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Royals Rumblings - News for March 28, 2019
Vahe Gregorian writes about Brad Keller’s Opening Day assignment.
“Nothing should change,” Duffy said during spring training. “They got all these cannons going off and fireworks going off and streamers going off — you’ve still got to go out there and do your routine. He’s going to be able to do that.
“He’s beyond his years. He’s nasty. He’s professional. He’s going to be able to get the job done regardless of all the distractions and the noise.”
Just the same, as Keller considered how he might sleep Wednesday, he conceded, “You’d like to think (it will be) just be a normal night, but nerves are already setting in.”
Martin Maldonado is ready to take over catching duties.
“I know that Salvy is the guy here,” Maldonado said of taking over the starting job. “He’s been helping me a lot. We’ve been talking a lot to each other. I just come here to do my job as best I can.”
Despite the shortened spring training, Maldonado said he feels good physically, has been happy with the quality of at-bats he had in spring training and was able to catch enough to get his legs under him.
What’s the plan with Lucas Duda?
Dayton Moore says the Royals view the addition of Lucas Duda as helping the development of Ryan O’Hearn, Hunter Dozier and their young hitters. He cited Duda’s “veteran presence”, his professional approach at the plate and says he won’t take ABs from others.
— Rustin Dodd (@rustindodd) March 27, 2019
The bullpen situation will be pretty fluid, says Ned Yost.
“We purposely didn’t anoint a closer or an eighth-inning guy because we want to try to mix and match a little more in the bullpen,” he said. “We’re going to do things a little differently and see how it plays out here in the first month.”
The Royals’ opening day roster is sealed until Thursday, but Yost offered some hints as he cycled through his bullpen options. He mentioned the repertoires of Scott Barlow, Brad Boxberger, Jake Diekman, Tim Hill, Ian Kennedy, Kevin McCarthy, Wily Peralta and Kyle Zimmer, classifying each of them as unique. And Chris Ellis is a Rule 5 pick, so he either must be placed on the major-league roster or relinquished.
Sports Illustrated previews the Royals by asking for the opinion of an anonymous scout.
Name the guy (or guys) on this team that you would never want in your clubhouse.
Soler because you don’t know what you’re going to get every day. The lack of effort wears on a manager and teammates over 162 games.
Here is Jeffrey Flanagan’s preview of Opening Day.
The Angels claim former Royals outfielder Brian Goodwin.
Alex Duvall at Royals Farm Report shares his thoughts on Royals minor league roster assignments.
Watch Kauffman Stadium get prepared for Opening Day.
The Athletics acquire former Royals slugger Kendyrs Morales.
SB Nation site managers discuss the upcoming MLB season.
Cleveland shortstop. Francisco Lindor suffers an ankle sprain that could keep him out of action.
The Red Sox decline to name a closer.
Commissioner Rob Manfred says non-stars are less valuable in the age of analytics.
Spring training showed us that home runs, strikeouts, and walks will continue.
Inside the complex world of streaming sports.
The Alliance of American Football is in danger of going bankrupt.
China’s facial recognition technology in airports is already here.
Marvel making an X-Men movie is a lot more complicated than it sounds.
Why everyone was dunking on “St. Louis-style” food yesterday.
Your song of the day is John Fogarty with Centerfield.