Royals Rumblings - News for July 2, 2019

The Royals played piñata for the Blue Jays on Canada Day. Our own Jack S. Johnson breaks that one down for ya.

When it comes to pitching, consistency is not a term that fills the mind when speaking of the 2019 Royals. On Monday afternoon, that pattern of spotty performances was front and center in the series finale in Toronto. Bludgeoned for the first two innings, Kansas City limped out of Canada after an 11-4 beatdown.

Our own Matthew Lamar wrote a really good piece about the 2018 Royals draft class.

This time around, we’ve got a Fab Five. They will be forever grouped together, as they were Kansas City’s first five selections in the 2018 draft and all were college arms. And like the Fab Four of yesteryear, these college pitchers have all experienced success and they’ve all moved very quickly.

Speaking of the 2018 draft class, Nathan Eaton made the most recent edition of our mid-season Royals prospect rankings over at Royals Farm Report.

Nate Eaton has been one of our favorite fringe prospects in the system for the last 8-9 months, despite our accidentally leaving him off of our original top 75 list this preseason. Eaton came out of the gates last summer in his professional debut on fire. He posted a 153 wRC+ with Idaho Falls over his first 303 PA with 5 HR and 19 SB. The speed/power combo that Eaton was showing off were just enough to keep him on prospect radars, but the HR power has been kind of zapped so far in A-ball. But…

Sticking to the 2018 draft class, Drew Osborne broke down Jackson Kowar’s first start at AA.

Hunter Dozier is hitting absolutely everything, writes Merritt Rohlfing.

The staff writers over at the KC Star talked about Whit Merrifield the All-Star and sports betting in Missouri and Kansas.

Whit Merrifield is the Royals’ All-Star Game representative. Star columnists Sam Mellinger and Vahe Gregorian discuss whether baseball got the selection right.

Also, Sam talks about how sports wagering seems destined to become law in Missouri. Host Blair Kerkhoff also pays tribute to former Star editor Adam Darby, who died of cancer in June at age 49.

Today is the beginning of the July 2nd International Signing Period. The Royals are expected to sign one of the top five prospects in this year’s class, outfielder Erick Pena.

Top 30 Prospects:
1) Jasson Dominguez, OF, Dominican Republic
2) Robert Puason, SS, Dominican Republic
3) Bayron Lora, OF, Dominican Republic
4) Luis Rodriguez, OF, Venezuela
5) Erick Pena, OF, Dominican Republic

Leigh over at KC Kingdom writes that the Royals need to trade Danny Duffy while they still can.

Clint Scoles writes about Zach Haake and others in his Diamonds in the Rough.

Bob Sutton (not that one) with The Times News writes about Vinnie Pasquantino’s huge start to professional baseball.

On this day in history, in 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act.

Tyler Skaggs, a pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels, passed away yesterday. He made the trip to Texas with the team and was found in his hotel room. RIP young man.

Your song of the day is Fire and Rain, performed live by the brilliant James Taylor.