Royals Rumblings - News for May 16, 2019

Royals Rumblings - News for May 16, 2019

Rustin Dodd writes about Nicky Lopez’s debut.

The Royals believe in their young offensive core, yet they entered Tuesday ranked 10th in the AL in runs. They believe their bullpen has stabilized, yet their team ERA remains above 5.00—at 5.02. They remain bullish about their future, yet the addition of one top prospect cannot cover all the flaws.

Maybe reality will hit at some point. Maybe the club will return to building for 2020 and beyond. But maybe the Royals can also do both. That’s the idea, at least. On Tuesday afternoon, a lift arrived in the form of Lopez, and the rest of the offense acted accordingly.

Lynn Worthy writes about why the Royals aren’t giving up on Jorge Soler as an outfielder.

The other factor in making sure Soler remains a viable outfield option is that he’s a potential replacement for the club’s 35-year-old left fielder Alex Gordon, who is in the final year of his contract (there’s a mutual option worth $23 million after this season).

“I don’t want to lose his development because somewhere down the road he’s probably going to move to left field,” Yost said. “Two years maybe, three years maybe. You want to continue to develop him as an outfielder.

“He’s been working hard and has been growing. He’s grown — I wouldn’t say leaps and bounds — but a little bit less than leaps and bounds in the outfield the past three years. He’s gone from dropping balls in the outfield to playing a pretty darn good outfield out there.”

Ned Yost talks bullpen roles with Jeffrey Flanagan.

“You try to set hard and fast roles for these guys, but I don’t have five closers like I once did,” Yost said. “But right now, Barlow and Diekman are doing a phenomenal job in a firearm’s role.

“If everything was perfect, we’d go Barlow in the seventh, Diekman in the eighth and Ian Kennedy in the ninth. But how often are things perfect?”

Dayton Moore explains why the team designated Frank Schwindel for assignment, even as they hope to retain him.

“I don’t like that when you just put a player on the 40-man roster and the 25-man roster six weeks ago or whatever it is, and then you release him,” Moore said. “I don’t like that. But we are where we are, and (first baseman) Lucas Duda is progressing much better than we anticipated, so putting him on the 60-day (injured) list wasn’t an option.

Luis Torres at Beyond the Boxscore gives his scouting report from a Wilmington Blue Rocks game.

Leigh Oleszczak at KC Kingdom thinks Hunter Dozier should move to first base.

Former Royals infielder Ben Zobrist is filing for divorce from his wife, Juliana.

Yankees infielder Miguel Andujar will have season-ending surgery on his shoulder.

What has gotten into Angels infielder Tommy La Stella?

How Rocco Baldelli changed the culture of the Minnesota Twins.

Brewers infielder Keston Hiura hopes to be an inspiration for other Asian-Americans.

Keith Law re-drafts the 2009 MLB draft, with the Royals getting Dallas Keuchel instead of Aaron Crow.

The Athletics now play in Ring Central Coliseum.

Some college baseball powerhouses are in danger of missing the NCAA tournament.

The New York Jets fire their GM, and should anyone want to have the job?

The Lakers could shape the NBA draft with the #4 pick.

Scientists are racing to save the planet from plastic.

Disney just acquired Fox and could acquire Hulu and is a hit at the box office, so here come the layoffs.

The currency system in John Wick is a mess.

Your song of the day is Republic Tigers with Buildings & Mountains.