Royals Rumblings - News for February 26, 2019

Royals Rumblings - News for February 26, 2019

Rustin Dodd writes about Salvador Perez’s mentorship of young catchers.

“We’ve got a potential Hall of Fame catcher on our major-league team,” said Royals assistant general manager J.J. Picollo. “So the right picture is painted for them at a young age.”

These days, the “them” Picollo refers to is Viloria, Melendez and Rivero, a trio that excites both club officials and prospect gurus. Royals manager Ned Yost says he has “never had a crop of young catchers like this.” Grifol says he’s rarely seen such catching talent bunched together.

Trevor Oaks may miss the first half of the season with injury.

Trevor​​ Oaks, a right-hander who spent most of last season at Triple-A Omaha, has been shut down due to a right hip injury and could face surgery to repair a torn labrum.

Oaks will undergo a second opinion on the injury in early March, Royals manager Ned Yost told The Athletic on Monday.

Adalberto Mondesi is looking to build off last season’s success.

“It’s not a secret. Everybody knows what happened to me last season,” Mondesi said. “I just stay on top of my body and I know everything is going to be good.”

Wily Peralta is fine if Ned Yost doesn’t have clearly defined bullpen roles this year.

“I liked that [closer’s] role,” Peralta said. “It’s a little different. You get a lot of adrenaline going. I thought when given the opportunity I did my job.

“But I wasn’t thinking about being the closer [this season]. I was just going to be happy with the opportunity to pitch. I just want to be part of the team and contribute.”

Minor league veteran Jake Kalish hopes to make his Major League debut this year.

“He’s a guy that’s not going to miss spots. That’s the kind of pitcher he is,” said Omaha teammate and catcher Nick Dini, also a non-roster invitee. “He’s not going to overpower guys, but he doesn’t miss his spots. He’s made himself into a very, very good pitcher with what he’s got.”

Dayton Moore talks about the harms of pornography at a conference in Utah.

The Kansas City Star wants to talk about a downtown baseball stadium.

Drew Osborne at Royals Farm Report continues a series to examine the 2015 team.

Bradley Potter at Kings of Kaufman wonders where Terrance Gore fits in.

Fangraphs updates their draft board to list Georgia prep infielder C.J. Abrams at #2.

The Dodgers may be interested in a short-term deal with Bryce Harper.

J.D. Martinez says the slow off-season is embarrassing for baseball.

The Rockies extend manager Bud Black.

The rise of analytics has hit advance scouting hard.

The Angels may be in talks to move to Long Beach.

Who won arbitration hearings this year - players or owners?

Fivethirtyeight proposes to fix baseball by limiting the number of relievers.

The football coach from the Netflix series Last Chance U resigns after a Hitler comment in a text to a player.

29 good NFL players who had bad combines.

United Airlines and Delta confirm that some of their seat-back screens have cameras.

Is dark energy messing with the cosmos?

Your song of the day is Steve Winwood with Roll With It.