Royals Rumblings - News for October 6, 2020

Royals Rumblings - News for October 6, 2020

Lynn Worthy considers whether Salvador Perez will spend the rest of his career in a Royals uniform.

When asked about the possibility of Perez following in Gordon’s footsteps as a career Royal, Moore also made it clear that he believes the decision will fall into Perez’s hands more than the organization’s.

“As long as we believe that our players — especially our homegrown players — have productive years ahead of them, it’s important to do what we can to sign them,” Moore said. “Alex Gordon, we signed him to two multi-year contracts. He took less money on both occasions. He knew he was doing that.”

Alec Lewis writes about the 15 numbers that defined Royals pitchers this year.

Brad Keller’s magic number: 1.01

In May 2019, Keller walked 18 hitters in his first four starts. Command was an issue. Hitters weren’t hitting the ball hard; he simply couldn’t provide them pitches to hit. The extended offseason allowed Keller to make mechanical changes, which not only lowered his walks per nine innings by 1.01 (from 3.81 to 2.80) but also enhanced his slider. Keller threw the breaking ball 6.8 percent more than he did in 2019, and hitters posted a .198 wOBA against the pitch this season as opposed to a .231 wOBA in 2019. His emphasis this offseason? Similar to Singer, the change-up.

Kevin O’Brien at Royals Reporter considers whether the Royals should trade Jorge Soler.

That being said, Soler will be 29 in 2021, has a history of injury issues, and once again showed that he really cannot play the outfield full-time defensively (he posted a minus-8.1 UZR/150, the seventh-straight season he has posted a negative metric according to this defensive metric). Considering a glut of outfielders both on the 40-man and in the upper minors, as well as the potential need to move Hunter Dozier off of first base should Nick Pratto make gains in 2021, it may be better for the Royals to keep the DH position open in 2022 and beyond rather than keep Soler permanently in the spot.

Mets blog Rising Apple makes the case for a Salvador Perez trade.

Shaun Bauman at Kings of Kauffman thinks Brady Singer and Kris Bubic are the best rookie pitching duo in years.

There is some bad blood between the ALDS teams.

What will be the park effects of the neutral site playoff ballparks?

Theo Epstein expects to return to the Cubs, but there could be changes.

How the Marlins overcame an outbreak and reached the post-season.

The Rays are successful despite their anonymity.

Phillies slugger Rhys Hoskins will need Tommy John surgery.

Local TV and streaming viewership was up 4 percent around baseball.

The Supreme Court allows a class action lawsuit over minor league pay to proceed.

MLB front offices have a brain drain, and the pandemic has accelerated it.

Former Tigers All-Star close Mike Henneman takes a DNA test and discovers seven long-lost siblings.

Is Jimmy Butler a franchise player now?

How bad is the NFC East?

Scientists who discovered the Hepatitis C virus win the Nobel Prize in Medicine.

Regal Cinemas is closing all theaters in the U.S. this week.

Sterling K. Brown will read the role of “Leo McGarry” in an HBO Max reunion special for West Wing.

Your song of the day is Velvet Underground with Oh! Sweet Nuthin’.