Royals Rumblings - News for March 26th, 2019

Long-time Royals prospect Frank Schwindel is finally going to make his big league debut.

The right-handed hitting Schwindel seems likely to split time at DH with Lucas Duda, and he could see time at first base as well splitting time with Ryan O’Hearn. Schwindel fared well against lefties in AAA last year, hitting .353/.402/.630 against them. Schwindel has also been working out at catcher and third base to offer more positional versatility.

Over at Royals Farm Report, Drew Osborne talks about Frank Schwindel catching Kyle Zimmer and Kevin Lenik during the Royals Spring Training finale on Sunday in Arizona. This could be a big development for Schwindel should he see innings behind home plate in the big leagues.

Then, on Zimmer’s tenth pitch, it happened. The baserunner broke for second. Zimmer’s fastball tailed up and in on the batter but Schwindel turned it around and nailed the runner by several feet. I had it between a 1.81 and 1.86 POP. I rewound the video to run my stopwatch on it several times. That’s an impressive POP time for a guy, especially a guy who hasn’t caught in a game for almost four years.

The Omaha Storm Chasers won their game against the Royals last night. This game was played by many different players across many different levels in the Royals organization, but was fun to follow nonetheless.

The Royals released Brian Goodwin yesterday to make room for Lucas Duda on the 40-man roster.

For a team that has stressed youth, speed, and defense, it seems strange to let go Goodwin in favor of Duda. Perhaps Duda gives the Royals some sort of clubhouse presence we’re not privy to, but from the outside this is a very puzzling move for a rebuilding club.

Jeffrey Flanagan writes about the Royals making a speedy transition with their new core.

WHO MIGHT SURPRISE?

Soler has yet to play a full season with the Royals since being acquired from the Cubs for closer Wade Davis in December 2016. If healthy, the Royals are convinced he could be a 30-35-homer guy.

Over at The Athletic, Alec Lewis breaks down Brad Keller’s rise to Opening Day starter ($).

Danny Duffy, who was stoked to hear the decision, said: “He deserves it. I’ve been saying this whole time, he’s our best pitcher. Junis is right there with him, but I know for a fact they picked the right guy.”

After a scary incident during a Spring Training game, Jose Ramirez is expected to be ready for Opening Day.

White Sox top prospect looks to be set to join the team for Opening Day, and he means business.

Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com broke down baseball’s top 10 bullpens.

The staff at ESPN built the “ultimate MLB pitcher” in a pretty cool analysis.

Dan Straily, who the Royals have expressed interest in in the past, is a free agent.

MLB bets to make in 2019.

Perhaps the news of the day from yesterday:

On this day in 1979, Israel and Egypt signed a historic peace treaty at the White House ending three decades of hostilities between the two countries.

Apple is launching a credit card.

Apple is making a credit card. It’ll exist as a virtual card and as a physical titanium card. It’ll have no late fees or annual fees. The physical card has no number printed on it — nor a CVV, expiration date, or signature.

British Airways apologizes to travelers after flight lands 525 miles away from destination

Tomorrow we will have an interview with a pretty special guest for you. Stay tuned.

Your song of the day is “Keep Abilene Beautiful” by Carlton Anderson. Anderson performed at Knuckleheads in Kansas City with Jerrod Niemann on March 15th and put on a great show.