gives him anxiety, and enforced a pretty reasonable boundary when the clip was played.
A mass grave of the victims in the Tulsa Race Massacre may have been found.
I guess we can talk about The Letter. This link is to a pdf of it.
The Simpsons first aired 30 years ago yesterday. What’s your favorite episode? (Let’s try to keep this all in one comment thread so non-fans can collapse it and move about their day!)
Music: Darlingside - Best of the Best of Times.