Royals Rumblings - News for March 20, 2019

Royals Rumblings - News for March 20, 2019

Ian Kennedy is open to moving to the bullpen.

“Doing something new, it’s exciting,” Kennedy said. “I told them that it took me a while to mentally grasp it. Then I told them as soon as they made the decision, I was ready for either or, start or relief.”

Brian Goodwin admits he has been tinkering with his swing during spring training.

“Everything I was doing was kind of brand new, kind of trying it out and putting it to the test just to see,” Goodwin said. “Because at this point in my career I’m trying to leave no stone unturned.”

At the plate, Goodwin openly admits he changed more things at the plate than you’d normally see a player “mess around” with in the short window spring training provides — such as adding a leg kick into his swing mechanics.

Lee Judge wonders if the Royals will stick to the plan in 2019.

It also made sense that if the Royals were going to let their prospects play in 2018, they’d talk about being ready to win again in 2021.

But before the 2018 season the Royals signed those aforementioned free agents and appeared to get caught with one foot on the dock and another one in the boat — a great way to get wet.

Signing veterans to prevent a 100-loss debacle didn’t work. It was the worst of both worlds, actually. The Royals still lost 104 games and those veterans cost the prospects at-bats and innings.

Clint Scoles sees a roster crunch in the minors for the pitchers.

The addition of 18 pitchers via the draft last year puts quite the squeeze on the rosters at the High-A and Low-A levels for the organization. With promotions of Yefri del Rosario, Carlos Hernandez, Daniel Lynch, Jackson Kowar to Wilmington with Brady Singer possibly going up along with them the Royals will be squeezed for innings. Lefty Dan Tillo and right-hander Andres Sotillet likely need to pitch in Wilmington again this year with underperforming past 1st round pick Nolan Watson. Early in the season piggybacking can solve this problem but after the first few weeks, it can limit a starters development to push them out to the pen.

Morgan Vogels at Kings of Kauffman talks to Omaha Storm Chasers General Manager Marrtie Cordaro.

The MLB regular season began this morning!

Did Mike Trout leave money on the table with his new deal?

The Brewers are talking with free agent closer Craig Kimbrel.

Alex Bregman and the Astros agree on a $100 million deal.

MLB players revel in the carnival atmosphere in Japanese baseball stadiums.

The Marlins are going to play small ball this year.

The restrictions on who can participate in the Arizona Fall League are being lifted.

Your guide to NCAA tournament Cinderellas.

The American Athletic Conference signs a $1 billion TV deal with ESPN.

Facebook wants to share more local news, but can’t find enough local news in some places.

Google unveils its gaming platform.

The last Blockbuster store is truly a throwback.

Your song of the day is John Frusciante with Murderers.